2021 Women of Excellence, Mentorship Winners

2021 Women of Excellence, Mentorship Winners:Lee Esmond, Senior Vice President – North American Commerce, Experience and Retail Marketing, Mosaic North AmericaLee Esmond was recently appointed to a combined leadership role, balancing c-suite responsibilities across several teams within Mosaic North America and managing 20 key accounts. In 2021, she restructured three standalone teams into an integrated omnichannel group. She also leads the development and execution of integrated marketing solutions inclusive of shopper, experiential and retail marketing programs.Esmond has held several positions within Mosaic during her nearly 10-year tenure. With a degree in environmental studies and outdoor education from Prescott College, she started her career at Pinnacle Systems in marketing, working in San Francisco and Paris. After a brief stint with Mosaic North America in San Francisco, she spent seven years at The Mars Agency as director of shopper marketing in Bentonville, Arkansas, before making her way back to Mosaic in June 2012, working out of offices in northwest Arkansas, Chicago and Toronto.Esmond’s work encompasses the Integrated Commerce Business Unit, the CPG and experiential marketing team, and Mosaic’s U.S. shopper marketing team. She shares knowledge, advice and opportunities to cultivate space for others in a variety of ways, always cognizant of the need to mentor women and working moms, and is especially attuned to how the pandemic has transformed the way we live and function. As chair of Mosaic’s Diversity and Inclusion Mentorship Program, she provides resources and support to more than 20 mentees, ranging from junior- to senior-level employees, as well as non-employees who have demonstrated interest in marketing.Audrey Haston, Director, Shopper Strategy, PepsiCo Demand AcceleratorAudrey Haston is known as a trailblazer in PepsiCo for her leadership and creation of the PepsiCo Demand Accelerator Mentorship program, with more than 50 active members across the country in many different disciplines, ranging from insights and category management to space and shopper strategy.Noticing a gap at the company, Haston developed the program two years ago after gaining senior leadership buy-in and sponsorship, ultimately rolling out a best-in-class program. The program offers multiple levels of pairings, including traditional 1-to-1 senior leader mentoring junior associates, reverse mentoring, peer-to-peer and group mentorship. The result of her efforts is a 95%-plus awareness of the program and more than 90% engagement with it. A very robust matching process ensures the best possible mentorship fit, which has led to the program’s growth in its second year.Haston graduated from the University of Dayton with degrees in international business and Spanish. She began her career at Conagra Brands, where she held various sales and category management roles supporting national and regional customers. In 2015, Haston joined PepsiCo, leading category insights for Frito-Lay North America warehouse brands. Two years later, she went on to lead the Demand Accelerator Space team focusing on commercialization of space capabilities and project management of hundreds of space projects per year. Most recently, she stepped into leading a team that is focused on driving actionable insights within PepsiCo and its partners as the director of shopper strategy for PepsiCo Demand Accelerator.Following her mentorship, one mentee has been equipped to present several large presentations with audiences of more than 50 people, covering merchandising optimization and multicultural beverage strategies. Many of those strategies have since been accepted and implemented at national grocers across the country.Sarah Hofstetter, President, Profitero Sarah Hofstetter is a natural storyteller. Early on that translated into aspirations of being a journalist and a college internship at The New York Times. With a degree in sociology and journalism from Queens College, she ventured instead into public relations, which started her journey in communications and eventually led to brand strategy, emerging media and several executive-level positions. She says a consistent theme in her career over the past 25 years has been around “helping bridge the gap between consumer behavior and brand adoption,” whether a voiceover IP while at IDT/Net2Phone, search and social at 360i, or in e-commerce now at e-commerce analytics and digital shelf excellence provider Profitero. Prior to joining Profitero, Hofstetter spent 13 years at 360i, rising to chairwoman and CEO and growing the agency from $5 million to $180 million.Aside from her current duties as president of Profitero, Hofstetter is an active leader who grooms, mentors and advocates for talent in the industry across all levels, from c-suite executives to college students, focusing on their career, boards, personal growth and more. Currently mentoring more than a dozen women in various capacities, she committed herself to helping others in the industry after she saw the need for increased female leadership as she rose in her career. Many recognize her as a mentor who demystifies the ambiguous, offers candid guidance, and is a trusted advisor and coach.Hofstetter also sits on Campbell Soup Co.’s board of directors and was an AdWeek mentor in 2019 and 2020. Last year, she also co-founded EVE (Elevating Visionaries in E-Commerce), a mentorship program for women in e-commerce who are learning how to navigate uncharted territory, pairing 20 executive leaders with 20 up-and-comers across several global brands to help them advance in their careers.Kristin Moore, Senior Manager, Shopper Innovation & Experience, Nestle Coffee Partners In 2020, Nestle Coffee Partners created an organization-wide, strategic diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) program. Kristin Moore stepped forward and engaged executive leadership as a liaison/voice for the broader organization. The efforts she led — which included various workshops for nearly 400 employees — enabled all employees to take action against their personal DE&I commitments, empowered leadership at all levels, and increased both personal and leadership accountability.Moore has spent her career in CPG, starting at General Mills after graduating from the University of Notre Dame with a degree in marketing. After more than five years in various business management roles, she moved to Starbucks where she worked in category development. In August 2018, she joined Nestle, also in category development, before assuming her current post as senior manager, shopper innovation and experience, in December 2020.Through her work with the DE&I program, employees’ desires for connection and mentorship became apparent and, in response, Moore helped develop and launch the organization’s first-ever DE&I Mentorship Program. She remains an active participant, serving as a mentor to two under-represented mentees. Her humble, caring approach to mentorship comes through 1-to-1 investment in individuals at all levels in the company, while the ripple effects of her interactions touch the entire organization. Through these efforts, Moore has been a voice for change in the organization’s recruiting process as it works to create a more diverse and inclusive workplace. She is also part of the company’s DE&I recruiting efforts through a video designed to assist in attracting new, diverse talent.Karen Munns, Connections Director – Discoverability, Performance Content, VMLY&R Karen Munns strives to push herself and others every day. She says spreadsheets, project plans and databases “fuel her fire” in her pursuit of data-driven, results-oriented deliverables. She has more than 20 years of experience in e-commerce, strategy, branding, communications, workflows and professional coaching.Munns graduated with a degree in journalism with an English minor from Baylor University, and more recently earned an executive MBA from Texas Woman’s University. Beyond leading best-in-class commerce content work at VMLY&R, she directly manages and coaches a team of individuals, and is one of the most appreciated and revered leaders in her group.She is an advocate for her team both inside and outside of work, and actively seeks opportunities to help them improve their work while encouraging growth in other areas. As a strong role model and advocate for other working parents and caregivers, she leads with empathy, authenticity and by example as a single working mother. In turn, several teammates have sought her out for advice or requested her to be their coach, and because of her mentorship, two of her direct reports received promotions this year.Munns is also known for her independent research and training on professional development topics, and she recently published an article online titled, “You Are Not a Fraud: How Imposter Syndrome Affects Women in Leadership.” Her research and speaking recently merited an invitation to serve on the Texas Woman’s University alumni speaker bureau, working with alumni and current students on future career steps.Ashley O'Donnell, Vice President, Brand Marketing, Rust-Oleum Ashley O’Donnell demonstrated a unique vision as a leader and role model when she founded and launched a new community at the company called Women@Rust-Oleum, with the mission of investing in the women at Rust-Oleum by providing them with the tools and support to grow their careers. As the brand team’s leader, she consistently strives to help others achieve better results through encouragement and by pushing them to think more strategically and holistically.With a degree in marketing from Texas A&M University, O’Donnell began her career as a marketing manager at The Lowry Food Co. before moving into a merchandising role at Armstrong World Industries six years later. She also spent five years at Newell Brands in merchandising and brand marketing before landing at Rust-Oleum, where she has spent the past 13 years. As vice president of brand marketing for nearly four years, O’Donnell has been responsible for setting the long-term strategic direction across all of the company’s business platforms.The 200-plus member Women@Rust-Oleum community recently celebrated its two-year anniversary. In that time, it has provided women with leadership opportunities as well as guidance and support on work-life balance, business acumen and skill development, charitable giving and social activities that provide intercompany networking. Objectives include championing diversity and inclusion, connecting women across job functions, having a positive/open dialogue, encouraging employees to showcase and develop their leadership skills, boosting engagement with a supportive community, and inspiring employees to problem solve and innovate.In late October, O’Donnell was promoted to vice president, consumer group commercialization and strategy, and will now be working for Rust-Oleum’s parent company, RPM. She will continue in her executive sponsor role with Women@Rust-Oleum.Jen Senerius, Senior Director, Client Leadership, The Mars AgencyJen Senerius exemplifies the concept of mentorship at The Mars Agency by offering guidance, coaching and thought leadership for more than 30 cross-functional team members. As senior director, client leadership, she leads her team in the development of an annual business plan, conducts monthly client leadership team meetings and quarterly business reviews with cross-functional team members, and optimizes insights within the creative/program development process. She is also tasked with coaching and mentoring her direct reports to ensure successful growth within the organization.With a finance degree from Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business, Senerius started her career at an investment firm out of college. The following year, she took a new role at hybrid brand strategy and design agency VSA Partners. She fell in love with the shopper marketing space and later held positions at Arc Worldwide, Geometry Global and Performics before landing at The Mars Agency in January 2020. “What I love about shopper [marketing] is the fact that what we do ties back to conversion and is driving the needle for brands in a measurable way,” she says.Since joining the agency, Senerius has been credited with helping build team members’ skill sets and confidence. She was chosen to serve as a mentor for its summer internship program. The program involved 11 interns from different colleges, backgrounds and career aspirations participating in various agency activities, daily functional tasks, and a cross-functional team assignment in which they were tasked with working on an actual business project for a key client. For the cross-functional assignment, Senerius mentored two teams of interns in their quest to deliver possible solutions for the client’s business need, guiding them through the agency’s “Pathway to Growth” process. The teams ultimately presented their solutions to senior leaders at both Mars and the client, and to the entire agency at the end of the project.

P2PI MEMBERS

JOIN P2PI

You May Also Like

2023 Women of Excellence, Mentorship

Hall of Fame Profile: Tammy Ackerman