Jillian (0:02)
Hi everyone. Welcome back to PepsiCo Foods Podcast Recipe for Success. I'm your host, Jillian Emens, and I'm so happy you've joined us. This podcast features PepsiCo employees who share their unique career journeys. By the end of each episode, you'll learn something new to add to your own recipe for success.

(Myron Music Mix) (0:25)
Are you ready? To keep on dreaming. To keep on believing. I'm here to motivate you. I’m here to push you.

Jillian (0:33)
Today, I'm honored to be joined by one of our amazing frontline associates, Jim Giles, District Sales Leader from Frito-Lay's Field Site in Charlotte, North Carolina. Let's jump right in. Hey, Jim, thank you so much for being with us today. I'm honored you've joined us as one of our amazing frontline associates from our Frito-Lay field site in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Jillian (0:57)
So would you like to introduce yourself? Tell us your role right now and then we'll jump right into the conversation.

Jim (1:05)
All right. Well, my name is Jim Giles, actually, James Giles. I go by Jim. I am in the Charlotte zone recently was a SBL designate, but as of yesterday I am now a certified SBL. So we get that behind me and looking forward now. So that’s good.

Jillian (1:20)
Wow, congratulations. That deserves a round of applause.

Jim (1:25)
Thank you. And a good night's sleep too. We didn't have a lot of sleep. It was good. (Laughs).

Jillian (1:30)
Awesome. Well, I know it was a very busy week for you, so can you just bring us in, tell us a little bit more about what does it mean to be certified and what does this promotion mean for you?

Jim (1:40)
It's definitely trial by fire a lot. You know, we have to set up a tour, so we have to set up a presentation. A lot of work goes into it and probably good, at least good, strong two weeks of just constantly in the stores, asking for displays, asking for just stuff that normally you might not have, but you know, you really want to make a look good. Presentation,

Jim (2:03)

obviously going through a lot of your background, a lot of the questions that we do here, just they want to get to know you a little bit, what you think is going to make you a good manager and what you've learned in the past. But it was a really good experience and I definitely come out the other end, a better manager for it.

Jim (2:19)
Again, if you don't, what doesn't kill you, make you stronger. And it definitely was a good experience.

Jillian (2:24)
Amazing. Well, congratulations again. So for our listeners, let's just start at the beginning. How did you begin your career at Frito-Lay?

Jim (2:33)
All right. Well, I began it back in a small, very small city called Bangor, Maine, Central Maine. I used to sell, before my Frito career, I was a bread vendor. I owned a bread route, which is now called Bimbo Baking. Did that for 12 years. And I believe lots of things come from opportunities by doing something well. And I was pretty good at what I did, but I was approached by Frito-Lay employee back then to see if I would like to interview for the Frito-Lay position.

Jim (3:02)
And then I was approached by some management and I did, and I sold my business and went to work for Frito-Lay, got right on a route pretty quick and started as a RSR. And for seven years up in Maine, I did what everybody else did. Built routes, strive to be the best, and that's how I began it up in Maine.

Jillian (3:22)
What was your experience from there? You moved from Maine to, how did you get to Charlotte?

Jim (3:27)
Well, my whole intent when I get hired at Frito-Lay is that I wanted to climb the corporate chain. That's what I want to do. I wanted to get into management. So that was my entire focus. So this has been a 14 year journey actually today. So I self-nommed up in Maine. I tried to become a manager up there, did very well.

Jim (3:44)
I had great experiences with Ken Marseille is the zone up there. and I came up a little short, didn't mean I would still learned a lot from that. And my whole intention from there was if I didn't succeed at that point there, I, my plan was I really kind of wanted to move south anyway. So with Frito-Lay it's very easy to transfer and so I talked with at the time George Hodge down, he was the ZDM down here at the time and the transition was very good, so very easy. So that's how I came down in the Charlotte area. I just happened to pick. I wanted to be in North

Carolina I happened to pick Charlotte because I had some friends down there. And so I sold everything I had gave everything away and fit everything into my Ford Fusion.

Jim (4:27)
Everything I owned. Jumped right in into the Charlotte zone and went to work. And that's how I moved into Charlotte is pretty easy transition actually.

Jillian (4:36)
How unique to just have that opportunity to say, this is where I want to go, this is where I want to be. And they say, okay, come join us in Charlotte. That's pretty cool.

Jim (4:46)
It's one of the great things of Frito-Lay, it's a huge company and as long as they have an opening and you've got good standings, you pretty much can go anywhere you want. And so I had a choice of like coastal or the mountains, and it just happened to be that I had friends in Charlotte and that's really why I think Charlotte.

Jim (5:03)
But it turned out to be a great move. Charlotte’s a great city and a great team around me here.

Jillian (5:07)
I hear it’s beautiful there too.

Jim (5:10) Yeah, it is.

Jillian (5:11)
What a cool testament to raising your hands and this is where I want to go. And they say, okay, let's, let's go here. So it sounds like from the beginning you had a vision for yourself or goals for yourself that you wanted to reach. Where does your own self motivation come from?

Jim (5:32)
Oh, it's just trying to get better at everything I do. But I mean, there's there is really a lot of steps that you can accomplish and it's just a matter of really seeing how far I can see succeed within myself. To do that, I want to do everything I do, I want to do it well, and then I want to move on and do the next thing well.

Jim (05:51)
And the only thing that really stops me from doing that is being afraid to take the step. And it's something that I've really tried not to do, even with podcasts or something like that. Just do it, you know, take the opportunity and do it. But, you know, I guess that's what's what drives me is just kinda trying to see what I can accomplish and still enjoy my life at the same time. I kind of get that through Frito-Lay.

Jillian (6:12)
That's great and inspiring to hear. And 14 years, so you've accomplished a lot in 14 years. But it also sounds like there's so much that you've hit a milestone just this week. Just yesterday. So what is the future look like? What excites you about the future now?

Jim (6:33)
Well, what it looks like now is I mean, I would love to really be now that I'm a SDL, to me, really, actually, that's the first step to really where I wanted to accomplish. So I want to do this really well. I want to, if they give me an opportunity to step up into like a CAM role, I'll do that.

Jim (6:50)
I mean, honestly, whatever I see that I think I can accomplish and do well with and I have the opportunity to do it. I'm probably going to do it and it really is the sky's the limit. So that's great.

Jillian (7:03)
That's great. So just hearing that response, can you share a little bit more of just what has made you stay at Frito-Lay?

Jim (7:11)
You know, I look around like anybody else that wants to better themselves. You sometimes you kind of look and okay, is there something better out there? It's something that fits better? They really, man, you really can't find companies out there right now that offers pension, 401K, you know the vacation time, the benefits of some of the educational benefits that come with it.

Jim (7:30)
You know again if you want to further your career, you can do that so I just don't see a better company out there that, that would fit me for what I want. So that's what's made me stay, you know?

Jillian (07:42)
Yeah. Sounds like it's allowed you to really own your career and go after the things that you want in life. So the certification you got this week, that's part of your goal in your track as becoming a manager and a leader at Frito-Lay, correct?

Jim (7:58)
Yeah. That's really the first step. Yeah.

Jillian (8:00)
And at the same time, on your own, you've signed up for PepsiCo's educational benefits, what PepsiCo calls Guild, what is the Guild program at PepsiCo?

Jim (8:10)

Guild is the program that PepsiCo offers that gives you the opportunity to further your degree or further your education, whether it be through certifications or taking classes at your own pace to earn an associate's degree, bachelor's degree, or even if you want to go on to be, to complete your master's degree. And they have, last time I checked, over 100 different programs, multiple different universities that partnered with PepsiCo.

Jim (8:39)
It's just a very good program that no matter really what you want along as it lines up with something in Frito-Lay business related or, and that can go from anywhere from I.T. to accounting to, you know, really the sky's the limit I think really with that. But you can also do it debt free. So they will offer a tuition reimbursement or they also have a debt free type program where it's a program where you go in and there's a certain amount of classes you can do every year for no cost at all with qualified universities that we partner with.

Jim (9:09)
But it's just a really great, a great program.

Jillian (9:13)
Wow, that's incredible. I didn't even know all that. And how are you personally taking advantage of the Guild program?

Jim (9:20)
Before Guild there was another program before Guild. Guild is actually better than the one we had before. They were partnering with Walden University and Walden had that same type of program of it takes so many classes. So I'll take a class, get the bill. And I don't really. I mean, I might have to pay it briefly off my credit card, but within the month it's back and I pay it off.

Jim (9:38)
So you don't even have to finish the class anymore. Long as you keep your GPA above a certain average, you don't even have to really prove that you really pass a class, as long as that total GPA is above a certain amount. So yeah, that's how I personally utilize it. It's works for me because I'm fairly busy and I can't necessarily take multiple classes at the same time.

Jim (9:59)
And so I take one here, one there and try to fit it in and then I just reimbursed it. But for someone that maybe want to do double up or really, really go for it, they they have some probably debt free type of it that was universities that partner with with PepsiCo is the way to go and it's something actually I'll probably go back and revisit to see if I can fit it in and really hurry my degree along.

Jim (10:20)
But yea that's what I'm.

Jillian (10:23)

Hearing that other team members are also taking advantage of the Guild program and furthering their education, why is this so important for Frito-Lay as a company?

Jim (10:33)
The employee market out there is very competitive right now. There's a lot of companies looking for workers, and we're competing against the same type of workers, you know. So how are we going to keep them? How are we going to entice them to stay? Look there’s not many places where you can go, that will give you a free education all on top of your salary.

Jim (10:53)
And that is enough for anybody that, you know, there's lots of people that would love to go to college, but it's expensive. Student loans and stuff, that is expensive. And you got to put yourself into a world of debt. I mean, I advise this to my own children. To find a company that's going to pay for your degree.

Jim (11:08)
You know, and this is something Frito-Lay offers that is just such a huge benefit for hourly employees, or salary employees or whoever you are. To come in and get a degree, don't get debt, don't go into this amount of debt that's going to just bind you up for years. You know, just you've got it right here at your fingertips.

Jim (11:27)
Frito-Lay is giving it to you for nothing. And with that, you can further your career if you want to become a manager or you want to become something else, you have it right there, the opportunities right there. And it's free.

Jillian (11:38)
Absolutely. And I think it's showing how Frito-Lay is valuing its employees. They value you as an employee, want to make you better. The company is only as good as the employees who work there.

Jim (11:49)
Absolutely. The better the employee, the better the company. Because Frito-Lay knows they live off of what the frontline people do. And if you get a strong, passionate frontline man the growth, Frito-Lay is going good now, it's just going to get better and better as you get more passionate, more people that just love to work for the company.

Jillian (12:07)
Across the board right now, it just seems to be a trend. Hiring and training is so important in our industry and beyond. So what would you say? What makes Frito-Lay so special?

Jim (12:19)
All the diversity, I mean, the fact that also job security, I mean, my goodness, you know, most of my markets I mean, you walk into any store we have, I mean, 50% market share is low. I mean,

I've been in some of we have 60, 65% of the business of salty snack. So you know, we're not going anywhere.

Jim (12:37)
We're an absolute leader in the country, in the world of this brand. And I mean, like you don't even have to fight to sell it. I mean, you could throw Frito-Lay out there in the middle of the floor and people buy it. So that's exciting. When you're like, you're part of already a winning team, you know, it's like joining up with a dream team or something like that.

Jim (12:58)
And so it's just, a great organization to be a part of.

Jillian (13:01)
I love it and I hear your pride and your answer and it just, you know, being part of the PepsiCo and Frito-Lay team now, like hearing you speak about it, you know, it makes me even more excited and more proud to be here, too. So I just love your perspective and so thankful that you're sharing it with us today.

Jillian (13:20)
So in the same vein, what would you tell someone who is considering a career at Frito-Lay? How can they get their foot in the door?

Jim (13:26)
Frito-Lay does not discriminate against anybody. So, I mean, if you want a job and you want to work and to be part of something, apply, you know, kind of get your yourself in front of somebody. I mean, we're constantly hiring, constantly looking for that that person that has that type of attitude, that wants to be part of something really.

Jim (13:45)
If you want to be part of something that you want to be able to expand your career in, in many fields, in sales and accounting or I mean, there's so many divisions. And we just came back from an Elevate conference down in Dallas where I get to see headquarters and get to hear some of the other things that, that I didn't know about in Frito-Lay that excited all the new managers about, Hey, man, just a lot of other places we can go besides sales. There’s really just everything you want.

Jim (14:13)
And I keep saying it, it's just everything you want in life, in business, is in Frito-Lay. And then again, if you wanted to, even under that PepsiCo umbrella, you have Gatorade, you have Quaker, you have I mean, it's just I mean man, we own the business, so come join a winning team. This is us. So. Yeah.

Jillian (14:33)

Great advice, love it. And if you're ever back in Dallas, you better let me know, because I'd love to meet you in person, too.

Jim (14:39)
Oh, man. Yeah, that would have been great. Yeah. I actually saw some people while I was down there that used to be in Charlotte. They come up and I hadn’t seen them for four years. So it was. It was great. Dallas was fun.

Jillian (14:49)
Awesome glad you had a good trip. Yeah, it does become a little bit of a small world with the PepsiCo, Frito-Lay family, with people having opportunities to move around and it's so cool when paths can cross.

Jim (15:01)
Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely.

Jillian (15:04)
So how would you describe your own recipe for success at Frito-Lay?

Jim (15:08)
Positive attitude, opportunistic, being optimistic don't get down on the negative part of anything because anything is negative, I think, in anything if you try to find it. But if you stay positive and you look at the best parts of what you want to be, that's kind of what I did. I just kept on looking forward and just trying to succeed and be the best I could be at what I'm doing.

Jim (15:31)
And, you know, when you become really good at what you do, it opens doors. When you kind of at the top of your district, you kind of get a little the recognition, make sure you're, you know, the people above, you know that. And they do and they're there to recognize you. But if you see an open door, take it, you know, be opportunistic.

Jim (15:50)
When they ask me to be a specialist, take it, you know, and again, that negative feeling, I almost actually did turn it down one time and I probably would have been four years ahead of my career if I would just taken it that first time. And again, the fear of maybe doing something new stopped me for a brief minute.

Jim (16:08)
But, you know, I refocused and the next time it came around, I jumped all over it and tell you what it's been a fast whirlwind since then, and I just, I have been moving right along and just so thankful for the opportunity.

Jillian (16:19)

Amazing. Well, so inspiring. And I know will be inspiring for others no matter where they're at in their career. But just kudos to you for moving forward, having your own motivation, but using all the resources that PepsiCo and Frito-Lay provide and making the most of it and kind of paving the path that you wanted to see for yourself.

Jillian (16:40)
And again, love your Frito-Lay pride. It's true. We work for one of the best companies in the world, and we all need that pride and should be loud and proud with our friends and family.

Jim (16:53) Absolutely.

Jillian (16:54)
Is there anything I didn't ask about that you wanted the opportunity to share?

Jim (16:58)
I don't know. I mean, I think we've been pretty thorough. But I mean, I can just restate that, you know, if people are looking at this and they're wondering if they want to continue their education with Frito-Lay or continue their career with Frito-Lay. I mean, just do the best you can, be optimistic, kind of take the open door and keep going and just really be thankful for what we got here.

Jim (17:17)
Man, I just can't say it enough. I mean, Frito-Lay is the way to go so.

Jillian (17:23)
Well so honored to get a chance to speak with you today, Jim, and hope you have a great rest of your day and rest of your week and hope to talk again soon.

Jim (17:30)
Thank you very much.

(Myron Music Mix) (17:32) Are you ready?

Jillian (17:33)
That's a wrap for today. Thank you, Jim, for inspiring us all to make the most of the opportunities that come our way. No matter where you are in your career, I hope you've learned something new to add to your personal recipe for success. Don't forget to hit that follow button on Spotify to know when our next episode is live.

Jillian (17:50)
Thanks for tuning in. See you next time.

(Myron Music Mix) (17:53)
The top. Come on, come on, come on, come on, come on. Everybody keep working.