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The Accidental CEO Left ‘Perfect Company’ for ‘Law of the Jungle’

Domier Tanya

Tanya Domier always aimed high, but never really set her sights on being a CEO.

A U.S. Supreme Court justice, maybe. But CEO? No.As a student, she looked past law school, past

practicing as a litigator to the place where she could make a difference and leave her mark. But first, she needed to work and save money for law school, so after being offered several opportuni-ties following on-campus interviews at California State University at Chico, the political science major chose to work at Smucker’s.

She didn’t just love working there.“I was in love with Smucker’s, the training

programs at Smucker’s, the people at Smucker’s,” she says. “It was a perfect fit for me and I have so much respect for them and always did. They run a company that is vision- and values-based, and they don’t ever deviate from the vision and values. For me, that was very important.”

Training at Smucker’s was intensive, delving into management, leadership and problem-solv-ing with Kepner-Tregoe. Domier was impressed, but impressionable at the time as well.

“I thought the whole world worked that way,” she says.

She started out as a sales representative for Smucker’s and moved up to district sales manager covering a territory from San Diego to Santa Barbara.

She paid her dues turning jars, making sure product was rotated and, more importantly, selling displays of juice and natural preserves. She

enjoyed the “psychology of getting people to buy and understanding through a sales territory what people wanted, what I needed to do to help them build their business,” she says. “It became very interesting and challenging for me.”

Smucker’s offered her positions in Colorado and Chicago, but after four years with the company, she knew she had to make a change. She and her husband had decided early on that moving was a nonstarter for both of them.

“Why did I leave Smucker’s, the company that I put up on a pedestal and thought was amazing?” she says. “Very simply, I had just gotten married. I have five brothers and sisters (Domier is first in the birth order). My husband (Dan) has five brothers and sisters. Nobody in our family has ever moved out of Southern California. My entire family, which is an immediate family of 53, lives within one hour of where I live.”

Dissatisfaction with the status quo a driver

Though she didn’t stay with Smucker’s long, she would carry the fundamentals afforded her there to the next company she chose to work for: Advantage Sales & Marketing.

“Advantage was a very unsophisticated company at the time,” she says. “There were 50 people and $5 million in revenue. I like a more process-driven company than what Advantage was in 1991. It wasn’t a cultural fit for me. I had to make Advantage a cultural fit for me by making enough

of a difference and becoming a bigger part of it to have an influence on the culture.”

When she went from, in her words, “a perfect company in a very idealistic world to the law of the jungle in the brokerage business,” she took her own moxie along as well. Domier was a Toastmaster and debater in college, and devel-oped her modus operandi while there.

“I was president of my sorority in college,” she says. “Trying to get 100 women to march in the same direction and align on what was important

“I never grew up or even went through the business feeling like I needed to be number one in the organization.”

–Tanya Domier

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in mission, vision and values was actually a very big part of shaping my leadership experience.”

Her first position with Advantage was direc-tor of natural and specialty foods. Sonny King, founder and chairman of the board of directors, is her mentor today and has been from the start.

“I would come in and he would say ‘Tanya, there are a couple of things that you’re going to need to learn: patience and wisdom. And guess what? None of those things are going to happen quickly.’ But he had infinite patience for my dissatisfaction with the status quo.”

She never planned to stay with Advantage. She just wanted the work experience. Then she’d go start her own business. But every time she conquered something within the company and got bored, King would ask her what she wanted to do. He’d tell her to go make it happen. That is what kept her with the firm.

“He allowed me to build businesses within this business at whatever rate I could build them and make a difference in the organization,” she says. “There was never a reason to leave because I was able to be enterpreneurial in an entrepreneurial environment with the most amazing leader and mentor who gave me the freedom and flexibility to do exciting and meaningful things with the business.”

She ascended to CEO of Advantage, but says, “I never grew up or even went through the busi-ness feeling like I needed to be number one in the organization. The most gratifying thing about being number one in an organization is being able to shape the careers and chart the course for the future, so you can help shape the careers of young people.”

Tanya and Dan Domier with their three sons, Braden, Riley and Garrett.

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From page 48

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Congratulations Tanya! Woman Executive of the Year 2015

Congratulations to one of the most passionate leaders we have known on this well deserved honor. You inspire

us with your commitment to “winning together” for Advantage Sales and Marketing and its business partners, and we are proud to have the opportunity to support you.

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Family is a priority, and not just her family

Domier got her entrepreneurial spirit and work ethic from her parents. Her father always owned a business and her mother was a teacher and retired just two years ago. She talks to both of them multiple times a week.

“I learned a lot about business and how to make things happen and timing and how to win through my dad,” she says. “Both of my parents think I hung the moon, so a big driver for me is that I always

From page 50

“Tanya is truly a dedicated leader who lives her values every day.”

–Sue Klug, Unified Grocers

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More Coverage theshelbyreport.com@ MARCH 2015 • The Shelby Report of the West 53

Apax Partners is one of the world’s leading private equity investment groups with more than 30 years of investing in consumer businesses. For further information, please visit www.apax.com.

In recognition of her many achievements, close partnerships and inspiring leadership

Congratulations to Tanya Domieron being named

2015Woman ExEcutivE

of thE YEar

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want to make them proud—still, at 49 years old. A very, very big driver for me is that they’ve done such a great job and made so many sacrifices for me—and they raised five kids.”

She keeps her involvement outside work to a minimum because as a CEO, wife and mother of teenagers, she only has time for the “things I have the biggest responsibilities to: my husband, my three boys and this company. I have 38,000 people who, when I put my head on the pillow each night, I think about. Those families are depending on us.”

She is a member of the Network of Executive Women and very involved in her church and its various missions, including Catholic education tuition assistance. Those are her passions, she says. She also squeezes in five-mile runs with friends on Saturdays and Sundays.

“Tanya is a truly dedicated leader who lives her values every day,” says Sue Klug, EVP and CMO at Unified Grocers. “I have tremendous respect for the consistent leadership she has demon-strated throughout her career. She deeply values her friends and family, while giving 110 percent to her ‘work family’ at Advantage. She has been a trailblazer and role model to many women in our industry. Tanya’s success is directly related to her strong values, hard work and amazing business acumen. I am honored to call her my friend.”

Leadership styles and emperors with no clothes

Domier has developed her own style as CEO. She describes herself as “scattered” and keeps everything in her head, which she admits is “a dangerous thing.”

“I don’t make lists. I am a multi-tasker; I do seven things at one time,” Domier says. “I have a fantastic assistant who keeps me on schedule.”

She also is a servant leader who empowers her staff to challenge her.

“I have an agreement with my own team that, when I’m off task, they’ll say ‘I need you to just be here in the moment with me for a minute,’” she says. “I go very fast through a decision-making process and get to where I think, and sometimes I need to be challenged on that. My team has complete permission.

“I am a big believer that any organization, when you have the situation where the emperor has no clothes, it’s very dangerous, and I like to surround myself with a team that will challenge me, say what they think and never go with the program just because somebody said so,” she says. “As long as they approach that with the right spirit of the business and for the good of the business, I am all ears. That’s important to me.”

Domier trusts the presidents of sales and marketing, and if they tell her she would add value to a meeting with a client, she goes.

“We see the customer as a very important client,” she says. “Our business is with both brands

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“I like to surround myself with a team that will challenge me, say what they think and never go with the program just because somebody said so.”

–Tanya Domier

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and retailers. Our job at the end of the day is to turn shoppers into buyers, and that includes everybody.”

The advice she offers for women in the industry applies to every stripe of worker.

“Work hard, add value, go as far as fast as you can,” she says. “Work so hard and make so much of a difference in your organization that people will listen to you because they really want you in the business and respect and care about what you think. Earn your way to be able to speak and share, and don’t just come with issues. Come with solu-tions and then be willing to be a person who will be point and take on those initiatives.”

Reading for business is a pleasure

Domier is an avid reader. Her favorite book is Daniel Goleman’s “Emotional Intelligence.” She believes everybody has the base skills of intellec-tual agility and technological competency once they reach a certain level. Leadership goes well beyond that.

“It’s really what kind of leader are you, how can you inspire people, how self-aware are you and

how well are you able to craft a vision and get people to really want to tackle that vision to build the business,” she said. “Those are the things that are really important, so those are the things that I like to read about and think about.”

She also loves to pore over the Harvard Business Review looking for snippets to use and pass on and enjoys reading about various leaders and the psychology of winning.

“I like to take a little bit of the best of what every-body offers and then sift through how that might help me bring value to the organization,” she says.

“Tanya is a multidimensional leader with high intellect, high energy and very focused on results,” King said. “She has risen to the pinnacle of her profession while maintaining a good balance in her family and personal life. She is very deserving of this recognition.”

From page 53 “Tanya is a multidimensional leader with high intellect, high energy and very focused on results. She has risen to the pinnacle of her profession while maintaining a good balance in her family and personal life. She is very deserving of this recognition.”

–Sonny King, Advantage Sales & Marketing

Tanya Domier was a panelist discussing “Personal Branding—Defining Your Personal and Professional Leadership Presence” at the Network of Executive Women (NEW) Southern California Fall Event last October. Pictured are Kitty Dunning-Boozari, NEW Southern California co-chair; Sue Klug, EVP/CMO, Unified Grocers; Donna Giordano, president, Ralphs Grocery Co.; Rob McDougall, president and CEO, Gelson’s Markets; Domier; Valerie Oswalt, VP-West area sales, Mondelez International; Cynthia Weifenbach, NEW co-chair.

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Honoring Tanya Domier “2015 Woman Executive of the Year”

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