10 Years at the Top
Celebrate, motivate and inspire: Those three words served as the kindling to spark the first-year flame of Top Women in Grocery, which proudly stands on the cusp of commemorating 10 years of recognizing star performers who are making their mark in the once-impassable male-dominated supermarket sector.
Our spectacular 2015 celebration, held for the first time ever in Florida last month, found us reflecting on the past nine years of this pioneering program, while savoring the opportunity to gather the industry together, at a single place in time, to recognize the strides of standout women guiding the industry to its next decade of growth and change.
Mirroring the dynamic evolution of Top Women in Grocery, we heeded the intensifying call — and were duly heartened as a result of doing so — to shift this special event to a venue as uniquely exceptional as our guests of honor. To be sure, the spectacular Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress in Orlando provided the perfect backdrop for awardees and guests to network, share, learn, relax and collaboratively celebrate the achievements of this year’s contingent of standout honorees, who heaped praise on the event in their post-event evaluation feedback.
“Thank you for choosing such an awesome resort venue. Our store team thoroughly enjoyed being in Orlando, and absolutely loved the hotel,” one attendee wrote.
Focused and Fearless
Beyond the world-class resort destination — which will again serve as the setting for 2016’s 10th-anniversary soiree and learning sojourn — one guest proclaimed that “the entire event was awesome! The keynote addresses during the daytime and evening programs were wonderful,” while another attendee derived “tremendous value from the entire experience.”
“As obvious as it might sound,” noted yet another of this year’s Top Women award recipients, “the recognition for a job well done, and meeting and networking with other amazing women in our field, was priceless.”
In addition to being uplifted by the remarks from an honoree who said she would “forever cherish” the honor of “sharing the spotlight with so many inspirational women,” we were deeply gratified by a meaningful message that heartily affirmed the need to perpetuate a standalone program dedicated solely to the achievements of female food industry pacesetters:
“What you’re doing is truly cutting-edge. Thank you for building a platform that helps inspire women in the grocery industry to remain focused and fearless.”
As PG Managing Editor Bridget Goldschmidt further astutely observes, “Paying tribute so publicly to women from across the grocery retailing spectrum — Senior-Level Executives, Rising Stars and Store Managers — from every pocket of the country is an important way of shining the spotlight on women’s enduring contributions to grocery.”
Equally inspiring, she adds, is the enthusiastic reaction from “male attendees — including colleagues, winners’ loved ones and spectators — who seemed just as excited and proud to be there as the female guests of honor,” which vibrantly demonstrates that the flame continues to burn brightly for our Top Women in Grocery platform.
While momentum will continue to build for women leaders in the retail food industry, evidence of change at the uppermost echelons remains a work in progress. Accordingly, it will remain essential to continue trumpeting the incremental gains women are reaching in order to further advance an enduring awareness of the critical skill-sets women bring to the table.
We look forward to continuing a rewarding tradition of honoring the grocery industry’s leading women, and encourage you to play a part by nominating yourself and or your colleagues for this important recognition. Nominations for a new slate of 2016 Top Women in Grocery begins on Jan. 4, 2016, and wraps on March 18, 2016.
Here’s to 10 years of Top Women in Grocery, with the best yet to come.
Meg Major
[email protected]
Twitter @Meg_Major/@pgrocer
While momentum will continue to build for women leaders in the food industry, evidence of change at the uppermost echelons remains a work in progress. Accordingly, it will remain essential to continue trumpeting the important strides women are reaching.