Liz Dee, co-president of American candy institution Smarties pinch her sister Jessica Dee Sawyer and relative Sarah Dee, didn't ever cognize she wanted to subordinate the family business, which was founded by her grandfather Edward Dee successful Bloomfield, New Jersey successful 1949.
However, Dee continued "responding to the call," moving connected transcript for Smarties' first website erstwhile she was successful mediate schoolhouse and helping motorboat and support its social media accounts successful assemblage and postgraduate school. She took connected her existent activity domiciled successful 2008.
Smarties, which conscionable celebrated its 75th anniversary, is still based successful New Jersey, wherever Edward Dee immigrated pinch his family from England the aforesaid twelvemonth he started the company. Since its founding, and moreover complete the people of Dee's ain tenure arsenic co-president, the marketing scenery has changed significantly.
"It is an uphill conflict to support relevance and support space," Dee says. "Even if group emotion your merchandise and emotion your brand, [you have] possibly a fewer facings connected the support erstwhile immoderate of the different companies retired location have, say, 25% of support space, and that's a constricted resource."
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Halloween is approaching, and Smarties attributes much than 25% of its yearly income to the holiday. This year, Smarties saw the earliest request for Halloween ever successful Dee's clip pinch the company, pinch requests to vessel for the vacation opening successful June.
Smarties rolls retired inventive giveaway campaigns, including 1 for Halloween: Sweet Switch, which allows group pinch nutrient allergies aliases sensitivities to switch candy that's unsafe for them for Smarties.
"You don't really request to nonstop your candy backmost to us," Dee explains. "Someone tin conscionable upload a photograph of that to us, and we will spell up and nonstop them the Smarties. This is simply a bully measurement for america to some item the truth that we are apical allergen-free [and] beryllium location for group who are going to beryllium receiving a batch of candy but whitethorn consciousness a small spot near out."
Image Credit: Courtesy of Smarties
During her clip arsenic Smarties' co-president, Dee has led pinch an important goal: the company's committedness to remaining family-owned while maintaining its relevance and authenticity successful the crowded candy space.
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Dee shares pinch Entrepreneur the activity lessons that thief Smarties meet those objectives — including the portion of proposal she chose to ignore.
"No occupation is excessively small."
Fittingly, Dee's grandfather, Edward Dee, who was conscionable inducted into the Candy Hall of Fame past weekend, gave her immoderate activity proposal that's served her good during her clip astatine Smarties.
"My grandfather attributed this quote to Thomas Edison, but he would say, 'Opportunity is missed by astir group because it's dressed successful overalls and looks for illustration work,'" Dee says. "And that really speaks to the measurement we manage, which is, nary occupation is excessively small."
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At Smarties, Dee strives to lead pinch a definite "scrappiness" and "grit." The mill level is conscionable connected the different broadside of her agency wall, and she's nary alien to rolling up her sleeves for an up-close look astatine the accumulation process, she says.
"I americium capable to beryllium location supporting squad members and besides seeing what's happening wherever the candy is being made," Dee explains. "If group climb further and further up ladders, they whitethorn conscionable get further and further region from the accumulation of the products that let them to moreover person the lights connected successful their offices."
"You bring group up pinch you."
On the taxable of ladders, Dee mentions different activity extremity she powerfully believes in: You don't climb a ladder and bring it up pinch you.
"You bring group up pinch you," Dee says. "[I've always] believed it's very important to proceed to support, empower and lift up squad members, and we look for opportunities to do that wherever we can. It decidedly speaks to a consciousness of the relationship and gratitude that I consciousness for really I'm present and why I'm present — because we are supporting 1 another, moving together to execute shared, company-wide goals."
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"We're not going to hide who we are."
Additionally, early connected successful Dee's career, erstwhile she transitioned to leadership successful the candy industry, she received a "bad" portion of activity proposal she disagreed pinch — and opted not to take.
The proposal came from a 60-something man, Dee recalls, who told her that she and her co-presidents should hide the truth that Smarties is simply a women-run business. He didn't deliberation it would beryllium bully for the institution — a belief that said much to his position than immoderate existent user study connected the subject, Dee says.
Image Credit: Courtesy of Smarties. Sarah Dee, left; Jessica Dee Sawyer, center; and Liz Dee, right.
"We're not going to hide who we are, regardless," Dee says. "It's really important, peculiarly arsenic women successful leadership, to show our stories [and] not beryllium ashamed aliases acrophobic to beryllium authentically ourselves. We're a women-run business. We're a mostly women-owned business. And we person a triumvirate leadership, which is an different activity structure, but it useful for us."
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"People emotion Smarties."
Now, arsenic Dee looks to Smarties' adjacent 75 years and beyond, she's excited to push guardant its legacy, 1 rooted successful a family history that's already laid the instauration for a successful future.
"People emotion Smarties," Dee says. "[They] show maine astir it. It brings them joy, and they stock that joy, and I want for that to continue. I cognize we tin proceed it by stepping our path, maintaining our family bequest and doing what we do, which is keeping our group first [and] making judge that we proceed to connection the aforesaid consistent, high-quality products that group cognize and emotion america for."