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- [00:00]
Sree Rajagopalan
Chain Drug Review's focus is on reaching the key decision makers across all retail channels, delivering comprehensive coverage of the latest shopping trends and in depth category analysis on health, beauty, over the counter products and wellness. Whether it's the latest trends, emerging technologies, or strategies for adapting to new consumer behaviors, Mass Market retailers deliver the critical information retailers need to navigate this dynamic environment. To subscribe to the newsletters of CDR and mmr, simply follow the hyperlinks in the digital liner notes of this episode. Chain Drug Review and Mass Market Retailers are published by Retail Media iq.
- [00:40]
Nicole Kalita Davis
Hi, I'm Nicole Kalita Davis with niq.
- [00:43]
Jenny Bell
Hi, I'm Jenny Bell with Nielsen IQ and you're listening to the CPG Guys.
- [00:50]
Peter V. S Bond
Welcome to the CPG Guys Podcast.
- [00:54]
Sree Rajagopalan
Your hosts, Sree Rajagopalan and Peter V.
- [00:57]
Peter V. S Bond
S Bond explore how brands and retailers engage consumers in an increasingly digitally driven world. And now, here are the CPG Guys.
- [01:09]
Sree Rajagopalan
Hello and welcome to the CPG Guys. I'm of course Sree, co founder and co host of the CPG Guys, co founder and partner at Think Blue Consulting. As builders, connectors and amplifiers, we shape the future of commerce to drive your growth. You can get in touch with me at sri@thinkblueconsulting co. That's co. Com. Please do listen to my older daughter Rhea Raj's music www.rhea raj.com and a new song, Hot Couture, which has now been out for over four on my younger daughter Lara. Raj is a member of the Geffen Records Universal Music Group Cat's Eye, whose new album would have just released by the time of this recording. Check out the hit new single Gnarly Spelled G N A R L Y. Joining me today is my fellow co host Peter Vs Bon. And when he's not hosting this podcast, he serves as head of Industry and Client Engagement at Flywheel, the commerce acceleration division of Omnicom. Peter, at the time of this recording I was at NACDS this weekend. How did you spend time with your daughter this weekend?
- [02:00]
Peter V. S Bond
This weekend we did our usual Saturday morning trip to Stu Leonard's. We went to Hammer Barn for all those bluey fans out there AKA Lowe's and got some paint swatches and then just spent the weekend in the garden.
- [02:19]
Sree Rajagopalan
You know, for our those that don't live in the Northeast, they while they've heard of Stu Leonards, they do not know what it is. Take a couple seconds to tell our listeners what is Stu Leonard's. Why is it so special?
- [02:33]
Peter V. S Bond
Yeah, I'll do my best. I'll do my best. Given My voice. Stu Leonard's is. They call themselves the world's largest dairy store. I would call them a Staples food and beverage retailer. They're not a traditional grocery store. They have the basics they don't have, like you're not going to go there and find anchovies, you're not going to go and find shoe polish. You're going to basically find milk produce, some consumables, meat, things like that. And they're structured like a racetrack as opposed to a series of aisles. So you basically have to walk the entire store to get to the checkout. But there it's. And there's a lot of children's activities, animatronic buttons you can push, and all sorts of characters dancing. So that's what it is.
- [03:23]
Sree Rajagopalan
If you have young children and you ever visit the Northeast, take a few minutes to make sure to go visit Stu Leonards. It's really cool. You will thoroughly enjoy it. And before we get to our guests here, let me ask you to consider following us on Apple Podcasts and leave us a reading because the reading actually tells us how we're doing as a podcast. If you happen to leave us a review, we'll be thankful because the review actually tells us the quality of the conversations and the guests we're having on the show. And now of course, over to our main event, a special episode. We're pleased on the CPG guys today to be joined by two of Nielsen IQ's finest leaders that I have met. Jenny Bell, Managing Director, US Global Clients, and Nicole Kida Davis, Managing Director for US National Accounts. Jenny and Nicole, it was a pleasure at the time of this recording to have seen you this past week at nacds. Hopefully Palm beach not only gave you a lot of hard work that I saw you guys do with your clients, but also gave you at least, if nothing else, a few moments of rest and relaxation. Welcome to the CPG guys. It's a pleasure to have you guys.
- [04:26]
Nicole Kalita Davis
Yeah, some. Some great views as well there at the Breakers. It's awesome to be here. Sri and Peter, thanks for having us. Big, big fan of the show.
- [04:36]
Jenny Bell
Absolutely couldn't I will say it's nice to be home at the same time, right? It was a phenomenal weekend. Lots of familiar faces, fantastic conversations across few days and of course great to see you as well Shree and the team.
- [04:49]
Sree Rajagopalan
Awesome. Welcome again guys. And at the time of this recording, I am of course in a short term home in Seoul, Korea. Cat's Eye, my daughter's band actually releases their second album in less than 15, 18 hours from now, I'm getting a time zone warp 18 hours to be specific. Big marketing vehicles, machines are spinning and I hope to be able to see something live as I as I get get up later today. So of course your LinkedIn profiles, your company's LinkedIn profiles and company pages will be shared in the digital liner notes of this podcast so that our followers can access it on the go while listening to this episode. So I'm going to jump into my first question here. This is part of a much bigger mission here than we normally do on the CPG guys where we keep it purely focused on business. When Jenny, Nicole and I met up at necds, we decided let's talk about something far more important that all of us work on every single day, hour, minute, second of our life. And that is the business of our life. That doesn't mean I won't ask them their everyday business questions, but I'm gonna jump in and ask the obvious question first. What does a day in the life of each of you look like? And maybe Jenny, you can go first.
- [06:06]
Jenny Bell
Sure. Love to. You know, I'll say that the day in a life has changed over the years depending on where I am in my phase in my life or how old my kids are or what particular job I'm jumping into. You know, this morning I started out with a walk. It's luxury that I have a child that drives and can take our kids to school. So my husband and I get some, you know, some nice time together that we start our day whether we start the day with a walk, end the day with a walk, lots of meetings, fantastic engagements now that I'm back at home in the office with the team today. And then tonight we have soccer practice, we have a baseball game where I'm taking a few kids to help out right in this village that we have as a team. So lots of activities right now. So the evenings are very, very busy and I try to sneak in a meal, you know, whether I'm cooking or we go out. I have three teenage boys who love to eat and that is the definition of success as a mom is what I feed them. So that is always a priority. But I will say I don't know what's for dinner tonight.
- [07:06]
Nicole Kalita Davis
I would say my mornings are a little more hectic right now. We, we do not have that, that luxury of the driver. I have a two and a half year old daughter and some mornings look like getting up pretty early to get in, maybe a little bit of email and a look at the day ahead of Beau waking up, getting her ready. I do get the luxury when I'm home, when I'm not traveling of getting to spend that precious time in the morning, get the morning hugs, the morning smiles, get, get, get our daughter ready for preschool and get her out the door. I also have the luxury of a fantastic husband who does a lot of the day to day house stuff for me, so he usually gets her out the door. We are a meeting centric culture, so we spend a lot of time with customers and in internal meetings through most of the day. The evening looks different, it's quiet for me. It's usually a little bit of, you know, a couple hours of quiet time. Trying to get something toddler friendly on, on the dinner table is like you said, that's a big mom win, Jenny. So I'm, I'm still seeking out those mom wins on a daily basis. I haven't quite cracked that code for, for toddler life, but that's our quiet time in the household. There's no sports, there's no other activities at this stage in our lives. So we get a little time as a family to go for a walk, hang out, play some games, watch some shows and just be together. And then once, once bedtime hits for me, depending on the day of the week and where I'm at in the world, it's a little more of a focus back on my niq life to get through the things that I didn't get to in the day and turn around and find a little bit of relaxation at the end of the day before I head to bed and get ready to do it all again Monday through Friday.
- [08:49]
Sree Rajagopalan
Best thing I heard was, Jenny, you open it up by saying you get a walk every morning, which is absolutely fabulous. I call that me time. And we'll get to that later. But I heard both of you talk about the importance of your children and Peter and I live by that every single day. I've got two daughters, of course, Peter's got one. Peter, my question for you is, are you out of the toddler zone yet?
- [09:11]
Peter V. S Bond
Well, she's six going on 16, so she still loves her Disney and her Harry Potter. So we've got a little while to go on that aspect. But ladies, thank you for joining us today. No, I'm not doing a Demi Moore imitation. I just have a little bit of an infection that I'm recovering from. My question, I'll go back to you, Nicole. I'd love to hear what the term work life balance means to you. Is balance even A word? Or is it more about your. Your arbitrary distribution? And how do you think about that?
- [09:51]
Nicole Kalita Davis
Yeah, you said it kind of. Well, work life balance for me looks a little different every day. You know, for me, it's prioritizing the things that matter to me in that day so I can make it work for me and for my family. And on Monday, that looks different than it does on Friday. On Monday for me, I can give, you know, 150% and I'm all in. And I'm probably at my computer more hours than I'm anywhere else on a Monday, but that allows me by Friday to shut the lid on the laptop and walk away and find that balance on the weekend where I can prioritize the other side of my life, the rest of my life, my time with my family and my friends. So it really does matter kind of the day, the week, and also, again, the place in the world that I am. Jenny and I both travel quite a bit because we spend our time out with our customers. And so just depending on where I am, that looks a little bit different day in and day out. But I think it's just accepting that work life balance will change. Some days it's squeezing in some exercise. Some days it's having a glass of wine. And some days it's going to be an hour earlier than I usually do because I just need it. And finding that prioritization is what works.
- [11:07]
Sree Rajagopalan
For me and Jenny. Any thoughts on that one? Like, what do you even see as the definition of work life balance? Do you have one?
- [11:15]
Jenny Bell
Yeah. You know, it's a great question, and I honestly think it means something different for everyone. Right. You know, where Nicole is right now in her life and where I am, you know, when my children were small or, you know, I didn't travel that much. Right. I had the luxury of having my client in my backyard and our office here and my team here. So I spent a lot of time here locally and was able to be there.
- [11:37]
Peter V. S Bond
Right.
- [11:38]
Jenny Bell
But on the flip side, I'll say my husband, you know, is a key part of this family and he kind of makes our household run, quite frankly. Right. He's the one that's been flexible. And I look at our life now and where we are, it's, you know, I have a son that's a senior. He's heading off to college in, you know, at the end of the summer and graduating. And so I'm trying to soak up everything I can. Right. Making sure I'm attending the soccer games, making sure I can be at the tennis game and being, you know, when I'm home and when I'm not traveling as present as possible. And those family dinners, like I said. Right. And that, that's change over the years. Sometimes it was being there in the morning or having family time as well and making sure you can be there for all of those critical events. Lots of times I'm not there. And I think that's the balance of ensuring that I know that they have great family they're surrounded by. We have amazing friends that help. And I said it again, it takes a village, and you have to be comfortable with that. And so I think over the years, I've gotten really comfortable and bringing help into the household, but also asking for help, and it's a requirement. So I'm super thankful for the family and friends and my husband that helped do that. But I've also gotten comfortable that every week looks a little bit different. And it's okay that I'm not there for every big moment, but I know my kids are super proud of me too, and know what it takes to work hard and being that balance that you can for your family.
- [13:09]
Sree Rajagopalan
You said something very important, Jenny, which is, you know, as humans, we feel pressure that we have to imitate others or copy others with work life balance. But what I heard you say is it's going to look different for each person and they have to define it. Both of you are in different stages of life. Peter and I are in different stages of life with how old our kids are. Work life balance. The one thing Peter and I agree on, work life balance is we agree on going to baseball games. We had the pleasure of wearing meta glasses, which I told you about. And we went to the Cubs Dodgers game at Chicago that said, Jenny, I'm going to flip this one over to you, which is you mentioned you start your day with a walk. So how do you both bring a sense of balance in your life? You kind of talked about work life balance, but what is that balance part? So that you can actually get me time?
- [14:03]
Nicole Kalita Davis
Yeah.
- [14:04]
Jenny Bell
You know, if my husband listens to this, he's like, every day, Jenny, that's a little aggress. Okay, so maybe not every day, but I really do try to get in the steps, you know, before I. You know, I've been a member at a lot of gyms and it depends, Right. I had to cancel my gym membership two years ago because I just started traveling too much. So, you know, it didn't make sense for me. And so the me time has evolved and changed or making sure that if I am traveling, I'm getting into the gym, right? We have great peer mentors. When we're going to team meetings, you know, we'll text each other, do you want to go for a run? Do you want to go for a walk? And so surrounding yourself with people that are also making similar choices or quite frankly motivating you, right? If for some reason, if I end up paying more or somebody asked me to do something, I will always say yes. So figuring out what that balance and really what motivates you is, is really key. And the other is, you know, when you think about traveling or you know, investing in your family time, it becomes limited. Sports can rule your life. You know, it can be that you're traveling, right? Whatever. That moment is really taking quality time and enjoying it. So take the vacation, right? And really enjoy that vacation. And you know, and part of it too, I feel like I'm investing in my kids future and helping them see the world. And those are all priorities in me time that while it's me, it's also making time for my family because that's, that's what's important to me. So I choose that. Or maybe it's a girls trip, right? I take an annual girls trip every year and seeing my girlfriends, I don't see them enough. But one time a year we make the most of it.
- [15:40]
Sree Rajagopalan
I'll tell you, Jenny, my me time is actually I like cooking. I look at it as therapy. Of course. I take one on one and a half hours to cook anything. I make a mess. I do clean up after myself. And the only time the family will let me use the stuff, tops at home is when I say, hey, it's my therapy and it's my time. And then my. And then they all back away and say, have at it, man. What about you, Nicole?
- [16:08]
Nicole Kalita Davis
Yeah, actually, specific to that, I think my husband has banned me from cooking big meals in the kitchen because the cleanup has gotten exponential. But I agree with you. It's so, it's, it's, it's really peaceful when you can find like something that's so different from what you do every day to spend your time and sort of invest in yourself and your family. You know, I thought about the me time and the balance a little bit differently. Or I'll just give a different perspective because I think it does evolve. And me time is few and far between for me right now, given the stage that I'm at. And I'm okay with that. I know it. So what I find helps Me get balance is really finding a confidant or a friend, someone who might not be in a similar stage as me, but is an ear for me and my experience, have experienced this in the past or be going through, through something different and having that outlet or that that sort of best friend at work that we always talk about is such a value to me. It makes me able to be more present at work, it makes me able to be more present at home and it allows me to kind of like blur the line a little bit between, you know, it's like I really do like to set a boundary for certain parts of my life so that I can be present in one and not be. Not be thinking about the other. But the reality is when I'm at my best is when I can kind of blur that line and find that balance between the two that allows me to be even better in both. And I found that finding that right person at work, that that handful of people at work that really are your tribe or your best friends at what you do every day really helps me find that balance and keep myself centered on the things that really are the priorities in our lives.
- [17:57]
Peter V. S Bond
All right, so my question is dealing with day to day challenges, right? How, how do you manage that to make sure that you've, you've got those commitments, the must haves, but you're going to be running up again. I mean, I start my day and all of a sudden there's something in my inbox that screws, throws my whole day off. How do you think about that and making sure that you still honor the commitments you have to get your job done and obviously make sure your family can live their lives. Jenny, you want to start us off?
- [18:30]
Jenny Bell
Yeah, sure. You said it best, Peter. You never know what's going to come at you every single day. And you know, that's one of the reasons I love what I do. I think every day I wake up and while I have a plan and an agenda and meetings lined in, there might be something that comes in that's exciting or a new opportunity that I get to learn and develop or partner with someone new. You know, the most important thing is, you know, every, you know, around the evening, I kind of surround myself and get comfortable with what my calendar looks like the next day. You know, just making sure I know that I've got the critical deliverables planned, I have the key meetings plan and the prep time right. Should I get into the office additional hour early or log on to email in that hour and do the proper preparation, You Know how you show up and how you prepare is probably one of the most critical pieces in our industry. So it's really important that I take that time and understand what my day looks like when something blows up or when there's a great new opportunity that we want to go chase. It's exciting and luckily we have amazing people that we surround ourselves with. So the biggest part is just relying on your team. Right. Rely on your peers to help. Maybe that deadline can get pushed a day or maybe we need to, you know, you've got, you've got a one on one with your team, with your team and, or a team meeting that you need to push for three days. And so when your team and you trust the people that are around you and we're all in that same space, we really rely on each other and are there for each other. And so it creates this opportunity to evolve and be there and help and guide the way. Yeah.
- [20:04]
Nicole Kalita Davis
And I would just add like, Jenny, you're so right and I think this, it sounds sort of counterintuitive, but I think you, you have to get okay with the fact that you're never going to get 100% of the perceived priorities done in a given day. New stuff comes in, priorities shift and you just, you have to let go of that idea that you can get all of it done and all of it done perfectly. Maybe you can get 100% done at 80%, maybe you can get 80% of the list done and the other things get reprioritized for another day. But really releasing some of that control, it's so hard for all of us. But releasing some of that control can really help, help you manage your day effectively and pivot when all the changes roll in.
- [20:48]
Sree Rajagopalan
Nicole, I gotta say, you know, you, me and Jenny, we worked together about a week or so ago at this point, I guess, and we were talking to a managing director from a fairly large, you know, one of the most important banks that exists. And he was kind of talking, he had just released a report that was on the CPG guys last Saturday, you know, about a week and a half at the time of this recording. It was a week and a half ago. And he had said, Wall Street CEOs, I'm sorry, CPG brand board members and leaders, you need to take down your EPS forecast. And it made me think of how much we stress about getting to the exact penny on the EPS and the dividend and all the downstream pressure and stress we put on ourselves and the people we surround about us. Jenny, you said something Very important. If we don't answer something immediately with the pressure we create for ourselves and unfortunately raise our cortisol levels, or if we're five minutes late for meeting the stress we create for ourselves and people around us, totally unnecessary. Life's going to do perfectly fine. You know, oxygen is still going to be available in the air, waters are going to be flowing through the pipes and gasoline powered and electric powered cars are still going to be moving at 60 miles an hour, following speed limits all across the country. So. So I think one valuable thing, especially the more tenured you get in your life and career, is the importance of that life piece. And, and that remembering that, that should prioritize everything we do at work. Now, of course you can look at me and say, hey man, you're an entrepreneur, you have choice. But I'll tell you, this is the first time I've had the clarity of mind to realize I should have acted that way. Thirty years on the career and I didn't. And I wonder, not just myself, how many other people I dragged down in the process in their personal lives for which now I'm on a mission to fix that. So let me remind our audience, I am speaking to Jenny Bell and Nicole Kalida Davis from Nielsen IQ on this fun special episode. Life as a CPG Mom. So let me start with you, Nicole. I know you are on the road a heck of a lot like me and Peter and me. Travel is just a way of life. Sometimes you are on a call or a meeting or get into Avis Car rental at midnight and checking into a Hotel at 1am and landing late by three hours. Missing flights. So how do you deal with all that stress and the away from home business travel? How do you stay in touch with your little one and your spouse?
- [23:28]
Nicole Kalita Davis
Yeah, I've gotten really good at recording videos to send home. Honestly, truly, like, you know, you can do that from anywhere you can sit in.
- [23:36]
Sree Rajagopalan
Here's the fun part, Nicole. Peter does that all the time. Sometimes I feature his video to his daughter when we're together. When my kids were little, there was no concept of smartphone, video sharing or FaceTime.
- [23:49]
Nicole Kalita Davis
It's wild. It's wild what you can do. But the crazy thing too is I have to accept that sometimes my need to see my family might be outweighed by their need for peace and quiet at home. You know, we just had a couple weeks ago, I was on the road and I sent home a video. It was a long trip for me. I was going to be gone for a while. I sent a Video home at the beginning of the trip, and it really disrupted the household. It sent my daughter into a tailspin because she didn't know where mom was or why I wasn't there. She went crying into preschool that morning. It made the morning tough on my husband, who was trying to manage a bunch of priorities. So I think part of it is recognizing that when I'm in the moment with my family, I can be there and with them, and when I'm not, sometimes they need me to not be. They need me to step away so that they can run the household kind of successfully as well. So the disruption is hard, especially when you're. I think it's hard on anyone to have travel disruption and not be able to operate in the way you want to operate. But I think, especially if you're committed to trying to get home for a friend, for a family member, for a child, that travel disruption, man, it just wreaks havoc on your schedule. So you try to roll with the punches. Jenny and I were traveling home from nacds last night and running to catch delayed. We were delayed out of Palm Beach. We were running to catch connections, and.
- [25:19]
Jenny Bell
And.
- [25:19]
Nicole Kalita Davis
And thankfully, we both made it home. And so you just. You take it as a win when you get it, and you know that it's not always going to go your way, and you just try to try to manage as best you can.
- [25:29]
Sree Rajagopalan
And then, Jenny, we meet often on the road. You know, we're in business settings. What about you? Where you. You open this conversation saying you're in a different stage of life. You've got children that are growing up to be soon to be fine adults in the world. How do you stay connected and just keep that connection every single day?
- [25:52]
Jenny Bell
Yeah, it's. As I was listening, Nicole, you know, it's. It's such a. I remember when I was in that stage, right. Like yesterday, and the same thing. My husband's like, we're fine, we're fine. I don't want to disrupt, you know, the. The way that things are happening and the way that he manages the household when I'm not there, you know. But it's funny when I'm to the point now where I text the kids, I should snap them because that's their way of communicating, right? I text them and no one responds. Or I call and I get a call, hey, mom, how you doing? Hey, how was your day? Right? And, you know, short answers. They try to act enthused to hear from me, but the reality is, you know, they're. They're Great, independent young men. And, you know, there's a lot going on in their lives. They're fulfilled with their friends. They're off to the next, you know, neighborhood baseball game or wiffle ball in the backyard. And, you know, sometimes it's now where the tables are turned. I have to be comfortable with them not needing me as much. And, you know, it. It took me a little while to realize that when I'm traveling and they don't text me to say, how was your day, Mom? That. That's. That's okay. So I try to, you know, check in. I send videos of where I'm staying. So I'll like, oh, I'm in this amazing hotel and I'll send a video. I don't know if they really. They do. And it's fun to make the connection that I'm in a new city or I'm sending pictures of, you know, of something or, you know, a concert going on or, you know, an amazing. You know, we were just in Toronto as an example. Right. And going to Canada and sending some pictures home there. So I try to bring them along, the experience. But it's also been a transition that, you know, they're. They're fairly independent, and I've had to adjust to that.
- [27:42]
Peter V. S Bond
Rumor has it, Jenny, you may have done a little curling when you were up in Toronto. It looked like there was some fun being had at the leadership meeting. I know my daughter needs me every day because when we get in the car and I drive her to school, all of a sudden I see the hand sticking into the front seat with the iPad, and she's basically saying, dad, connect me to your. To your hotspot.
- [28:06]
Jenny Bell
Yes, you're the type of thing.
- [28:08]
Peter V. S Bond
Oh, well, I will, I will, I will. If that's what I get, I'll take it, you know, and usually when I call out her name and she doesn't respond, I get a little louder. Her first reaction when she finally gets out of her trance is to say, I love you, Daddy. I'm like, oh, that just melts my heart. I'm always gonna keep.
- [28:25]
Sree Rajagopalan
So I gotta give him credit, though. You know, he had to step up briefly for a second here. He didn't hear me mention it. I love, love, love that every single night. He makes it a priority when I see him on the road to create a video for his daughter and send it to her and her mom shows it to her. And as I mentioned, I've featured on a couple of those from time to time.
- [28:46]
Peter V. S Bond
Yeah, it's my way of Staying connected and sharing with her. We were in Chicago, as we mentioned last week, and that's where my daughter was born. And what I did is I actually stood in front of the hospital where Nadia came into this world and shot her a little video. And it meant a lot to me. I was the one all miss misty eyed. And it, you know, greatest day in my life was the day she arrived. But anyhow, so let's talk a little bit about vacation, right? I want to hear your side. What is vacation? You know, for me, I, I get up early, I go do store walks to see what's new in retail. I'm always talking to sree when I'm on vacation. I don't know what it to me, I take time, but it's. It's really hard for me to turn it off. It's much easier for me to turn off my flywheel avatar than it is to. To turn off my cpg, guys. I think it's because it's a part of what I'm doing. So I would love to hear how you think about vacation time.
- [29:53]
Nicole Kalita Davis
Yeah, I, maybe I'll jump in. I think I. I had a pretty big reset this year, honestly, in how I think about vacation time. I needed to take some time away for some. Some procedures, all very preventative, but it took me out of the game for a little bit. And to say I was stressed about that was. Is like the biggest understatement of 2025. I. I didn't honestly know how I was going to manage stepping away from the business. And I had fantastic friends and coaches like Jenny and like our friend Steve who said, like, look, health is number one. You have to step away. And it took me resetting and realizing, hey, I don't have to do everything. Things will still get done. Of course. I feel like, you know, we all do that. I can do it better than anyone else can do it, but trusting that me stepping away is a chance for someone else to learn and grow and do something effectively. So I've been trying to really have that same mindset when it comes to vacation. And this is, you know, it's only. It's only the end of April, so there hasn't been a ton of time here. But I'm trying to. To keep that mindset to say, like, vacation is an investment in coming back better than I was before, and also an investment in. In letting my fantastic leaders manage through situations that they might not have the opportunity to manage through on a regular basis. So for me now, vacation looks like, you know, If I were gone for a week, it's, it's probably a lot of checking in to make sure there's no absolute fire drills. But it's also putting the phone in the drawer and telling my team, hey, I've got, here's my personal number. If you have an issue, call me, text me, I'm here. But I'm not going to monitor every single thing that you're doing because you got this and you can go do it on your own.
- [31:43]
Peter V. S Bond
Well, I'll tell you this, if I tried to put the phone in the drawer, Sree would send a team to my house to try and find out what had happened to me. He's. But my, my office, they wouldn't care. They do it. They do exactly what you suggested. Sree, he would send out a search crew. That's what I think.
- [32:00]
Jenny Bell
That's great.
- [32:01]
Peter V. S Bond
That's great, Jenny.
- [32:02]
Sree Rajagopalan
Actually, he is right. Or fortunately he's right. But Jenny, what is, what is vacation to you?
- [32:07]
Jenny Bell
I really cherish vacations because it's, it's quality time that I get to spend with the boys. You know, we, during COVID we started skiing as family. We just went up to a little perfect north that's about 25 minutes from our house, got a membership and we really fell in love with it. Right. But when you go skiing, you are on the mountain, you are checked in from the minute you wake up, preparing for all the craziness that it takes to get ready for that sport. And then you're skiing until 3 and 4 and hopefully enjoying a nice beer when you get off the slopes. And when I get back at night, I'll check, make sure everything's in place. But you know, the days can sometimes get packed and so I know that at different vacation periods throughout the year, you know, okay, this is a three day getaway. And I know that I'm going to be out of pocket a bit. So I make sure I prepare the team. You know, we're thinking about the right leaders to engage, the right experience to engage in the places that, like Nicole said, it's a great opportunity for your team to step up and into that. And so, so I think there's been a lot of experience gained from US leaders being out of the office and giving people the chance to shine and step in for you. And sometimes that's the biggest gift and recognition you can provide people. So being really comfortable with that and quite frankly encouraging it and asking folks and having that opportunity, that's it.
- [33:31]
Nicole Kalita Davis
Jenny, if we're not taking vacation, how can we ever expect our teams to get away? And everybody needs that reset. We have to set the example that the world will keep turning if we go skiing for a couple days.
- [33:45]
Jenny Bell
Exactly.
- [33:46]
Sree Rajagopalan
You know, listening to you both, I have fond memories of the time we invested with the kids on vacations. Fortunately, when our kids were younger, there was no smartphones for distractions or it was too early in the journey of smartphones to engage you. 24 7. We've traveled the world, all over the world with kids and they remember many of those moments to the day, including how my younger one would absolutely hate doing tourist activities and going in and out of monuments and buildings, while my older one absolutely loved it, including her absolute passion for reading books to the day, which means we had to visit libraries when they were younger. Absolute opposite ends. And of course, walking in Venice was special to the day. We have pictures we have kept forever. So vacations look very different for me now. I take time off now. I'm going to usually see my kids performing somewhere. All right, so vacations, getaways, they all matter. Of course. Hopefully those listening in understand the importance of it. The most important thing I'll always advocate for is when you have five minutes with somebody, give them your presence, don't be distracted on the smartphone. Much more valuable than 45 minutes of distraction. Now, ladies, I have a prize question for both of you. You are obviously in very large leadership roles, not just touching the people in your teams you work with, but you're touching the industry in very meaningful ways. So let's talk that world of business leaders you two are. How do you practice wellness and balance in business with your people, etc? And what do you learn in your own lives, in your day to day job when it comes to just the wellness aspect?
- [35:28]
Jenny Bell
Well, I'll kick us off here. So I'm a people leader. One of the things that I love about what I do and who I support is the client relationships and the relationships I have across Nielsen iq and that's with my team. So really trying to spend one on one time working with people, coaching, ideating, innovating together, some of the best ideas happen. And just a text of. Hey, do you have a quick minute? I have a question for you. A lot of that is not planned, right, but a lot of it is. And so the wellness piece of that is just making sure that you're really available. And so Shree, you just said, right, turn off the smartphone, really being present when you're in a meeting, being there for someone, you know, in the good, but also when it's challenging, you know, that's when people need us most. And you know, that's the world is changing. There's so much going on right now, you know, different personal stages that people have in their life as well. You know, maybe they have a new baby or a young toddler or maybe where I am, you know, I have to leave at 5 o' clock, you know, for that sports game and that's okay. So helping understand and being there, wherever anyone in, in is their life, is something that I really strive to think about and be very intentional about.
- [36:42]
Nicole Kalita Davis
We did not plan this three, but I feel the exact same way. I, I, I just will build on what, what Jenny was saying. Like, like Jenny, the best part of my day is when I get one on one time with my team or with my customers and I can spend that time, you know, the five minutes up front. How are you? How was that game last night? How's your dog doing today? I heard you weren't feeling well yesterday. Just that connection that you can try to build with someone go so far and, and for me, a big part of it is trying to meet that person where they are. So we're, Jenny and I are talking about our experiences as moms, but there's a lot of dads out there, there's a lot of pet parents, a lot of friends, a lot of caregivers for their own parents or siblings. And everyone's got something going on in their life. And I think it's, it's, I've seen a lot of people say, well, you know, that person's thing is bigger than mine. I'll work the extra hours or I'll, you know, take on the thing. And it's really trying to make sure that you understand whatever the pressure is for everyone at that point of their life that they're in and you really meet them there to, to coach through that and, or just listen, just be an ear. You know, I talked earlier about needing that friend or that ear just to be an ear. I think that the highest compliment that I've ever received from a member of my team is he. Nicole, you were really available. You were really, I was really. I don't know how you do it, but you always find time. To me, there is nothing better, no better praise that I can get from a team member than just being able to be there and really engage with them and meet them where they're at, wherever that may be.
- [38:24]
Peter V. S Bond
All right, so let me, you know.
- [38:26]
Sree Rajagopalan
What, before you go to the last one, you know, one Thing you and I don't do is we don't ask each other this question. Right. So, Peter, the people that you work with, how do you practice wellness every. Every day?
- [38:37]
Peter V. S Bond
What do I do? I. My. My greatest wellness is just the private time I have with my daughter, being able to just ask her how her day went, to offer advice to celebrate the things that mean the most to her. That to me is a golden part of me feeling better. But it's also, you know, acknowledging when I've got issues and talking to the people who matter the most to me and being able to express that. And it's no surprise. I have a therapist. Therapist. And I talk to my therapist and work through my issues. And I think. I think being able to talk to anyone, whether it's a family member, a relative of a good friend, or a therapist, is something that keeps us all healthy.
- [39:25]
Sree Rajagopalan
I try to do with the people that I work with every day. When it comes to wellness is no matter who I'm with and what the meeting might be, I always remind people something that I deeply believe in and, you know, something I could have always done a better job at as my career grew, which is the importance of your loved ones. Loved ones can take different definitions for in. For people. It could be a pet, could be kids, could be a spouse, could be a partner, could be friends, just. Or parents. Find that moment in your life to take a few for your loved ones. It could be a call, an email, a text. A text can change or brighten someone's day in ways that cannot even be described. With that. That. I'll hand it over to you, Peter, to close us out on the last question.
- [40:12]
Peter V. S Bond
Yeah. So I guess my last. I'll start with you, Jenny, is advice you give to other CPG parents listening this episode who suffer from the same kind of work conditions that we do. Busy travel schedules and deadlines. What are your basic advices for, you know, making the most and making sure that you have the time you need to get your personal life addressed, you.
- [40:42]
Jenny Bell
Know, throughout different phases of. Of my career or maybe my personal life. You know, there's. There's two points, and the first I've already mentioned is it takes a village. You know, my neighbor across the street, her husband's a pilot. She travels. She texted me this morning, hey, can you take George to the baseball game? Absolutely. Right. Do we text her when we're not both home or we have another child and I'm out of town? Right. To get to multiple sporting events. Absolutely. And make sure you have that village, right? And if you don't create it, right, create your friend network, create your family network and really take advantage of it because you can't do. And, you know, if you need help with the grass mowing or that's okay, right? You know, my husband loves to mow the grass, but I'm always, you know, but he does do it and I'm like, why don't you get somebody to help you? No, no, no. It's my me time, right? That's his me time is cutting the grass. So just reminding yourself, right? Get. Get the balance in your life and it's okay to ask for help. The second thing I like to say is there's a roller coaster, right? The career roller coaster. And every roller coaster has, you know, it climbs, it climbs, it climbs, it heats the peak. And you can't stay at the peak forever. You have to come down on that peak at some point. So, you know, if you're, if you're racing or you're working really hard on a second half that job, or maybe you really want to get this promotion that you're going after, or you just got a promotion or you have a huge opportunity or a really big deadline, make sure that you take the time to come down on that roller coaster and so you can climb up the next time. Because if you stay at that, you're going to drop off and kind of hit the bottom. And so it's just a reminder that everything goes up, has to come down and create that cycle over and over again to ensure you can create that balance, you know, wherever you're chasing, whatever's ahead of you and what's next.
- [42:28]
Peter V. S Bond
Nicole.
- [42:29]
Nicole Kalita Davis
Yeah, that's such a good one. I just want to add Jenny, like, I'm thinking of a peer of ours who constantly says, you know, we're running sprints, we can't run a marathon. You have to take the time to run the sprint and, and stop when I. The biggest piece of advice I would give is set priorities that are right for you right now. So Jenny said, maybe you're chasing a promotion. Set priorities that align to that. If that's your north. For right now, if your North Star is making sure you get a somewhat healthy meal on the table for your kiddo that evening, like, set priorities that align to that. For me personally, it's thinking about releasing myself from that expectation that everything is going to be perfect. I'm laughing because I can literally hear my dog in the other room spilling his bowl of food everywhere because he's probably frustrated about something. And you know what, it's going to sit there probably until tonight because there's a million other things going on. So just releasing yourself from that expectation of perfection, set priorities that are really right for you for right now. We always want to stretch just by nature of our roles. We want to push ourselves, but pushing yourself can really result in a feeling of dissatisfaction or like you're letting yourself down. So, so push yourself, but set priorities that are right for right now so you can really go and find successes and feel good and let the rest of it go. Let the dog food sit, let the bathroom go unclean. It'll be there tomorrow and you'll be able to chase it and feel better at the end of the day as a whole person, both at work and at home.
- [44:14]
Sree Rajagopalan
Well said, Nicole. Letting go is one of the hardest things to do, but also one of the most important things to do. So let me thank you both Nicole and Jenny for joining Peter and me on the CPG Guys today for this special and important episode on the purpose of life and mission of life.
- [44:28]
Jenny Bell
Absolutely. It was a pleasure. Thank you guys for setting the stage for this conversation. I think it's an important one, so thank you.
- [44:35]
Nicole Kalita Davis
It's super important and I feel really honored that Jenny and I got the the chance to represent our perspectives and, and weigh in a little on on life. Thank you. Peter and Sri Lanka.
- [44:45]
Sree Rajagopalan
Yeah, I still remember when we were having dinner together just about a week or so ago, we came up with this idea and I'm like, I'm not going to wait. I want to get this done and released as soon as possible. So let me remind our listeners, you can find all of our content by simply going to a web Browser and typing cpguys.com is the URL. If you are someone you know something to contribute to this ongoing discussion with the CPG guys, please drop us a line at contact@cpguys.com again that email address is contact guys.com to our audience. Thank you for the clicks, likes, comments, dms, meeting us at trade shows, coming to our events, recording episodes with us. We are always grateful to you, to our sponsors. The show doesn't exist without you. You work with us all year and we're grateful to have you as our partner. Thank you so much. That's a wrap of this episode of the CPG Guys. See you soon.
- [45:41]
N/A
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