Smiles on the Goldfish

This past week, the interns had the opportunity to meet Avon's President of North America, Geralyn Breig.  Geralyn's story was so cool!  She has had a very eventful past...

After college, Geralyn got a job in the fabulous 'Nati!  She earned an internship at Procter and Gamble in the Marketing department.  She was placed in the beauty division--a division that was also called the "toilet division".  During her time with P&G, she had to go to major grocery stores and try to convince them why they should carry a beauty line.  (At the time, only drug stores offered beauty products.)  Geralyn loved and learned a lot from P&G's awesome training and work experience. After two years she moved back to the big city to meet back up with and follow her college sweetheart.  Back in the city, she found a job at General Foods, where she worked for 10 years.

After years at General Foods, she was laid off, and didn't know where to turn.  Lucky for her, during her time at General Foods, she stood out.  Before her office was completely packed, the President of Jell-O found her and invited her to take a Senior Management position and join his team.  Geralyn's advice to us, "It's a small world.  You're always making an impression."  Geralyn's impression at General Foods changed her life and earned her a job!

A few years later, Geralyn was taking time off while she was on maternity leave when she got a surprise phone call.  It was the President of Pepperidge Farms, asking her to lunch.  Geralyn told us to "always be open" because if she was not open to this call, she would not have been offered a VP position at Pepperidge Farms!  She was hired to help the company grow and double the business (something she eventually was able to do).  Geralyn saw a spark--room for growth in the Goldfish department.

At the time, Goldfish were a high status, white woman offered, cocktail snack.  It was always strange to Geralyn that these fish crackers had such prestige.  She saw an opening in the market, and took a chance to reinvent the cracker in order to make it a family friendly snack.  During her time with Goldfish, she helped to implement the "Goldfish Mobile" (like the Oscar Mayor Mobile), and presented these baked (not fried) flavored snacks in multiple flavors.

Her greatest claim to fame however, is that she is also responsible for the smile on the goldfish.

When suggested, no one on the management team thought it was a good idea.  They did not want to take the chance of possibly risking losing the goldfish's status symbol.  Geralyn was a master at selling her ideas however, and was able to convince the team to stamp 40% of the fish.  The compromise has proven successful though because the Goldfish and its smile is now a well known snack for people of all ages.  

Geralyn's time working on the Goldfish account helped her to discover what she really wanted in life.  (She said it's never too late i life to find what you want to do.) She learned that she wanted to be a general manager and began looking for other opportunities.  She found a position with Godiva Chocolate International.  After applying and interviewing, she found out that she would not get the position simply because she was a woman and did not have all the language requirements.  It was not long before people started knocking at Godiva's door, telling them the mistake they had made.  They shared, "Geralyn was the best."  Soon, Geralyn was offered the job!  

Geralyn accepted the new International position and also accepted the 80% time requirement to be overseas. She and her husband knew that it would be a struggle, but they had a rule to try everything that could better their careers for at least a year. So, for a year, they tried.  Geralyn told us, "Don't be afraid to try things.  If it doesn't work, it can be undone. Tattoos can even be undone these days!"  Geralyn and her family were able to survive that first year, which soon turned into three years. Her children were able to travel with her when they were out of school (which they loved) and when she was home, she made it strictly home time.  

After her three year assignment with Godiva, Geralyn was directed to a position at Avon, where she is now.  Aren't we lucky to have such an awesome woman at Avon?  

More advice Geralyn shared was, "Use your compass and know what you are willing to do and not to do." "Keep a list of deal breakers but keep it short."  "Keep in contact with people and build your network."  "No one cares about your career as much as you do."  "Show up, do the work, make your numbers, be accurate, do more, and do it 'til it's done."  "Be the go to person."