October 17, 2023

Three female leaders who all started on the Frito-Lay Frontline – Director of Marketing Design Beth Enloe, Senior Director of Sales and Marketing Cathy Zenker, and Director of Marketing Lisa Mancuso – share their career journeys and experiences building relationships with managers, navigating challenges, and ultimately forging paths toward success.

00:04 - 00:31
Jillian
Hi, everyone. Welcome back to our podcast Recipe for Success. I'm your host, Jillian Emens, and I'm glad you're here. In this podcast, we talk to PepsiCo employees who share their unique career journeys. At the end of each episode, I hope you learn something new to add to your own recipe for success. This is part one of a two part series with three female executives who all started as Frito-Lay drivers and are now members of PepsiCo's Global Business Services Team.

00:31 - 00:44
Jillian
Today, I'm so excited to welcome Cathy Zenker, Beth Enloe and Lisa Mancuso. So let's jump right in.

00:44 - 00:50
(Myron Music Mix)
Are you ready? To keep on dreaming. To keep on believing. I'm here to motivate you. I’m here to push you.

00:50 - 01:25
Jillian
I'm here with our guests of today. Very special guests all together. So three inspiring women from PepsiCo. So all started in Field Sales in different ways, recruited in different ways. And over time, your paths first overlapped in Marketing at headquarters and then again now on our Global Business Services Team. So excited to hear your individual career stories, get inspiration from you guys and have some laughs, too.

01:25 - 01:36
Jillian
So if you guys can go one by one and introduce yourselves, say your name, current role and how many years you've been at PepsiCo. And Cathy, we'll start with you.

01:36 - 01:45
Cathy
All right. I'll start. I'm Cathy Zenker. I'm the Senior Director of Sales and Marketing for GBS for PFNA, and I've been with PepsiCo for 29 years.

01:45 - 01:56
Beth
My name is Beth Enloe, and I'm the Director of Marketing Design for GBS and have been with the company 33 years.

01:56 - 02:17
Lisa
Woot, woot! Well, I'm happy to say I'm the baby of the group. I'm Lisa Mancuso and I am one of the design leads as well, alongside with Beth here for CME, a Marketing Director as well. And I've been with PFNA, PepsiCo, all Frito-Lay for 24 years.

02:17 - 02:35
Jillian
So we started where you are now. Let's back up and start at the beginning. All started in Field Sales. So I know you each may have a story in your back pocket, so start with your very first role and maybe a memory that sticks out.

02:35 - 03:00
Lisa
My first role was a District Sales Leader 24 years ago. I'm six months into the job. It's my first push week holiday. It's Memorial Day. During a push week, there's not enough room on a truck for the amount of product that needs to go into these stores. So we loaded up 10, 12 pallets and we went and did all of our drops at the stores, Walmarts, Targets, grocery stores all around the Chicagoland area.

03:00 - 03:23
Lisa
We're done and we're coming back to the DC and we're driving back to the DC and all of a sudden we hear (CRASHING NOISE) and we look at each other and we look out the window and there's a piece of sheet metal behind us, behind the truck on the ground. And we get out of the truck and we ripped the top of the bulk 24 truck like a sardine can.

03:24 - 03:25
Cathy
On a holiday week

03:25 - 03:30
Lisa
On a holiday week, like a sardine can, right? the top of the bulk 24 truck literally peeled back and hit the ground.

03:30 - 03:31
Beth
That’s awesome.

03:32 - 03:54
Lisa
I'm in a (BLEEP) panic. Oh my God. I'm six months into the company. I'm going to lose my job. I'm going to get fired. I'm literally on the side of a road sitting down, grabbing my head, going, oh my God, what’s going to happen to me. My counterpart, first thing he does is he picks up the phone and he calls the RVP, and he's like, Listen, we just need to tell you we had an accident.

03:54 - 04:10
Lisa
This is what happened. The RVP says, are you and Lisa okay? And and he says, Yes, we're fine. He said, That's all I care about. We can fix the truck, get back in the truck, drive it back to the DC I'll take care of everything from here.

04:10 - 04:14
Jillian
Aw, that's the best part of the story.

04:14 - 04:23
Lisa
Best part of the story right? It wasn’t about the truck, it wasn’t about anything. It was about our safety. It was about the fact that we were okay. He didn't care about the truck. We could fix the truck. And so.

04:23 - 04:26
Jillian
Well, Beth that's hard to follow.

04:26 - 04:54
Beth
It’s very hard to follow. So my career started out of the University of Texas, THE University of Texas. -Hook ‘em Horns! -And I was a college recruit. At the time they were recruiting sales associates, so I got recruited to come in to Sales. I was so excited. I was placed in the Denver West Texas region, I think is what they were called or area? Maybe area.

04:54 - 05:22
Beth
They put me in Albuquerque, New Mexico. So that's where I was going to start my training. From a sales associate perspective, your whole point is to learn how the business operates from the the bottom up, right? I can't remember if it was Christmas Day or the day after Christmas, but I got a phone call probably in the morning, because that's typically when you get them that says, Hey, we have a down route in Durango, Colorado.

05:22 - 05:44
Beth
And I'm like, okay. And then I'm just waiting for what's about to come. We need you to fly out today to go run that route. So I start my route. The day starts. I left my lights on. I have to get my battery jumped, this is all in one day. So that's my first issue. My truck's dead.

05:44 - 06:05
Beth
I have to get it jumped. So here I am trying to figure out where's a wrecker? I have to figure all this stuff out on the fly. So I do that. A little later, I'm actually parked, I'm servicing a convenience store and I'm not feeling all that great. And I look up and my truck is just going (SLIDING NOISE) and it is literally sliding on the ice.

06:05 - 06:12
Beth
And that's why I'm getting motion sickness. So, yes. And so I'm flying over my boxes just to get to the wheel to try and

06:12 - 06:17
Beth
make sure I don't hit something. I don't know what I'm going to do.

06:18 - 06:22
Beth
So anyways, I turn onto some random dirt road and get my truck stuck.

06:22 - 06:23
Jillian
Oh, no.

06:23 - 06:58
Beth
So it's not really a road, so I just start hiking back into town. And the best part is as I'm hiking, some state trooper drives by. -Yay. -Yeah, no. Right by me. Just drove right by me. And I'm like, I’m on the side of the road like, Hello?! Thankfully a group of girls came by in a truck and I hitched a ride with them into town and called the same wrecker who I had seen earlier that morning so he could pull me out of the dirt road I had gotten myself stuck into.

06:58 - 06:58
Beth
So.

06:58 - 06:59
Jillian
All right, Cathy.

06:59 - 07:18
Cathy
Alight. Well, just like Beth, I started as an RSR, a Route Sales Representative in Kansas City, Missouri. So I'm like eight weeks after graduation. I'm, like, freaking out because I don't have a job right? I’m like (BLEEP). So anyway, I applied at Frito-Lay. They told me you got to start in the truck. That's where you're going to learn it. You got to start in the truck.

07:18 - 07:39
Cathy
And if you do a really good job on your route, maybe you can become a District Sales Leader. So I was like, all right I'm in. First summer, hottest summer I've ever had. First winter, coldest winter I’ve ever had, you know, no heat, no air conditioning, whatever. Right? We know there's a storm coming. There's going to be lots of ice. Kansas City gets lots of ice under the snow, which makes it extra dangerous.

07:39 - 07:56
Cathy
And so I'm going to get out ahead of the storm. So I would usually get to my first stop at 3 a.m. I'm going to get out ahead of it and try to service those accounts as early as I can. What I didn't realize is I would be one of the only fools on the road at that time of day or night, whatever you want to call it.

07:56 - 08:13
Cathy
I can't tell where the lanes are. There's snow, it's dark. So I get there and I'm just white knuckling it the whole way there because I’m slipping and sliding, slipping, sliding. There's a huge hill I have to go down, and I'm anticipating it like, all right, I don't care what color that light is. I'm blowing through that light.

08:13 - 08:32
Cathy
Like this truck only weighs like 7 pounds soaking wet. Right? They were so light. So anyway, I got to the first stop. I'm like driving. I'm pulling in the parking lot. There's one car in the parking lot, the guy that works there. So I pull in the parking lot, I turn this way and the truck just keeps going this way.

08:32 - 08:53
Cathy
And I hit the only car in the parking lot, which is the guy working at the store. So luckily, because the truck is so light, literally my bumper hit his bumper. So it was not a big deal and it was not a great vehicle. I mean, he didn't have like an awesome car. However, his reaction to me hitting his car, you would have thought that he was driving like some kind of big fancy sports car.

08:53 - 09:14
Cathy
So anyway, I had to go in to have to call the 1-800 number and report my accident. I'm inconsolable. I'm inconsolable. The woman on the phone is like, honey, you've got to slow down. Because like Lisa, I'm going to get fired. I'm going to get fired. And again, they just wanted to make sure you're okay that no one was injured, that you're not injured.

09:14 - 09:17
Cathy
Like, I'm not gonna be able to finish my route like what's going to happen.

09:17 - 09:32
Cathy
So anyway it was a whole situation, knock on wood, that's the only accident that I ever had. But it was like I couldn't believe that I made it all the way there on the highways and everything and then got in that parking lot, and slid right into that. It was like a comedy of errors, it was crazy.

09:32 - 09:43
Cathy
So anyway, it all worked out all right. I learned my lesson. You don't need to be out that early on an icy morning, because there is no one out shopping at that hour, so anyway. Had really good Districts, didn't get in any trouble.

09:43 - 10:01
Jillian
Well, I'm confident from those stories I would have been fired. Stay tuned for part two, where we'll dive deeper into Cathy, Beth and Lisa's career journeys. Don't forget to hit that follow button on Spotify to know when our next episode is live. Thanks for tuning in. See you next time.

10:01 - 10:02
(Myron Music Mix)
The top. Come on, come on, come on, come on, come on. Everybody keep working.

00:04 - 00:26
Jillian
Hi, everyone. Welcome back to our podcast Recipe for Success. I'm your host, Jillian Emens, and I'm glad you're here. In this podcast, we talk to PepsiCo employees who share their unique career journeys. At the end of each episode, I hope you learn something new to add to your own recipe for success. This is part two of my conversation with the powerhouse group of female leaders.

00:26 - 00:31
Jillian
We'll explore their

00:31 - 00:36
Jillian
unique career paths.

00:36 - 00:42
(Myron Music Mix)
Are you ready? To keep on dreaming. To keep on believing. I'm here to motivate you. I’m here to push you.

00:42 - 01:05
Jillian
So we know where you are now, where it all started. And now we need to get into the in-between and pull out some of your career insights from that. So, Beth, we haven't started with you yet. We'll start with you. So talk about from your first role in Sales and then you had a transition from Field Sales to Plano Headquarters.

01:05 - 01:15
Jillian
So just talk us through that and how did you do those transitions? How did you work with your manager during those transitions? How did that all come about?

01:16 - 01:32
Beth
I had some personal life changes that kind of caused me to go, hmm, I don't know if I can really do this job all that great. I had just had a baby at the time and I was like, I'm not going to be able to really do this job well knowing that I have to travel so much, is there other options?

01:32 - 01:48
Beth
And thankfully for me, we were also on the dot com craze. Marketing was losing a ton of marketers. I interviewed for a variety of roles, was able to get a great role. It was on the Dips team. So on the Tostitos and Dips team and they were getting ready to launch jug salsa.

01:48 - 01:52
Cathy
Oh, my God. That’s a blast from the past.

01:52 - 02:09
Beth
And it's not the one in Costco or in Sam's Club, but it was a different one that we actually put in line. So they needed to come up with merchandizing solutions and all that. So leaning on my sales experience, I was able to come back into Marketing and that's how I got into Marketing. And from there the rest is history.

02:09 - 02:29
Jillian
So that second transition, really, you kind of started the orchestration of that of really this is what I need right now as a parent. And you went to your manager. So what would you say about PepsiCo supporting parents, how they were able to help you pave a path that works for you?

02:29 - 02:48
Beth
They've been incredibly supportive. You know, I do think you have to be really open. Right. I mean, if I had tried to just hide the fact that I was going to be struggling on a personal level and trying to muscle through it, my performance would have shown that it wasn't working as the parent, I was not only a parent, I was going to be a single parent.

02:49 - 03:17
Beth
And that's what was really creating the big challenge. And I was like, I can't do this. And so I went to my RVP at the time and shared that with her and was just really open. And they actually were thankful that I did. And I would actually say just now, looking from then until now, the company has transformed in so many ways to help accommodate parents, whether you're in a, you know, single situation or you have a full family.

03:17 - 03:19
Beth
So I think they've done an amazing job. Absolutely.

03:19 - 03:38
Jillian
Yeah, I think that's just really good advice to ask for help when you need it. And definitely something that PepsiCo benefits can support and hopefully your manager and your entire team can work together and, you know, make changes if changes need to be made.

03:38 - 04:01
Lisa
Goes back to having the relationships and having the conversation with your manager about what you'd like to do. Right. And I think, you know, creating your career and we always talk about and the organization always talks about it is, it's really on you and it really is, it's having that conversation with your manager, start the conversation about what you'd like to do or, hey, what you see someone else doing.

04:01 - 04:24
Lisa
Or, you know, I always say to my manager, I want to be part of the conversation, right? So when you go into people planning and you hear about how the organization is evolving or how the, you know, teams are changing or what, you know, the vision is, I want to be part of that conversation. If someone says, hey, we've got this role, bring that role to me, I'm going to do my due diligence.

04:24 - 04:44
Lisa
I'm going to ask you to help me, right? So if you hear of something that would be a fit for me or a fit for my experience or a fit for a long term stretch. Right. And then maybe that's the next role for me. Let's talk about it. Right. And so I think for me, that's been the greatest success that I've had, is my relationships with my manager, relationships with my HR Manager,

04:44 - 05:11
Lisa
and just talking openly about opportunities and not being so siloed into one career path. I would say from a district role to a ZBM role to the talent acquisition role, I moved into the REM role in the region and then I moved to headquarters in marketing and now in this GBS role. And so if you think about all the different functions those are in, the manager's they're in, the changes that have been made in the organization, it's not all one straight career path.

05:11 - 05:17
Lisa
And so for me that's worked well and it's leveraged all of my experience across the organization.

05:17 - 05:22
Jillian
Really good. And I think another lesson in that is like, it's okay to do the unexpected.

05:23 - 05:46
Lisa
Exactly. The unexpected is fun. And it’s different. And you just meet so many cross-functional partners. And I think we could all say that we learned so much from each other. You know, moving from Chicago to Dallas eight years ago, getting into Marketing, going to Task Force, I didn't know what Task Force was, how you really understand what R&D does.

05:46 - 06:03
Lisa
Legal, right. All these other functions you wouldn't necessarily know. But working cross-functionally and just really absorbing all of everyone's knowledge is just so much fun and it really can help you navigate your career.

06:03 - 06:25
Cathy
I would say from the jump, you have to have good conversations and honest conversations with your manager, and it does not hurt to wire with your HR Managers. So HR is usually the first to know about open roles. So it would be nice if they knew you and knew what you're interested in and what you're interested in and what you have conversations with them about should be the same thing that you tell your manager.

06:25 - 06:44
Cathy
Those things should be the same so that when opportunities do arise, everybody's very clear about what you're interested in. And one piece of advice that I try to give is look at these crazy career paths that the three of us have had. There's not a real like, I want to go be this exact job and then I'm going to go to this exact job.

06:44 - 07:01
Cathy
The last three or four roles I've been in didn't even exist before I was in them. They were like brand new startup roles. So it's like I would have never dreamed that I would have had those jobs or been able to plan for that, right? So instead trying to lean in to what do I enjoy doing? What do I think brings benefit to PepsiCo?

07:01 - 07:24
Cathy
What are my strengths and how can I lean into those? And then just looking ahead to the jobs again that you're interested in and that you want to do and that you like doing? So that's been successful for me. I would say, again, echoing Beth and Lisa, just trying to get as involved as you can, volunteer, because you're going to meet other people that are probably outside of your immediate work group and your silo and you're going to get to work with them.

07:24 - 07:40
Cathy
You're not just having a coffee with them like they're going to get to see you in action. You'll see them in action. So I think all of those opportunities, you should seek those out and you should tell your manager, I want to be involved. I want to be on Task Force, I want to be on committees. I want to lead a rack drive at the DC.

07:40 - 07:45
Cathy
I want to whatever. I think all of those things are really important to continue to build your skills and your network.

07:45 - 08:04
Jillian
So a follow up to that would be a lot of times we hear employees in any area, any given area say, Well, I don't really have conversations with my managers or my manager doesn't know, like is it okay to request those conversations with either your manager or HR.

08:04 - 08:06
Cathy
Yeah, I think you guys would all agree, right?

08:06 - 08:18
Beth
I think you should. I mean, if you're not, I mean, it could just be the manager doesn't realize you want to have the conversation. You know, so that's where you have to own your own kind of career path and those own discussions.

08:18 - 08:37
Cathy
Yeah, and I think we're all moving a thousand miles an hour all the time. Well, I just get through this week. No. And then there's another week, right. So I think it's not, that your manager's not having conversations with you purposefully, you know, it's that you have to request those and make the time for it and have them make the time for it.

08:37 - 08:39
Cathy
Because everybody's moving a thousand miles an hour.

08:39 - 09:02
Lisa
Just ask stop somebody and ask. My entire career, we're moving so fast, nobody's going to stop and say, Do you need something? Right? Because they're probably running to a meeting or they're running to a call or they're running to go solve a problem or something. Right? But any time you stop somebody and ask a question, everybody always is willing to help.

09:02 - 09:26
Lisa
Yeah, everybody is willing to help. Willing to follow up with you. We might not have known everything, but it was you know what, I don't know the answer to that, but let me get you in touch with this person or let me reach out to this person and I'll get back to you. And I would say that has been throughout my entire career, whether it's in the field or here in headquarters, ask the question, just network, ask people.

09:26 - 09:52
Lisa
Everybody is friendly and, you know, you probably get to it, and once again, it's a cliche thing, is why do you stay here so long? And it truly is the people, I mean that's, as cliche as knowing the business cold. Right. But it is the honest truth that it is really the people we work with day in and day out, not only care about business results, but can go back to Beth’s story and caring about you as a person.

09:52 - 10:05
Lisa
And, you know, the organization truly does care about you as a person and your family and making things work, right as long as you, again to Cathy’s point, you perform, you deliver results, provide value to the company.

10:05 - 10:24
Beth
And I think, just to build on that. You know, one of the things that I like to tell any newbies that would come in, because we also referred to ourselves as Marketing Moms at one point when we were like the two senior women in Marketing was that, you know, yes, you need to go ask questions, get out of your seat.

10:24 - 10:46
Beth
It's so easy for us today to, IM somebody. Send them an email, and then you just sit and wait for the response. Go find them, you know, because I think that's where you start to build those connections, because that's how you really get to know people and that personal connection. So when yeah, like I don't know the answer, but I know who does.

10:47 - 10:59
Beth
And they're going to like pick up the phone or IM me back because they know who I am. And not just what I do at Frito, but they know who I am. So anyway.

10:59 - 11:12
Jillian
Really, really good advice. So you've shared a lot and I want to make sure we underscore as the theme of the podcast. Cathy, can you start with how you would describe your unique recipe for success at PepsiCo?

11:12 - 11:34
Cathy
Yeah, I would describe my recipe for success a couple different ways. One of them being what I mentioned before, I think you have to post results and know your business. So I think whatever role you're in, wherever you start, wherever you want to head, you know everything you possibly can about that role and what value you can bring to the company, how you're going to demonstrate that, number one.

11:34 - 12:00
Cathy
And then secondly, Beth just talked about it, but it goes back to and I hate to say networking, because that's kind of like something everybody throws out there, but it's really just building your connections within the company. You need to have folks that you can trust that you can reach out to. We're all moving really fast. It helps if you know who to call and they'll call you back and they'll give you that answer and then you can work together.

12:00 - 12:07
Cathy
So between the knowing the business cold, driving results and then making sure that you have a strong network to support you, that would be my advice.

12:07 - 12:12
Jillian
Yeah. Beth, what would you say? What is your recipe for success?

12:12 - 12:38
Beth
Well, I have to build on what Cathy said because everything she said is probably what I would also say, right? I think if I were to add to that, I would say be open to change and taking on new challenges. PepsiCo is the company it is because we take on new challenges and Global Business Services is a new challenge, you know, and being willing and open to jump into a role that is undefined and you're going to define it, you know just be open to that.

12:38 - 12:43
Beth
So be open to change and willing to make that next big step.

12:43 - 12:44
Jillian
That's good.

12:44 - 13:16
Lisa
Okay. And to build on to that right, opening yourself to change and be willing to change. Right. Be willing to step out of your comfort zone. Be willing to take risks. Right. And take on those challenges. I can say that, you know, this organization embraces that. Embraces that person with that outside of the box thinking. So I would say, you know, be that outside of the box thinking, you know, when you're sitting in a room and someone says an idea, hey, maybe we should think of it

13:16 - 13:42
Lisa
this way. Might be wild, it might be crazy, it might not be the route we go, right. But it might spark other conversations and other ideas. So I would say that's one thing. And then for me specifically, to me it's diversifying my experience, right? As I mentioned before, it wasn't one career path for me. It is a plethora of different experiences from Field Sales to Marketing, you know, to HR.

13:42 - 14:02
Lisa
I had a little bit of finance in there, too I didn't mention, but then into Global Business Services right. I learned something within all of those roles, right? Was tapped on the shoulder to do other roles. Right. Because of my experiences. And even any time you sit down and you talk to somebody and you say, okay, tell me about your career.

14:02 - 14:18
Lisa
And I go through all the things I have done, it’s, wow, you've done a lot of different things, right? But I feel that that for me has really worked. And I tell people that all the time, Hey, everybody, may go to school and you might go to school for marketing or you go to school for finance, or you go to be an engineer or whatnot.

14:18 - 14:32
Lisa
Right? But I think there's a lot of us that can say I'm doing something totally different or I've done a piece of what I went to school for in a variety of different roles. So for me, it's about that diversity of experience that has been my success.

14:32 - 14:43
Jillian
Well, it's been amazing to hear your collective wealth of information and advice, and we certainly don't have time for all the stories, but just thank each of you for making time and sharing.

14:43 - 14:44
Everyone
Thank you.

14:44 - 15:01
Jillian
And that's a wrap. Thank you to Cathy, Beth and Lisa for all the career advice on how to get to know the business, build relationships and try new things to create a career path that's fit for you. As always, thank you to our listeners. I hope you've learned at least one thing to add to your own recipe for success.

15:02 - 15:09
Jillian
Don't forget to hit that follow button on Spotify to know when our next episode is live. Thanks for tuning in. See you next time.

15:09 - 15:15
(Myron Music Mix)
The top. Come on, come on, come on, come on, come on. Everybody keep working.