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Carolyn Mancini works in the Strategy Enablement group of one of the largest agricultural companies in the world. In her 24 years with the company, she uses her accumulated customer knowledge and insights to lead the business perspective in the development and transformation of their digital eCommerce tools. Her goal is to improve the experiences with customers, distributors and employee facing digital platforms.
She talks to Cynthia about growing up on a farm surrounded by strong females, and her unexpected path into the business side of agriculture. As a driven young woman, she talks about moving to the south to take on a sales role. Her first sales call was a traumatic failure, but she found a way to recover and learn one of her most important career lessons. She also shares advice on recognizing you’re in a toxic work situation, and how to move on. She is an impact player in every role she takes on, including motherhood, and she offers several tips she’s learned along the way to achieve growth and success. Carolyn is a lifelong learner with a track record of setting and achieving big audacious goals.
1 – Intro 00:24
2 – What Carolyn does today 01:48
3 – Growing up on the farm 03:20
4 – From the farm to business 03:53
5 – Advantage of having farm experience 04:40
6 – How did you choose your initial career path 05:15
7 – Geographical nuances 06:17
8 – Getting into Agriculture 07:48
9 – Early career 08:10
10 – Networking tips 09:39
11 – More on networking 10:50
12 – Importance of being a good communicator 13:04
13 – Taking different roles across the country 14:24
14 – What was it like to move to Louisiana 17:14
15 – Would you handle that sales call differently now 21:53
16 – Did your experience impact how you approached this sales call 23:49
17 – Would you play down any part of your knowledge 26:04
18 – Having the courage to ask for help 27:13
19 – What did he say at the next meeting? 29:02
20 – Why leave Louisiana 29:40
21 – Moving to Nebraska 31:01
22- Collaborating in sales vs competing 32:09
23 – When people don’t like me 32:39
24 – Did you know right away she didn’t like you 35:56
25 – Stay true to you 37:05
26 – Managing relationships business and personal 38:10
27 – How did you leave that manager 39:23
28 – Female approach to a job 41:37
29 – Moving Back to Missouri 43:13
30 – How do you view changing roles and growing in your career 43:55
31 – The role of strong women role models 46:12
32 – Wife and motherhood 46:28
33 – Being a professional woman among stay at home moms 48:29
34 – Taking time for yourself 50:51
35 – Other personal care tips 53:44
36 – Obstacles overcome 55:12
37 – Power of being vulnerable and showing you don’t know everything 58:12
38 – Recapping Carolyn’s advice 59:58
39 – Value of showing up in person 1:00:55
40 – Engaging in meetings 1:01:53
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She Lift Project Podcast
Taking Your Seat at the Table | Episode 22
Host: Cynthia Kirkpatrick, Moneta Group
Guest: Carolyn Mancini, Supply Chain Program Manager
***NOTE***
This podcast and all She Lift Project content represents the opinions of Cynthia Kirkpatrick and her guests. The content here is for informational purposes only, and should not be taken as professional advice – financial, legal, medical, or otherwise.
Views and opinions expressed in the podcast and across all She Lift Project media channels are our own and do not represent that of our places of work. While we make every effort to ensure that the information we are sharing is accurate, we welcome any comments, suggestions, or correction of errors.
Content Notice
This podcast and all She Lift Project content represents the opinions of Cynthia Kirkpatrick and her guests. The content here is for informational purposes only, and should not be taken as professional advice – financial, legal, medical, or otherwise.
Views and opinions expressed in the podcast and across all She Lift Project media channels are our own and do not represent that of our places of work. While we make every effort to ensure that the information we are sharing is accurate, we welcome any comments, suggestions, or correction of errors.
“Young Shannon became an overachiever because she was a people pleaser. She needed to please others. And so that really developed in my adulthood as well. “
“They say, I’m still working 60, 80 hours a week. I got into this so I could pick my kids up from school and so I could attend their soccer games that are after school and I haven’t been able to attend one. I got into this so that we could go on great family vacations. And I haven’t been on a vacation now in five years. More people are coming to us for those reasons…it’s the lifestyle sacrifices that are causing people more pain than taking home a paycheck that isn’t what they thought it would be.”
It’s not about me selling and, you know, me making money. It’s about you being satisfied and happy with what you want and what you need. And I’ve always had that kind of philosophy, and my dad had that, too. And people recognize you’re not in it for yourself, you’re in it for them. And you’re sincere, and it really goes a long way.
Leadership is not about the leader. And I equate this back to basketball. When you have coach or coaches, they can’t go out on the court and shoot the ball and dribble the ball and pass the ball. But coaches have to be really good at getting work done through others. And so from a leadership perspective, that’s how I see it. As a leader, I have to be really good at getting work done through others.
“Gallup just got done with their survey for 2022. They found 25% better profitability in companies that have great employee cultures. Because when you have happy employees, happy employees make your customers happy. Happy employees want to invite other people to come work at their company. Happy employees want to share their ideas to make the company better. All of a sudden, you’ve created this culture where people want to contribute, and that’s the reason we do what we do.”
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