A supply chain professional at the top of her game, opening the door for future leaders. That pretty much sums up our latest guest, LeAnne Richards. In the office, she’s leading global supply chain integration while also encouraging young women to pursue their life’s purpose through her organization Reign. In this episode, Scott and Allison chat with LeAnne about her own career trajectory, her work with Reign, the keys to a winning supply chain culture, the evolution of demand planning, and more. P.S. You definitely don’t want to miss her advice for breaking into the industry.

Intro/Outro (00:03):

Welcome to supply chain. Now the voice of global supply chain supply chain now focuses on the best in the business for our worldwide audience, the people, the technologies, the best practices, and today’s critical issues. The challenges and opportunities stay tuned to hear from those making global business happen right here on supply chain now.

Scott Luton (00:31):

Hey, good morning, everybody. Scott Luton and special guest host Allison crate Giddens with you here today on supply chain. Now. Welcome to today’s show Allison, how we doing?

Allison Krache Giddens (00:41):

I’m good. I’m good. I’m excited about

Scott Luton (00:42):

Today. We are excited today. We’ve already laughed a good bit on the pre-show. I think we have a lively, passionate and highly professional guest here today and leader, that’s gonna be sharing some of her insights, uh, a leader on the move, I’ll say, uh, within the global supply chain community. So we’re all geeked up, right?

Allison Krache Giddens (01:00):

Yes, absolutely. I’m I’m pumped.

Scott Luton (01:02):

Oh, wonderful. And a little quick aside, we’re gonna have to have Donna crate join us and, and share some of her travel adventures as she went to Europe here

Allison Krache Giddens (01:11):

Recently. Right? I know. Right. Seriously. I mean, everybody has fun. I’m I’m back here working and <laugh>, you know,

Scott Luton (01:18):

We get everybody slides show. We gotta get a slideshow from Don. That’d

Allison Krache Giddens (01:20):

Be good. That’d be good with commentary.

Scott Luton (01:22):

That’s right. One of our favorite people. Okay. Uh, well, let’s dive right into today’s show. And also one of our newest favorite people wanna welcome in lean Richard’s supply chain integration with a major consumer package goods company, Lee Ann. Good morning. Good

Allison Krache Giddens (01:37):

Morning. Good morning. Happy to be here.

Scott Luton (01:40):

It is so great to have. Yeah. You know, we’ve been exchanging emails for quite some time as we’ve been prepping for today, and it’s really neat to finally meet you in person, enjoy the pre-show conversation. And now Allison, we get to, uh, spotlight her journey with all of our, our global listeners. So it’s gonna be fun, right?

Allison Krache Giddens (01:57):

Absolutely. It’s good timing for this because, uh, she’s got some experience.

Scott Luton (02:01):

Yes. And she also led us little, let out a little secret pre-show I’m not sure if I wanna share, you know, cause Alice and I are both big fans of the 2021 world series champs, Atlanta Braves. And we found out perhaps that Leanne grew up as a New York Mets fan, but we’ll

Allison Krache Giddens (02:22):

See now we can’t, but we can’t start, man. I mean that, that really just the poor listeners now have this, these excess expectation set or I, I hope they haven’t shut off the podcast at

Scott Luton (02:33):

The point. I hope not either Leanne, but Hey, you know what? We have plenty of friends that are Mets fans and fellow supply chain geeks that are Mets fans. So you’re, you’re in good company. It’s all. Okay. Your life’s too show worked to throw elbows too often at your sports rivals, but Hey, great to have you here regardless. So speaking of Leanne, you know, where you grew up and how you grew up and what that was like, where did you grow up? Tell us about that.

LeAnne Richards (02:57):

So I grew up in New York. I

LeAnne Richards (02:59):

Actually grew up in the, in the Bronx New York. Um, I’m the youngest of four daughters. Okay. Um, you know, grew up a very meager lifestyle. My mom was a single mom, pretty much our family mantra was God, first family, second education next. And that’s how we grew up and that’s how we moved forward. And you know, that’s how we, we lived our life pretty much.

Scott Luton (03:25):

Mm. So I love that by the way, values come to mind, discipline habits, uh, priorities, all of that. Uh, so when you think of that and you think of your weekly activities, uh, what are some things that, that come to mind of a week in the life of, of lean Richards as a child?

LeAnne Richards (03:42):

Yeah. You know, what’s funny. Um, so, you know, we had cousins all around and everything and my cousins would always say, we’re always at the park and y’all are always at the library, you know, <laugh>. So, I mean, my mother was serious about the education thing. You know, it kept us occupied. Uh, my two older sisters they’re, um, 18 months apart and they both went to, you know, great schools in upstate New York. One of ’em went to Syracuse. One of ’em went to Cornell. Um, then there’s a seven year gap. And my sister that’s 15 months older than me. We went to school in, in Florida. We both went to Florida a and M so that’s how we became Southern girls. And what’s funny is now we all live in Georgia. We all live in Cobb county. We all live in the same general area and it’s like, one of us came and then we followed the other. And my last sister was like, why am I still in New York? I could be, I could be living, you know, down here with a totally different lifestyle. So, you know, I love it. I, I feel like we really, what was ingrained in us as young people, God, first family, second education, you know, next, like we’ve really like taken that to heart and that’s, you know, that’s our

Scott Luton (04:56):

Life. I love it. And, and I bet y’all get together all the time here since you’re all in, in the same in Georgia. Uh, now tell us, you’re talking about all the, those gaggle of cousins you grew up with and I can relate. I’ve got a great, and I love my gaggle of cousins on both sides of the family. That was a blessing for me growing up and still today, mm-hmm <affirmative> do you see your, all of your kids play and have those relationships too?

LeAnne Richards (05:20):

So my, and you know, their kids, like my, my daughter’s cousins. Yes. They’re like brothers and sisters. Um, my daughter’s only child, one of my sisters has one daughter and they’re like sisters. Like you can’t tell them that, you know, they’re not, um, what, what I have found though, that’s kind of unfortunate. I think it’s just, how is, and how life evolves, right. Is my cousins like that? I grew up with our kids are not close, you know, because of distance because of, you know, um, a lot of them are still in New York or have moved to other areas and we’re down here. We try to get together, but it’s just not the same, you know, one thing I noticed and a lot of people notice this in their families. Um, probably I think it was like, so it was like 2000. My grandmother died and that’s kind of when you see, you know, the matriarch and then, you know, the cousins kind of split off a little bit. We don’t get together as much so tough, you know, but, but I do appreciate the fact that my daughter can grow up with her cousins and, you know, they’ll have, I think they’ll have that relationship like forever. You know, I don’t see them growing apart, especially because life is different now with technology. Right. You know, so much so,

Allison Krache Giddens (06:35):

And that’s so cool. That’s so cool that you get to be right around the corner basically from your sisters too. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. And I I’ve got a sister and she’s local and I can’t imagine her not being local. Yeah. So that’s, that’s very cool.

LeAnne Richards (06:48):

That’s really cool away from Georgia for five years. And I didn’t realize that like the little things were like, like Easter, like you like, oh, we’re gonna get together Ethan. But I was like, we’re gonna do we’re all alone. Or like birthday parties, you know, you used to having the whole family own for a birthday party. And it’s like, you know, it wasn’t the same, so right. Um, I’ve been back for a while and I’m happy to be back and, you know,

Allison Krache Giddens (07:13):

Good. Well, we’re, we’re lucky to have you back that’s for sure. So I know you went to for a few years, and then you came back to Georgia, talk us through some of your professional history and that journey coming back or coming to Georgia in the first place. And then a little bit about prior to your current role and things that shaped you.

LeAnne Richards (07:32):

So, um, what I would say shaped me, I had a unconventional first job, right outta college. Um, I worked for AMCO oil company and I worked in operations. So operations meant that I was running their sea stores, their convenience stores. I was opening stores, um, you know, managing them, doing the whole gamut. So I remember one time my mother said you went to college for all these years working a gas, but it was probably the best experience I could have had because it was almost like owning my own business on somebody else’s dime. So I was responsible for the P and L I was responsible for marketing. I was responsible for hiring firing, you know, so I got to experience so much and also enhance my customer service skills. And I don’t care what role you’re in, what job you’re in, what function you do, you have to have customer service skills. Like you always have a customer. It may be an external customer. It may be an internal customer, but you have to know how to take care of your customer. So, um, I actually move from Florida to Georgia with Amoco. They transferred me here. Um, and then that’s how I, um, ended up in Georgia. Hey, what, uh, li what part of Florida were you in? Uh, I was in Tallahassee. Oh, Tallahassee. Oh, FAMU. Tallahassee. So home

Scott Luton (08:55):

Of Florida state, uh, university, right? Yep. Florida

LeAnne Richards (08:58):

State and Florida a and M is right across the railroad tracks from, from Florida

Scott Luton (09:02):

State. Really. Okay. And a and M uh, that’s the Rattlers. Is that right? The Rattlers. You got it. Okay. All right. Um, right, so you moved up and, and Alice, you know, we’re gonna talk sports. The it’s kind of what we do, right. Really, and I should have warned you and we haven’t talked food yet. And, and, and, um, we can talk food. Let’s talk, we’ll talk food in a little bit. I wanna hear about something, a dish from the Bronx, but Hey we’re so you moved to Georgia and mm-hmm <affirmative> to where you are now in Cobb county? Uh,

LeAnne Richards (09:32):

Yeah. Mm-hmm <affirmative> well, I different parts of Cobb county. Um, I lived, uh, more in the south co area when I first came here.

Scott Luton (09:39):

1. So tell us about what brought you here and, and what continue that professional journey. OK.

LeAnne Richards (09:44):

So, um, came here, transferred with Amaco, came here, worked for them for probably two more years or so. Um, and then I left there, went to Georgia state, got my master’s in Georgia state, in management with a concentration of organizational development. Okay. So I thought that I was gonna go into the HR world and, you know, make people feel good. Um, while I was,

Scott Luton (10:07):

Uh, hang on a sec, hang on a sec. <laugh> the HR world to make people feel good. Are you talking, are you referring to kind of the, the psych, uh, the psychology aspect of, of those roles? Yeah. You know,

LeAnne Richards (10:21):

You’re the feel good person, you know, <laugh>, you make people feel, you know, comfortable

Scott Luton (10:28):

<laugh> well, you, yes. And you kinda, you kind have to be the adult in room, uh, often. Right. So you chose not to do that. So what did you choose to do?

LeAnne Richards (10:40):

You know, I ended up staying there. I, I stayed there for about three years and that’s when I got into supply chain, you know, they even asked me don’t you wanna go sales? Don’t you wanna go into HR? And it, the way they had their, their business structured, um, supply chain was the best place to learn about the business. And that’s what I wanted to do. I wanted to like, really understand kind of how things worked and how things connected. And I got into supply chain, they had a, it was called like an account management type of position. Yeah. And moved into some demand planning roles. And I, I really, I think grew in the demand planning arena. So, um, stayed there for a few years. And then I went over to my current company where I have been for this will be 17 years. Wow. Wow. So, yeah. That’s awesome. That’s

Allison Krache Giddens (11:35):

So what, when you started at your current company, did, are you doing what you’re doing now or how, how did that kind of evolution look like? And where’d you

LeAnne Richards (11:43):

Spend your time? Oh, man. I’ve had so many experiences that have, you know, really shaped me to end of where I am now. Um, I started here in our Atlanta office working more, um, as an account rep. So doing a little, a lot of like order fulfillment, customer type relations with some of our drug customers. I did that for about probably two years. Then I moved to Bentonville Arkansas. I was there for three years and, um, got back into demand planning. Then I moved to Schaumburg, Illinois for about two years, got deeper into demand planning. I, I think some of my first roles, it was more, it was more just kind of putting numbers in the system, so to speak. And then when I got into some of those later roles, I had the opportunity to be more work closer with our customer development team, understand the ebbs and flows more of the business and what was expected from their customers in terms of like promotions or, um, you know, the time of the year when we would see a spike in the business. Right. Um, things like that and really got more connected with the right. Um, so,

Scott Luton (12:56):

So if I could interject for our listeners a little bit of context, and Allison’s gonna ask you about what you’re up to now, but listeners, we, you know, sometimes we gotta be careful, especially with really big companies. Liam is not spokesperson for her company, but for context, and I, and I can’t wait to hear about what she’s up to now. She is with a global and that, um, 999 people out of a thousand would recognize, and probably the same have used a product today from this company. So I think that’s helpful context as, uh, lean kind of walks us through, uh, her 17 years with this company and what she’s doing now. So you’re gonna say something else, uh, lean or Alice, maybe we ask about, uh, what she’s up to today.

Allison Krache Giddens (13:35):

Yeah. Well, I’m kind of, I’m curious, I’m in my head, I’m looking at a map and I’m like, okay, Bentonville and then Schumer. And then <laugh> during, and I’m, I’m like, your sisters are waiting they’re back in Georgia. What are you doing? Um, so after, after Illinois, where where’d you head? Did you come back here? And I’m, I’m excited to hear too about you, you’re doing now and kind of how the pandemic has really enhanced what you’re doing.

LeAnne Richards (14:00):

I came back here after Illinois and I will say that was probably being in, um, Illinois is probably one of the best experiences for me. I didn’t think I could take the cold again, because I had been away from the cold for so long. I was like, I can’t do that. But you know, I got a big coat and it worked out good. And you wanna talk about food? Like Chicago is a food city. Oh yeah. Good car. I kinda ate there for like probably two more years and not repeated anything that I ate.

Scott Luton (14:29):

Greg white says Chicago is the culinary capital of states. I dispute that a bit. I think I think of new Orleans. Um, I think of how eclectic, frankly, how eclectic Atlanta is, especially Buford highway, one of our favorite places. Uh, it’s where we live for six years, right around the corner from Buford highway. Uh, I think of Charleston. I think all the places in Florida, San Francisco, see, I go down this, we mentioned food. We go down this whole interstate of, uh, but anyway, we’ll keep driving. So Chicago, I I’d agree with you on

LeAnne Richards (14:59):

All of those too. I just haven’t spent time in San Francisco, but all of those east coast, south yet, I’d have to agree with you on all of those. Oh man.

Scott Luton (15:06):

Let let’s, let’s take a trip. Let’s let’s just get ’em all right. Right. Right. So what, when did you get to here in the Atlanta area with your current

LeAnne Richards (15:15):

Company? So I came back here in 2014 and the role that I came back into, it’s almost one of those things that I didn’t even realize. Everything else I had done was preparing me for this. I was, I would say a little apprehensive when I was asked to come back here to do this role. I almost felt and just being transparent, vulnerable. Sure. I almost felt it was too big for me. Wow. I, you know, wasn’t sure that I had the skillset to do it,

Allison Krache Giddens (15:50):

But yeah, but we could go down that rabbit hole on imposter syndrome and especially women in industry like supply chain manufacturing is chances are, you are totally qualified for it, but that’s a great call out. Allison, you feel like you hit every single check mark on that list. You felt you weren’t good enough or weren’t qualified. And that’s a, that’s a tough one. It’s real. It

LeAnne Richards (16:14):

Is. And it took me, it took me, um, a lot of time to make the decision, which, you know, usually I’m, I’m ready to go because I like change. I like, you know, doing different things. And I really had to like sit back, I, you know, talk to different people, you know, really figure it out. And it’s probably, again, one of the best decisions I made, you know, in this role. And I, let me tell you what I do. Um, <laugh> so, um, it’s called supply chain integration. So I say that I’m like the liaison between the business and it, and when I say the business, that’s our whole demand side. So that’s our demand planners, our, um, order fulfillment team, our, um, warehousing team, our transportation team, anything that they need from a systems process, and then having the people to port those systems and processes is basically my job.

LeAnne Richards (17:17):

Like I, I do the project management for, for, for those activities. I do work on a couple of projects on our supply side. So then our supply side is like the plants, the manufacturers, I work on a few projects for them, but really my, I would say my area of expertise is our, you know, demand side. So I’m using the knowledge that I’ve had from being on that side of the business for so long and then bringing into it, like my negotiation skills, my relationship building skills, my communication skills, and then being able to communicate with our it department, which it is a whole nother, they speak a different language. That’s a different, and I don’t mean a different language, like, you know, English, Spanish, I mean a

Scott Luton (18:06):

Different language, like, like a smart, like intelligence it’s like, and not taking. And, and I say that not taking anything away from our supply chain community, but which is, is brilliant as well. But gosh, you’re kinda like the bridge, uh, between if I had to generalize kind of the operational language with the technology and it language and that, that gets lost in translation exactly. On an hourly basis. So to have bridge builders like yourself, that also have been there and done it, given your, um, you know, your journey that is incredibly invaluable.

LeAnne Richards (18:40):

Yeah. And something you just said made, made me think of something is, um, so our sales team, they always say, oh, supply chain, y’all in the brains behind everything. Y’all look brains behind everything. We’ll just, y’all make it happen. We’ll just tell you what you want, what we want and tell you what we need and y’all make it happen. So, you know, I, I think it’s good that, um, other functions in the organization see the value in supply chain, especially when, of course you, you know, all companies are there for profit. So supply chain is not like making the money, but we are basically the ones that save the money.

Scott Luton (19:17):

I, I agree with that. And I also kind of disagree with that. Uh, especially as, as industry has evolved and how, how supply chains become that competitive advantage. Cause to your point, it makes it happen and it enables, you know, returns and set it on your, on your porch, reverse logistics, right. That final mile, which has become incredibly more complex. I would argue while I agree with you, it saves the money. It also is making some money cause it drives sales. Um, definitely. You know what I mean? The, the other thing that you should, you shared there, uh, and we’re, and we’re gonna, um, I wanna get to kind of the cultural side of organization that, that enables it to perform at the incredible level it does. And, uh, and to put incredible people like yourself in big leadership roles, but supply chain does make it happen, you know?

Scott Luton (20:05):

And I love what you said there I’ve been, that’s been a mantra of mine for probably 20 years. Uh, and you know, having spent some time the military, I think one of the reasons why it supply chain manufacturing, you know, into, in supply chain, cause that that really encompasses everything. Mm-hmm <affirmative> is people that rally around a initial, uh, mission to make it happen, right. It’s not, they get it, they get it. And it’s just, it’s something inherent, baked into global supply chain. And to your point, that’s what it’s like a magnet for me, only about you Allison, but it, it really, for a long time it’s been something that’s just dis grounded who I am and why this industry appeals to me so much.

LeAnne Richards (20:45):

Yep. It’s it’s as if the supply, chain’s

Allison Krache Giddens (20:47):

The Maestro of the symphony, so to speak. And ultimately if, if it’s off, then everybody’s off.

Scott Luton (20:54):

So they even have to bring the tuba sometimes, uh, Alice, then Lee

Allison Krache Giddens (20:59):

And don’t playing an instrument or singing. So there’s that.

Scott Luton (21:02):

But you know, certainly there’s a sense of humility at times often and supply chains. Well, where I agree with you, it’s like, it’s the Myro, but it’s also someone who doesn’t mind washing dishes from time to time or bringing the tuba or taking the kids up, whatever it is, right. Whatever analogy you wanna use. Um, anyway, Leanne, there’s so much, I wish we had, I wish we had three more hours to dive into your journey, especially on the demand planning side, which is such, uh, an important element too always has been, but has gotten more important here in these recent years. But for the sake of moving us right along, I do wanna talk about the culture at your organization. Is there anything else you wanna share before I move to that question? No, let’s move

LeAnne Richards (21:42):

On. Let’s talk culture.

Scott Luton (21:44):

All right. So Gartner, which everybody and their brother or, and sister knows ranked your organization. Number two on its annual list of top 25 supply chain companies. Right. And it’s, and it’s, they’re regularly at the top. So when it comes to culture at your organization, right, a global CPG, what aspect or two do you believe helps to fuel supply chain performance in particular?

LeAnne Richards (22:08):

I think the first thing is we look for agile solutions to, um, our issues. You know, we try to stay current on what’s happening out in the industry and when we can be a leader out there, um, we’ve adapted a them learn, um, philosophy, progress over perfection. We move forward,

Scott Luton (22:34):

Progress over perfection. I like that progress over perfection. I think we have our title. Alison, I like that.

Allison Krache Giddens (22:41):

I like that a lot. <laugh>

LeAnne Richards (22:43):

And then, you know, people are empowered to make decisions. We, you know, we’re a corporation, of course you do have to go through some red tape, but you know, our people are empowered to make a decision and make decisions quickly and not be afraid to fail, which goes back to the progress over perfection and that’s encouraged and enhanced and embrace throughout the organization. And, you know, that’s really what we have to live on to move forward. And like you said, to, to consistently be ranked, you know, where we are right with, um, with, with Gartner and you know, other, um, organizations.

Scott Luton (23:27):

So yes, you know, every once in a while we’ll talk culture with someone and it is palpable as they describe it. And that’s what I feel with you lean as you describe different elements of that culture, of that enabling culture that, that allows for world class performance and, you know, Allison I’ll get, I get your favorite part of what she described there. For me, it is empowering decision making, you know, I don’t know about y’all, but I worked in an organization one time in my journey that wanted to get seven signatures on a $25 spend <laugh>. And that is that’s, Ty’s everything, everything, and it’s not a, it, it’s not fun to work in those types of, of, of environments and cultures, but Allison, what out of what, how she described her organization and, and its culture. What do you, what, what would you pick up on?

Allison Krache Giddens (24:13):

I think that, that progress over perfection, for sure. I think what that speaks to is authenticity mm-hmm <affirmative> so it allows the people’s, uh, meaning and, and PA their own passion to kind of shine through and ultimately, you know, your customers they’re gonna see right through things. Right. And if they can tell that the people that they’re working with or the products that they’re receiving, um, you know, if it comes from something real and something they can relate to, then all

Scott Luton (24:39):

The better, well said, love that. Okay. So much more to talk so much. Talk about land us a little time. Let’s talk about, so all three of us are, are consumers probably more so than we were at this time last year, maybe. I don’t know. <laugh> so we’re all customers of a wide variety of organizations. And, and of course, a lot of retailers, Leon, I I’d love to get your take what’s one thing you’ve been tracking, especially when it comes to the retail experience or that can consumer experience these days where it’s like a, a business school study every hour of the day.

LeAnne Richards (25:11):

So it has to be eCommerce. eCommerce has made such a difference in our business and not only talking about like, you know, like the Amazons and the, the CU we foods, but talking about traditional brick and mortar, right. Retailers that now we have to put an eCommerce strategy against. So it it’s, it’s intriguing to look at it from the customer per well, what we call the consumers perspective. Right. And then in our, um, as, as a supplier, look at it from the customer’s perspective, and then make sure as a supplier, we are, you know, meeting the requirements of, um, our customers, because it’s a whole different world. And when you talk about having to be agile, that final mile to the shelf, that final really quick now you’re right.

Scott Luton (26:10):

You know, we have

LeAnne Richards (26:10):

So right products so quickly, we have to make sure that, um, so on the system side, um, I deal a lot with, uh, like making sure that the labeling is correct. The, we have the information that the customer needs so they can, um, have our product flow through with as little touching as possible. You know, um, you know, I don’t know what people envision if they’ve never been in a warehouse or, you know, if they’ve never been in a plant, but you don’t have a million people there doing things like, you know, the olden days, everything’s, you know, technology machinery, we have to make sure that everything’s encoded so that it comes from our system flows through scan into their system.

Scott Luton (26:58):

So it’s not 1982.

LeAnne Richards (27:02):

I was just at, it’s a lot more complex than, you know, people may think if they’ve never kind of like been in that world, you just think, oh, I order something that ends up at my door, Amazon drops it at my door, you know, but it’s a lot that goes, you know, in between there.

Allison Krache Giddens (27:15):

Do you think that like being in your role and Scott, maybe this is a question for you too. Do you think knowing what you know about supply chain? Are you, do you, are you aware of your hyperawareness as a consumer? So do you, like, I remember when Amazon first started the whole two day shipping thing, and I remember one day, like a day went by and I, I didn’t get my item and I was irritated and I was like, oh, it hasn’t been two days. And then I really started thinking about it. I’m like, okay, really? Come on. I mean, even two days. So do, do you start realizing that in the industries that we’re all in, do you notice

LeAnne Richards (27:49):

Those things? I do. And, and sometimes I’m even amazed at what, you know, like an Amazon, cause I’m like, wait, how yes,

Allison Krache Giddens (28:07):

I was, I was up really, really late. And I was ordering something on Amazon last night and it was 1240 and it, they were a pair of socks. It’s a long story. It was a pair of socks. And I, I put it in my cart and it said, same day delivery. Get it by 3:00 AM. I’m like, I don’t need the socks that bad. Please do not send so out to my house. What socks at three o’clock in the

Scott Luton (28:27):

Morning, it’s unbelievable. Somebody has

LeAnne Richards (28:29):

To take that off the shelves and get three o’clock in the morning. <laugh>

Scott Luton (28:34):

It really is unbelievable, you know, to your question, Alison, for years, you know, stopping in a moment, whether I’m putting on de answer or putting on socks and noticing the country of origin and <affirmative>, and, and also catch myself regularly kind of thinking about the product design, why is this extra plastic piece here or what, or packaging packaging is fascinating, you know, and we’re dealing with so much of it because of e-commerce these days a lot more than we ever did as kids growing up. Right. So, yes. Uh, I would say, I think probably all three of us are very hyper aware and the good news he year is that consumers, even that aren’t in supply chain or aren’t manufacturing aren’t in any of these, you know, related industries, they’re becoming more hyper aware and that’s gonna enable us to make progress over perfectional on some of the challenges of our day.

Scott Luton (29:19):

So, uh, that that’s, that is really good news, I think for us, all of us. Okay. I had one more question. And then Allison, we’re gonna, we’re gonna kind of shift gears here. One more question about planning. If, if you, if I may lean, you know, 17 years, a lot of that journey with the current company was, uh, you know, demand planning was, was, was, uh, uh, a big part of what you did, anything when it comes to all the different data that goes into demand planning, anything that might surprise folks that you, that you might can share without having to kill us later. I

LeAnne Richards (29:48):

Just think that, um, something I can share is that, um, it’s an evolution and I’ve seen this evolve. When you talk about data. At one time, we had a lot of data, probably too much, right. To use it effectively. And over the past, I would say two years or so. Um, we’ve, um, implemented new tools and also put like, we, we now have a whole data analytics team that, you know, not only looks at of tools, but they go out into the company and find people that love data. And like, that’s not their job, but they put them on almost like a,

Scott Luton (30:33):

Like a SWAT team,

LeAnne Richards (30:34):

Like a, like a, like a SWAT team, like a catalyst team to, um, to come up with new, new reports, new, new, um, ways to use the tool, train other people, to use the tool. So we’re learning how to use the data that’s out there. Better love it to our, you know, to our advantage.

Scott Luton (30:58):

I love it. Uh, and one final comment there. I think we we’ve talked about this before for Allison and, and if you, and I haven’t, I know I have with about a thousand of people, you know, we’ll call it 10 years ago. Maybe when the term big data became a, a big thing, what lean described every organization that invested in accumulating big data kinda reached to the a point a fork in road where, okay, great. We got all this data that we paid so much money accumulate, but what do we do with it? You know, that was such a, a, um, uh, uh, a critical time for so many. And then as lay describes, eventually, you know, companies figure out a very savvy way of, of really pairing down what they really need, what are signals versus all the noise they can make sound decisions on. So I appreciate you sharing that with us lean. I find it fascinating. Okay. So Allison, where are we going next with the one only lean Richards?

Allison Krache Giddens (31:50):

Yes. So as you can probably imagine she does a lot of other stuff other than supply chain. So lean, you know, you seem a lot very passionate obviously about things, including serving others and, and paying it forward. So can you tell us a little bit, why is this important to you? And, um, I believe that there’s a certain acronym rain that I would love to hear more about. Okay.

LeAnne Richards (32:14):

So I told you about our mantra growing up. So now what I live by, like in our house is so much is given much is required. Mm. I worked hard to have a, you know, good career. We’re, we’re very comfortable, but I have experienced times in life when it was not like that for me. So, you know, I know the needs of people that need, and one thing that’s important to me in raising my child is that she understands the needs of others. You know, she’s grown up with a certain amount of privilege and I don’t want to, um, have her go out into the world, think that everyone, you know, has what she has, some of the opportunities that she’s had, some of the experience that she’s, you know, been able to experience. So, um, you know, serving our community is very important in our house.

LeAnne Richards (33:12):

It’s, you know, one of our foundations and fundamental things that, that, that we do. So, uh, a few years ago, I started an organization called rain and rain stands for realizing excellence in girls. Now I’m very passionate about, um, you know, girls empowerment. And part of it was a little selfish on my part with rain because, uh, my daughter was in middle school and I was scared. I’m like what? What’s coming, you know, you hear middle school stories, you hear high school stories, you know, how can I create a community of girls that are, um, like surrounded by excellence and expect excellent in themselves and also put out excellence into the world. So, um, rain is built on five pillars. One of them is authenticity. The word you used earlier, Allison, uh, entrepreneurship, health and wellness serving our community and then college readiness. So it was really just about, um, having girls and their parents come in and share information, share activities.

LeAnne Richards (34:28):

We were even able to do some things through the pandemic. We did some, um, video classes. We did some public speaking classes and things throughout the pandemic, but really just creating a space for girls to be themselves and, you know, find their passions, follow their passions and, you know, grow on ’em. So it, it, it is been, its it’s been a good journey. I, I, the other part of that is I started selling stationary items that, that are like excellence based. So I have pencils and stickers and just things that remind girls to, to be excellent. And you know, that’s not a bad thing. Right. You can be great. It’s not, it’s

Allison Krache Giddens (35:11):

Great. So, and that’s great because it, it’s true that you need to see those. You need to physically see those things for them to be manifest. Right. I mean, they have to, if you say it enough, loudly enough out loud, then it can happen. But that’s, that’s wonderful to have that sort of to offer those resources to young women because I don’t envy, today’s young girls that have social media that is constantly in the background and I, I just,

LeAnne Richards (35:37):

It was hard enough as a middle schooler.

Scott Luton (35:39):

Right? Exactly. Isn’t that the truth. It was hard enough in 1989 without having social media follow us on. Right.

LeAnne Richards (35:47):

Well, I, what we thought was peer pressure is nothing what they’re experiencing today.

Scott Luton (35:52):

Excellent point. Well, Hey, let’s make sure we include a link to rain and the show note, we, we will make sure we, we do that. And if folks wanna support rain, it sounds like they could purchase stationary, but they could also get involved in the programming any quick advice there. Yeah.

LeAnne Richards (36:08):

What I, I really love to do are, um, the classes. So we had another class that was finding your passion and your purpose. So, um, you know, always, always looking for people to get involved, to share their gifts with girl. Wonderful. So,

Scott Luton (36:24):

Um, you know, so speakers, I,

LeAnne Richards (36:26):

I would love the speakers. Um, you know, what, what, whatever your gift is, I’m a creative. So some of the things that I share, we’ve done cooking classes and you know, we’ve done some of the main hot chocolate bombs last year and, and cookie classes. So really whatever your gift is, because one thing I found out, which was interesting, two girls, they were like, wow, we really like, you know, we really like cooking. And one of them is like she was in middle school, but now her mother said that, you know, she’s thinking about going like the culinary route. Wow. So, you know, you never know what gift that you share with someone else is gonna spark, you know, a, a lifelong, either interest or career agreed,

Scott Luton (37:12):

You know, to that end, I’m gonna botch this quote <laugh>, but you know, Francis Francis of a sissy, right. You know what I’m talking, I’m talking about, I’m sure I probably mispronounce his or her name, but Hey, there’s a, there’s a great quote where they talk about, you never know who is hearing the sermon, you’re preaching in any given day. And, and they’re using that sermon as an analogy because it’s whoever, you know, it it’s, it’s however you present yourself in that day. So to your point, you never know the epiphany that your actions and your messaging and your leadership, whatever it is, how that can impact others and, and awaken something in their blind spots. So I love that component of what you’re doing there and beyond with rain. Uh, so we’ll have to, uh, we’ll have to talk more so, right. So I got just a couple more questions for you.

Scott Luton (37:59):

I will keep neither one of you from what I’m sure a very busy day, but a beautiful day here in the Atlanta area, I’ve got my window open. So if y’all hear a Cardinal or a squirrel, they’re having an epic battle here re recent days. <laugh> all right. So picture this lean picture. This you’re addressing a room full of college students, a big all auditorium. You’re at the, the Ritz Carlton in New York city, Oak big Ole Oak panel room, you know, thousand people sitting there on the edge of their seat, waiting to hear your advice on how they could break into industry and perhaps advance. What would

LeAnne Richards (38:37):

You tell them? So I would give them three tips and I think it’s applicable to any industry, any function applicable to life. I’m gonna go back to authenticity. The first thing, when you walk into a room, be authentic, bring yourself, bring your ideas to the table. Don’t make yourself small. Don’t take up space in the room, you know, everyone’s different and your DNCE will make a difference. So that would be my first, uh, piece of advice. The second advice, the second piece of advice I would say is foster relationship with people. And that’s not just people within your functional area where you’re working, or, you know, your job build relationships with, with people throughout your organization, because when people trust you, they, they help you and you help them. You know, um, I mean, you, you never know where your paths will cross in the future.

LeAnne Richards (39:44):

You never know, um, what the future holds. So, um, and I say this mainly because I’ve grown up over the last 18 years in a relationship company and I’m see the importance of relationships. If I go back to my first job that I talked about was my learning experience with ACO. I didn’t know people call it politics, but I don’t even really like to call it politics. I, but I didn’t know. I, I thought I would just had to go and do my job and do a good job and everything’s gonna be great. It’s so much more than that. Right. You know, it’s really about the relationships. And that’s what I didn’t know then that I know now. And the third piece of advice, I mean, this sounds cliche, but it’s so true. And, you know, I tell my daughter this, and I tell anybody that, you know, young enough to start their path or change a, or I guess it doesn’t matter how old you are, do what you love. Um, you know, do what you want to do every day. And you’re not gonna wake up miserable to have to do it. <laugh>, you know, um, you, you wanna be passionate about what you wanna, do you wanna feel good about pouring yourself into what you do? So all my pieces of advice,

Scott Luton (41:01):

Outstanding

Allison Krache Giddens (41:03):

Authenticity. I love those. I do too. Those go ahead. Those are great. And, and you know, what also reminds me of earlier when Leanne was talking about entering into that position and not knowing if she had everything to get there, I think lean you’re, you’re helping young women and, and the next generation to not have that mentality to go into it with confidence and recognize, Hey, I like this. I think I can do it. I know I can do it, period. That’s that’s a really cool, that’s really neat. Give, give forward

Scott Luton (41:37):

That you do agreed. I, I, I really think what you described there, Allison, you know, you, you, you also mentioned on the front end that we, we should set up a whole, we should set up a panel to discuss that. I think that that appears to be, you know, a really big deal and a big hurdle for folks to get over. And as, and as you said, many women in, especially in the industry. So, uh, I appreciate you both kind of speaking toward that and, and I love those three authenticity relationships and do what you love, do what you love. Okay. So one final question, and then we’re gonna make sure folks know how to connect with you, Leanne. So when it comes to real leadership, not lip service leadership, but real leadership that makes it happen in whether it’s a pandemic or normal times, whatever normal times are, I’ve forgotten what that’s like. <laugh>, but what’s, uh, here, here in recent years, what’s a Eureka moment that you’ve had as it relates to leadership.

LeAnne Richards (42:32):

I think it’s kinda something we touched on a little bit, the best leaders empower their people. You know, people want to feel like they have the opportunity to make decisions. Nobody wants to be micromanaged. Um, people don’t wanna be baby sex, or, you know, and I think the, a pandemic brought out more of people’s abilities because, you know, if you were a manager or a leader that had the, um, propensity to micromanage, you didn’t have that opportunity anymore. You had to trust your people. You know, you had to trust that things were gonna get done. And I think a lot of people have grown through the pandemic of having a little bit more, um, autonomy to get, get things done. And the other thing that, um, I dunno, I just think it’s important. Maybe it’s just me because I’m just like, uh, I don’t technology, like you have to use tech, like you can’t be afraid of technology. You know, there are so many tools out there to make your life easier. And this goes for, because I think everybody’s a leader. I think personal leadership is as important as the person with the leadership title, but you have to use technology in order to not only advance just to keep up. So anybody out there that’s fearful of a system or fearful of, you know, what a system, you know, it’s not like you said, it’s not gonna break anything, you know, just,

Scott Luton (44:04):

You have to try seriously, just do it. And we, we had a, um, uh, a panelist from ACE hardware. Um, it’s been in part about six months ago, but they were comparing, she was comparing decision making prior to the pandemic when everybody was in the office. Mm-hmm <affirmative> to kind of, as you’re, we’re going through the rigors and everybody’s remotely, and it were, it was a decision related to, I think, expense reports, I believe. I can’t remember. And, um, pre pandemic was like, no, we’re not gonna change that. You’re gonna send all the documentation in. You’re gonna fed it, whatever it is. And then in the middle of the pandemic, as you got remote, it’s like, what were we thinking? We just need to do it. It’s not a big deal. It makes things easier on our employees. It is, let’s do it. So anyway, I really appreciate your message here today, Allison and lean. So Allison, we got some good news. I’m gonna ask you about here in a minute, but in how can folks connect with you.

LeAnne Richards (44:53):

So, um, the best way is LinkedIn. Um, you know, I’m on LinkedIn, I’m out there public, just, uh, looking up on LinkedIn and rain. Um, I’ll give you the link rain. So it’s by rain.com and, um, you

Scott Luton (45:08):

Know, connect my rain. Is that B U Y R B B Y B Y by range B

LeAnne Richards (45:15):

Y R E I

Scott Luton (45:17):

1. Yep. Wonderful. We’ll make sure we include that link. bahrain.com and connect with, and ill give you

LeAnne Richards (45:22):

Our Instagram as well. So I’m all over social media. I love social media, you know, <laugh>, if you do it right, it’s fun. It

Scott Luton (45:31):

Is. Yes. What is the Instagram? The

LeAnne Richards (45:34):

Instagram is by underscore rain.

Scott Luton (45:38):

Gotcha. Okay. Well, you’ve been a delight to talk with and, and frankly learned from, and I am so glad, uh, going back way back to the front end of our conversation, that you didn’t let that hurdle and that, um, inner question, the inner voice that we all have, keep you from from being the best you so li you got an inspiring journey and thanks so much for taking an hour of it and sharing with us here today. All right, fabulous. So lean, we, you and I get to celebrate some good news. Allison has had and her, her company. So Allison speak social media, something hit my social media other day that win tech, which you lead has gotten some big news. Tell us more.

Allison Krache Giddens (46:20):

Yeah. We were very excited to announce yesterday that we were voted best of Georgia, 20, 21 in the aerospace manufacturing category. So that was pretty exciting.

Scott Luton (46:30):

That is wonderful. That is wonderful. It’s especially in light of all the dynamics we’re talking, pre-show, it’s a tough business to be in, right?

Allison Krache Giddens (46:38):

It is, it is lots of unknowns and, you know, supply chain wise, the aerospace manufacturers we’re failing it too. So we’re, we’re really grateful so that the co the Georgia business journal, uh, puts on these awards every year. And they’re to, to see the other names on the list is pretty impressive. I, I suppose, I guess we got the small business side because the other aerospace manufacturer winner is Gulf stream <laugh>. So it’s pretty awesome to be on the list with, with such a great company as

Scott Luton (47:06):

Well. Well, that is great news. Hopefully you and the team have a chance to celebrate it, uh, then these crazy times. And congratulations, uh, it does surprised me one bit, you know, organizations tend to take the persona of who leads them. And so you Wintec and Gulfstream, you know, it makes a lot of sense to me. So congratulations. Thanks. We appreciate it. You bet. Okay, Allison really appreciate and, and enjoy these conversations we’ve had here today. Really appreciate you, uh, facilitating our informative, inspiring, entertaining conversation with lean Richard. So lean again. Thank you for your time today. Thank you for having me appreciate it. This was great. And let’s make sure by the way, and, and thank you for your time Al Allison, how can folks connect with you? Definitely find me on, on LinkedIn. I am all over the place on LinkedIn. Awesome. Well, a Allison really appreciate your time here today.

Scott Luton (47:58):

Lean a joy to get to know you listeners. Hopefully you’ve enjoyed this conversation as much as I have. There’s so much unpack here. We need really need to have like a bonus hour, but maybe we will have Leanne back and dive a little deeper on some of the things that, that, uh, came out in our conversation. Hey, be sure to find us@supplychainnow.com. Find us wherever you get your podcast from. So you’ll miss conversations like this, but most importantly folks, Hey, be like Leanne Richards, do good. Give forward. Be the change that’s needed. And on that note, we see next time, right back here on supply chain now. Thanks everybody.

Intro/Outro (48:31):

Thanks for being a part of our supply chain. Now, community check out all of our programming@supplychainnow.com and make sure you subscribe to supply chain. Now anywhere you listen to podcasts and follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram. See you next time on supply chain. Now.