Leading Perspectives with Nicole Jevsevar, SVP Strategy
It’s time for the latest installment of our interview series Leading Perspectives! This time, with Nicole Jevsevar – Senior Vice President of Strategy. Learn more as she discusses her experience working in Consumer & Large-Scale Change, some of Schraad’s industry-leading Retail Execution, and how the team commits to making an impact in communities across the country.
Watch the video below, or continue on to read the article adapted from the content of the interview.
Watch the video below, or continue on to read the article adapted from the content of the interview.
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Article Adapted From Interview
"Get Better Every Day."
Something that struck me very early on after joining Schraad was Patrick, our President. He has a sticky note on his monitor, and it says, ‘Get better every day.’ And that, at its core, is the culture of Schraad.
An Introduction to Nicole Jevsevar, SVP Strategy
So I started my career in asset management. After four years, I decided to go back to school to pursue my MBA, and following that, I worked for the Boston Consulting Group in their Miami office, where I became a lead in their Consumer and Large-Scale Change practice areas.
Much of my work there was in Grocery and Convenience, which led me to Schraad. I was drawn in by the tremendous growth story over the past 5 or 10 years, but also by my belief that the growth story was going to continue. And that is underpinned by the leadership and ownership commitment, as well as our approach of being true partners with our clients and working shoulder to shoulder with them to achieve their goals.
Much of my work there was in Grocery and Convenience, which led me to Schraad. I was drawn in by the tremendous growth story over the past 5 or 10 years, but also by my belief that the growth story was going to continue. And that is underpinned by the leadership and ownership commitment, as well as our approach of being true partners with our clients and working shoulder to shoulder with them to achieve their goals.
Defining Strategy
At Schraad Sales and Marketing, we bring a three-pronged strategic approach.
It starts with our customers; no one knows our customers better. We have dedicated teams in each market, and strength across all levels and categories. We also work shoulder to shoulder with our clients, understand their goals, and we work seamlessly as one team in order to achieve them.
We also bring insights – by investing in our data capabilities, we are able to pull out strategic insights from consumption data in a timely manner. And those three things, rolled up together, allow us to make a difference for our clients.
It starts with our customers; no one knows our customers better. We have dedicated teams in each market, and strength across all levels and categories. We also work shoulder to shoulder with our clients, understand their goals, and we work seamlessly as one team in order to achieve them.
We also bring insights – by investing in our data capabilities, we are able to pull out strategic insights from consumption data in a timely manner. And those three things, rolled up together, allow us to make a difference for our clients.
Schraad's Difference & Approach
Three of the challenges that we’re seeing today:
1) Retailers are losing to mass.
2) Private label is continuing to take share.
3) Consumers are sticking to their lists.
And so at Schraad, we’re focused on bringing creative solutions to combat those challenges and drive trial with our consumers.
We’re leaning into our retail team – both to ensure flawless execution, and gather store-level intelligence that can help us make tactical changes. We are ensuring that we’re winning at the digital shelf, particularly for customers that have a large share of business that comes from online. That looks a lot like partnering with retail media partners and understanding what tools are available.
We are also looking for ways to drive trial and attention to items in-store. If customers are sticking to their lists, how can we catch their eye? How can we use creative events like theme events, combo ads, getting space in bunkers? What tools do we have to ensure that we’re getting exposure to drive trial and increase share?
Retail Execution & Continuity Coverage
At Schraad, we believe in Continuity Coverage for Retail. And that is driven primarily by the prevalence of wholesaler customers in our markets. All levels of the customer, from the headquarter to the downstream group to the individual store, and we’re selling in at all levels. And so that store level is enormously important and cannot be neglected.
And it’s not just selling it in the first time. We keep an eye on the shelf throughout the year at a regular cadence. We are able to divide work both through pre-planned missions, which is where we’re making strategic decisions with our clients to execute certain actions in-store.
But we’re also providing our retail reps with enough time to roam the aisles and look for opportunities for our clients. And so that’s something that we’re really proud of at Schraad, is our ability to make planned and unplanned impact at the shelf.
And it’s not just selling it in the first time. We keep an eye on the shelf throughout the year at a regular cadence. We are able to divide work both through pre-planned missions, which is where we’re making strategic decisions with our clients to execute certain actions in-store.
But we’re also providing our retail reps with enough time to roam the aisles and look for opportunities for our clients. And so that’s something that we’re really proud of at Schraad, is our ability to make planned and unplanned impact at the shelf.
A Culture of Community
Schraad is proud to support the communities that we serve. Take, for example, our involvement with the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma. We make a large annual donation, which we celebrate together at our end-of-year party.
In addition to that recurring contribution, we also get out of the office every year on a Friday for the entire afternoon, and work in the food bank, however we can best assist them in serving our community.
We also look forward every year to participating as a sponsor in the Alzheimer’s Association’s “Walk to End ALZ” in Oklahoma City, something that we encourage our offices across the center part of the country to become involved in as well.
In addition to that recurring contribution, we also get out of the office every year on a Friday for the entire afternoon, and work in the food bank, however we can best assist them in serving our community.
We also look forward every year to participating as a sponsor in the Alzheimer’s Association’s “Walk to End ALZ” in Oklahoma City, something that we encourage our offices across the center part of the country to become involved in as well.
Growth Going Forward
Change and growth is not something that comes easily or naturally to an organization. And something that struck me very early on after joining Schraad was Patrick, our President. He has a sticky note on his monitor and it says, ‘Get better every day.’
That, at its core, is the culture of Schraad. It’s asking ourselves, ‘How do we get better every day?’ And how can we work as one team in the company, whether it’s in Marketing, whether it’s in Strategy, Retail, our business managers, what can we do together to get better every day so that we can continue to deliver value for our clients?
That, at its core, is the culture of Schraad. It’s asking ourselves, ‘How do we get better every day?’ And how can we work as one team in the company, whether it’s in Marketing, whether it’s in Strategy, Retail, our business managers, what can we do together to get better every day so that we can continue to deliver value for our clients?
The Story Schraad is Writing
I think that the story that Schraad is writing is a story of impact. How can we invest and get better every day to drive impact for our clients? How can we take action as a company to help the communities that we serve?
So we’re looking to really grow our positive impact in all of the areas that we touch and be a positive force in our community.
So we’re looking to really grow our positive impact in all of the areas that we touch and be a positive force in our community.
