Women Of The C-Suite: Jean-Marie Heins of Broken Shed Vodka On The Five Things You Need To Succeed As A Senior Executive
By: Alexandra Spirer
Tags: Food And Beverage, Women In Business, Sheroes, Vodka, Alcohol

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

Completely unplanned and through the back door. I started working at a small art publishing company that was owned by Sidney E. Frank. Coincidentally, he also owned what was at the time a small spirits importing company that imported Jägermeister and Gekkeikan Sake. Sidney decided I had what it took to take over the marketing at that company, I jumped in and have never looked back. I worked at Sidney Frank Importing for 30 years and grew with the company. When that job came to an end, I knew I wanted to stay in the industry. I began searching for a small company to join and came across Broken Shed Vodka. After tasting the product, I knew I had to be a part of their US team.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began leading your company?

It has been such an amazing 2+ years at Broken Shed Vodka, helping the brand grow its distribution and brand awareness. It was an adjustment at first having to scale down from my past experience, but so rewarding to be part of a company from its beginnings.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

My first week on the job as the new marketing manager for Sidney Frank Importing, I walked into an office with piles of stuff everywhere, definitely dating myself here, but the world was not yet digital, everything existed in physical form, no digital files. I got a call from the people who were putting up billboards for Jagermeister in New Orleans. They asked me for the chromolins for the new art layouts. I hung up the phone and thought now what the heck is a cromolyn! I searched around and found some artwork and sent it off via FedEx. Sidney later asked what was up and I told him I put some stuff in FedEx and hoped one of them was a cromolyn. His reply — you are going to do ok. I learned to ask questions, do research (I picked up a few books, now google is a lifesaver) and act!

A second bigger, but not as funny lesson, was also at the beginning of my career with Sidney Frank Importing. I negotiated a great deal for a big purchase of promotional caps and was really proud of myself. Sounds good right? Well I did not think about the funds needed to purchase the order and almost gave my boss a heart attack when he saw the invoice. I was saved when the accountants showed him the savings covered the cost. I definitely learned a lesson in making sure you account for cash flow whenever you make a deal!

What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?

What really stands out about Broken Shed Vodka is its quality which is immediately perceived by its taste. I have never seen people react to a vodka like this. They are blown away by the taste, the roundness in the mouth and the character. Combine that with the experienced team we have built, and you have a winning combination.

I had a meeting with my accountant last month and at the end of a long meeting decided we earned a toast. I went to the car and grabbed a bottle of BSV who so happened to be in my truck. He had a couple of wine glasses and so we sampled right from the bottle. No ice, no mixers. He was blown away by the taste, the way people always are.

Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?

At Broken Shed, we just launched our e-commerce website. We always knew that e-commerce was the future of the spirits industry but when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, online marketplaces became more important than ever. We are a small company with big plans and our agility to move fast played in our favor. It is very exciting to see a project from start to finish, especially in a short period of time. Such fast-paced and industry-leading initiatives is what keeps me going. Now, when consumers ask us where can we buy Broken Shed Vodka, I can confidently say, “from the comfort of your home!”

What advice would you give to other female leaders to help their team to thrive?

Listen.

Encourage team members to share their ideas and recognize success in all forms.

Ask questions!

What advice would you give to other female leaders about the best way to manage a large team?

Ideas come from everywhere, encourage people on the team to take a chance to share in their own way and recognize success in all forms.

It is important to cross train team members, especially in the critical roles and tasks, for the department. Not only does it help alleviate overload and provide coverage, but a new set of eyes as well. Sometimes team members may have insights on how to do something more efficiently.

Be decisive when you need to be, a decision allows you and the process to move forward.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

There have been so many people, my family is always first and foremost. Without their support nothing else happens. I am forever grateful that Sidney gave me the opportunity he did and most importantly gave me time to learn. He knew he was throwing me in the deep end, but he was confident I would be great.

How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?

I try and give back where I can, and love to do that through our company as well. I love the program we are running right now in Broken Shed Vodka to help our US veterans in honor of Veterans day this month. We are making a $12 donation for every 9L equivalent to our Help Our Military Heroes. They use 100% of the funds that are donated to them for their mission, which is to provide adaptive vehicles for wounded veterans. The program details can be found at brokenshed.com/HOMH. We worked with them on smaller events and are very proud to be doing a much bigger promotion to help them this November, especially since COVID-19 has caused many of their usual fundraising events to be cancelled.

What are your “5 Leadership Lessons I Learned From My Experience” and why. (Please share a story or example for each.)

Ideas can come from anywhere and anyone. Cross pollination/diversity is a good thing, if you surround yourself with people just like you and from the same backgrounds and industry, you do not learn anything new. I have had amazing marketing ideas come from accounting. I even found my job as CMO through associates in finance.

Give the team room to make decisions and mistakes. It may be faster to do it yourself, but ultimately best to let it go. The team will become stronger and you, as a delegator, will have more time. This is always a hard one for me ☺

Always be willing to learn. The world is constantly changing. Try new things, learn new skills, eat new foods and try new vodkas LOL. Embarking on a new path will enrich your life and provide new insights.

Sometimes you need to step away for an hour a day. Sleeping on it can help too. You need to know when to move on.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)

Spread kindness to the people and the earth around you, little bits and big bits all help.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

“If plan A doesn’t work, the alphabet has 25 more letters — 204 if you’re in Japan.”

― Claire Cook, Seven Year Switch

“Don’t beat yourself up for not knowing the answers. You don’t always have to know who you are. You don’t have to have the big picture, or know where you’re heading. Sometimes, it’s enough just to know what you’re going to do next.”

― Sophie Kinsella, The Undomestic Goddess

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”

― Winston S. Churchill

How can our readers connect with you on social media?

www.linkedin.com/in/jmheins