Mary Margaret Penniman
00:00:08 – 00:00:11

Hi. How’s it going? I’m Mary.

Georgianna Ma
00:00:11 – 00:00:11

Georgiana.

Mary Margaret Penniman
00:00:11 – 00:00:14

Nice to meet you. Welcome to PepsiCo Canada.

Georgianna Ma
00:00:14 – 00:00:15

Thanks for having us.

Mary Margaret Penniman
00:00:15 – 00:00:16

Absolutely.

Georgianna Ma
00:00:16 – 00:00:17

What a beautiful office.

Mary Margaret Penniman
00:00:17 – 00:00:18

Thank you. Thank you.

Mary Margaret Penniman
00:00:19 – 00:00:26

Well, we’ll go get started. But maybe before we go in, we can grab a drink. I don’t know about you, but Bubly is my favorite, so that’s what I’m going to go for.

Georgianna Ma
00:00:26 – 00:00:27

Okay. Me, too.

Mary Margaret Penniman
00:00:27 – 00:00:28

All right.

Mary Margaret Penniman
00:00:30 – 00:00:30

Cheers.

Georgianna Ma
00:00:31 – 00:00:31

Cheers.

Georgianna Ma
00:00:51 – 00:00:52

Thanks for having us today.

Mary Margaret Penniman
00:00:52 – 00:00:54

Absolutely, thank you for being here.

Georgianna Ma
00:00:54 – 00:01:00

If you can just give us a brief introduction of your career journey and just your role here at PepsiCo.

Mary Margaret Penniman
00:01:00 – 00:01:28

Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. So I’ll start with my role here at PepsiCo. So, I’m actually stepping into a new role as we move towards a “One PepsiCo” structure here within the company. And so I’m actually the Senior Director of Supply Chain for the Ontario market for PepsiCo Canada, which means that I’m responsible for all of our manufacturing production within the Ontario region. So everything from production to manufacturing to maintenance, quality, kind of all encompassing across that structure.

Georgianna Ma
00:01:28 – 00:01:35

That’s amazing. We would love to learn a little bit more about your career journey and how you started with PepsiCo. My understanding is you started quite some time ago.

Mary Margaret Penniman
00:01:35 – 00:03:57

Yeah, yeah, so I actually started about 11 years ago with the company, and I started as an intern. So, summer hire straight out of college, really looking for an opportunity in a company where I could connect with other people. But I always like to talk about, before I kind of jump into my PepsiCo career. You know, where I really got started in supply chain, and I realized I didn’t really know what supply chain was when I first started hearing about it in school and engineering school. And then, as I got into supply chain, I really realized that my first exposure to supply chain was working alongside my mom in her business.

She actually was a caterer, so she owned her own catering company. She was an entrepreneur, and I would spend most weekends in the kitchen with her, helping to optimize her business. So I can remember, being in the kitchen with her setting up boxed lunches, trying to figure out the most efficient way to pack them. And I remember going to the store with her and figuring out how we could minimize her ingredients to reduce her overhead cost. And I never thought about it as, you know, where I started in supply chain. But when I think about my career now, I credit my love for supply chain and manufacturing, just starting in her kitchen.

But, more formally, when I joined PepsiCo, you know like I said, I was an intern, started at one of our larger Frito Lay facilities in the United States; that’s actually where I’m from, and started in kind of capital projects and engineering on the maintenance side of things. And had the opportunity to really start my career in maintenance and reliability, which is a really, really awesome kind of transition out of engineering and into manufacturing. So, I got to see everything that was in my textbooks kind of come to life in reality. So everything from a boiler, to air compressors, steam tables, all of that, it came to life in a giant, facility. And so I started in the maintenance side, like I said, and then had the opportunity to kind of move across different functions and really get to expand across.

Now, I’ve been at, four different locations across the United States and Canada with increasing responsibility, everything from our packaging operation to warehousing. Now owning a few different facilities, and it’s been an absolutely amazing journey.

Georgianna Ma
00:03:57 – 00:04:09

That’s incredible. So, I know you’re an executive sponsor for WIN (Women's Inclusion Network). Can you share a little bit more about why this is important to you and why you started doing this?

Mary Margaret Penniman
00:04:09 – 00:05:20

I think that there’s something inherently wonderful about sitting down next to somebody who can understand what you do every day.  

And when I first started working in manufacturing and I would tell my friends about my job. They would be like, wait, I don’t understand. They would be like you put on steel-toed boots, you can’t wear nail polish, you have to wear safety glasses every single day, you’re out on the floor, working with mechanics, turning wrenches. Like, what? And so I think that there is something really wonderful about a shared experience where you can talk to somebody who understands inherently what you’re doing and why you’re doing it, and what joy that brings you.  

And so, I think it’s great we’ve been able to create some spaces where you can connect with other people. On that really intimate level of not having to explain yourself when you first start.  Not having to explain what you wear to work or why you do what you do or why you love it. There’s something about just being understood. And I’m really proud of how far PepsiCo has come on this journey. And I think that programs like this just create an opportunity for us to connect with other people and really feel seen and feel understood.

Georgianna Ma
00:05:20 – 00:05:26

Can you maybe share a little bit more about your leadership style and how it has evolved over the years?

Mary Margaret Penniman
00:05:26 – 00:08:10

Yeah, absolutely. When I think back to my leadership style when I first started, I think as a new manager or a young person in manufacturing, it’s really easy to come in and try to, you got to start to get your bearings, and you’re going to make mistakes along the way and things like that and stub your toes.

And I think early in my career. I’ll take a step back. I think I’ve always been an incredibly driven, very competitive, person who’s had really high standards for myself. And when I joined the organization, part of what I love so much about PepsiCo is its competitive spirit.  So everything is wonderfully competitive. We love a good scorecard. We love to turn things into a competition, and I really thrived in that environment. But I think, honestly, I also fell into the trap that I think some young leaders do of feeling like I needed to over-index on some of my strengths.  Some of what had gotten me to where I was.

And I think that when I think about my leadership style, I am a really direct person, I am a really results-oriented person, I am a really action-oriented person. And I think sometimes, if I’m being honest, when I was younger and earlier in my career, that showed up as leaving some other people behind.  Or being maybe overly competitive with peers or with people around me. And I don’t think that that was anyone influencing that. I think that was just my own internal kind of trying to figure out where I fit. And also, I think feeling maybe a little different. And so, like, I had a lot to prove.  I was a young woman in maintenance and engineering, and I didn’t fit kind of your traditional mold of what that leader looked like.

And I think now as I’ve continued to grow in this organization and as I’ve had amazing sponsors and amazing allies, really encouraged me to show up as myself. I have grown into this leader that’s been able to kind of figure out what’s natural for me. And yes, I am still, my team will tell you, I am still very direct, I’m still very action oriented. But I also get to show up and be goofy. I get to be myself. I get to have fun at work. And there’s less of this need to feel like I’m showing up as anyone else than me.  And I think that’s really beautiful. And that’s an amazing testament to this company.  That I’ve been able to become comfortable with showing up as myself. And now I try to make sure that leaders around me feel that too, right? 

Georgianna Ma
00:08:10 – 00:08:11

That’s fantastic.

Mary Margaret Penniman
00:08:11 – 00:08:11

Yeah.

Georgianna Ma
00:08:12 – 00:08:14

And it’s always nice to hear people who truly enjoy what they do.

Mary Margaret Penniman
00:08:14 – 00:08:15

Yeah.

Georgianna Ma
00:08:15 – 00:08:15

And it truly

Mary Margaret Penniman
00:08:15 – 00:08:16

Absolutely.

Georgianna Ma
00:08:16 – 00:08:24

If you were to give advice to your younger self, or women that are earlier in their journey in women in manufacturing, what would that be?

Mary Margaret Penniman
00:08:25 – 00:09:52

Yeah. I think I answered the advice to myself a little bit in my leadership style conversation, right?  But I think for younger leaders, when I think about being a woman in manufacturing or being in any industry.  I think that the advice that I would give folks is to not be afraid to show up confident and show up big.  I think sometimes, as women, we can feel like we need to assume a certain role in a team or feel a certain way or act a certain way.  

And, I want to encourage people all around me and in every situation to not be afraid to voice your opinion. I think there is an amazing piece of showing up confident and being that voice in the room and not being afraid to have a seat at the table or establish yourself in a meeting or ask the question.

Because I think a lot of times, people are scared to do that.  Anyone can be scared to do that. And I think that when you show, when you see people doing that and when you show that to other people around you, it’s great.  And I think that a lot of times we just need to feel empowered to be able to be that confident voice in the room. And so my advice to people would be go and do it. Just put yourself out there. It can be hard sometimes, but show up with confidence and action will follow, right?

Georgianna Ma
00:09:53 – 00:09:55

Don’t think about it too much.

Mary Margaret Penniman
00:09:55 – 00:09:55

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Georgianna Ma
00:09:56 – 00:10:06

That’s amazing. Well, thank you so much for spending your afternoon. I know you prefer to spend your time at the sites, but we’re honoured to have you join us this afternoon. And, it was a pleasure. I really enjoyed the conversation.

Mary Margaret Penniman
00:10:06 – 00:10:06

Thank you.

Georgianna Ma
00:10:06 – 00:10:07

Thank you, Mary.