As we shared in our Celebrating Female Trailblazers in Learning & Development article, we had the opportunity to interview inspiring female leaders in L&D. We loved sitting down with Joni Holeman and Maryanne Ross, our valued training partners, to hear their words of advice on developing leadership qualities and aspiring to leadership positions.
Can you please tell us about your company?
Looking back to 6 1/2 years ago, Joni and I were teaching the APICS courses for the ASCM nonprofit chapters. We had each been teaching for approximately 20 years and we loved what we were doing, but we wanted to teach full time. We wanted to have a very lean organization. We knew that the two of us could make decisions quickly and agree on those decisions, and we wanted to build a business that would support the two of us into retirement. So, we decided to launch our own for-profit training company using the APICS certification courses and products. And it turned out to be the best decision that either of us has ever made in our lives!
Training became fun again. And we love, love, love what we do. We love working with each other. We love the training of individuals. We’re very passionate about our students and we’re proud of the fact that we’ve brought together a training company where the focus is on the education and training of supply chain individuals. We have friends all around the world. We’ve been able to travel the world. And it has been very enriching beyond what we ever anticipated. We put the students first and try to bend over backwards and we also try to treat people the way we would like to be treated. We recently celebrated 6 years and we’ve grown very fast every single year.
How does your organization partner with HC?
We have been so lucky to be able to work with the people at Holmes from the first day that we were introduced to them by the APICS team. Holmes has executed so well, and they’ve gone above and beyond so many times. We can’t tell you how many times we’ve sent an email to Michele at Holmes over the weekend, saying “don’t look at this until Monday”. And yet she gets the problem solved for us in what feels like 5 minutes, almost every time. All the Holmes staff are such wonderful people, and they truly embody customer service. I hope that we’re always working together. They’re like family.
I believe we started working with Holmes when they were charged with writing the CSCP certification-prep course back in 2006. Around that time, we were two of the subject matter experts that were asked to participate in the creation of the CSCP study materials. And we were blown away by the level of support that they provided for us. So, our relationship began then. And now we worship at Michele’s feet because she has become a part of the Mavens team. When I come up to Minneapolis to visit my family, I always visit Michele and my family at Holmes.
Why do you enjoy working in L&D?
We both love what we do. We get to work with adults, and we get to work with young people, very bright young people that are just coming into the business world. And that is so gratifying for us. Just this morning, I got an email from a student who said, “You won’t believe it. I passed on the first go! I’m a CSCP now!” It was just so delightful to hear that and to start the day out like that. We’ve worked in supply chain for our entire lives, in some form, like scheduling, inventory control, quality issues and planning. We saw how hard we had to work just to feel like we were keeping up with things. And now these great supply chain technologies give us so much more latitude. To be able to share how people can work smarter and not longer, that’s just the greatest gift. We are convinced that supply chain rocks. We host a podcast called “Supply Chain Rocks” because we believe that supply chain touches every aspect of our lives. Everything that we are wearing, everything that we eat, that we drink, is impacted by supply chain.
Getting paid is a nice thing because it helps us to pay the mortgage and buy groceries, but we live and die for those emails that say someone has passed their certification exam. We love working with people and recognizing how it’s going to impact their careers.
How are women redefining leadership qualities in your industry?
Well, I think we have a lot more opportunities now than we did 30-40 years ago. What we see that excites us is that there are more and more women on the board of directors of major companies around the world. These women are not afraid to show a little bit of vulnerability, show a little bit of kindness and really listen intently and hear what is being said. They’re great at “reading the room”. I think that this is such a positive thing. They’re not getting the leadership jobs because they’re acting like men. They’re getting leadership jobs because people want to follow them. Both women and men can develop the skill sets that are needed in today’s environment, today’s marketplace, today’s Supply Chain. And women tend to have some of those skill sets by their very nature, right? Women tend to be integrators, to have the listening skills, to have the ability to handle multiple priorities at the same time, and we think that is something to be celebrated.
What advice do you have for aspiring leaders?
Don’t be afraid of leadership opportunities. And if you don’t like what you are doing, the kind of jobs that you are getting offered, create your own company and the sky’s the limit! We would also tell the young professionals that come into our classes to network, grow their skill sets, invest in education and training, and to speak their mind when they have earned the right to speak their mind. If they have the knowledge needed, speak up about a particular situation or present their ideas. Don’t hold back. Speak your mind and have the data to back up your opinions. We’re not talking about being rigid, but at the same time, individuals may have to recognize that their ideas will be pushed back against. And that is a gift. When somebody tests you on an idea, or pushes back on an idea, that’s the opportunity to look at that situation and determine not “who’s right here”, but “what’s right”, And when we approach a situation from that standpoint, then we’re going to naturally come to the right decision because we’re leaving egos out of it and basing decisions on facts rather than emotions.
And we’re teaching young people, male and female, to step into their power and advance their careers based on their knowledge. Not their bodies, not their faces, but their knowledge. I think the sky is the limit for both men and women in Supply Chain. I think there’s a tremendous opportunity for them. Supply chain is with us from now until eternity and there’s tremendous opportunity for everyone. Supply chain rocks!
