Episode 9: Boardrooms & Baby Bottles: The Dual Life of Liza Maschi, a Courageous Leader

📲 Listen to “Boardrooms & Baby Bottles” on Apple Podcasts →

📲 Listen to “Boardrooms & Baby Bottles” on Spotify →

What does it look like to lead a billion-dollar business unit and still be home for jiu jitsu pick-up? To run high-stakes meetings with senior executives—while quietly pumping in a corporate breakroom? To build an unstoppable career… without losing yourself in the climb?

This week on The JOY CEO Podcast, I sat down with someone who embodies that duality with power and grace: Liza Maschi, Vice President at Kraft Heinz and a force of nature in every sense.

We go way back—back to a moment when she was just starting out and I was fortunate enough to mentor her. Watching her rise from intern to executive at brands like Coca-Cola, Danone, and now Kraft Heinz has been a joy to witness. But what I admire most? It’s not her title. It’s her courageous leadership.

Because Liza doesn’t just perform. She shows up. Fully. Honestly. Human.

Saying Yes Before You’re Ready

One of the most powerful threads in Liza’s story is this: she said yes before she had it all figured out.

From walking away from a safe teaching path into a contractor role at Coca-Cola…

To joining Danone just weeks before discovering she was pregnant…

To jumping into a new VP role at Kraft Heinz while raising two young boys…

Liza’s rise wasn’t about having a linear plan—it was about trusting her gut, showing up fully, and choosing growth over comfort again and again.

“I didn’t always know what I wanted. But I knew I didn’t want to miss the chance to find out.”

Motherhood Changed Her—and Her Leadership

Liza’s story is a powerful reflection of what happens when we stop separating “life” from “leadership.”

When she became a mom, everything shifted. Not her ambition—but her why.

She still closes deals. Still leads big teams. Still thrives in high-performance culture.

But now, she does it while picking her kids up from school, making space for family dinner, and unapologetically prioritizing joy.

“My kids didn’t slow me down. They taught me to want the right things.”

Her story reminds us that duality is not a weakness—it’s a strength. You can be both:

🔥 Fierce in the boardroom
🍼 Present at bedtime
🎯 Focused on the numbers
💗 Connected to your purpose

You don’t have to choose.

But you do have to lead with intention.

Authenticity Is a Leadership Superpower

For years, Liza admits she toned down her “New York intensity”—until she realized that it’s part of what makes her great.

Now? She owns it. And she empowers her team to do the same.

She leads with honesty. She speaks directly. She celebrates humanity in leadership—and models it every day.

Whether she’s bringing her kids to a national industry conference (yes, really), or advocating for maternity leave options others may be afraid to ask for, Liza doesn’t just preach work-life integration—she lives it.

“I’m a mom and a VP. I’m ambitious and joyful. I lead with metrics and I lead with heart.”

What This Episode Reminds Us:

➡️ You don’t need to shrink your personal life to succeed professionally.
➡️ You don’t need to perform someone else’s version of leadership.
➡️ You don’t need to wait until it’s perfect to say yes.

Liza’s story is proof:

❤️ You can rise and rest.
❤️ You can grow and ground.
❤️ You can lead with strategy and soul.

Ready to Listen?

Tune into Episode 9 of The JOY CEO Podcast to hear Liza’s full story—including her honest reflections on risk, motherhood, career pivots, and what it means to lead without apology.

📲 Listen to “Boardrooms & Baby Bottles” on Apple Podcasts →

📲 Listen to “Boardrooms & Baby Bottles” on Spotify →

✍️ Reflection Questions:

• What risk would you take if you trusted yourself more?

• Are you prioritizing joy—or just performance?

• What version of leadership would your younger self be proud of?

If you’re ready to lead like Liza—with courage, clarity, and JOY—book a strategy call and let’s map what that looks like for you.

Because yes, you can do it all.

But you don’t have to do it alone.

—Lori
The JOY CEO

Transcript

Hi, I'm Lori Pine, the Joy CEO, and welcome to today's episode where you are gonna meet my friend and former colleague Liza Maschi. Liza is now the vice president at Kraft Heinz, where she leads a team of dynamic individuals all calling on away from home business. Liza and I met during our time at Coca-Cola when Liza was an intern. 

It was over 15 years ago, and she was a true delight. It was a chance meeting one day in the office, and it was true kismet. We became fast friends. And I would go on to mentor her, and we have kept in touch all of these years after she would get married, have two boys, and really grow her career. I hope what you'll hear in the episode is Liza's courage to say yes. 

So as she grew her career, she was quite content. She was happy, but opportunities would come along and she had the wherewithal and the curiosity to entertain conversations and each time she did that would open new doors and new pathways for her to grow her career. And so as you listen in, I hope that this gives you the courage to identify in with how you can say yes. 

Liza is a true delight. She's a full-time mom and a full-time executive, and I think that you will be charmed to hear her story today. With much joy and no further ado, please meet Liza Maschi. Welcome to the Joy CEO podcast. I'm Lori Pine, your host, and today I get to welcome not only my dear friend, but somebody who was once just this fabulous little mentee of mine, and now wait till you hear about her and how she is just soaring like an eagle. 

Let me introduce Liza Maschi to you today.  

Liza: Hi Lori. I am so excited and my team and I call you Miss Joy, and so we are so, I'm so thrilled to be here and I'm so excited. Thanks for having me.  

Lori: Oh my gosh, so happy to be here. So let's go back in time, like 15 years, I think. Maybe a little bit longer, maybe like 17 years. 

Liza: Mm-hmm. Yes ma'am. 

Lori: When I met you, and you are a field marketing manager, brand new to the Coca-Cola company. We're in New York and. I see you in our Elmsford office, Elmsford, New York, and I don't know, it was just like, love at first sight. I think. 

Liza: It really was. 

Lori: And I don't, I don't know really what happened except to just say like, I took you under my wing. 

We became friendly. I would go to lunch with you. I would invite you out to these events. And we would just have these informal mentoring sessions. Yeah. And you were like the little sorority sister. And I was never in a sorority, but there you were the little sorority sister.  

Liza: Yeah. So it was quite a magical time. 

Right. And so I think it's important to give the context too, because when I started working for Coca-Cola, I was supposed to be a teacher. I was finishing up my first semester in education, right? And the way the Coca-Cola job came to me is that I was working in food and beverage in a country club, and Chris Conroy was like, Hey, you feel like a good fit for my company. 

And I was like, okay, let's try this. And I did, and I interviewed with Dana and Chris, et cetera, et cetera, and I ended up getting this contractor job. And I was like, let's see how this goes. Right? It was a chance I was taking while I was finishing my degree. And I'll never forget coming into the Elmsford office and being incredibly intimidated, right? 

Because here I am in this super corporate setting, in this corporate office that I had never had a been on a trajectory to do this job. I was gonna be a teacher. And meeting all these folks with all these big titles and all these big offices, and here I am, the little contractor girl that took a chance. 

And I'll never forget coming into that office and wondering what am I gonna wear and what am I gonna, you know, I've gotta look super corporate and here are my blazers and meeting you. And you were this ray of sunshine and I was this little intern esque girl that was just looking for some guidance, right? 

Not all my bosses, et cetera, but you were the woman that I wasn't reporting into that was in the office. And fear says, can be, and this ray of sunshine for me and said, Hey, what's your name? What do you do? What's your job? I was like, Hey, I'm Liza and this is my job, and oh my God, I'm a contractor. And you were like, Hey, come look me. 

Let's go have lunch. And I remember having lunch with you and sitting across the table and saying, and being intimidated in fairness, right? Not by your personality, but more so by your title and all the other other things. And like saying to myself, I wanna be that. And I think I was like my deciding moment of like, I don't think I'm gonna be a teacher. 

I think I'm gonna make an impact in my life and in others being like a Lori, right? And so having those conversations with me and being, you were so senior and I was so junior, but it never felt that way. It never felt like I was just the contractor slash intern, et cetera, Coca-Cola. But I was a person and what I said mattered. 

And so it was, it was quite a moment for me and forever will be something I'll always remember. 

Lori: Yeah. Yeah. And I remember it distinctly, I remember you had that little corner over in the windows. Yes. Mm-hmm. And, and I was curious, who are you? What are you doing here? And yes. And that started something quite special and you went on to do some pretty amazing things. 

So you make this decision, you say, yes, an opportunity knocks on your door, you say Yes. I think that's so important for people to know that we have to say yes. Yeah. Even if we're afraid we have to say yes. 

Liza: And take a chance, right? Because for me, think about where I was at that point. I'm investing in my education, my, my master's in education, and I was taking all these tests, et cetera, but I said yes, and I took a chance, and which was a risk at the time because in full transparency, the Coke job came to me. 

I also had a teaching opportunity. Which was the, probably the more logical, made more sense, because that's the career path I was choosing, right? But I said, oh, this is a contractor role. Lemme do it for the short term and see how this goes. So I took this chance. I remember talking to people, trying to validate my choices here, right? 

It was like teaching or Coke, and everybody said, well go take the teaching job. Why would you take the Coke job? That's not what you wanna do. And I had a moment of like, well, I don't know what I wanna do, so let me go take this that take this chance or risk and figure it out and look 17 something years later, here's where I am. 

And I love everything I do today.  

Lori: Yes. And you would go on to become a director with the Coca-Cola company? I mean, pretty prestigious. Yeah. And along the way you would invest in yourself. You would get an MBA, so hustling, working, and then part-time MBA. So you know, no moss growing under your feet. 

Liza: No, no, no, no. That's it. It's just not who I am. Right. And it's not what drives me. And so, but it's an important piece that, it's something I talk about to folks that I mentor now. Right. Some of my mentees is like, I took this path at Coke that was pretty much a zigzag. And often in that process, people would ask, well, what do you wanna do? 

Do you wanna be the CMO or the CEO or the chief sales officer? And I would say, yeah, I dunno. I was trying to figure out kind of what I wanted to be when I grew up. Right. But my path wasn't straight and arrow. It was, I took laterals, I took chances. They created new roles at the Coca-Cola company and we talked about it. 

And I took a chance. This role is undefined. This role is all white space. And I, I did it. It was fun, right? For me because for me it was figuring out, I was defining these roles as I went on and talking to my leaders and other people and kind of what makes sense. And so that path eventually got me to this director Coca-Cola role because I had this really commercial background because of all the chances I was taking and all the risks I was taking. 

And so. Yes. A piece of that was me and the go, go, go. But it was also the company that took a chance on me and also these quick, they were quick moves, right? I had, I think, six roles in Coca-Cola within the time I was there, but people were taking chances and I had good mentors, and I was talking to people and building this network within Coca-Cola that drove credibility and trust in me as well, that folks would take this chance. 

So it was twofold, right? The Coca-Cola company also gave me these opportunities to grow like this. Undefined. Right. Not a marketer's path or sales path. It was a mix of both, which leaped me to where I am today in full transparency.  

Lori: Yeah. What would you say are some of those qualities that you have that would have really served you well during that time? 

I mean, one that I can think of is curiosity. You have this natural curiosity. Yeah. But, but what would be some others?  

Liza: And that's a good one. 'cause I tell my 6-year-old the same thing. Stay curious. Right? Because he ask us a ton of questions. Yeah. And it's what informs us. And knowledge is power. And so I think persistence. 

So I'm a super persistent person. I poke and I push and write, and that attributes to like my strength in sales, the curiosity drives kind of the strategy part, and it makes me a super strategic person. I don't give up. And also I work really hard and really fast, and it's something that's kind of innately in me. 

I don't even know how to teach it, right? It's kind of who I am. I'm a quick person. It's maybe the New Yorker or me. I have no idea what it is, but the speed, right? And bringing things forward very quickly also allows me to be super efficient. I think those qualities for me is, is what drove a lot of that and who I am today. Yeah. 

Lori: Yeah. So great. So you're hanging out at Coke, things are going great. You make it to director and then something major happens in your career. Let's talk about that. Let's talk about the big shift.  

Liza: The big shift. I think it was a moment at Coca-Cola, and for the record I had planned on retiring and being with Coca-Cola my entire life. 

'cause I loved everything that in Coca-Cola embodied, the people, the brands, the culture. It was so connected to who I was. But at a point I also realized, well, I don't wanna leave New York. My entire family's here. I'm gonna stay in New York. And there was a lot of talk about, wow, what's the next step for Liza Maschi? 

You're on a director level now, well you wanna move to Atlanta, et cetera, et cetera. And I said, was thinking about like. I don't wanna move. I knew I didn't wanna move and, and maybe it was time to go learn a different category or a different company, et cetera. And Danone had recruited me. It was random within LinkedIn and, Hey, would you be open to exploring a conversation? 

And at the time I wasn't. I'm super happy. I was happy with everything. I wasn't, I said, let's just have this conversation. And that conversation led to an interview and exploratory conversation with the leadership over at Danone within beverages. And after a week of these exploratory conversations, I was inspired. 

I was excited. And for me it was like this company is down the block from my home. Right? I knew I had just gotten married. I knew I was gonna start a family. And I said, so. Maybe go learn something new professionally for me, right? To drive different creativity or different flex a different muscle, but also kept me home, right? 

For what I would foresee the foreseeable future. And so I took another big bet and another risk. That was probably the biggest one when I look back and reflect. It was the most important one. Went over to Danone and took a job as director of e-Commerce. Right. So I hadn't had this deep experience in e-commerce either. 

And so it took a big risk and led their e-commerce business as my first role within Danone.  

Lori: And e-commerce was really emerging at that point. It wasn't what it is right now. And at that point it was really on the cutting edge.  

Liza: Yeah, it was the, you know, all food and beverage knew they had to kind of build this skill and build this team, but it wasn't, you know, driving a ton of ROI for them at the time. 

So. Everybody knew they had to figure it out, but it wasn't a, a big risk to their business just yet. It was something that they needed to go learn and explore. And so I was at the cusp of like those first few hires I think in the industry. I was one of the first ones that were really defined E-commerce. 

Lori: So how do you go to a new company, work on a business that's important, but not the revenue driver and make yourself visible?  

How'd you do that?  

Liza: Oh, it's such a good, such a good question, right? Because I talk to people today when you're the, a small piece of the pie, the 2% of the business, it's, and my favorite line is the squeaky we'll get degrees, right? 

And so, although I didn't always get all the degrees right, but it was about a lot of my job in those early days was educating leadership on what it was. Because people are really uncomfortable with what they don't know. So I quickly had to become the expert and lean on folks who had expertise in that field, right? 

And learn from them and work together and collaborate, et cetera. But I also needed to, how do I get all this information at a high level to leadership to help them feel confident in the space, right? Give them talking points to take back, but also for them to understand the opportunity to them. It may not be here today, but this is what's gonna come and here's why. 

And I did that a lot with the facts versus feelings, right? It's like fact-based selling internally. How did I bring that forward? And it was a lot of time spent educating leadership. I was sitting in front of presidents, et cetera, because the reason why I got to the table was showing them the importance of this to them, to their P and L, why it was important. 

And I got to the table with those numbers, right? And then I kind of pulled through the strategy and the storytelling, et cetera. But the facts got me there first, and the seat at the table.  

Lori: Yes. You know, sometimes it's those internal sales meetings that are far more important than the external sales meetings because we're, we're never gonna get the resources we need unless we get that internal buy-in. 

Liza: Yeah. It was where the money was. Right. And why? Why, when you think about strategically on a president's perspective, retail is driving my business by X. Right? But you're asking for almost as much money as they are. Well, why? Why should I give it to you versus them? Right? And what are you gonna drive that will go and make this money up? 

And so it's a lot of storytelling to get those resources. 

Lori: Yes. Yes.  

Okay. So next in your story comes this really important personal part because you know more than get to Danone and what happens. 

Liza: Yeah.  

So I come, it was January when I first started in Danone in 2018. Found out I was pregnant with my first, let's say, month. 

And so my husband and I, although we were on this journey to have family, et cetera, et cetera, the timing wasn't exactly ideal. And so here I am, I find out three weeks in, I had to go the next week to LA and present the e-commerce strategy. I'm four weeks into this company. I had to present the e-commerce strategy, but also I was pregnant with my first, and so as a woman, I'm like, oh my God, I'm so, I was eight weeks pregnant when I went to LA to present the e-commerce strategy. 

I'm on stage and I just, I'll never forget, I was hot. And I was, and this is not me, right? So now I am someone who public speaks really well. I was shaking, but it was all like, I'm pregnant and trying to figure out all these things. And so it was the hardest year of my life because of the mental and physical, right? 

Because here I am starting a new job. I had gone from working remote at Coca-Cola to now going into an office every day. And although it doesn't feel like a heavy lift, it does when you're pregnant. And trying to figure out your life and it's summer and it's hot and all these other things. And so, and I'm reporting to the president of the BU, right? 

And before that I had been reporting to a bit junior folks, right? So it's a different style that I had to learn on how to report off, how to give the president of this division Information that he needed. Right. Without too much information or talking too much. Right, right. Or talking too long and I had to learn how to be super P and L driven and stacks forward. 

The president didn't care about the feelings. It was what? What does this drive and how does it do all of this? While I was finishing my MBA, so I graduated from my, my MBA that May pregnant with Luca, who was born in August. And so by the time I had Luca, I hadn't even been in my job for eight months, but I had completed. 

Made a whole baby, right, and had a whole job. And I was going on on maternity leave also for, I saved all my PTO and all these other things because I didn't have formal maternity leave, but I saved it. And I was essentially going out until the end of the year. So here I am, a woman trying to build credibility with a brand new company in a brand new business, with a brand new role. 

But they just had created, essentially with me in mind, also becoming a mom, also a wife, also commuting to the office. And so it was the hardest but most growth of my entire career and personal life, because I had to figure it out. I had to figure out how to get all this done and I had to go in survival mode. 

And looking back, 2018 was probably the best year of my life because of that, because I realized I'm a survivor. Yes. Of anything. Yep.  

Lori: So you create a whole baby. You create a whole MBA. Yes. You create a whole new position for yourself. Yeah. You create a whole new way to work because now you're going into an office. 

You create a whole new communication strategy. Now you're communicating upwards to presidents and vice presidents. Much more senior than you had been.  

Liza: And I doubled the business that year on my channel. Just for the record. 

Lori: And you doubled the business, I mean, okay, let's just put that star, you know, feather in your cap. 

So when August comes, did you take your full maternity leave? Did you shut off?  

Liza: The Good question. So I actually look what was due at the end of September and so I ended up going, he was almost five weeks early, so I ended up going to the doctor that day, right, because remember mentally I'm like. Nervous. 

I'm like, I'm going on maternity leave. Am I gonna come back to a job? I'm all scared. Right? This is like probably the biggest fear for any woman is like starting a new job and having a baby or interviewing pregnant. And I went to the doctor and the doctor said, oh, you've gotta go on bed rest. And if I can't go on bed, rest, I have a job to do. 

Like I I, I don't even have maternity leave. She's like, no, no, you have to. So I emailed my boss that day and I'm like, hi. Heads up. I have to go on bed rest. But I'm still working. I'm working until home. I can't come into the office. The next morning my water breaks and I go into the hospital and I say, Hey, piggybacking off of that email, I'm actually out, but take care of these three things because this is what's pending. 

Right? I was closing up my book knowing that I was potentially gonna go out in four weeks. And so I had Danone, which is a, a wonderful company to work for if you have a family or starting and a family because they had a six month maternity leave plan. Along with five weeks of PTO, but I wasn't eligible for those six months because I hadn't hit a year. 

So I saved my five weeks PTO, and I had FMLA and I had all these other things that like I figured out to get me through what would've been September to December, coming back to work January 1st, which would've been my one year anniversary with a company. And so I bridged all these different programs to get me my maternity leave. 

Through December, and the company was really good about it. They gave me like this whole policy of like, even though you're not a year, you can work remote and only work three days a week, et cetera, et cetera. So I wasn't worried about that at all. Also, in comparison, at that time when I was family planning, Coke only had like a, I think it was a three month maternity leave, so anything that matched that three months I was happy with. 

But Luca came early, so that was another change in plans for us. 

Lori: Little curveball there. Our little Luca man. Yes. Yeah, yeah. Okay, so you get through all of that. You take your maternity leave, you have this new baby, what happens?  

Liza: So for first, as a mother too, I was also in this point of, with your first, and I, I had imagine a lot of mothers can relate. 

There's also this piece of like, I don't know how to not work either. Right? And I had to be forced to slow down with Luca because this baby, my husband was commuting to the city, got no paternity leave. I think he had three half days off. And so it was just me and this. Little human at home all day together. 

We had to figure it out right on no sleep and figure out all these different things. And for me, it was like the biggest moment was the forcing myself to slow down because this human relied solely on me. I was the person who fed this, this baby, and it wasn't, and I tell this story also. I didn't have postpartum. 

I loved my baby and I was so excited, but it was survival. I wasn't sleeping. And there was a moment, I think when Luca was like six months old, we made eye contact and I'll never forget it, he was bouncing in his bouncer and it almost transitioned from like soul survival. Not my kids also didn't sleep, so I was. 

Mama no sleep and going throughout their day. But six months in, I remember he looked at me from his bouncy and we made eye contact and it was like a moment we both imprinted on each other. We were like, we got this. We survived so much. And it was my aha moment of like moving from the survival. Like I loved my baby, I loved everything about him, but I'm a super rational person too, right? 

I need to give him his bottle. He needs to change, he needs to nap, and all these fun things. But that moment that he was like a real human and so was I. I had a moment with him like, thank you Luca. You made me slow down. And now I appreciate things so much differently because before Luca, it was survival. 

I left my job. I only wanted to work. I didn't care about anything else. I was this ambitious girl and I wanted to rule the world and be a CEO and all these fun things. And post Luca, I was like, well, I wanna be both. And that dream of being CEO can wait awhile, and I'm okay with that and I learned what I didn't want. 

So I went from this moment of yes, yes, yes. Knowing what I want, want, want. But ha, becoming a mother changed me to becoming, I know what I don't want and what I don't want is to miss my kid's first walk. Or miss when his tooth popped out, right? Or my son had a fever. I wanna be there. I wanna be the one to soothe him. 

And so I knew that I didn't want to work a 14 hour day. I don't wanna work on the weekends 'cause I wanna be there for my kids. 'cause I don't wanna miss these moments. And not just for them, but for rules. It's what drove my happiness now.  

Lori: Yes. So it's amazing. Like that soul connection you have with that firstborn was Was magical, right? 

Liza: Magical. It was magic. 

Lori: You can feel it to this day. 

Liza: I felt it. I know it. I know the pajama he was wearing his baby Bjorn bouncer and yes, I know everything. I will never forget that moment of we looked at each other, we were like, we got this.  

Lori: We got this, we got this. You and me, baby. We got this. And so. You lead from a place today. 

Yeah. Very much grounded in this duality of, yes, I am an ambitious woman. Mm-hmm. Who wants to lead, but I'm also a mother. And from my perspective, and you're, you can correct me here, but from my perspective, you are unapologetic about it and I find that so badass, Liza. 

Liza: It. It's, and, and it's, and thank you for saying that because it's important because sometimes I also, I, I ensure to, 'cause I'm a leader and I lead a big team, I ensure to even remind my team of that, like I'm not apologizing for the fact that I have to leave at three 30 and go pick up my son and bring him to Jiujitsu. 

I'll be back on, my work will still get done, but I can't apologize for that because I'm their mom first. Yeah. And I remind people like. Listen, I love my job. I'm incredibly passionate about what I do, and I love, and I wanna continue growing. But the reality is I work to pay bills like not the other way around. 

I don't live to work, and I remind my team that like we all got a job. Yes. And we're so lucky. If we can love our job each day and each night, I'm passionate. But the reality is it's, it's a paycheck too. And my, the rest of my life, which is my children and my family. Yes. So I try to be vocal about that. 

Mm-hmm.  

Lori: And, and just recently I had an opportunity to come and speak to your entire team. And one of the things that I've marveled at is you just recently lived this by example. You were on stage at a company function, and let's tell the story about what you did to exemplify how you live in duality. 

Liza: Yeah, and this is a good one because the context is important here. So we present the Kraft Heinz Company as a title sponsor at Restaurant Leadership Conference every year, and this year was my third year. And so we have basically, we introduced a, a re, a big session in front of the entire restaurant leadership conference. 

So all the operators, there's over a thousand people in the room. This year, it was during my kid's spring break and my husband had a bunch of important things happening at work that he couldn't miss. And I'm like, folks, I think I'm gonna bring 'em with me. And it was an aha moment for me too that like that was an option. 

And so the RLC hosts this in Phoenix, Arizona. It's a fabulous hotel, which is also kid friendly. And every year I go, I'm like, oh, my kids would love that waterpark. Oh, my kids would love that. Right. So and that's also the battle of like the, the mom guilt and the working guilt you have. Right. But. So I asked my mom, do you wanna come with me? 

Right when I'm in meetings and stuff like that, you can watch the kids. I said, but I would love for you guys to join when I'm on stage. And it's a really big session. And so my mom was thrilled. She, she, 'cause you talk about work so much, right? But your family doesn't see you in action. And so it's, it becomes kind of this mystery, what does to do all day? 

She wants all these meetings and she travels and, but what is she doing? I'm like, well, you're gonna see it firsthand. And for my kids as well. Mom, don't leave, don't go to work. Why do you travel? Another mamas don't travel. And I said, you know what, they're gonna see what Mama does, um, and how important it is her job to her. 

And so I brought them with me and you know, you, you write your kind of, what your talking points are, when you're gonna present, et cetera. And I was writing it out and I remember a week before I said, I'm gonna mention my kids by name because they're there, they're in the room and they're the only kids there. 

'cause kids are not allowed. Naturally, they, a six and a 4-year-old shouldn't be running around a conference. But yeah, so they came in and I presented, I presented for the company a lot around our innovation and value beyond price and our strategy that we're doing. And the question, Chris Keating, who is the president of the organization, asked me was, well, why do you, what's your favorite thing about the conference? 

And so I said, about the intimacy. I said, but my kids are here. And so this year is incredibly special for me because my kids are watching this as we speak. And have been with me this entire week along with my mom, right? Because it takes a village to support you. I said, so I couldn't be prouder to be on the stage, let alone to represent my company who also welcomed this, right? 

Kraft Heinz was all about it, my boss at the time, but also the conference and the fact that they're here, like it was my proudest moment and my son waved to me and I remember getting off stage thinking it was so special for me. I had so many men and women come up to me and thank me for doing that because for me it was, it was for my kids. 

It was a moment for us, but I hadn't realized the impact that it would lead for the rest of the folks in the room. That they came up to me and said, thank you for doing that, or That was so brave, or, we appreciate you saying that. And the impact it had to the other thousand people in the room. Outside of the three I was focused on my sons and my mom, but outside of the room and what it inspired, they said, we need to do more of this. 

So it was a, it was a great moment for me, for my family, but also for the industry and for our company that everybody felt empowered by that.  

Lori: Yes. I mean, it wasn't that long ago that I was growing up in a culture in corporate America where you really weren't even supposed to have pictures of your kids on your desk. 

You know? It was, it was supposed to be very separate. So the fact that you embody this duality and you know, it does bring a bit of a tear to my eye. I, I was exactly your age when I very suddenly lost my mom. You know, she was, we thought she had a backache. Five weeks later she passed from a rare form of cancer. 

And so the fact that you fully embrace that, you take those opportunities, you have her with you, you. She gets to enjoy her grandchildren. It's just such a blessing and you'll never regret those memories shared and those moments. 

Liza: Yeah, it was a magical moment. 'cause like I kept thinking about my kids, but like my mom. 

Yeah. Like this is the woman who continued to tell me like, be the best version of you and supported me and all this stuff. And as a mother now, the value and the appreciation I have for that. Her face lit up. Right. She was so proud of me. 

Lori: Yeah, of course. 

Liza: And her got to understand, what does my daughter do when she's in all these like, important meetings? 

And also, no, my mom retired when my son was born. Yes. My mom said her sole purpose in life was to be a mom and to be a grandmother. Like this is what my mom's dream was. And so to be able to give that back to her also and, and she gives it to, gives back to me every day is quite magical. And I'm really lucky. 

I'm really fortunate.  

Lori: What a, what a blessing. What a full circle moment. I mean, just amazing. And so you do embody this duality. You instill that in your team. You emanate that wherever you go. And so let's talk about your leadership. You know, you're at Danone, you then take a leap and you're gonna become this Yeah. 

Another. Vice President of Craft. Yeah. Yeah. Let's talk about that.  

Liza: This was also an exciting one, right? And so the important thing is when I tell, I tell this story often to people too, about some risks I've taken and how they've panned out. And so frankly, I was at Danone, I was super happy six years, a bunch of different jobs, right? 

I did e-commerce. This, that, et cetera. And then ended up in a food service role at my last role at Danone or non-com. And the person I backfilled at Danone had moved on to Kraft Heinz and he was the vice president of away from home. And so he calls me on a Saturday. I'm like, why you call me on a Saturday? 

He's like, how's my like good doing laundry. What's up? He said, please, there's this opportunity that I think you should look into. And I said, no. I said, no. I said, yes, it's everything I wanted. I wanted a big team, a big P and L. These are like all my ambitions, but I had a four and a 2-year-old at home, and here I was on a Saturday folding laundry. 

So I said, no, not interested, not gonna do it. And he called again. He said, Hey, here's the link to the job. Can you apply? And I said, no, I'm good. He said, can I have a four and a 2-year-old. And he said, Liza, just have some conversations. And honestly, it went back to my Danone's job opportunity when I was with Coke. 

It was the same cycle of like, I was super happy at Coke, but this opportunity came Danone, and looking back, I'm so happy I was such a better leader and a person because I worked and spent some time at Danone these six years, and I loved it when I thought I wouldn't, right. When I was having these introductory conversations, and frankly, I followed the same path, had some introductory conversations with some leaders here over at Kraft Heinz, and coming out of it, I met some really solid people. 

I was like, oh my God. On some journey, and I wanna be part of that journey. Like, nevermind the job and nevermind all the other stuff that made perfect sense sooner than I had liked. I probably would've waited two more years, right? Until the kids were older. But not everything goes to plan, right when you have one. 

And so I had this conversation, in fact, the president of the business unit, Peter Hall's with this today, I spoke to him and he was the most passionate and engaging person. I was like, I wanna be on that. Like I, that's the passion, like I, I love, I feel that. And so I came on over to Kraft Heinz just over two years ago as their customer vice president of the chain business here within, away from home and manage a, a pretty big team with leaders on my team as well. 

I could have been happier two and a half years later. I love my job, I love my team, and it was a risk, right? I was leaving this company that I love now, Danone, and the job that I loved, and I had a, a wonderful boss, ran at Danone, who I loved. I, I actually cried when I resigned because I, I respected her and loved her, and loved my team and let an overly emotional person so when tears come, it's pretty good. 

It's wow that, that means something. And so came on over and I couldn't be happier. I mean the team, like we're all rocking and rolling and yeah, the industry is tough right now and the business is tough, but I think for everyone. But I'm having so much fun and I'm authentically me here at Kraft Heinz, and I think that's the really important part. 

Like I'm a feisty New Yorker. I can't turn that off, but everybody here at Kraft Heinz welcomes that. I'm a mom, I'm a leader. I hold myself accountable. I hold other people accountable. I have tough conversations. I have good conversations. I am. Holistically within this company, culturally, like it's so aligned to me. 

And to think back 10 years ago when I was at, or even more so now at Coke, I would've thought there was no other company that's like Liza, right? Liza would've had to shifted something to be with another company. But I am authentic, like me from top to bottom here at Kraft Heinz. The team is fantastic and we are so passionate and we wanna be better every single day. 

And it's so aligned to my beliefs personally and incredibly happy. And had I not taken that risk. And so when you think back, right? Had I not taken the risk at Danone and at Coke and came over to Danone, I wouldn't have met this person who then said, apply to this job. And now here I am at Kraft Heinz. 

Incredibly happy.

Lori: I firmly believe we are one who away from changing our lives. 

Liza: Absolutely. 

Lori: One who, that's it. One who. And the part that is significant is that we have to say, yes, we have a choice and we have to choose to say yes. And you said yes. So let's talk about this. You are authentically you in this role. 

Has there ever been a time when you couldn't be authentically you? And what happened?  

Liza: Yeah, that's a good point. And I remember, in fact, it was actually at CocaCola. I remember being on some calls and CocaCola being based in Atlanta, right? And so I'm super New York and I'm proud of it. And I tell people I'm super New York, but I remember getting off a call, it was like a, I forget, it was a branded call and somebody gave me some feedback and said, you were a little New York on the call. 

You gotta remember the people on the call are from the south. In fairness, yes, we all need to know our audience, right? There's sometimes we need to shift and et cetera. And I remember being insecure about it and there was for a long time I was like, oh, am I too intense? Do I need to pull it back? And now come thinking about that now? 

Like, no. 'cause that's what made me me, right? When you asked before, what are these traits and qualities you have? Like my intensity makes me good, right? It makes me close a sale, it makes me get things done. And so. Yeah, it may make some people uncomfortable, but that's their thing. Then they need to kind of come to me and meet me where I'm at, and I realize sometimes I need to pull it back or pull it up or et cetera. 

But the reality is, is this is who I am. And so maybe the New Yorker and Liza, maybe the fact that I'm just intense, or maybe my cultural background because that's how we're raised, but this is who I am. And for a long time I was toning it down because I was insecure about that, which isn't right. And once I got feedback from someone that said. 

What's the fee I took a leadership assessment. What's the, what's the feedback you would give Liza? Too confident. And I said, well not shame. Isn't that what we drive our women to be more confident, more, you know, speak with conviction and all these other things. And that also made me like, Ugh. And you for a second, you kind of take this feedback and you just different ways. 

Like I would question maybe, you know, really confidence on this call and that. And thinking back on, these are the characteristics you need as a leader, right? Because you're driving different behaviors within your organization. Confidence is a key, uh, like you want people to believe. They've gotta know their leader is confident in the plan and the strategy. 

Strategy. And so those are two kind of isolated times where I got this feedback about a little bit about kind of who I am naturally that didn't seem to be working for some folks. I felt a certain way about it, but now looking back like I don't care. Like it is what it is. Like this is who I am. Take it or leave it. 

Right. I'm not offending anybody in the process.  

Lori: Yeah. And that's where feedback can be a little dangerous. Right. And is that you have to understand where it's coming from. Yeah. Because it can be a mirror of somebody else's own internal insecurities. Yeah. Yeah. Very fair. Good for you. Good for you for being able to recognize that. 

Okay, so I, as I said, I recently came in and talked to your team, got to meet everybody. We talked about joy. Let's talk about what's bringing you joy these days.  

Liza: Well, I mean hopefully this one's obvious to my kid. Yeah. It's like it's true my and my husband, right? And so it's my family and my mom and my sister. 

And so when I think about my happiest moments, as much as I'm exhausted sometimes, 'cause I do have a six and a 4-year-old, but like my kids are the ones who wake me up in the morning with their smiling faces and. I'm just so happy like I am. So, and we talk about this, in fact, one of them smoking camp and you might get a, a visitor, but we talk about this like they truly drive my happiness and my joy and so does my job and the aspects of my job for me that drives my joy is like the people I work with day in and day out. 

And being able to, and also I'm the salesperson, closing a win. That makes me happy. Yeah. Winning and having that win and sharing it across the board and leading by example and showing showcasing it and the team that took that it took to get that win drives my joy so concretely and if I had to surmise it, it's my journey in and its entirety. 

It's my son being home from camp and seeing a stays while I'm working right, and going to pick up my other guy at at three. But it's also winning and collaborating with my team and going to a customer meeting two weeks ago and pickle. 10 days for us to pull this story together and that strategy and presenting it together and coming home with a win like that makes me happy. 

Lori: Yes.  

And you've recently made a commitment to do some self-care.  

Liza: I did. I did. So this is the other piece. So a year ago I decided I want to be healthier and I want to live my life and also drive behaviors within my kids, right? Because my kids are on overly active. And so I said if I want them to be more active, I need to be more active. 

And so I started Barry's Boot Camp a year ago. And it was a slower start. I was incredibly intimidated by this one too. 'cause I said two berries, like everybody that does that are super in shape and super fit. But I took a chance and I did it and I'm slow start. And even still some days are really slow and a year later I have to go four days a week. 

If I don't, I don't feel good. I feel so much better on the days I go versus the days I don't. And I feel better that I'm doing something for me. This is my thing. I'm not apologetic about that either. So my husband, I'm going at the 7: 20 class and don't care if you guys have other plans, but I'm going and I'll be home at 8:30 for the kids and we can swap. 

Yeah, and it's been fantastic and I feel good and I wanna keep doing more talking to you about it now I'm like, can I make us five o'clock class today? I'm not sure. 

Lori: And for those who don't know, Barry's is a high intensity workout group, class session, right? Yes. Yes. So that feeds that team that you love and Oh, totally. 

A little bit of competitiveness. And can, can I just do a little bit more and can I keep up? Yeah. So, so good. And it makes you feel good.  

Liza: It does. It makes me feel amazing and look good sometimes too. Yeah. I'm like, oh, look at my arms. 

Lori: Ah, I getting tone. 

Liza: I didn't know. I meant that. 

Lori: Mom, mom is getting buff here. 

Yes, Okay. We are gonna wrap up with a few rapid fire questions. Are you ready? 

Liza: Got it. I'm ready now. 

Lori: Okay. Here we go. What is the one thing you'd like to be remembered for? 

Liza: Being an awesome mom. 

Lori: Awesome mom. I think you're crushing it at that. Yes. You got it. What habit or ritual keeps you grounded? 

Liza: I'm very, it might work out.  

Lori: Okay. We got that too. Yeah. 

What is a lesson you're still learning?  

Liza: To slow down and reflect? That's like my, probably my biggest one. Yeah. Slow down, reflect, pause. 

Lori: Yes. And when you feel off track, how do you reset?  

Liza: That's a good one. I make a lot of to-do lists and I slow down and so I stop and I'm like, what is happening? 

Why am I so overstimulated? I need to figure out what I'm missing and I prioritize.  

Lori: That's so good. 'cause sometimes everything can feel like a, you know, a lot an a priority and it's not so. Mm-hmm. Yes. So good. Okay. Liza, what a pleasure to get to talk to you today. Always you, 

Liza: it's always a pleasure seeing you. 

Lori: To see you. 

Yes. Yes. 

Liza: Lori. I thank you. 

Lori: Thank you for your insights.  

Liza: Thank you for the time and thank you for everything you're doing because I think it's helping a ton of people and frankly, and for everybody, a plug for you. Actually, my team has connected and had some sessions with Lori on one-on-one, and they just continue to rave about you, so thank you for the support you've given us and support you're giving the industry. 

So thank you Lori. Thank you for doing this. We all need a little joy and so thank you for bringing it to us. 

Lori: We do. We all need a little joy, and we need a little bit of joy in our leadership, so thank you so much for being with us today. All right. Thank you. Loves.