Change – it’s in the air and in our bakeries. And it’s about time. This International Women’s Day is all about breaking the bias – something we do every day at GAIL’s. Our Senior leadership Team is 78% women, and both our coffee and food teams are led by ladies.
This year we want to profile the women of GAIL’s and share their stories with the world. Read on to see what their career journey has been and for some incredible advice on work, life and everything in-between.
Edyta Stec – Operations Director
” IWD is about celebrating and recognizing the contribution of women and girls around the world. It is a conversation about uplifting the possibility, while also making it possible for somebody else to win.”
1. How did you get here?
The unfortunate nature for a lot of women is that expectations can often be set lower for them, and the trick is not to see this in a dim light, but to change your vision and realise it’s easier to exceed your goals and showcase why you shouldn’t be overlooked.
When I look back, I realise that I worked hard and always took some challenges on when other people maybe were not ready to do so, people who I valued and saw as someone I could learn from. There was courage to get involved, undeniable readiness to contribute to the wider business and culture along with confidence that as much as I can capitalise on my experience I can also learn on the journey. I have worked in Poland in marketing departments while completing my master’s in Marketing Management and then later did a postgraduate in Journalism. I moved to the UK 17 years ago and fell into hospitality. I started as a team member with Wagamama and very quickly discovered so many opportunities in environment where looking for continuous improvement and opportunities to grow were part of the culture, matching my internal drive. During my time within the operations team, I have worked across all regions across the whole country, which enriched my experience and made it unique. Especially time in US was massively developed and drew my attention into selflessness in leadership but also value of adaptability.
I’ve also worked for Bill’s as Regional Ops Director for London & Kent which helped me to embrace capacity for team building at a new level. A year ago, I joined GAIL’s and it has been a compelling experience from the start. I am part of the experience amongst other women and men equally being able to make bold and wise decisions as leaders. This helps make the team environment less authoritative and more cooperative, bringing a family-like feel to the team. This boosts teamwork across the business.
2. If you weren’t in your current role, what was your plan b?
It’s a hard question as it’s essentially consideration of “what if?”. I see my natural inclination to explore marketing aspects within the business and over last 8 years I was able to dive into it while directly growing the business. One of the woman leaders who inspired me many years ago saw in me greater leader as opposed to entrepreneur material. I am surrounded by amazing people who I can learn from now. There was a time when I was thinking about starting a business which would be meaningful to others, not just for commercial purpose, also to create an environment where people can grow and have many opportunities to discover themselves. I did not quite find an answer yet what this could be. But what a fantastic journey and coincidence to join GAIL’s which is extremely inspiring business I admire a lot.
3. What does IWD mean to you?
Celebrating and recognizing the contribution of women and girls around the world. It is a conversation about uplifting possibility, also making it possible for somebody else to win. During the pandemic and lockdown, even though our freedom had been temporarily taken away I was really luck to speak to, get in touch, meet and spend time with many incredible women who have helped me to cement my standpoint on what is essential in life, have great laughter, teach me new skills and open my eyes to what can be shaped and created when we follow our intuition. Women are an inspiration for others in so many ways. In a women’s life, wearing different hats within their roles is often a common occurrence. You can find them often balancing careers, households and taking up the mantel of parental guidance along with many other experiences. These combined help women leaders to quickly adjust to new situations and focus on finding solutions to real-life work issues.
International Women’s Day is an important time to take a long hard look at the barriers to participation for women in the workplace and talk about how we can continue to push for change.
4. What career advice would you give to younger generations?
Strive to fully explore your wins and failures. Performing at a level when we don’t have to be outside ourselves and pretending. Be in the performance whatever the outcome is. We should be able to choose the performance which is available to us and not be narrowed and distracted by worry of not being good enough. So, we can experience the journey which is available to us. Being able to be present in your journey and in your performance makes a difference. Life is pretty dynamic. Use your attention on what may go right.
Especially for the younger generation, the power of role models cannot be overlooked. Regardless of a person’s gender, all people need someone who will guide them to progress in their careers. Specifically, for mentoring and coaching young talent.
5. How has GAIL’s helped you to progress in your career?
In today’s world, women may not always realise their potential, and once unleashed, they have a direct route to success. I find myself in a leadership role, I would like to think that my capabilities and abilities are still growing and within a time I will discover more. I believe that GAIL’s give incredible opportunities to anyone who has clarity what they would like to achieve.
I am experiencing growth at pace, and it’s quite a significant at GAIL’s that we all have an opportunity to contribute at every level into the strategy and lead the change without many limitations.
GAIL’s helped me by creating opportunity to bring different perspectives, skills and innovative ideas to the table, and these three combined are helping to create new perspectives that lead to better decision-making for the business.
6. What does the future hold for you at GAIL’s?
The right company culture is vital for empowering the team to succeed, and I would like to continue along with other leaders keep recognising and communicating how diversity strengthens teams. There is many opportunities for all and continuing to create that environment is what excites me in the future.
As we live and operate in everchanging circumstances, we see without a doubt the biggest transformation around leadership and business approach, and I would like to be open to opportunities within this space. One of my mottos is: to expect unexpected.
Debra Piergentili – Quality & Safety Director at GAIL’s & The Bread Factory
“The advice I would give to younger generations is to have an adventurous heart, believe yourself, and stay curious. Accept advice, lean on others, ask the questions, and take the help that’s offered. Be vulnerable – it’s a beautiful quality that needs to be celebrated and realise that it’s ok to make mistakes. You’ll always find someone that will help you, and that’s what I do now, to pay forward the help that I received early in my career.”
1. How did you get here?
It’s been a varied road to get where I am now. I’ve worked in various high street food chains for the last two decades – you may have heard of Pret a Manger, and itsu – where my focus was on expansion and launching into new markets in the UK and the US, before joining GAIL’s last year. My role here covers both GAIL’s and The Bread Factory – the latter supply restaurants, hotels and retail outlets like supermarkets with baked goods.
My job covers quality assurance, health and safely and all the legal elements that go with it – all of which work to keep our teams and our customers of both of our companies safe. There are four pillars to what I do: Quality, Legality, Safety and Authenticity. My team also work to ensure that our teams have a safe environment to work in, as well as ensuring that all our suppliers are accredited, so it’s a lot to cover from a health and safety perspective!
2. If you weren’t in your current role, what was your plan b?
I’ve always been so passionate about the world of food safety; I really do love the health and safety world. I think if I wasn’t in the role that I’m in now, I would have chosen a path where I could teach and educate, to inspire people and help them find their own passions and ensure that they embrace professional development to be the best they can be. I think this would still be in the world of food safety – it would be great to combine both of my passions! I don’t think I’d ever want to work for any other company in the industry other than GAIL’s – it really is the best!
3. What does IWD mean to you?
It’s a tricky one – of course I believe the day itself is about recognising the obvious and celebrating all the fantastic women in the world. I feel that this should really be an organic process that women are equally recognised, we shouldn’t have to have one day to remind people to do this. It’s a beautiful day to recognise the women and celebrate their successes but shouldn’t have to be a single day celebration.
4. What career advice would you give to younger generations?
The advice I would give to younger generations is to have an adventurous heart, believe in yourself, and stay curious. Accept advice, lean on others, ask the questions, and take the help that’s offered. Be vulnerable – it’s a beautiful quality that needs to be celebrated and realise that it’s ok to make mistakes. You will always find someone that will help you, and that’s what I do now, to pay forward the help that I received early in my career. Follow your heart, don’t dwell on doubt or restrictions, work hard, stay focused, surround yourself with people that know more than you so you can learn, from mentors.
5. What have you learned in the last year of working at GAIL’s and The Bread Factory?
The great thing about this company is the freedom that I was given when I joined to make a change. When I started, there was a lot of challenges to conquer but I was given the freedom to drive continuous improvement. It’s not a stiff, corporate environment; there is a freedom here to try new things and experiment. I’ve been given a fantastic platform, and it’s been so rewarding to know that the team trust my experience and give me the freedom to build out the safety and the technical teams.
6. What does the future hold for you at GAIL’s?
The future looks great for me at GAIL’s and The Bread Factory. There’s so much to look forward to – like raising the standards in food safety and the expertise across the board and creating a robust food safety culture that will maintain our stance as leaders in the industry. We’re investing in education and creating opportunities for future employees, while also embedding the competencies and allowing my team to fulfil their full potential. There’s a lot of new legislation in the food industry that we will be the leaders, not the followers of.
I treat my teams like my work family, and when I think of the future, I always think about my daughter, Charlotte. Her life will be a digital-first one, so I’m committed to future-proofing GAIL’s, and promoting a culture of digital transformation, ensuring that I make GAIL’s fit for the future, and for her.
Jessica Worden – Head of Coffee
“IWD is an opportunity to assess our global progress towards a diverse, inclusive and equitable future.”
1. How did you get here?
I was moving to London and looking for a coffee job to help me settle in the city – I literally showed up to my interview at GAIL’s Hampstead with a massive suitcase.
2. If you weren’t in your current role, what was your plan b?
I think my career in coffee is technically my plan B! I had always planned to pursue a career in academia but discovered it was a lot more fun to teach people about coffee.
3. What does IWD mean to you?
IWD is an opportunity to assess our global progress towards a diverse, inclusive and equitable future.
4. What career advice would you give to younger generations?
Focus on pursuing opportunities where you will be supported to continue learning and where your voice is valued
5. How has GAIL’s helped you to progress in your career?
Our business growth and commitment to development has helped me to turn an interest and passion – coffee – into a profession.
6. What does the future hold for you at GAIL’s?
As we grow so does the opportunity to positively impact people’s lives through coffee – both in the UK and in producing countries. It’s worth noting that coffee has long been a male-dominated industry with very few women in key roles. We’ve worked to create an inclusive coffee culture at GAIL’s. I see my future as very much continuing to do good through coffee.
We’ve also published our 2022 Gender Pay Gap Report today – a fitting day for it. In it, you can find our employee breakdown (65% female) and how our gender pay gap results have consistently outperformed national and industry benchmarks. Thankfully, this year is no exception, with a gap of less than one per cent maintained, but there’s always room to improve. Take a look and see what our plans are for the future.