Marketing director, La Tortilla Factory, 3300 Westwind Blvd. Santa Rosa 95403, 707-586-4000, LaTortillaFactory.com
Age: 35
Residence: Santa Rosa
Professional background: Brand management in premium food (La Tortilla Factory, Häagen-Dazs, NewTree Chocolate) and wine (Rodney Strong Wine Estates), creative agency experience in premium food and beverage (Nestle and Chipotle Mexican Grill).
Education: B.A., communications, Sonoma State University; A.A., communications, Santa Rosa Junior College
Staff: Three direct reports -- digital marketing coordinator, marketing coordinator and customer-service representative
[caption id="attachment_94232" align="alignright" width="221"] Stacey Payne[/caption]
Tell us about yourself and your company: I like to think I am a fairly well-rounded marketer. Raised in Sonoma County, I moved to Los Angeles after graduating from Sonoma State University to pursue my marketing career in a "big city." I started off working in creative agencies, specializing in public relations, advertising and consumer promotions. While I had great experiences and began to hone my craft on some of the best brands in the world, I missed Northern California.
I relocated to Marin County to work for the first time on the client-side at Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream for the Häagen-Dazs brand. Then I joined a small startup chocolate company. These polar-opposite experiences exposed me to the challenges of marketing both large and small brands.
After being laid off from the startup, I decided to move back to Sonoma County. I parlayed my food marketing background into wine at Rodney Strong Wine Estates, but eventually missed the food industry. I was delighted to discover a nationally distributed food company, La Tortilla Factory, in my own backyard.
La Tortilla Factory has been a great fit for me. It is a family-owned business with deep roots in Sonoma County, and the owners have a real dedication to their employees. It is also on a growth trajectory that is exciting, and I am thrilled to be a part of it.
How has your background in luxury wine and chocolate prepared you for marketing a food staple such as tortillas?: My background in luxury and premium food marketing has been well-matched to our premium tortilla product line. While tortillas themselves are a staple, La Tortilla Factory products are differentiated by their quality ingredients and healthful attributes.
My premium-products background has elevated how we market our tortillas -- including a laser-focused consumer target, mouth-watering photography and recipes, and an innovative and engaging website. These tactics truly set us apart within our competitive set.
What is a major accomplishment in the past year or so?: Over the past year, I have been completing courses to fulfill prerequisite requirements for admission to graduate school. Having worked with and for major CPG (consumer packaged goods) companies, I have long-debated obtaining an MBA. While my work experience has gotten me this far, I am a huge proponent of continued education.
Though it has been difficult to take courses while working full-time and balancing my family life, I am quite proud to have just completed my final requirements.
What is the achievement you are most proud of?: In October 2013, La Tortilla Factory launched a limited-edition tortilla, with a portion of proceeds benefiting the Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF). I am proud of this particular achievement because not only was it a major undertaking, requiring tremendous cross-functional coordination in the organization (including sales, R&D, finance, supply chain and production), but also it combined efforts of the entire company.
The program yielded amazing results. La Tortilla Factory donated nearly $50,000 to BCRF last year, and we are committed to making it an even bigger success this fall. I am also incredibly proud of this program, because it is grounded in a cause that has special meaning to our organization, the Tamayo family and for myself.
What is your biggest challenge today?: Validating the effectiveness of our marketing efforts without the resources of big data available to larger companies has been a challenge at La Tortilla Factory. I have been working closely with the chief financial officer and sales team to develop metrics to reliably track our return on investment, but this analysis continues to evolve.
As a successful female professional, what were the biggest obstacles you faced, and how did you overcome them?: The first obstacle I faced in my career was determining the value, timing and logistics of pursuing an MBA. I was fortunate to be identified as a high-potential employee at Dreyer's, and to be offered opportunities to supplement my undergraduate work. I have since continued to complement my real world experience with continued education.
