The lifelong adventure of solving problems. Re-imagining #customer service. Leading in a time of crisis. Uplifting communities. Any one of these elements would make for an exciting career — and GE Appliances VP of Distribution Marcia Brey has experienced them all. Join Scott and Enrique as they follow Marcia’s journey from her grandfather’s mentorship to a bold career in #engineering, reinventing customer service and throwing out the old playbook in the face of modern challenges like #COVID. And don’t miss her sage advice for aspiring supply chain leaders!

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 (00:32):

Hey, good morning, everybody. Scott Luton and Enrique Alvarez with you here on supply chain. Now, welcome to today’s show Enrique, how you doing?

Enrique Alvarez (00:40):

I’m doing great Scott, super happy and, uh, excited to, to, to be with you. And then also to talk to our great guest today.

Scott Luton (00:46):

I’m with you. Uh, I, I love that you’re back with us. I know you’re, you’re traveling the world as we’re all getting back into, into, into real life. I R L as which I hear is a thing these days <laugh>, but this, this conversation is gonna be a good one. We’re gonna be talking with a supply chain leader that has risen through the ranks from an appliance design engineer through to a role as a manufacturing plant manager, all points between, and now in the executive position where she leads all facets for the us distribution network of a very well known brand. So stay tuned for a wonderful and intriguing conversation. Enrique should be a good one. Huh?

Enrique Alvarez (01:20):

It should be a good one. Yes, for sure. 29 years. I think it’s, uh, her experience with this organization. That’s, uh, that’s a long time.

Scott Luton (01:28):

Agreed. She’s got stories and books to write undoubtedly. So Hey, with no further due, let’s welcome in Marsha bra, vice president of distribution with GE appliances Marsha, how you doing?

Marcia Brey (01:39):

Hi. I’m great. How are you, Scott?

Scott Luton (01:41):

We’re doing wonderful. Uh, we love, I mean, this is, we love doing, doing this every day. So being able to meet a new, uh, supply chain leader and kind of, uh, get know you better and also get your, your point of view on what’s going on across the industry. Uh, this is, Hey, this is what we do so great to see you again and where we wanna start Enrique and Marsha. Wanna get to know you better. Uh, Marsha. So, uh, that opening question that we always start with is, Hey, tell us where you grew up and give us some anecdotes or two about your upbringing.

Marcia Brey (02:10):

Okay. Yeah. Thank you. Thanks for having me on, um, I’m excited to share my story with you. Um, so I’m a hometown girl. Um, I grew up in Louisville, Kentucky, which is our headquarters here for GE appliances actually right down the street, um, from where we’re located really? Uh, I did. Yeah. And, um, you know, geo appliances is interesting. We’re actually, um, in Louisville, Kentucky, which is a large city, but we’re in the middle of a neighborhood <laugh> and so you wouldn’t necessarily even know you’re coming up on appliance park and, um, we’re very, very large organization. We have our own zip code, um, you know, um, but growing up right down the street, I really didn’t even know this was here. So it’s interesting, you know, how life works out. Um, you grow up, you know, 20 years and then realize, Hey, I’m gonna spend 30 years of my life, um, going forward here.

Marcia Brey (02:58):

But I, um, you know, my, uh, childhood and, and growing up and, you know, going to high school, um, I never imagined that this is where I would be. Um, and my journey has really just had a lot of twists and turns and, um, it’s been something I never could have scripted, but I wouldn’t change one thing. Um, I love it. Um, so maybe just a couple stories growing up. Um, I come from a modest family. Um, didn’t have a lot of money. My, uh, parents, um, were, um, my mom’s a, a teacher and, uh, my dad’s a insurance adjuster. So engineering and, you know, being in the corporate world was really nothing that I had grown up or experienced. Um, my mom went back to school, uh, well went after she had me, um, to get her teaching certifi. So I spent a lot of time with my grandparents.

Marcia Brey (03:46):

Um, my grandfather was a, a welder, um, blue collared, welder, welder, and, uh, lived on a farm. And so, you know, uh, I loved my grandfather because early on, I was never a girly girl. My, my mom, you know, bought me dolls and dresses, and I preferred, you know, barefoot and <laugh> dolls apart. My grandfather realized this and, um, you know, he had me in a welding hood and weld, um, you know, being on a farm there’s something always broken. And, um, so I would follow him around, we would fix things together. He would show me how to use tools. Um, we would go to neighbor’s houses if they had problems, you know, maybe they needed something fixed. My grandfather was like, the guy you caught in the neighborhood. So took me around. And, and I, I found a love for building things, you know, using tools. I wasn’t intimidated by ’em because I, I grew up, you know, my life like that. And, uh, so anyway, so I,

Scott Luton (04:41):

I, let me ask you a question really quick, Marsha, uh, your grandfather’s name, what’s his name? What was his name?

Marcia Brey (04:48):

Ray Castella.

Scott Luton (04:49):

Ray Castella. And what, so it sounds like he had a heart forgiving and helping others. It sounds like

Marcia Brey (04:56):

He did.

Scott Luton (04:56):

He did. And we’re gonna, we’re gonna, it seems like that’s part of your DNA and we’re gonna touch about on that later, but, uh, how it, I could just almost picture y’all walking through and, and taking the calls and fixing stuff, whether it’s on his farm or neighbors or whatever that clearly has been experiences that, that, that, you know, continue to impact your journey in, in terms of the leader you are today, is that right?

Marcia Brey (05:20):

Absolutely. You know, that empathy of, for people, my, my grandfather taught me, um, everyone, you have a chance to learn something from everyone you meet mm-hmm <affirmative>, and it doesn’t matter who they are, what walk of life they come from. Um, you treat people with respect and I saw him do it. Um, I followed him and emulated what he did, and I feel it today. You know, it doesn’t matter where you are in, in the organization, there are problems to solve, and there are people out there who understand and see that problem from different perspectives. And the more you can understand more, you can go see, you know, using lean. Now, now that I know more <laugh> right, how corporate world tends to put things together, but, um, the more you can make relat have relationships with people that they feel comfortable bringing problems, um, and they feel comfortable showing you, you can solve a lot of things really fast, and you can do it in a way that brings people closer together. And that, you know, you’re right. I guess I never thought of it like that, Scott, but that is something that’s fundamental. It’s important to me as a leader. Um, and it’s something that I strive to continue to grow. Um,

Scott Luton (06:29):

In my, it comes across, it’s like emanating. Uh, it really does really quick Enrique. I bet this resonates with you. And before, cause I, I got a quick follow up question about Louisville. I want to ask Marsha, I don’t wanna change gears just yet. Enrique, speak to what Marsha was just sharing there.

Enrique Alvarez (06:44):

Well, at the end of the day, I think she’s right. And the quote that I even read was, uh, you have a chance to learn something from everyone you meet, right. Regardless of, kind of the personality, the background, the culture, the religion. And I think that’s something that’s not only incredibly powerful, but I think that it’s something that that’s somewhat, or it feels like it’s somewhat missing these days, right. With all this different sides of things and the way that we’re trying to PLA polarize, uh, society. I think that’s, uh, that’s a great quote. And it sounds like your father was an amazing person.

Marcia Brey (07:14):

Yeah, my, my grandfather, he, he was, uh, he was absolutely an amazing person and, um, you know, and I appreciate the time he spent with me and it’s something I hope to pass on to my kids and, um, you know, and the people that I work with too, to, to give them that respect that my grandfather did, you know, to a young girl who very impressionable, but it really made a difference.

Scott Luton (07:33):

Love that Ray Cabel. Is that right?

Marcia Brey (07:35):

Ray Cabel yes, sir.

Scott Luton (07:36):

Okay. All right. Wonderful. So really quick before, we’re gonna talk about engineering more in a moment. Uh, but food, we love talking food, uh, here at supply chain. Now what’s one dish that is inseparable from your upbringing in Louisville.

Marcia Brey (07:51):

Oh. Uh, inseparable from my upbringing would have to be my, uh, grandmother’s, uh, pot roast, um, and city chicken. I don’t know if, I dunno if people know city chicken, but in Louisville, if you go to the butcher and you ask for city chicken, it’s all the leftover meat that they put on a skewer and Sunday night either got <inaudible> or we got city chicken and I love city chicken nights. So

Scott Luton (08:12):

<laugh> love that. That’s

Marcia Brey (08:13):

My thing. City chicken Louisville, you can ask for city chicken. Of course. Hot Browns are really big here in Louisville, Kentucky too. But, um, but my family’s city chicken.

Scott Luton (08:22):

I love it. Okay, wonderful. Now that you’ve made us starving for city chicken, hot roast and hot Browns. Uh, let’s talk about engineering. Uh, so what, uh, if, uh, I don’t wanna answer the question. I think part of what you’ve already shared might partially answer this question, but what got you interested in engineering, and then we’re gonna talk about your degrees here in a second.

Marcia Brey (08:42):

Yeah. So certainly love for building things. And, um, you know, my, I, I really give a lot of credit to my mom and dad. Um, again, not knowing engineer. I remember when the word engineering first came up, I looked it up in the encyclopedia cuz back then we didn’t have the, look it up in a book. And, and I was like, and at first I’m like, no, it’s not the railroad it’s it’s. And um, you know, I, I, I knew I wanted to solve problems. I love building things. And my mom kept saying, you need to be an engineer. You need to be an engineer. And I’ll tell you an interesting story. I, in high school, you know, you, at least at the time you took tests, you know, the kinda like where aptitude test, where would you fit in? And for whatever reason, I never did test well, by the way, early in school.

Marcia Brey (09:24):

Um, but I, um, I came back and my counselor told me, I said, Hey, you know, she’s where do you wanna be? And I was like, I wanna be an engineer. And she was like, mm, no, I don’t think that’s a good stick for you. <laugh> you need to be a teacher. So what she told, so I come home, you know, and I’m like, Hey mom, look what happened? Oh, she was furious. <laugh> she’s like, you are not gonna be a teacher. You are gonna be a phenomenal engineer. Don’t let anyone tell you what you can and can’t do. And, um, so I did. And so I, uh, I applied to engineering school and got in here at U of L university of Louisville speed school. And I actually ended up doing incredibly well. And I found my passion, you know, I, I love the labs and, um, I loved working in teams and I loved solving problems and I love the technical aspect of the job. Although you’ll you’ll know, you know, my career, I didn’t spend, I’ve spent probably about third of my career, very technical, but, um, but the fundamental foundation of what I do on a day to day basis for 29 years is solving problems and using that engineering mindset of how to do that, um, has been key for me.

Scott Luton (10:29):

And so you’re like almost an engineer’s engineer because you didn’t stop with a, a bachelor’s, you’ve got an advanced degree, um, a master’s I believe, uh, Marsha and engineering as well. Um, so how does that beyond what you’ve shared, how does all of that education and experience at formal education and, and experience, how does that impact your approach to solving business or even supply chain challenges?

Marcia Brey (10:54):

Yeah, sure. Actually I have two masters in engineering <laugh>

Enrique Alvarez (10:58):

Oh, wow. <laugh> wow.

Marcia Brey (11:00):

You know, so some I’ll tell you, I have, my personality has changed a lot, but when I was younger, um, I love making plans. I had, my life was on a spreadsheet and I said, here’s what I’m gonna do. And I, I really did fall in love with solving technical problems. And I said, Hey, I love to learn. I got my master’s in mechanical engineering. And then started working here at geo appliances and realized in order to continue to grow as an engineer, I thought, well, Hey, I’ll go. I wanna keep going to school. So I would, I went to school part-time and got a second master’s in quality and reliability engineering from the university of Arizona long distance. It was one of the first long distance programs they had. Um, of course long distance is, is normal now, right. For everybody. But wasn’t then.

Marcia Brey (11:41):

And, uh, because that’s what I thought I’d be. And, and I wanted to go to the best school for quality and reliability. Um, university of Arizona does a lot with NASA, you know, uh, there in Tucson, Arizona. So that’s what I did. Um, now looking back on my career, I will tell you that if I had known where my, my life would lead me in my spreadsheet, wasn’t really accurate. Um, an MBA would’ve served me a lot better, but, um, you know, to your question, it’s all about having different tools to solve problems. And what university of Arizona taught me was around probabilistic design prob you know, mechanical design. So, you know, there’s certainly factual you input, you know, X, X plus Y equal Z inputs, equal outputs. But my continuing education taught me about probabilities and it taught me about, you know, there’s a boundary of, of success. There’s not a point answer. There’s, you know, you, you can find it in this range and you need to be able to keep an open mind about what really are you trying to solve? What risk are you willing to tolerate? Um, and so it’s, like I said, it’s all about problem solving and, uh, has served me really well.

Scott Luton (12:45):

Well, so I’m the oddball here. So Enrique I’m gonna pass Baton, but before you jump into GE appliances Nique, I believe you are a degreed engineer. So.

Enrique Alvarez (12:55):

chemical engineer as well, I can relate to the math and engineering part of it, for sure, but don’t Hey,

Scott Luton (13:00):

Since y’all two masterminds, let’s not talk any math or, or any high level, uh, highfalutin. <laugh>

Marcia Brey (13:07):

No linear algebra.

Scott Luton (13:08):

Yeah. Thank you. Thank you, Enrique. Where are we going next with Marcia Brey.

Enrique Alvarez (13:14):

Marsha? Thank you so much. I can totally relate with your engineering background and, uh, of course, uh, having lived with your grandfather, building things, fixing things to, uh, GE appliances, that seems like a very natural path, a very natural career selection. Could you tell us a little more how, how it happened after you graduated?

Marcia Brey (13:35):

Sure, sure. So, um, you know, I, it, it does really fit well, uh, wanting to solve problems, wanting to build things, um, and wanting to solve, you know, work work and make life a little bit better for others. Right? How do you do that? And that’s really, you know, when you think about G appliances, now we’re a company, um, that designs builds services appliances for the home and every day, every one of us in subway are interfacing with your appliances, whether it’s in the kitchen, it’s in the laundry air conditioning, um, water products, um, that’s what we do. And so, um, and, and you probably don’t think of appliances as being very technical. Let me tell you, um, there are more electronic boards and a refrigerator than there are in, in most computers or other things that you have in your home. Um, the technology that we have today and how we design appliances for consumers, um, is, is really top of the line.

Marcia Brey (14:32):

And so being able to be part of an organization that doesn’t just build millions of appliances a year, we design and are thinking about what’s new, you know, how can we use technology, uh, to, to create something consumers can make their lives easier to make it easier to cook, to make it easier to clean your dishes, to make it simpler for the activities you don’t wanna think about every day, like laundry, for me specifically, <laugh> we can make that simple, um, and, uh, and be able to do that. So, so it was a natural fit for me, um, you know, to think about geo appliances and, and where I started my career, I started designing washer, transmissions, um, and that was my wow, uh, job. And I loved it. I absolutely loved the technical side of, uh, that design element. And we build, you know, washer right here in Louisville.

Marcia Brey (15:21):

Um, and so being able to be at the factory, we have, uh, five full, you know, million square foot factories here at appliance park. So there’s a lot of variety as well. Um, you know, that, that you could get involved with. So, so that was, that was, um, you know, the reason that I picked, um, to work here at GE appliances. Um, but I’ll tell you too, you know, the reason I stay for 29 years I have learned is really about the people, um, and the people I work with every day. Um, not only challenge me to learn more, um, they, they have my back. They’re good people. Um, they, the, you know, I, they have helped me grow as a human, um, here and to be a better person. I, you know, like I said, my spreadsheet had unknowingly boundaries and limits on it, of what I thought I’d do in my career.

Marcia Brey (16:11):

And working at G appliances has provided a place where those boundaries were broken and people were able to help me envision much, much bigger aspirations. Um, you know, I went from a design engineer to sales and marketing and <laugh>, you know, my, well, my resume might not traditionally say I was qualified for those roles. People trusted me and, and having ambition and, and, uh, the drive that I could, I could do more than just be an engineer. Not that that’s bad, um, but I could get involved in the bigger aspect of the company. And that’s really where I found my passion is how can I lead at a bigger level? How can I be more involved to drive this company that I love, um, and to help build it and grow it on a bigger scale in order to do that, I needed to understand more than just the design engineering, technical side of it. And I’ve been able to do that. And I feel very fortunate, um, that my path led me here to geo appliances.

Enrique Alvarez (17:10):

No, it sounds like an amazing, uh, organization with a great, uh, culture. Um, and now if you could tell us a bit more about your current role as a VP of distribution, cuz you went from the technical aspects, Dew it to the culture, being important on the people to somehow you landed in our industry, supply chain logistics. Yeah. Which is another big shift, right? Probably not on your original, uh, Excel spreadsheet.

Marcia Brey (17:33):

Uh, no, well kind of, I mean I love the technical side, right. And I think there’s a lot of similarities of being in a design engineering role and then working in manufacturing quality, um, and distribution, all of which I have spent probably two thirds of my career in that space. So I would, I definitely classify myself as supply chain. Uh, that is my love. Um, it’s my passion and it’s, you know, it’s something that encompasses all, I mean, you have to know the commercial sales side, you have to know your customer, um, of what they want and then I’m in distribution at the end of the value stream. And so I have to be able to deliver what we promised. Um, and so having that broader aspect and understanding I think is really important. Um, I think to understand distribution makes to understand a little bit about our company.

Marcia Brey (18:19):

Um, it has been 29 years has been amazing. The last five years have been phenomenal. Um, you know, appliances is typically a really thin margin business. Um, and so, you know, the first part of my career, a lot on cost out, how do we maintain? But it was pretty much you grow at GDP. You know, it’s not, it, it, this year’s kind of like last year, right. And that’s kinda way it went the last five years. I mean, COVID of course, top of it, but, but the last five years have been an amazing growth for GE appliances. And, um, you know, we had a new strategy brought in that we will be the number one appliance company in the United States, which means we will grow and pretty much double our company. That’s pretty amazing when you think we were pretty big to begin with, um, and a new philosophy of zero distance.

Marcia Brey (19:07):

Um, and what I mean by that of the thought of how do we shrink this big organization of a company to be as close to the consumer as possible every day, what the consumer wants, how they’re thinking, how things change enables us to have more nimbleness and flexibility to respond to the cus to that customer, to the consumer. And so, um, you know, over the last five years, we’ve invest invested 2 billion in our, uh, business to grow. Um, and that’s a new products, new factories, new warehouses, new distribution centers. Um, we’ve created 4,000 more jobs, um, across our company, which is pretty amazing. And, um, and you know, the, the last thing I’ll sh I’ll share as I’ll talk about distribution is we flipped our culture and our organization. I should say, upside down. We were very traditionally five years ago, just like most corporate companies, you have your CEO, your CFO, they make the decisions of how we’re gonna spend money.

Marcia Brey (20:07):

What our goals are, financial goals were the number one thing we had to hit. Then you have your functional leaders in their, your sales, your marketing, manufacturing, sourcing distribution. Then you have the product teams, refrigeration, dishwasher, and so forth. And so it was very high RPL five years ago when we made this zero distance, we said, it’s not gonna work. If we don’t flip, if we’re gonna be zero, if we’re gonna be zero distance for our consumer and our customer, the product has to come first. That’s what they care about. They don’t care about our financial goals. They don’t care about, you know, all these other things, you know, things that this manufacturing team is doing. So they care about the product and how do we make the product first? Um, and so we created a micro, we call it microenterprise structure where a micro enterprise leg company, our CEO would even tell you his job is to support the microenterprises a microenterprise is the dishwasher team, the refrigeration team, the laundry team.

Marcia Brey (20:59):

I’m a platform leader. I support my microenterprise team on a matrix standpoint. So my job, um, with all of that said is I am responsible for moving finished good product from the factories or from our suppliers that we source from all the way through our distribution centers throughout the United States, we have 11 of them to our customers. And then we also offer, um, so transportation, uh, is in there. We also offer final mile delivery. So if a customer would like for us, uh, to install appliances, um, my team is responsible for knocking on Mrs. Jones door. I have your full kitchen set here, ready. We will unhook and remove your appliances and we will do full installation, white glove service for our consumers as well. So that’s my job and distribution. Um, I have the great honor of touching our consumers every day. My team does, I should say, and making sure that we deliver a great experience on time damage free, um, and providing the right service for our consumers

Scott Luton (22:02):

In our zero distance, zero distance oh, installed, right? Yeah.

Enrique Alvarez (22:04):

That’s amazing Scott. Right. And how it should goes. And the team goes from manufacturing to, uh, I guess having water coming out of the refrigerator or whatever it might be. Right. <laugh> right. It’s incredible.

Scott Luton (22:17):

I love that. Um, so let’s, I wanna shift gears a bit. Uh, you touched on a lot of things, uh, and it’s fascinating to hear from a, uh, organizational standpoint, uh, because you’re right. You’re right. And perhaps more so in the appliances industry than many others, right? Because we touch these things every day to your point. So I love how it’s consumer centric as product centric. Are we building the products that consumers are raving fans over? And that’s kind of some of the things I’m, I’m picking up here. And of course, frankly, I’ve had GE appliances. We’ve got some in our house right now and we’re raving fans. It’s very, we should

Marcia Brey (22:54):

Give a consumer of ours.

Scott Luton (22:56):

Definitely<laugh> part of the thing. Thank you. You bet. So I wanna shift gears shift gears though, because beyond everything you’re doing with GE appliances, you’re also deeply, uh, immersed in the greater industry. I’ll call it. So you chair Marsha, uh, GEs women’s network. So if you could tell us what that is and why more, perhaps more importantly, why is this really the service work important to you?

Marcia Brey (23:21):

Yeah. Um, so I am very honored to, I co-chair our, I’m the executive sponsor of our women’s network, um, with a great friend and coworker of mine, Christie setoff. Um, and so the women’s network is one of eight affinity groups that we have at GE appliances. Um, and the purpose of our affinity groups is to have purposeful representation of all demographics, all different thinking, um, to be able to help our company grow and to help more importantly, our employees have, have a place, have a space that they have a voice and can be part of our, our business, cuz sometimes you get lost in the just day to day business, you know, running. Um, how do we make sure that we see and respect people for who they are, where they are in this moment, right. Of their life. And so I have the honor of, um, being the executive sponsor of our women’s network, um, which represents, uh, our women, um, population.

Marcia Brey (24:17):

Um, our goal of our women’s network is equity. Um, I, I tell folks all the time, you know, I, I am here, um, on behalf of our membership to help support the views, the concerns, the problems of women, um, with the goal of ensuring that we have equitable opportunities, um, for all. And my belief is if we can help those issues and concerns of our women be known and we can take action on them, it will help all people, men and women yeah. And will make our company stronger. Um, it probably goes back, I guess, you know, we’re talking all the way to my grandfather of that idea of empathy and everyone matters every person counts. Um, and for the women’s network, that’s what we strive to do, um, for that. And I’m really, you know, proud to say our company, isn’t one that just has a group over here that meets every now and then.

Marcia Brey (25:08):

I mean our CEO, our executive team, um, we pull in and in fact I was on a call yesterday of, Hey, what does the women’s network think about this? And it was a benefit change that they were so, you know, we could get the team together and we could give them our, our input. Mm we’ve also driven initiatives in our company. Um, our women’s network, um, runs and supports our mentoring program for all people. Um, uh, but with a focus on women and sometimes we’ll have a special team that looks at women’s issues, maybe working moms for example, will, um, get together. We have men and women who are mentors. We have men and women who are mentees, you know, in this program. Um, one thing I’m, I’m really proud of accomplishment that we made, um, several years ago was a change in our gender neutral paid parental leave.

Marcia Brey (25:54):

Um, and so this was, um, you know, a topic that came up several times and, uh, through a lot of benchmarking and discussion, uh, we made a huge change to that benefit for all employees. Again, gender neutral, uh, where before we had maternity leave for four to six weeks, right? Depending on for women maternity. So the, the woman who gave birth, um, could take time off, but you know, the fact that we’re able to push now through and offer 12 weeks of paid gender neutral parental leave means that moms and dads, um, can take time off to bond with their kids. And, and it’s a, it’s a really important, I have three boys. I went through the maternity leave piece of it. And it’s, it’s not just making sure that, you know, new moms, new dads have opportunities to be with their kids is the fact that it’s the moms and the dads.

Marcia Brey (26:48):

We are not sending a message as a company to say, well, moms are the ones who should stay home. Maternity leave implies. We believe in the family as a company, it’s part of our culture. We believe in our employees taking time, be with your family. It’s a, it’s, it’s important to you. It’s important to us as a company. You have that time. So anyway, as something I’m, I’m really proud of it, it puts us now in the top echelon of companies, um, worldwide, uh, when you look at pay parental leave. And, um, but, but that’s an example outside, right? Women’s network has done

Scott Luton (27:17):

12 weeks, holy cow, uh, really quick. I wanna get your follow up thought here, but I wanna go back to something that Marsha shared, you know, we can learn so much from the Ray ellas of the world, you know, as you described him as I think, use your words, a blue collar welder, right. Folks that did it, they do the work. You know, I love the phrase of going to the gemba, you know, sitting down and learning from the folks that are masters and experts in what they do. And it’s not just in the, in the, what I’ll call the tactical operations, it’s their POV on life and the journey and, and their leadership. You know, we learned so much there cause everybody truly does matter. Enrique. What else did you hear there from Marsha that really sticks out to you?

Enrique Alvarez (27:59):

Well, like incredibly caring culture that not only believes in, uh, maximizing profits, but it feels like they go beyond what the financial gains of a company are, which is incredible. I think it’s something that’s probably going to be attracting a lot of talent, like the new generations, uh, Marsha. And I would love to hear your take on this really value companies like GE appliances, uh, that are that stand for more than just making money or just making great products. And I think this is, this is great. It’s a great example,

Marcia Brey (28:31):

Soke, if I could expand on that, um, it’s a great point. You know, I, I definitely see the next generation of leaders, employees coming into our company, um, expecting something different from their employer versus, you know, when I came in to work, um, 29 years ago, I, you know, kind of patterning off of my parents. I’m used to, you know, you come in, you put your work in, you put your 40, 50, 60 hours in and then you go home and that, that’s what you need to do to, to raise a family. But now, you know, there, there’s a higher expectation of companies of, if employees are gonna come in and spend that kind of time of their life with a company, it has to have meaning. Um, and they have to feel that their company stands for something that’s important to them. And the time that they’re putting in is valuable and will make a difference in the world.

Marcia Brey (29:20):

And, and one thing that geo appliances, um, has always done and has definitely putting more emphasis on is our involvement in the community. Um, you know, for me personally, uh, I have the great honor of representing GE appliances on the board for the American red cross Kentucky chapter. And, you know, when, when the opportunity came up for me to do that, I remember my parents always volunteered in the community and my kids got older and I said, yeah, you know, this is something I wanna do. And I, I always thought it’s me giving to them. I have. And I thought it would be, it was a three year commitment. It’s now 11 years. I’m still with the red cross. I have definitely gotten more out of that, um, relationship with the red cross than I have given. Um, and it has made me a better leader.

Marcia Brey (30:07):

And I totally understand, you know, this, this generation wanting, wanting to do more and wanting to be more, um, we are stronger as a company. If we can reach out into the community, which as a consumer product business, what better way to connect with the, the people who are potential customers of yours than to understand where they are. It also helps put things in perspective. Um, you know, we make appliances, there are life and death decisions and things that are happening out in our communities that as a company, we have the resources, the people, the knowledge that we can make our communities better and stronger. And we do have an obligation as a company to do that. And so I a applaud this generation coming in of saying it’s important. And I applaud our company for continuing to evolve those expectations to make sure that we’re delivering, not just for our employees, but because it’s good for our company, it’s good for our communities, um, to make that connection

Scott Luton (31:05):

Wholeheartedly agree. And, you know, I appreciate it. It takes, uh, these, these organizations like the American cross need volunteer, uh, volunteer leadership bandwidth. They need resources. They need the 11 years of, of service. You know, when I was in air force and based at McConnell air force base in Wichita, Kansas, uh, a tornado came through hoing to Kansas. It’s a tiny little town middle of the night, which is, was, is a bit rare for tornadoes. So we took a contingent there and, and volunteered with someone to clean up. And the very first folks on site, I’ll never forget it was this red cross red cross bus providing some comfort, little, little pieces of comfort, like coffee and, and a breakfast sandwich, you know, when folks have nothing. And the last thing on their mind is, you know, how can I make breakfast? So it’s, it’s amazing.

Scott Luton (31:49):

I appreciate what y’all do. And I appreciate GE appliances allowing, uh, their leaders and investing in, in these service initiatives. Um, so let’s, I wanna, before I flip, uh, flip it back to it, Enrique, you started kind of talking about, uh, what the now generations we call it here is looking for in employers and, and, you know, some of the things I’ve, I’ve learned Robin elbows with, with brilliant students, uh, from the college of Charleston, to the, uh, Arkansas university of Arkansas, to Texas Christian university, you name it, um, you know, they all also want to move into, you know, make an impact and, and move into the, uh, the, the senior executive levels. So what’s a piece of advice that you offer any of our listeners that want to be that next Marsha bra.

Marcia Brey (32:35):

Yeah, sure. So, you know, I, I come from to that question from a different perspective, because I did not think I would make it here. I mean, I’m just a small town, small town, you know, but on the outskirts of a large town girl who grew up, um, in a modest family, um, who, you know, really just, just wanted to help people just wanted to continue to learn and grow. And I, um, like I said, I’m so appreciative of where I am and the opportunities that I’ve had, what I would tell other folks is don’t be afraid of dream big. Um, you know, you, you don’t limit yourself by your spreadsheet, you know, on the first pass that you have and think that, well, that’s the way my life is gonna be. I, um, like I said, I’ve had a lot of mentors, uh, um, a lot of coaches, people who have helped me see more of what I could be than I could see myself.

Marcia Brey (33:23):

And so you gotta put yourself out there, you gotta take some risk. Um, you have to, you have to deliver, um, and you gotta put the work in, um, for sure. Um, you know, at the same time I really have valued, um, input. I, I call ’em my truth tellers. So, you know, it’s one thing to have coaches and mentors that you like and people that, you know, are gonna pump you up and, and, and cheer you on. Um, I so value the people who will give me the blunt truth. Um, I think I did a great job in that meeting. I think that project was great. And they’ll come in and say, you know, this came across a little run. Did you mean for a come across this way? You know, maybe you could have, you could have done this and really be humble and listen to that feedback.

Marcia Brey (34:05):

And I can’t tell you how much I’ve grown because of people willing. It’s hard, it’s hard to give constructive feedback, or it’s hard to hear it, you know, at times you keep your brain, you know, kinda open to it. Um, I, I constantly do that. And even where I am now, I mean, it’s, you know, being a vice president of a phenomenal company, um, is something every day I tell myself, you know, it’s not the title. I am not the title. I sit in the seat. I have, I have the privilege of sitting in the seat right now. Um, but every day it’s my job to keep getting better and to, to humble myself and to keep learning from others. And so I am still on the track, I would say, um, of what advice I would give to other folks, um, to be able to continue to grow,

Scott Luton (34:49):

Love that and to our listeners, you know, part of Marsha’s answers there, I think is so we all need to take it to heart cause we’ve gotta practice and be willing to learn how to effectively give constructive feedback as well as take it, both of those sides of the corner. So important Enrique so much here. Uh, this could easily be a four hour episode because I, I got so many questions I want to pose to Marsha, but for the second time, we’ll keep moving forward. Enrique, where are we going next with Marsha bra?

Enrique Alvarez (35:16):

Yeah. We’ll uh, switch gears a little bit here, but, uh, before that, I just wouldn’t say that I, yes, it’s inspiring everything you said, and it’s absolutely, uh, great to be talking to you, Marsha. I’m pretty sure that you’re, you’re gonna be a great, uh, example for many of our listeners out there.

Enrique Alvarez (35:30):

So, uh, yeah. Put the work, be humble. Listen. Great, great advice. Dream big. I’ve been, been taking lots of notes, so yeah, don’t limit yourself. Um, so changing gears a bit here, um, with all the experience you’ve had with the years that we’ve had last couple in particular being so challenging in many different ways, especially for supply chains and, uh, organizations like GE appliances, uh, what is, what are the things that you kind of, uh, keep a closer, uh, closer look at? What, what are your, your indicators, uh, that you consider important with this kind of changing economies that we’re living?

Marcia Brey (36:07):

Yeah, so, um, you know, having a world view of what’s happening, um, is so critical to being a supply chain leader, you know, nowadays, um, in the past, uh, we would rely on what happened last year, last month to predict the future, and that’s not true anymore. Um, and so there’s a lot of nebulous. There’s a lot of unknowns. And, um, so it is, it is critical. Um, you know, for us being a global company, I watch, um, what’s happening over in Asia, um, a lot with the ports, how transportation is flowing, obviously the war in Ukraine and the impact that that is having, um, into the United States. And of course, you know, right now the, um, union ports are in negotiation and how that could possibly impact, uh, things, um, the lack of labor, um, and, uh, the, the constraints of transportation, um, and warehousing, uh, you know, all, all the same thing.

Marcia Brey (37:06):

And then our customers, and probably that’s where I would start is our customer expectation is changing as fast as the world around us and the supply chain factors are changing. And, you know, and if you don’t keep your eye on both sides of the coin with that customer being first, you can sit there and think, well, Hey, I have all these risk abatements and I have flexibility and I have options, but my customer just moved in terms of what they consider to be good. It does not matter that your supply chain is working for yesterday’s problem. It has to work for today’s problem. And, and so I have more of a voice towards our customers, our microenterprises leaders, the way my company is, is, um, you know, organized to make sure what is most important to them and to our customers is the main problem and what I’m focusing on.

Marcia Brey (37:54):

Um, we change our, I hate to say we change our strategy because I would’ve said like five years ago, whoa. That person’s like all over the place. Well, now, if you think you’re gonna lock in a strategy and you know, I, I, yeah, we used to plan five years and lock it in a year and lock it in. It’s good to plan. You need a plan, which you gotta be willing to move off that plan and pivot and stop working on some things and start working on others. So, right. That’s where I am focused every day. Um, and every week, how do I make sure I’m delivering for my customers and what my CU, what I think is success. My customer also thinks is success.

Scott Luton (38:29):

Uh, I love that have a plan, but keep the window open.

Marcia Brey (38:32):

That’s right.

Scott Luton (38:33):

<laugh> when you gotta throw it out. Uh, so <laugh>, let’s, uh, um, so much, uh, there, I think a natural follow up question, Marsha is the Eureka moment, clearly, just from your answer to Enrique’s question, uh, there’s so much that you have learned organization has learned. We as, as supply chain professionals have learned over the last few years, um, what’s one Eureka moment that that is a gift that keeps on given for you. What, what’s your, a strong Eureka moment you’ve had in recent years?

Marcia Brey (39:06):

Yeah. I’ll, I’ll share a story with you if that’s okay to answer that question. Um, so you could probably tell, you know, being an engineer with two master’s degrees that I love process and equations and things to fit into patterns, I like finding chaos and patterns and chaos and making that work. The job before this one, I, uh, was asked to lead our business continuity plan for COVID our, our COVID response. Um, I was very honored and very humbled. Um, I did not know a lot about pandemics as you would not expect an engineer perhaps to, but, um, every day was a, a day of learning. And I remember very early on, you know, our CEO. So I was working with him, gave us three key focus areas. And he said, look, he said, we, I don’t know. We don’t know what’s gonna happen. But first and foremost, we we’re gonna take care of our employees.

Marcia Brey (39:53):

Second, we’re gonna keep this business running the best we can and take care of customers. And third, we’re gonna get back to community. And I wrote, wrote that on the whiteboard. And so in my planning, I wanted to put a playbook together, right. Cause who, right. We’re gonna, okay. We don’t have a playbook on a pandemic. So let’s write one. And I went out and started researching and all of this and did a lot of work. And I had, I had a core team, you know, I was co-leading with a really good friend of mine. She’s our head of security, um, here in Lindsay. And, uh, we were like, Hey, this is where we wanna go. And I, three months into it, everything we put the playbook, nothing was relevant. I couldn’t, cause every day was something different. The CDC was changing the guidelines. Now we have this new variant, how is it transferable on product, you know, on paper?

Marcia Brey (40:34):

You know, is it airborne? Is it, I, I don’t know. Right? We, we, we didn’t know. And I’ll tell you my Eureka moment. There was you can’t plan for everything and not having a detailed plan to execute does not mean that you’re not a good leader. What’s more important is trusting yourself in the moment, trusting your team, going to see don’t waste your time, cuddling in a corner and trying to put all of the rules together of how you’re gonna operate. What’s more important is being there with the team. Who’s experiencing the pro problem in the moment, listen and see what’s going on. And trust that we work the problem in front of you and trust that your team will be able to come up with the solution there. You don’t have to then try to fail. Like I gotta go look it up in the book and say, oh yeah, there’s the problem you have. Now I’m gonna go find it in this playbook I put together. And here’s what we do. You’ll figure it out there. Cause you’re gonna waste a lot of time putting all these what ifs together that may or may not be true in this situation. And you gotta trust yourself and I’ll tell you it was like a burden lift off me. And although I, I would’ve said when the, when the vaccine comes, the pandemic will be done and we’ll go back to, to my, what I, I still love.

Marcia Brey (41:48):

I love that. It’s not, it’s not, there is no normal. There is no normal stop expecting Marsha that there is gonna be a normal and that you’re gonna be disappointed every day. So don’t, don’t do that live in the moment, work the problem in front of you have a plan. I’m not saying don’t have a plan, but, but allow yourself some grace that you’re not gonna know everything that’s gonna happen tomorrow. You can’t anticipate everything, but you can be great at solving that problem that comes up and you can pull the right people together. Cause we got great people here and those people can solve anything that’s in front of ’em and you gotta trust that. And I’ll tell you, like I said, it’s, um, it’s changed the way I think of leadership. It’s cha I’ve, I’m calmer. <laugh> I think I’m not as uptight and, and you don’t let things bother you AB I can absorb a lot more uncertainty now because of that mindset change that I had.

Scott Luton (42:41):

Wow. And, and Rick, I bet you’re chopping it a bit that speak to some of what she just shared.

Enrique Alvarez (42:46):

Well, incredibly powerful. Right. And so true. Just, um, having a good team then trusting the team. I feel like that’s part of the cultural organizational change that, uh, corporations will have to go through. Right. It’s uh, goes hand in hand with purpose and, and, uh, and having a higher purpose. So yeah, this is, this is great. It’s um, it’s been a, it’s been very challenging couple years for everyone. Uh that’s for sure. But, uh, trusting your team. That’s very powerful.

Scott Luton (43:13):

So two quick thoughts from what I heard Marsha shared there, uh, the first one is the guideposts, you know, three things that the CEO laid out there, uh, taking care of the employees, taking care of the customers and invested in community, you know, sometimes over the last couple years, fast as much of a plan as we’ve had.

Scott Luton (43:29):

And that’s okay is what I’m hearing, which is good because if you’ve got those guideposts, it’s gonna, you’re gonna find the right plan. You’re gonna find the right actions. Uh, you’re gonna find the right ways to support the team and, and to make an impact. And then secondly, Marsha kinda what you, uh, wrapped on there is we’ve gotta embrace our inner bounty. Y’all remember bounty, the quicker picker, upper, right. <laugh> absorption, you know, I’ve never thought about bounty as a leadership principle, right. Because Marsha you’re absolutely right. Perhaps more, more now than ever before we absorb so much because we’re constantly connected, right? Social networks, email, slack, you name it. We’re constantly getting bombarded. Uh, we all are regardless of where you, you know, where you are in organization. So we gotta lean in to that inner bounty moments and, and, um, the characteristics, I hate marsh. It sounds like you are a study in leadership. You’re a constant student leadership, real leadership, and we’re gonna have to have you back. Uh, but in, you know, as we start to wrap here, how can our listeners, how can folks out there that, that, that come across this conversation? How can they further connect with you and GE appliances?

Marcia Brey (44:40):

Yeah. Um, so, uh, of course I think I have, I work at a great company and would encourage, um, folks to check out, uh, www.ge appliances, co.com, which will give you more information about our company, what we believe in. Um, if you wanna learn more just about our principles and, and beliefs. Um, you know, for me, I’m on LinkedIn, um, I’m active there. And so you’re certainly welcome to, um, to search me, search me up there on LinkedIn.

Scott Luton (45:06):

Wonderful. It’s just that easy Marsha bra really have enjoyed our time together. It went by just like we knew it would, but we’re gonna do a check in with you maybe as we get, uh, further into the rest, uh, rest of the year. And thank you so much, uh, for sharing your journey and, and, and your insights and experiences and expertise with our listeners here. Thanks so much, Marsha,

Marcia Brey (45:29):

Thank you for having

Scott Luton (45:30):

You bet, but don’t go anywhere. We’re gonna wrap. I’ve got, I’ve got a surprise question for Enrique, uh, Enrique doesn’t like surprise questions, but Marsha, we’re gonna surprise him with a quick question. <laugh> um, you bet. Well, you’re, you know, there’s a lot of humility here and Enrique is very humble, but, uh, Marsha, uh, Enrique and his organization vector global logistics won the champions of humanity award just yesterday when this is, you know, as we’re recording this just yesterday at the 2022 supply chain of procurement awards. Uh, and that was very richly deserved. One of the many initiatives. This is where y’all have a lot in common, I believe beyond engineering beyond kind of, um, kindred spirits and, and, and kind of that, that global view service, service service, real action and results, focus service, as what I’ve heard, both of y’all speak to one of your projects, Enrique you and your team is the leveraging logistics for Ukraine project, uh, supply chain.

Scott Luton (46:24):

Now we’re, we’re, we’re very, uh, honored to be, uh, your partners there. If you would just quick, quick blurb about what you, what you and the team are trying to do and how can folks get involved.

Enrique Alvarez (46:35):

Of course, of course. Well, we’re all trying to, uh, we’re all trying to help the millions and millions of people that have been impacted by this stupid war. I don’t have any other words to actually say it. So, uh, that’s kind of the way I feel about it. Uh, I think everyone at my company and, uh, around the world and many other organizations are angry and that this continues to happen. Um, and so we’re trying to help out there’s, uh, millions of refugees in Poland and Moldova in other countries around the Ukraine. So what we decided to do was, uh, have this every other week calls with different organizations and then help them not only sponsor freight into those communities and into that region, but they also tried to, uh, help in match making those connections.

Enrique Alvarez (47:22):

And we had amazing collaboration from, from different organizations in the us. So it’s been, uh, amazing to see how many people care about this. My, uh, and I would invite everyone to join us. Uh, you can go to, uh, our website@wwwdotvectorgl.com, and there will be a window popping up for the Ukraine. You can sign up for the, uh, every other week, which there were weekly, but now there’s every two weeks, uh, calls that we’re having. And of course, if you have something that you need to ship to the Ukraine, but for whatever reason, you don’t have the resources to do so, send us an email at Ukraine, vector gl.com. We have a couple warehouses set up and we’ll ship that for you at no cost. Love that. And, and I, I would add, uh, as having been a part of those working sessions that are biweekly now, even if you, you’re not in position to donate, or if you’re not in position to, um, you know, offer, um, boots on ground market Intel, I’ll call it, Hey, come and learn because folks are in Ukraine and Poland, or they’re getting stuff there, humanitarian aid, and, and you can learn a ton from these, these weekly biweekly sessions.

Scott Luton (48:28):

So check out Dr. g.com. Thank you, Enrique for you and your team, what you do, Marsha bra, uh, for you and GE appliances. Thank you so much for all that you do. Uh, I’ve learned a ton and now I’m gonna go look at my appliances very differently, right? Yeah. Course, they’re basically smart devices these days. They’re uh, so Marsha bra really enjoyed your time here today. Vice president of distribution with GE appliances. Thank you, Marsha. Thank you. And thank you so much, Marsha. This was a pleasure. And thank you, Scott. Um, for inviting me to this very interesting conversation. I said a high bar for this conversation and Marsha leaped over it. Yeah. As if she was a Olympic, it was easy though. It really was. We didn’t really had to do much <laugh> so I’ll make it easy. <laugh> thank you, Marsha and Enrique en Enrique Avarez host of logistics with purpose and supply you out in a span.

Scott Luton (49:17):

Y’all y’all check that out. Wherever you get your podcasts from listeners. Hey man, there is like a, a playbook to, to use a, a term that Marsha shared with us today, a, a playbook full of takeaways from this conversation here today, different ways, big and small that you can act and, and be a stronger, more effective leader. I heard that from Marsha and Enrique here today. Um, so, but you’ve gotta take those steps, right? You’ve got to, uh, walk through that door. So as we wrap here today, Scott Luden and supply chain. Now team challenging you to, Hey, be like Marsha bra, be like Ray, Cabel be like, and Ricky Alvarez, do good. Give forward. Be the change that’s needed on that note. See next time, right back here on supply chain now. Thanks everybody.

Intro/Outro (50:01):

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.