彩民宝典

What do Tamar McKee, Jane Miller and Annie Ryu have in common? They鈥檙e all impactful women leaders in the natural foods industry. Last week, a new leadership program on campus, Impactful Women鈥攈osted by the Innovation & Entrepreneurship Initiative鈥攂rought this trio together to discuss their professional and personal journeys.

Tamar McKee, Khala & Co.听

Khala & Co. produces zero waste provisions for the kitchen to the campsite and beyond, including reusable food wraps, hemp-cotton produce bags, and compostable twist ties. Tamar calls her story a 鈥減atchwork of serendipity鈥� and feels lucky to have found a business mentor in her father.

鈥淏ringing something old back into the world can seem innovative. We鈥檙e bringing people back to the predisposal culture.鈥�

Tamar is focused on raising her family while building this business. For women struggling to balance it all she encourages you to find ways to make the system and the structure work for you.

Annie Ryu, The Jackfruit Company

The Jackfruit Company converts jackfruit wastage in its native land - southern India - to delicious, nutritious food. Founder Annie Ryu, was a pre-med student focused on global health in India when she realized healthcare came too late at the end of a broken system. When she learned about jackfruit, she saw an opportunity to transform health, farmers鈥� livelihoods and humanity鈥檚 eco-footprint.听

鈥淚 would have been happy to an extent in medicine. You have one life and what I wanted to do most was work on the biggest problems in the world.鈥�

Annie didn鈥檛 have a background in business, but found she could lean on her schooling (she鈥檚 a top Harvard grad!) to give her credibility along the way. She says managing impressions can be challenging, but she finds inspiration from her growing team. 鈥淚 admire their work and the fact that they came to work with me on something that鈥檚 never been done.鈥�

Jane Miller, Lily鈥檚 Sweets and JaneKnows.com

Jane isn鈥檛 an entrepreneur, but helps other people bring their ideas to market. She has over 30 years of experience in the food industry. She is currently the CEO of Lily鈥檚 Sweets and has held several other CEO roles in the industry, including Rudi鈥檚 Bakery, ProYo High Protein Ice Cream, and HannahMax Cookie Chips. Jane was also part of an executive team that brought Hostess out of bankruptcy.

Jane is a passionate and energetic person and she learned early in her career that sometimes it came across as unprofessional. She had to find a balance between the two and manage other people鈥檚 impressions of her.

鈥淢y passion overwhelmed my smarts.鈥�

Jane鈥檚 advice to women struggling to prioritize where to spend their time was to 鈥渒eep your bucket full.鈥� Visualize your life as a bucket with holes on the bottom, you鈥檙e constantly leaking water through your day to day activities. What can make up that difference and keep it full?
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The next Impactful Women event will be focused on health and wellness. Join our newsletter听or keep an eye on the Innovation & Entrepreneurship Initiative for details as they鈥檙e announced.