Cultivating Potential at the PMA Women’s Fresh Perspective Conference

The 5th annual PMA Women’s Fresh Perspective Conference was last week in Miami, Florida. This conference is developed specifically for women in the produce and floral industry — regardless of their career stage — to cultivate their potential. This year Taylor Farms sent ten women from multiple departments to attend; Including Nicole Flewell, Director of Sustainability and Lisa Hearne, General Manager Taylor Farms California.

Flewell reflects on her first experience at this conference, “One takeaway that I’m bringing home with me is that there are a ton of little things we can do throughout our day that have a big impact. Creating more whitespace for thoughtfulness and reflection can help bring clarity to our home and work life. This is why Juliet Funt, owner and founder of WhiteSpace at Work, and her discussion around this concept really hit home for me. I think we could all use a little help in this arena!”

Hearne adds, “Two key components that I took from the conference this year are reiterating the importance of maintaining and expanding upon a culture of service within our team, and focusing on the people that are passionate and have had success through continued support and mentorship.”

One of Hearne’s favorite speakers at the conference was Lania Rittenhouse, VP of InFlight Experience for Spirit Airlines, who Herne said was able to bring a different perspective outside of the produce industry, while highlighting the importance of the customer and a company’s culture — values we share here at Taylor Farms.

“Calling All Women. Let Your Voice Be Heard!” Panel

We completely agree with PMA that our industry’s entire supply chain benefits when we develop and leverage the talents and passion of our female colleagues, which is why we have invested in sending employees each year for the past 5 years.

“I think this conference is a great place for women to get together and discuss what’s going on in our industry, help to prop each other up, make valuable networking connections, and attend focused breakout sessions to help us with day to day obstacles in our lives,” says Flewell.

“This conference brings a great opportunity to network and look at things with a different perspective,” says Hearne. “It also highlights how lucky we are to work for Taylor Farms which supports and encourages employees at all levels to build and expand upon a successful career in the produce industry.”

Tracy Lenz of Taylor Farms with guest speaker, Mel Robbins, CNN Commentator, Best-Selling Author and Life Coach