My journey at Metcash began after the acquisition of the private label portfolio of Kollaras Trading Company, a business founded by my grandfather in the 1960s, and owned today by my father and uncle. Although I saw the move from my family’s business to Metcash as a giant leap of faith, it was also an opportunity to extend my passion for independent business retailers while delving into a new realm. As a Senior Marketing Manager for past three years, my role has revolved around nurturing owned and exclusive brands, as well as strategic brand development. But change was on the horizon.
Just recently I transitioned into a new role as National Senior Marketing Manager, where I am exclusively focusing on national marketing strategies for our retailer partners. This shift is allowing me to further hone my marketing skills and become a retail marketing specialist, adding to my ‘swiss army knife’ of capabilities in the marketing world, as my manager aptly puts it. The leaders at Metcash have a fantastic ability to identify and nurture your natural abilities, and that’s exactly how I found myself in this new chapter of my career.
Our Community
One of the standout parts of working at Metcash over the past 3 years has been the people. it’s not just that I get along with my colleagues (although that certainly helps!) – It’s that everyone in my team, from my peers to my leaders, have the qualities that I fiercely respect and appreciate in a work environment. They’re humanistic, courageous, and they stand up for what is right – Butbeyond this, they share the same burning passion for helping independent retailers that I do.
Around the team we all share stories that inspire our ‘why’. I share my background coming from a family of retailers that showed me what it takes to run a business, and others tell stories about people they’ve known and loved who’ve run a business. It’s an incredible motivator both individually and as a team.
My mentor once told me, “You’ll never be great without great people around you”. I think this is so true, and Metcash represents a wonderful community that pushes me to be better every day.
A Career Highlight
I’ve had some of the greatest highlights of my career whilst at Metcash. One of them is quite recent, with the launch of a new beer brand into market: Poets Country Lager, and Country Crisp. This brand has performed so well that we quickly tripled our forecast. We’ve put the success down to a winning formula – it’s value for shopper, it tastes great, and it’s a relatable, inviting brand that both retailers and consumers can trust.
Why is this a highlight for me?
As a brand-nerd and marketing enthusiast, any time a new brand is launched and is immediately loved by shoppersis a dreamboat, and feels rewarding. .
But above that, Poets Country Lager represents the product of an incredible teams hardwork and skills. We’re a high performing team that wins together and gets to enjoy the fruits of our successes, which we’ll tell our children about one day!
