Liz Dee, co-president of American sweet firm Smarties along with her sister Jessica Dee Sawyer and cousin Sarah Dee, did not all the time know she needed to hitch the household enterprise, which was based by her grandfather Edward Dee in Bloomfield, New Jersey in 1949.
Nevertheless, Dee continued “responding to the decision,” engaged on copy for Smarties’ first web site when she was in center faculty and serving to launch and keep its social media accounts in school and graduate faculty. She took on her present management function in 2008.
Smarties, which simply celebrated its seventy fifth anniversary, remains to be based mostly in New Jersey, the place Edward Dee immigrated together with his household from England the identical yr he began the corporate. Since its founding, and even over the course of Dee’s personal tenure as co-president, the advertising panorama has modified considerably.
“It’s an uphill battle to keep up relevance and shelf area,” Dee says. “Even when individuals love your product and love your model, [you have] perhaps just a few facings on the shelf when among the different firms on the market have, say, 25% of shelf area, and that is a restricted useful resource.”
Halloween is approaching, and Smarties attributes greater than 25% of its annual gross sales to the vacation. This yr, Smarties noticed the earliest demand for Halloween ever in Dee’s time with the corporate, with requests to ship for the vacation starting in June.
Smarties rolls out ingenious giveaway campaigns, together with one for Halloween: Candy Swap, which permits individuals with meals allergic reactions or sensitivities to swap sweet that is unsafe for them for Smarties.
“You do not truly must ship your sweet again to us,” Dee explains. “Somebody can simply add a photograph of that to us, and we are going to go forward and ship them the Smarties. This can be a good method for us to each spotlight the truth that we’re high allergen-free [and] be there for people who find themselves going to be receiving plenty of sweet however could really feel just a little bit unnoticed.”
Picture Credit score: Courtesy of Smarties
Throughout her time as Smarties’ co-president, Dee has led with an vital purpose: the corporate’s dedication to remaining family-owned whereas sustaining its relevance and authenticity within the crowded sweet area.
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Dee shares with Entrepreneur the management classes that assist Smarties meet these aims — together with the piece of recommendation she selected to disregard.
“No job is simply too small.”
Fittingly, Dee’s grandfather, Edward Dee, who was simply inducted into the Sweet Corridor of Fame final weekend, gave her some management recommendation that is served her effectively throughout her time at Smarties.
“My grandfather attributed this quote to Thomas Edison, however he would say, ‘Alternative is missed by most individuals as a result of it is wearing overalls and appears like work,'” Dee says. “And that actually speaks to the best way we handle, which is, no job is simply too small.”
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At Smarties, Dee strives to guide with a sure “scrappiness” and “grit.” The manufacturing facility ground is simply on the opposite facet of her workplace wall, and he or she’s no stranger to rolling up her sleeves for an up-close have a look at the manufacturing course of, she says.
“I’m able to be there supporting workforce members and likewise seeing what’s taking place the place the sweet is being made,” Dee explains. “If individuals climb additional and additional up ladders, they could simply get additional and additional distance from the manufacturing of the merchandise that permit them to even have the lights on of their places of work.”
“You deliver individuals up with you.”
On the subject of ladders, Dee mentions one other management tip she strongly believes in: You do not climb a ladder and produce it up with you.
“You deliver individuals up with you,” Dee says. “[I’ve always] believed it is crucial to proceed to assist, empower and raise up workforce members, and we search for alternatives to do this the place we will. It undoubtedly speaks to a way of the connection and gratitude that I really feel for a way I am right here and why I am right here — as a result of we’re supporting each other, working collectively to attain shared, company-wide targets.”
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“We’re not going to cover who we’re.”
Moreover, early on in Dee’s profession, when she transitioned to management within the sweet trade, she acquired a “unhealthy” piece of management recommendation she disagreed with — and opted to not take.
The suggestion got here from a 60-something man, Dee remembers, who informed her that she and her co-presidents ought to cover the truth that Smarties is a women-run enterprise. He did not assume it might be good for the corporate — a perception that spoke extra to his perspective than any actual shopper evaluation on the topic, Dee says.
Picture Credit score: Courtesy of Smarties. Sarah Dee, left; Jessica Dee Sawyer, middle; and Liz Dee, proper.
“We’re not going to cover who we’re, regardless,” Dee says. “It is actually vital, significantly as girls in management, to inform our tales [and] not be ashamed or afraid to be authentically ourselves. We’re a women-run enterprise. We’re a majority women-owned enterprise. And now we have a triumvirate management, which is an uncommon management construction, nevertheless it works for us.”
“Individuals love Smarties.”
Now, as Dee seems to be to Smarties’ subsequent 75 years and past, she’s excited to push ahead its legacy, one rooted in a household historical past that is already laid the inspiration for a profitable future.
“Individuals love Smarties,” Dee says. “[They] inform me about it. It brings them pleasure, and so they share that pleasure, and I need for that to proceed. I do know we will proceed it by strolling our path, sustaining our household legacy and doing what we do, which is retaining our individuals first [and] ensuring that we proceed to supply the identical constant, high-quality merchandise that folks know and love us for.”
