Event Details

Opening Keynote:

Managing the relationship between Founders and CEO's: A case study from our learnings together at Lily's Sweets.


The often problematic relationship between a Founder who has relinquished day-to-day control and the CEO who replaces her is the proverbial "elephant in the room" that is rarely discussed. Join us, as industry leaders Jane Strode Miller and Cynthia Tice, detail their journey together at Lily's Sweets, and provide valuable insight in making this relationship work. In hindsight, there are things that both women would do differently, and much that they would do the same, as they ended up being great friends in addition to having a successful exit with Hershey's!


Moderated by Diana Fryc of Retail Voodoo.

Speakers

  • Jane Miller (CEO of Haevn)

    Jane Miller

    CEO of Haevn

    https://www.linkedin.com/in/janeknowsbusiness/

    Jane Miller has 35+-years of executive experience in the food industry working with both start-ups and Fortune 500 companies. Jane most recently was the CEO of Lily’s Sweets and has held several other CEO roles in the natural and organic industry, including Rudi’s Bakery, ProYo High Protein Ice Cream, and HannahMax Cookie Chips.
    Over the course of her career Jane was part of an executive team that brought Hostess out of bankruptcy, worked for HJ Heinz as the Chief Growth Officer and then the President of the UK & Ireland Division. She also ran the Western division of Bestfoods Baking. Jane spent the first fourteen years of her career at PepsiCo, where she rose to be the President of the Central division of Frito-Lay.
    Jane is the co-founder of Haevn (https://www.thehaevn.com) a company dedicated to creating jobs for the next generation of leaders and the founder of janeknows.com, a career advice website. She is also the author of a sassy business book, Sleep Your Way to the Top (and other myths about business success).
    Jane currently serves as a board member at the University of Colorado Leeds Business School, Watson Institute, Eldorado Springs Artesian Water and Rudi’s Bakery.
    Jane has a degree in Russian Studies from Knox College in Galesburg, IL and

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  • Cynthia Tice (Founder of Lily's Sweets)

    Cynthia Tice

    Founder of Lily's Sweets

    https://www.linkedin.com/in/cynthia-tice-4a87a648/

    Cynthia Tice got her start in the natural foods industry before green juice was cool. She opened a natural foods grocery store, Center Foods, in Philadelphia in 1978, and owned and operated that store for 20 years. As supermarkets realized the staying power of natural and organic foods, Tice began consulting retailers on how to launch or build out their natural and organic offerings. She also began advising brands looking to launch natural and organic products. While working with a client who wanted to launch a natural soda, Tice became aware of the opportunity for naturally sweetened, no added sugar foods. This trend was emerging because of growing consumer sentiments to limit sugar, along with all time high levels of distrust of non-nutritive artificial sweeteners.

    As a long-time user of stevia, when the ingredient was granted GRAS status in 2008, Tice began experimenting with making chocolate with stevia to satisfy her own need for a no added sugar chocolate (her favorite food) that she could eat daily. In 2011, the recipe was perfected using not only stevia, but also the finest Fair Trade, additive-free, and Non-GMO other ingredients in order to benefit both people and planet. By 2012, Lily's Sweets was on shelves in Whole Foods stores nationwide. Today, Lily's Sweets remains a leader in the no added sugar movement through continued innovation, and the company's chocolates and confections can be found in more than 24,000 stores nationwide. Lily's Sweets has been recognized by Forbes as a, "mission-driven company reinventing the packaged food industry.”

    Cynthia stepped away from the daily running of Lily’s in 2018, and spends her time working with Non-Profits, and mentoring young entrepreneurs. She lives in Philadelphia with her husband, Dennis, of 30+ years, near her parents, her children, and their spouses/partners, and four family dogs!

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  • Diana Fryc (Partner at Retail Voodoo)

    Diana Fryc

    Partner at Retail Voodoo

    https://www.retail-voodoo.com

    Diana Fryc is a marketing industry executive with 20 years advising food and beverage brands with Fortune 500 to start-ups like PepsiCo, Russell Stover, and High Key on how to address their toughest growth challenges. As partner and CMO of Retail Voodoo, she uses packaging systems to help clients generate meaningful and sustainable growth. Tireless and determined, Diana is obsessed with the world of food, beverage, and wellness brands –and has been building long-lasting client relationships because people trust her to put the right combination of people and business assets together to move mountains. She also hosts the Gooder Podcast where she
    interviews women executives in the food, beverage, and wellness CPG industries about their personal journey, and discusses the most challenging topics in the industry today.

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