[00:00:37] Good morning and welcome to another episode of Supply Chain Now. My name is Enrique Alvarez and I have the pleasure and pleasure of interviewing a woman who has made a very good career, not only at Mattel, but with many other organizations and I have the pleasure of talking with her. Mattel’s Vice President of Global Quality, Gladys Araujo. How are you? Good morning.

[00:01:01] Well, I am very happy to be here with you on your Play Change Now in Spanish. Thank you very much for the invitation, Enrique, my pleasure.

[00:01:10] The pleasure is all ours and well, based on what we were talking about before we started recording this show, I think we have a lot to talk about and it is a pleasure to have you here with us for all the people who are listening to us in Latin America and all over the world. If you like this kind of interviews and you like and are motivated by this kind of talks, be sure to subscribe. And well Gladys, let’s start a little bit with you. Tell us a little bit about your life. Where were you born? Where are you from?

[00:01:40] Of course it is. Look, I’m a regia, as they say here in Monterrey. I was born in Monterrey, Mexico, I was born here, I grew up here, I am the oldest of four siblings, I have one brother and three and two and two sisters. Tradition a traditional Mexican family is my dad, because he works full time, my mom dedicated to the home. My dad is a civil engineer and worked for more than 30 years in one of the industries here in vitro, but he always had thousands of jobs and was tireless to be able to support the family. As his career is a civil engineer and passionate about construction, he always had jobs outside of building schools, squares, bridges, buildings, houses, a little bit of everything as he says, and his lifelong dream and his purpose, because he did not say it to us, was to ensure that his four children would have a professional career and he was looking for and longed for it to be in a good institution. So all his work, all his savings, all his focus went into that. And something he mentioned a lot, that is, the best inheritance we can leave them is education. And from there, you also make your way. Another of the things that I learned, which is the seal that I carry to this day from my parents, especially from my dad, is to learn continuously in those times. Well, the truth is that it is not like today when there was internet, there was a bookstore on every corner, it is difficult to get books in English, etcetera, and the way it was done in those days was, I don’t know if you remember Enrique, or if it was your turn, they sold you from house to house and encyclopedias.

[00:03:35] I consulted the Salvat Encyclopedia and the Encyclopedia Britannica.

[00:03:39] And I want everything in very large collections of more than one hundred, two hundred books and I don’t know, everything.

[00:03:47] A heritage. It wasn’t whether it was really a strong buy, because they weren’t cheap, because

[00:03:53] This was a very, very heavy investment. But they believed very strongly in education, that the typical weekly payments or monthly payments and I don’t know, but it was a big investment and it was Christmas for me the day I got to my living room and saw the monster of boxes full of books and I can tell you that I practically read them all, from my childhood to my adolescence and what I learned is to love books. I learned that through books you live many lives and gain many experiences and from there I consider myself as they say in English On life long learning of continuous learning and so to this day.

[00:04:41] It is not very interesting. And yes as you say they were definitely the technology was not so advanced to put it in some kind way, but no, how interesting. And well, it is clear that you had a very important example of life and work, both from your father and your mother. Maybe you remember something like a good Mexican family, something that your mom constantly told you or something, some memory like that that helped you and pushed you to get to where you are now.

[00:05:11] Well, look at this one. What I saw a lot of at home was work. My father, as I was telling you, worked during the day, worked in the afternoon, worked at night. So I guess as they say actions speak louder than a thousand words. So the example I was seeing is that even after long hours of work. She would read until 2 3 in the morning and on weekends, always doing activities or crafts with her children. So this is something that, as they say, are things that you live day by day at home and that leave a mark on you, right? So, what I always said is the importance of education, so that’s what I think really remains in my DNA from those times and what I think is the most important thing in my DNA.

[00:06:01] Of having touched a very interesting era. You didn’t say he worked for Vitro and at that time I imagine it was still a monopoly. I worked for Vitro, it was my first job.

[00:06:10] Hey, who wouldn’t

[00:06:12] You said that in some of its

[00:06:14] Meetings with the mayor

[00:06:16] I was in the middle of it, but I think he had played in Monterrey. In general, all industries were really booming, growing rapidly, taking their place in the world,

[00:06:31] It was an industrial epic, that is, Cemex, bitro, brewery, etcetera. All great entrepreneurs.

[00:06:41] Well, tell us a little bit about your professional career. You told me a little about yourself, about your childhood, how you moved towards logistics, towards quality, towards what you do now.

[00:06:53] Look, I studied Chemical Engineering and I graduated from the Tec with all my father’s illusions and I was very happy. I was passionate about mathematics, chemistry, engineering and I graduated and I said no, I want to work in a chemical plant and since I studied chemical and systems engineering, which is the Haitian part, at that time I was not a man, it was revolutionary. So I wanted to work on the process control part, in a way it was to combine the page, I mean the, the, the, the technological issue with the chemical engineering issue. Hey, I don’t start looking for a job and with something very specific, not this one. Most of all, they didn’t want to hire me because I was a woman.

[00:07:37] Really? Well, that’s very interesting, but before we get to this part, which is a little step forward, why not a little step back? Why chemical and systems engineering? So because

[00:07:52] This is a very good question. It’s a good question and one that will lead us to a very important leg further down the line. Actually, like some of your listeners, I was in high school, I didn’t know what to study, the only thing I knew and the only thing I told my father was that I don’t know what I want to study, but the only thing I know is that I want to study something in which I can help people, I want to help people, etc. So I said to myself, well, if you want to work in this, you have to do something like social service. And he said Well, that kind of careers are here in Mexico, in Monterrey I had not had oil in Mexico City, I was not willing in my mind, I could not change my residence, go to live alone, go to work. And I said well no, so I really said well, what other skills do I have that I would like to explore and reviewing the available careers because that’s how it was before or already.

[00:08:50] No

[00:08:50] It’s what you dream of and it’s what you get. Yes, and this was because I really liked mathematics, I was doing well, I liked chemistry and I liked and had the concern for the systems part that was the new thing that came from O when I was in high school was when the first Macs came out. We must place ourselves in time. I know that I look 25, but well, I decided to study Chemical Systems Engineering and I told myself that in any career one can really help others. So I said well, let’s explore that career. And that’s how I decided to enter the career of Chemical and Systems Engineer and then I was passionate about it in my mind.

[00:09:37] He said he did not have, but he did not yet have the knowledge. Did you fall in love with the career and the profession as you went along?

[00:09:44] Yeah, no, I didn’t like math and chemistry and systems and then I fell in love. But I think that if they told me, hey Gladys, you’re kind of crazy because it’s really very difficult. The race starts with x number of people, very few finish, there are no women, you are not going to get a job. I mean, I didn’t think that

[00:10:04] Just breaking through

[00:10:07] He did not turn a deaf ear, that is, he did not believe. And then when I graduated, that’s when we got back to the point, right? Then I started, I saw how my classmates, I mean some of them, even I mean I was one of the most outstanding there in the career and I saw how everyone was finding a job and I didn’t and then I got the courage and I asked myself, hey, why is it that I was missing, right? Because they will be jobs for recent graduates. He says no! What happens is that I look in chemical plants and in the part of process control. He said No, because there are no security uniforms, no shoes, no bathrooms, no this, no that. And I stayed for the first time in my life I was hit with a bucket of cold water. Then I began to understand why I couldn’t find a job.

[00:10:56] And the difference is so great that today, unfortunately, there are still many in all countries and we must try to resolve it,

[00:11:05] Of course, and then they have been changing and it has been changing a lot. So that’s when this advertisement came out to work at Mattel, in the Monterrey plant as a quality testing lab supervisor. Then I remember back then, the man who is now my husband, who was my boyfriend, told me look Gladys, this is a very good opportunity, they are looking for chemical engineers and that is something that happens a lot to us women, we want to meet 100 percent of the requirements to dare to even raise our hands to a project or to a new position, I said no, I do not meet more than 50 percent, I am not going to apply. And then he insisted again for a week or weeks. Hey, he keeps coming out, he insisted again and I said no, well no, and then they took two or three little things away from him. I was saying Well, you have already fulfilled 70 percent, I was saying okay, I’m just going to go to please you, but not because I’m fulfilling my 70 percent, I’m just going to go to please you, but not because I’m fulfilling my 70 percent.

[00:12:07] Repeat more and look no further.

[00:12:10] Not now, but that is a very good lesson, which I talk about a lot with the girls in the inning, and we are just now talking a little bit about this project to support women executives. So imagine the opportunity that would have been lost when I now have a whole trajectory, an opportunity to work in different parts of the world in different roles, for the simple, simple, simple reason that I don’t meet all the points. So something that I started to learn at a very early age, but that was reinforced, like every two or three years, is that you learn along the way, that you have to get out of your comfort zone to learn and grow and that you have to overcome your fears in order to do so. Because everything you seek and everything you long for will always be there.

[00:13:00] And more so because you were probably like many people applying and competing with men who don’t even have 10 percent and say they have 100 percent.

[00:13:09] I admire them and I admire them,

[00:13:14] But I don’t think it’s normal. I mean, I don’t think it’s necessarily about sex. It’s a little bit of society and culture and what you said that has led us to believe that certain jobs are for men and others are for women and it’s totally wrong. I’m so glad you broke, you broke a stereotype in the race and then you broke a stereotype at work.

[00:13:37] And then what happened was that after I was progressing well in the interview, which today is the part I told you, that I learned it at an early age, but it has been reinforced through the years when I said, hey, but Gladys, I have never managed people and I am a recent graduate, I am going to have 35 technicians in my charge, I mean, it did not fit in my head. And then the reason they wanted to hire me was to start up and build the first chemical lab in the entire Mattel system. And I said but me. I mean, how then the lack of confidence, the fact that one can learn along the way, to overcome that fear and obviously it was something that I longed for and that I wanted, so even with the fear I said yes, I’m going ahead and thank God the truth is that it went very, very well. Obviously we opened the chemical laboratory, there were other vicissitudes of terms there.

[00:14:37] Gender,

[00:14:38] They told me where is the how? Who’s to say where your dad is to negotiate, right? Because I was 21 years old at the time, but well, data and facts change the conversation in five minutes and make you focus on what you need to focus on and this one. And then I started to grow, to have more areas of responsibility within the quality area. That’s why I studied the Master’s Degree in Quality and Manufacturing, because I wanted to be competent enough for the other time.

[00:15:07] It happened that they ended up obviously hiring for that position.

[00:15:12] As I entered one year to two years, I was already having other areas under my responsibility and each year I was having more areas until I had everything that is the quality area. And then there’s the part about at that time it was new ISO 9000. In fact, there were no cash register companies here in Mexico.

[00:15:30] It was not the first company to open the laboratory of.

[00:15:35] Monterrey, globally, globally, globally, globally, globally. And then who was going to say hey, that

[00:15:41] Pride in being Mexican and in Mexico. Because that is the other side of the coin that one always expects to be opened in France, or in the United States or in Germany. The first was in Mexico,

[00:15:52] The things we have done proudly Mexican and in fact I was the first expatriate in Malaysia of the whole Mattel system, Nigeria and there it is. They didn’t even know the procedures, but well, we have known the gap in many things and they told me that now we want you to be responsible for the implementation of the ISO 9000 quality system in the whole plant and again. Hey, I don’t know anything about these. I didn’t, nobody knew who I was. Don’t worry, we know you can learn, you learn fast and you will succeed if you hide fears and we all go for

[00:16:31] That you also had very good bosses and mentors. I imagine that because on the one hand you are being brave and breaking stereotypes and paradigms and daring. And on the other side there has to be the counterpart that gives you the opportunity. And that already shows that Mattel has a very strong culture.

[00:16:46] Yes, I totally agree, very, very blessed, because although there were not many women in leadership positions, I always had men who were role models and who believed and supported me to continue growing within the organization and so I climbed up the ladder. Then came another opening, a plant opening, and four of the then managers were selected to be promoted to management, to open the plant. And General Narayen told me in Monterrey, in Monterrey, the general manager of the existing plant was going to be the general manager of the new plant or an American. So he said to me, “Hey Gladys, I want you to join the team, but I thought that in quality because I came from quality, I already had my master’s degree in quality. I also studied for a Master’s degree in Organizational Development because I realized

[00:17:41] That I had expected. You already skipped two, three parts there. At what time? What did you study?

[00:17:45] Two, and I had three children along the way.

[00:17:49] Well, like your dad, then you would fall asleep at 2 3 in the morning, all

[00:17:53] The days in 4 hours I slept with 4

[00:17:55] Hours are you fresh? Yes, that’s the secret.

[00:17:58] Now, now, I sleep more, I sleep more this one, but mostly the organizational development part, because I came from very technical areas. Then I realized with the ISO 9000 quality system, that you can have the best work system technically speaking, but if people do not accept it as a way of life and not as more work, but as better work, I began to understand the part of the people’s culture. I was passionate about all that and I think that was one of the success factors, right? Because mixing the human part with the technical part and technology is really a catalyst for the processes of transformation and growth in organizations. So that’s why I studied the Master in Organizational Development.

[00:18:48] And also for

[00:18:51] At ADM, at UNAM I studied it and at TEC I studied manufacturing and quality. Then Dan Dan Gilbert, who was the one who talked to me and said hey, we want you to be part of the team. I was super happy because I wanted to be at the opening of a new plant, because I saw it as a giant laboratory. To be able to put the best of the best into practice

[00:19:14] It is forgiveness. Let me interrupt you again that at this time Mattel is manufactured. What are Barbies?

[00:19:20] There are many, but not Barbies and Hot Wheels, which is part of the core business of manufacturing materials in Asia. That’s why I was there working

[00:19:28] What was the plant of

[00:19:30] That it was the plant. Mainly it’s Mattel’s accessories for Barbie, such as campers. The number one toy worldwide is proudly produced in Monterrey, which is the Barbie Dream House. These were made 100 percent in Monterrey for the whole world. So if

[00:19:49] Fun as a woman to work in a company that really your first product is good, you have the cars but you also have the Barbies. I believe that

[00:19:56] Yes. It is an environment

[00:19:57] Fun and a lot of fun for you.

[00:20:00] No, as soon as I set foot in the plant I said I belong here because I am surrounded by toys in the quality part. See the functionality, the durability, the safety risks and know that every piece of toy brings happiness to a home.

[00:20:18] Hey and your children who

[00:20:21] All the toys they had and played with the boxes.

[00:20:26] Like everything else, like all the children in the world,

[00:20:28] If they played with the toy boxes, then what about me? Gladys says to me, but we want you to be the director of Materials and then me in Choco, because I was saying

[00:20:41] The only thing you hadn’t studied was

[00:20:44] Production Planning, Master Planning in Development, Suppliers, Import Export, Warehouse Control of shipments,

[00:20:57] Eulogies totally another dimension. I am

[00:21:00] I stayed. I mean, I thought he was even wrong. And me, yes, I am of quality and you are offering me the position to materials management. And I told him, obviously I was very happy to be part of the team and to start. And of course I wanted to be there, but I tell you this Dan. I all my experience is in quality and this is a new area and it’s a startup plant this mess. You are aware that I don’t have the experience to do that. And Gladys told me something very important that I need you to be very clear about. I can go out to the market and get in the blink of an eye, well, maybe a hundred people who have the skills to do the job we are looking for. But for me the most important thing is two things is that they have leadership and they make things happen, or if you want to look at it as leadership that makes things happen and that’s not easy to achieve. Moreover, throughout your career you have shown that you are a person who learns and learns fast. Yes, then with what they told me, I got rid of everything and the fears. And besides, don’t worry, we’ll have a year to train you. So, with these issues, we go forward with all our fears and everything. So that’s where I started the part. That’s why I also studied at Thunderbird, in Arizona, the Master’s in International Business and interacted with

[00:22:40] With part of this capacity, etc. in the year.

[00:22:44] Yes, and then I started to open up to international negotiations, the logistics chain, commodity management. You know well because you’re in that industry, it’s huge, because everything you have to learn in the McEwen supply chain. But I was passionate about bringing the one engineering hat, the 2, the quality hat. Three, Organization and Development, as it was a successful bomb. Why? Because when you go to negotiate and look for opportunities with suppliers, I got to know more than 100 processes. It is then easier to identify opportunities to reduce costs, negotiate better and ensure quality and demand the quality you were looking for. So it’s all in out. This one helped me a lot,

[00:23:42] Very much

[00:23:43] To be a better negotiator, to ensure that innovations or cost reductions are not detrimental to quality and safety. And if we obtained this, then the cost benefits that the company needed and obviously put into practice everything that was in vogue at that time, that the direct line canvas, this BMI, this all of suppliers and start to bring suppliers that would come to relocate to Mexico.

[00:24:19] How interesting! It is very very complete your totally a school, a master’s degree in supply chains. How interesting! And they opened, they opened the plant successfully, I imagine us

[00:24:32] It went very well. And this plant and that it is also so as information

[00:24:36] There is at that time, because

[00:24:39] There was a lot of entrepreneurial talent from our principals. The main competitor is Hasbro and Lego are the main east. However, in the United States, we have been number one for thousands of years and Lego is doing very well right now, but worldwide for a long time as the number one player in the toy industry, especially in terms of quality, safety and product innovation and what we manufacture or the reason for this new plant, because it was a new plant in Mexico, was to bring us the U.S. operation. I was involved in many transfers, many openings, integration of new operations and new sharing or supplier localization activities. This at this time was the manufacture of Power Wheels. Power Wheels is one of our. Also iconic brands, electric detachable jeeps and is like the automotive industry in the toy industry. In fact, many of our protocols and we even share suppliers with the automotive industry. Within the toy industry there are also the protocols of the food industry, because we have for example Piqueras that have to be FDA, cosmetics, fabrics, clothing. So many people say ah, they are toys, but really the protocol of a toy is quite high because it is designed for the most vulnerable person, which is a child or a baby, who is not only going to use but also abuse the product. And that product, after being because we do drop programs, stretch programs, etc. has to continue to be safe even after abuse plus the additional protocols we have to put in place depending on the type of product. So the reason for opening that plant was for the automotive industry. In the toy industry, which is the ruins of the world, they are manufactured here in Monterrey and are exported.

[00:26:47] Narayen are still being manufactured to this day,

[00:26:49] They continue to this day. The reason we are also here is because our main market is the United States and Canada for Power Wheels. And because of the proximity and you’re talking about the size of the product, it’s practically a refrigerator. They are very, very large products. So you know, the cost of freight and transportation is impossible to bring it from Asia and then that’s where it came from. It’s good, there is a historical moment there, isn’t it? In the history of Mattel’s toy industry, well known by the media, in 2007 we had one of the strongest corners in the history of de de. It was found in one of the lead carts and this one. But it was in a monitoring of the Goodwill carts, in a monitoring that was done in our own labs and this one there. I was in the Supply Change area, at the opening of the plant. I was here in Mexico and this was happening in Asia and this we have manufacturing schemes, even with suppliers that manufacture the finished product and others with our own plants that manufacture the mate corvina. So this then is found. That was a voluntary record

[00:28:11] On the business side or was it on the

[00:28:13] What was in the year of the supplier supplier supplier supplier? What happened was that subcontracting was done that was not allowed.

[00:28:22] And that’s where the quality, the quality control moved a

[00:28:25] Little. Yes, so that’s where we start. This was made the voluntary record, we ourselves recognized the situation this was collected all of the

[00:28:38] A company, from everything you have told me, with a very, very strong culture, with very well-established values for

[00:28:46] Main unwavering integrity. And it was in those moments that we saw her in action, because many of the companies what you don’t see in a company is that you don’t

[00:28:55] They are hard to avoid

[00:28:56] They can’t preach them but not really exercise them because you can even lose business with such a situation. But all the time it was communicated to all Mattel employees what was going on, what was being done. In fact at that time, emphasizing unwavering integrity. It was the first time Mattel was as in a nominee and by Forbes not Fortune as one of the best companies to work for. Normally it is done in the last quarter the release, but in the summer, like in June, more or less this happens. It was also another historic moment when they said hey, they should be there, kill him. They did not question it and decided to do something that is not normally done, which is to reapply all the surveys. So, to see if we continue in this list of the top 100, then it says that this happened in the second quarter and about the third quarter and they were already doing the surveys and what do you think happened? Shall we or shall we not meet this one? Well, we not only stayed, we even improved the place. I don’t remember the numbers or anything.

[00:30:07] It is impressive what many other companies may have wanted to hide or would have wanted to turn around, that is, by being responsible, honest and good with an unwavering integrity policy. Did it help you in the end? I was told it was a tough few years, but at the end of the day your image and the trust your customers and Mattel’s suppliers had in you went up because of being honest. In other words, to assume responsibility. But this is what we learned from our parents when we were five years old. Basically, it’s no big deal, really.

[00:30:41] Neither is correct, but these are very difficult decisions only when financial issues are involved.

[00:30:47] And I totally agree.

[00:30:49] And suddenly, impressive. However, all employees felt very proud and it was reflected in that. In that issue and this one and I in a process of rebuilding the overall quality system. I was in materials, in the start-up, in the plant. Then I started to work globally with all Mattel plants, implementing this process of improvement and strengthening of the system in

[00:31:16] Another position or the

[00:31:18] Other. I moved, I moved from a local materials management position to a global senior global Quality Building management position. And then I worked on that for a couple of years and then I had the responsibility for quality. I stayed a little more in quality, in quality. In the Americas, I was responsible for the plants in Mexico and Canada, which had acquired mega blocks. This is LEGO’s competence, integration, putting it into ISO 9000 quality system, building laboratories. I worked in Brazil for a long time, I spent a lot of time between Mexico, Brazil and Canada, about two weeks in each place. In Brazil it was the development of suppliers of finished product for the quality side, the development of the market in that region, in that region and this and also at that time, as part of the rehabilitation process. I’m starting to cross the dates, but more or less there is more or less this one. I was also given the responsibility for the laboratories at the global level and the laboratories at the global level, because we are talking about two that belong to Mattel and 40 that are in the outsourced manufacturing scheme. So, in fifty-two testing laboratories, now without mechanical, electrical, chemical, opening of laboratories and the most important thing is the transformation in terms of implementing the ISO seventeen 025 quality system, which is stricter than the nine thousand for testing issues of test development and ensure standardization to 100 in any laboratory in the world and digital technology integration transformation in those times of with the implementation of a system that we call limp, which is Laboratory Integrity Management System to have full visibility of the operation at any time. Even the test equipment is interconnected.

[00:33:23] It was not yet from Monterrey.

[00:33:26] I imagine that well, here I was, if not, I was not in Monterrey, but it was a post, the truth. For example, in my case I have many years, nothing to do with the pandemic between remote work of global, virtual and multicultural jobs for centuries, right? So I was managing this from the Monterrey operation as a base in Monterrey and then the relocation comes later. Let’s say he brought.

[00:33:54] Tell us a little bit because that’s very interesting on how you ended up in Malaysia?

[00:33:59] Yes, then I was working with the laboratories and with America. So, in a way, the integration of the Canadian plant was achieved, the development of the Brazilian market was achieved, and the global RI Building and the integration of the laboratories were more stable. Then comes the opportunity to work for Mattel’s core business, which is Barbie Hot Wheels, which, as I mentioned, is manufactured in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and China. So the eastern base had to be in Malaysia. So I with my family, my three children, my husband and I in 2015 to two thousand, almost twenty, this at the end of 2019 or so this we were living and working, studying in Malaysia, on an island called Penang, that’s where one of the plants is and well there was from the perspective of quality, but I’ve always been very close, well everything that is manufacturing.

[00:35:02] How interesting to be in a country

[00:35:05] Extremely

[00:35:06] Remote, very different, that is, it is not

[00:35:08] And so he continues as he wishes to continue. The same thing I was telling you, what I learned from a very young age has been reinforced in the sense that Gladys, you know. It’s a different country now, isn’t it? So, and it’s not only another country, it’s another literal world, because it’s another culture, it’s a Muslim culture. This and this is prayed five times a day. It is a very, very devout country. This, therefore, women wear their burqa. In fact, in the operational facilities we have as they look like ballrooms, so gigantic, because they do scheduled shutdowns of about 15 minutes in which part of the protocol is I wash my feet and go to the room to do my prayers facing Mecca. This is separated into men and women. So you have to have a very large room for men, a very large room for women. In other words, you have to adapt the manufacturing processes to the customs and respect them. They practice Ramadan. Meals are also different. Es es es. It has a whole protocol of prayer and how the animal is killed so that it does not suffer. So the food is different. They too this as they do not eat this pork. They also have the process of Ramadan which lasts 40 days where you fast during the day you don’t eat, don’t drink water and nothing else. At night you can eat food. These mosques are like the Starbucks in New York on every corner are beautiful because they pray before dawn, like at noon, at dusk and then at dusk at one or two, that is, before dawn, then at about twelve o’clock, then in the afternoon and then at night. They are something like this. It’s five times a day, five times a day.

[00:37:18] I’m sorry to interrupt you again, but all these things that you have talked about are very interesting. Which one was the most difficult for you? Adapt. I was told that this was all new to you and your family. Account

[00:37:31] What is

[00:37:33] An incredible and unforgettable experience as well

[00:37:35] And obviously it’s as much for my family as it is for me, because it really was from eating. It was totally different from the machine food they sell here, it doesn’t taste like the one over there they don’t use. For example, it’s not that they use chopsticks, Malaysia is different, it’s not China. Sometimes they confuse Malaysia with China. Southeast Asia is another, another people from another area. Instead of using knife and fork, they use spoon and fork. Then from there to how to split the meat using spoon and fork. This is where it all starts. And the bathrooms, I mean, there are regular bathrooms, but they are also the bathrooms. Well, right? This and even in places well, then this and then feeding, socialization. You can’t. For example, my husband, whoever shakes hands with a woman to greet her will leave him with his hand stretched out to the side. You can’t, you can’t touch the reality of the question you ask me this one. We enjoyed it immensely. I think some people don’t adapt as easily or don’t have as much flexibility. We love diversity this. I feel that because of that experience both my children and my husband and I, this the, to see that there is and at such a young age to be exposed to different ways of thinking. Tolerance

[00:39:10] It is a lifelong learning that you were able to offer to your family.

[00:39:14] And your vision changes. From my perspective, leaders are not born, they are made and how they are made is through the diversity of experiences, through diversity, in the ways of thinking and in the inclusion of those, of those you are a better leader because you have greater versatility and even that which they call the leader’s intuition. Well, from all of that behind you, then what we saw is that in Malaysia in particular, as it was a British colony, apart from speaking Malay, they speak English, which we are very fortunate with and there are British schools which is where my children can study, but there were a lot of nationalities by themselves. Malaysia are the are three cultures, it’s the Malay which is like 70 percent or like 20 percent are the Malay Chinese and 10 percent or so are the Indians, so. Once on a day-to-day basis it already seems without the expatriates. You see at a discussion table, at a negotiation table, you can see a Malaysian, an Indian and a Chinese. It is in this diversity that diversity greatly enriches decision-making, innovation, creativity and thus supports teamwork. If you know how to handle inclusion and additional, because there are other cultures because there are many expatriates, mainly from Australia, England in New Zealand. These are some of the main countries in other countries. I didn’t know where we were and they didn’t know where we were because there were no Mexicans,

[00:41:04] Not the only one.

[00:41:05] I guess they told me that if she was Russian I believe it because of the accent, I don’t know.

[00:41:11] Hey, so what? What an incredible experience, isn’t it? Beyond the professional part and beyond all that you must have learned, I believe that the human experience that you and your family had is enviable. I imagine that, as you said, it’s not something I’m looking for. It will accompany them for their entire life. It is not something. And there you were until 2019 then or until when?

[00:41:35] Yes, yes, like 2016, in 2019.

[00:41:37] And all this. You were the global vice president of

[00:41:39] Quality today was this vice president of quality managing Southeast Asia. It is also

[00:41:47] Of course, according to the regulations in India and

[00:41:50] Well, there, there, what started to happen also has to be placed in Supply Change, it is always inherent in all this. We have to see that one of the main trends in Supply Change for different reasons in the past was remember that it was very strong, because the political war of tariffs between China and the United States. So many global companies have been looking to diversify their manufacturing to other countries outside of China, to be able to overcome these restrictions. So, when I was there, I was in charge of supporting from the quality perspective that had a strong control in the supplier’s development to be a strong supplier to Mattel’s standards, which sometimes in third world countries are not necessarily the same standards.

[00:42:47] These standards are very

[00:42:48] Today we have to take them by the hand. It was then decided, like many other companies globally, to start diversifying into India and Vietnam. So that’s where I had to collaborate in that part, and then with all the COBIT, this continues to reaffirm more for the global industry, to be closer to your market and look for ways to localize to avoid disruptions in the supply chain. So, that is also why right now one of the projects I am working on is called Mentoring Activities or localization of suppliers in Mexico and South America. Toy manufacturing, right? Because our main market is in the United States. So we are looking to be closer to our main market and that is precisely why we are coming back from Malaysia to Mexico. And there I spent a year working in a special assignment here in Monterrey, because I changed hats, I went to Manufacturing and Operations Engineering, Supply Chain again and all that. This is what we are looking for. Well, we are still working on that, but it is already well underway, it is to consolidate a manufacturing business in Monterrey in which manufacturing from China, Canada and other plants in Mexico will be located, so that this mega site will be the one that produces and sends everything to the United States. So you can work practically for me there was no pandemic. It was this four because it was a challenge to grow the plant from a thousand people to 4000 and transfer products.

[00:44:41] That has already happened. That’s what it’s all about in

[00:44:43] 2020 2020.

[00:44:46] All that is already done this way. Mega The Mega is a manufacturing and

[00:44:50] It is still working right now. One part was missing and it is already in place and the only thing missing is to integrate the Canadian part and it is already working and this and then finish this assignment of transferring the Mexican part from the Mexican part of integrating it. The Asia thing is to ensure the growth, the indicators and well yes, it was a big pride because it was done when it was ratified in December, which is what I am most proud of. The satisfactions that come from the same people. You’re talking about technicians, leaders, supervisors, that I was asked to put my handprints on. Obviously this is not a common occurrence in manufacturing because the transformation that had been achieved in terms of improvements and growth, and this plant had already been announced in the media that it was going to close. But then came this one, because the radical change

[00:45:50] Not only did it close, but it became the most plant.

[00:45:52] So people were very grateful to keep their jobs and not only to keep their jobs, but to grow and give more jobs to more people. And so now I am back to Corporate, although physically as I am in remote work I am in Monterrey, but I work because I am in Los Angeles, this in the quality area, but now I am in several very interesting projects in the digital transformation in Taiwan, but in the quality part we are working on the implementation of an Enterprise Quality Management System, which is to integrate all the operations in a single digital platform. That is quite an ambitious and obviously transformational project. And also, as I was telling you about another of the projects, everything is on track if we link it to what you and I are doing, which is Global Supply Chain, what we see in terms of trends and strategies is not only in Supply Chains, but also in digital transformation in general. The other is the eastern localization part, either of raw materials or finished product. Well, I am working now in Mexico and South America and in Haiti we are working on that. The part of looking for sustainability in the projects I am working on is to manufacture with bio resins and 100 percent recyclable, since most of the components are 100 percent recyclable. Sustainability is the other thing that is coming, you know that now it is no longer in fact we are no longer called supply chencha, now there is value, change and value.

[00:47:41] Well, now it is to everyone. Now we do. After the pandemic, everyone now appreciates a little more what was being done in the supply chain,

[00:47:48] No longer from counting key players and to the heart. So you know that now in the supply chain you have to do more. What does this mean? For example, if you have a distribution center that used to only distribute products, now they make added value. In other words, they become a value change. And there are also networks that you have to collaborate with, because you don’t necessarily have the nou of everything to make things happen. Because what about the customer? All for yesterday.

[00:48:21] Their impatience has been much greater.

[00:48:24] Product is the service, it is the experience, it is the entertainment. We no longer sell toys, we simply sell movies, we sell videogames, we sell experiences. In the retailers we had to make a whole transformation process that many companies are doing. So also part of what I am working on is those distribution centers. Now they are value-added issues, which also carry a system of

[00:48:52] You’ll never get bored, it seems to me. I think you have a job and you have had an admirable and exemplary career and trajectory, extremely outstanding. And I feel proud to be able to interview such a talented Mexican. I really think it is important to point out that Mexico and Mexicans and Latin Americans and Latin America, all the people of Latin America have enormous potential and play a very important role in supply chains and in many other industries around the world. Then, thank you very much. I’m going to change the subject quickly because we could talk about it for another hour, three or four hours, and in fact it might be worth doing another interview if you are willing. For me it has been a great, great honor and a pleasure, as I was saying. But I do want two specific things. One, if you had to give yourself one piece of advice 20 years in the past, what would it be? What about all this successful trajectory you have had? What advice would you give yourself?

[00:50:05] Now, look, the advice I would give myself may sound very simple, but I’m going to tell you. It is that it is. It is to keep in mind that no matter the challenges, everything will be okay at the end of the day. What I mean by this, as I see life, is that we have many goals, both personally and professionally, for me they are at the top of the mountains and the fact of climbing that mountain is already a significant work and effort to achieve that goal. However, I do not see it as a straight line to reach that goal, I see it as a zigzag that has ups and downs, ups and downs and each of those downs are situations that happen to us, they are challenges that I see as mandatory that we have to live, but at that moment we do not understand them, at that moment we feel that we are drowning, that we are suffocating. Sometimes we even have to crawl in order to overcome those challenges, be it a loss of a loved one, an illness, a job. I mean, we didn’t talk about the personal part, but obviously I had strong challenges where I felt like I was never going to get out and you wonder what for? And as the years go by, you find out. The why is not immediate.

[00:51:31] This one I had the loss of a baby, had cancer, survived a fire. Then there are very difficult moments that knock you down, that knock you down, that you feel you can’t take it anymore. But looking back on it, from each one of those moments and those challenges, there is a learning and it is a superpower that you have to acquire, because if you don’t have that superpower in the next stage you are not going to make it. You need to build that resilience or those experiences that you had to live with each challenge so that you can overcome in a better way in the following challenges. And so on until you reach your goal. But you should always have the peace of mind that it is hard to believe. I can tell you that because of my age and experiences, sometimes it took me up to five, eight years to understand why it happened, but it was so that it would happen five years later and so that I would really be ready, because if that had happened five years ago, I would not have been ready. So this is the universe, this is wise. We have to have that confidence, because the challenges are going to be there, it is part of life, we have to face them and we have to move forward. And many times there I’m going to link it to something that we’ve been talking about throughout the talk, the day.

[00:52:57] Before, before we get to it, because that was actually my second question did you beat me? And the question but I want them. Well, I want to thank you for the openness you have had with me today and for the strength and your character and I mean, it is clear that you have been very successful, it is clear that it has been hard work, it has not been easy and again we interrupt you to say thank you. I think this has been a very good interview. I am sure that many people are listening to us and you are not only going to give them additional information about supply chains, but a little bit of inspiration for the daily life of each one of us and the example to follow for many women and many girls. No, thank you. And now if the second part is simple, you tell us why I also like the desire to give to others and the way you have helped.

[00:53:55] Your involvement in what was going to complement the challenges and the mountains was more than anything that sometimes in those zigzags that you go on your way to your goal, this when you say a good one that are mandatory, they are learning and they will help me. But at the same time there is a part that we have talked about throughout the conversation, which is overcoming fear, getting out of your comfort zone and that sometimes you have to overcome those fears in those, in those potholes, because if not, maybe you get stuck and you will never go up, you will never even live the experience of what you had to live and learn to overcome the following challenges that live in your life and to reach your goal. So we need to not stay frozen and this and have the courage that I know is easier said than done, but even with fear and your knees shaking, you have to take the step, you have to take the step forward this. But, well, I think that now

[00:54:57] I have it and I’m actually looking at it a little bit and I want to obviously be very respectful of your time also this one was going to offer you better. How about telling us a little bit about this other topic which is your passion for giving to others, for helping others and all the help you had to Lenin Hospital when it is in Malaysia. All of that is extremely interesting to me, I would like to, if it’s okay with you, obviously, and I don’t want to commit you live either, like we can always edit it already, but would you like to schedule another time just to talk about that? But right now not a little bit either, a little bit is a little bit your part that integrates who you are as a person. And I think it also reflects Mattel’s culture and values of helping others, because I think that’s very, very impressive and something worth mentioning.

[00:55:51] And it will be a pleasure to come back to you.

[00:55:54] Let’s do that because I know you are. Let’s give it some time, tell us what you have done to help others with the organizations you are so passionate about and also what Mattel has done to help people in general. And let’s talk. We learn another call to tell only about that subject.

[00:56:11] Of course it is. And that theme is going to be linked to something we mentioned here at the beginning. Remember that in the beginning I told my father that I wanted to study something in which I could help people. So from that I have also learned that whatever you call your life purpose, sooner or later it finds you and sooner or later it crystallizes. But you have to be attentive to the signals that the universe sends you. Maybe in my case it was surviving a fire in which I decided to stop being indifferent and help more, especially women, young girls and children, which are the causes that I perceive now and that we are going to talk a little more in detail about the interesting things they are doing. And also how you can perhaps initiate your own projects of change and transformation and transcend. I believe it is the best way for us human beings to truly transcend and realize a purpose in this life.

[00:57:15] Thank you very much. Again we are going to schedule this call that many, many will want to hear for all of you who are listening to us again. Again my name is Enrique Alvarez, this has been one more episode of Supply Chain Now in Spanish and a great pleasure to talk with Gladys Araujo and as she has already committed live it will be minimal. We will have another more detailed episode to tell us a little more about his experience after the fire and how his professional and personal life, I imagine, was transformed to help many other people. Gladys Again thank you very much, an honor and a pleasure. You have my full support and thank you for the great example you have set for us.

[00:58:01] Thanks to you.