MEET AMANDA STEELE
Board Member Spotlight
We are excited to share that this month's Board Member Spotlight is Amanda Steele! Amanda currently serves on the Board of Directors at Firestone Pacific Foods and Simple Mills. In this inspiring and impactful interview, Amanda shares key career highlights, offers great advice for aspiring board members, and shares tangible ways to move your board search into the boardroom. Thank you, Amanda!
What are your top 3 career highlights?
I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to work at Annie’s, an incredibly beloved natural and organic brand, during the time that we were dramatically expanding innovation into new categories, crossing over into mainstream distribution, engaging new consumers, and doing it all while staying true to the values of the brand. It was an incredible time with a stellar team, led by John Foraker as CEO, which was recognized through the General Mills acquisition.
I had wanted to get closer to the investment and ag side of the food business and found a dream opportunity at Agriculture Capital Management. As CMO, I was able to apply my 25+ years of consumer marketing experience to build growth strategy and brand management support for the vertically-integrated, scaled, regenerative produce in our portfolio. I learned so much about how much it takes to grow produce and get it to market profitably.
At Safeway, I learned about the dynamics of retail grocery while managing the health & wellness portfolio of private label brands (O Organics, Eating Right, Bright Green) spanning 35 categories with over 1000 SKUs. In only two years, we launched over 150 new products. The real highlight was working with a team of retail grocery veterans who taught me the value of speed, execution and relationships.
What inspired you to pursue joining a board?
As an entrepreneur and CEO at Dreamerz Foods, I had the experience of working with a fantastic board, comprised primarily of my investors. These men brought fantastic financial and scientific expertise, but not a lot of diversity. I brought Sheryl O’Loughlin onto the board as an Independent Director, and it was a game-changer for me. Sheryl served as an independent voice with substantial operating experience, and she was also an advocate and mentor. After that, I knew that I wanted at some point to be able to share my experience in the same way.
What unique perspectives do you bring to the boardroom?
I’ve been fortunate to see the food and ag business from a lot of different perspectives, which gives me a broad network and a flexible approach to apply to business challenges and opportunities. At the same time, I have a great deal of depth in my area of operational expertise. And then there is my lived experience, as a woman, mother, eater, cook, frustrated gardener, etc. I really believe that the more diversity of experience, the better a board can support the management team in making high quality decisions informed by different problem-solving approaches, perspectives and ideas.
What advice would you offer to aspiring board members?
1.) Build your network and stay connected to mentors and advocates.
2.) Look for exposure to Boards both inside your organization and out, including opportunities to present and sit in on meetings.
3.) Say yes to learning opportunities that will keep stretching you as a leader.
What's your favorite quote or a mantra that you live by?
“Whatever you think you can do or believe you can do, begin it.
Action has magic, grace and power in it.”
― Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
To me, this is a reminder that taking the first small steps can often lead to a universe of momentum.
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