成为首次首席执行官的性别歧视和甜蜜的成功

如果您将手工巧克力与长胡须，严肃的凝视和男性美学联系在一起，那么您并不孤单 - 尤其是如果您像Jean Thompson一样是2002年的巧克力行业的一员。

1991年，汤普森（Thompson）与微软（Microsoft）一起离开了职业生涯，成为了近十年的全职母亲。但是，对巧克力的投资，地震和终生的热情使她重新获得了劳动力，并担任首席执行官Seattle Chocolate。

在近二十年之内，汤普森（Thompson）一直致力于重建西雅图巧克力，主要是一项主要由女性经营的业务，专注于当地社区，创意营销，以及有时电子表格与直觉，良好设计和出色产品不匹配的想法。

"What's this housewife going to do to help the company?"

When asked what made her decide to return to work, Thompson said,"我经历了女性赋权运动以及从该运动中得到的选择。我是一个单身的工作人员，然后是一个全职的母亲，现在我是一个工作的妈妈。”她继续说，“这给了我很多关于当今女性可用的选择的看法。”

During her time as a stay-at-home mother of two, Thompson became an investor in Seattle Chocolate. Throughout their early years, they struggled, and the 2001 Seattle earthquake meant the factory had to be rebuilt from the bottom up.

"I went back to Seattle Chocolate because, at that point, I owned it and it was failing. I knew it had potential and I believed in the product. I started off working as a member of the Sales and Marketing team, but when the CEO quit six weeks into my tenure, I had to make a decision: hire a new CEO or step into the role myself. I chose the latter."

那么，首次首席执行官如何教自己如何经营一家公司？raybet电子竞技“我做的第一件事是与人交谈。我坚信，一个好的领导者必须倾听并学习如何信任和委派。我知道我需要确定一种更好的做事方式。”

While this might seem daunting to some, Thompson remembers, "I approached every day one decision and one crisis at a time. That's how the first few years went."

地面学习worked well for Thompson. Once she had a few years of experience in the role, she also benefited from taking ad hoc collegiate courses on operations and financials. "The more I know, the better I can hold the experts who work for me accountable," she explains. Thompson has also lined up a few mentors, "Women who run large, successful companies who can help me during this growth phase."

While she's enjoyed many early successes, there were challenges as well. The biggest? A lack of faith. "I had 25 employees and heard comments like, ‘What's this housewife going to do to help the company?汤普森回忆说，“与其感到不知所措，这对我来说是火箭燃料。

我立即完成了一项交易，没人想到我们有机会。当我打电话给全公司会raybet电子竞技议为了宣布这一消息，每个人都认为我正在关闭业务。

取而代之的是，这是一个转折点，向我们的员工展示了我渴望留下并取得成功。

Turning Chocolate into a Cure for Hunger

Part of refocusing Seattle Chocolate as a business was to define a strong mission -- and execute on it. "We knew we wanted to help the Seattle community but weren't sure how. We settled on hunger."

汤普森继续说：“巧克力是经常分享的社区食物。但这不是你的食物must有。每六个美国人中有一个受到挑战，因此我们创建了巧克力品牌JCOCO来提供帮助。”

They partnered with local food banks in New York City, San Francisco, and Seattle, so all proceeds from the jcoco brand give people access to healthier food. To date, they've provided300万食品with an eye on an eventual 10 million.

Thompson even got the mayor to declare December first "Chocolate Gives Day." Now, every year, the proceeds from all chocolate purchased that day go to local food banks.

冒险风险的粘性和甜蜜

尽管他们显然在西雅图为自己创建了一个名字，但汤普森的公司在更广泛的竞争空间中站在哪里？raybet电子竞技她解释说：“每个人都在这里工作的人都对创意开放。”“我们在头脑风暴和创造性的表达上蓬勃发展，我们倾向于超越设计。但是，这使我们与众不同。”

例如，该公司最近完成了raybet电子竞技重塑品牌。Historically, chocolate brands have tended towards earth tones and neutrals. Seattle Chocolate partnered with artists to create vibrant and completely unique packaging for each of their bars.

结果是吸引了零售商。汤普森自豪地说：“我们的巧克力打扮成货架，使我们的产品流行。”

自汤普森（Thompson）在公司的第一天开始，尖端的设计一直是汤普森（Thompson）的热情。raybet电子竞技她迅速确定并质疑为什么他们的产品不出售给女性。答案很简单：以前的领导层不了解如何向女性商品销售。

“我的鲜艳色彩，流行艺术和独特的女性品牌都很开心。当我与大型零售商遇到我们的巧克力时，他们非常有兴趣听到我必须说的话以及我为什么会卖出的话。巧克力市场is a big one, and I knew how to reach a huge audience segment within that market. It was important to communicate that women weren't just waiting for men to bring home chocolates for them."

该公司还raybet电子竞技发现了成功Bing广告。必应的目标受众非常符合西雅图Chocolate's audience, which allows them to reach just the right person with every dollar spent. In fact, Bing's ads have outperformed those on Google for each of the company's last two campaigns.

虽然大胆的设计和创意广告经常为公司带来巨大的胜利，但汤普森坦率地说，风险没有付钱。raybet电子竞技“我与一家国家零售商达成协议，但认为他们要为货运收取的费用是令人发指的。我认为我可以更便宜，所以我买了两个半决赛……并立即意识到这是一项比我更大的任务。D.

对于公司而言，零售业并不总是很容易赢得胜利。raybet电子竞技汤普森回忆起雇用销售副总裁，他们认为快速增长是成功的唯一衡量标准。“他很快就卖出了酒吧，但他通过提供大量折扣来做到这一点。这超出了我们的负担，我们无法生产足够的巧克力来填补他的订单。”

她回想起公司的大小三倍，在此过程raybet电子竞技中损失了很多钱。“我们只是没有必要的基础设施来满足需求。我不得不太快地雇用人们，而现金流以支持增长不存在。”

汤普森（Thompson）了解到在正确的时间向零售商出售的重要性 - 以及让高管们不支持她的公司愿景的高管。raybet电子竞技“他想快速成长，翻转西雅图巧克力。我不同意。”

The Secret Ingredient

So, what's really behind Seattle Chocolate's meteoric rise? Thompson's answer is quick: "Hiring the right people is so important. I like smart people. But it's more than that, you must have aligned values."

Thompson also touts the benefits of hiring millennials. "They are my rocket fuel. If they agree with your giving mission, your approach to philanthropy, and how you treat people, they'll love working for you."

She says, "Understanding the people component is the most important part of running a successful business. You can coach performance issues, but you can't coach a good attitude or negative energy."

当被问及她对其他企业家扮演类似角色的建议时，汤普森说：“相信您的直觉。我读了这本书'Blink: The Power of Thinking without Thinking' and it's all about trusting your gut -- do that and you'll always do the right thing. There's nothing wrong with ignoring the occasional spreadsheet and going with what you think and feel, instead."

I'd like to think she also meant to add, "并始终吃每天的巧克力。"

想进一步了解成为一名成功的企业家吗？查看这篇文章。有关Bing广告的更多信息，点击这里。