Each year, Progressive Grocer honors women across the grocery industry for their outstanding leadership roles throughout their communities and in their workplaces. This year, Publix is honored to congratulate 11 managers for standing out as leaders, role models and mentors.
Store Manager – Terri Brown
Store Manager – Melissa Caldrella
Store Manager – Aissata Deme
Store Manager – Trish Heenan
Store Manager – Kathy Lobinsky
Store Manager – Missy MacQueen
Store Manager – Sue Orden
Housewares Buyer – Sue Quillen
Store Manager – Tiffany Raley
Store Manager – Kerry Teems
Store Manager – Kerri Tubbs
Store Manager Terri Brown
#1422, Tifton, Georgia
Years with Publix: 33 • Years in current position: 9
What are you most passionate about and how has this helped you become a top woman in grocery? I am most passionate about being part of this great team at Publix. No matter what is going on, you know you have the support to accomplish your goals. And it’s up to all of us to continue passing that down to each generation.
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How do you work with your team to provide premier service? We make it fun! We are a very friendly store and community. We acknowledge the team through the My Publix, My Part program, as well as posting customer compliments for everyone to see. The level of engagement this team has with customers is fantastic and genuine — they don’t just play a role!
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Store Manager Melissa Caldarella
#1219, Lutz, Florida
Years with Publix: 21 • Years in current position: 7
As part of the Publix family and now a top woman in grocery, what has helped you get to where you are at this moment? I’ve had great leaders in my career who have ingrained the Publix culture in me, and for that I am thankful. Now it’s my turn to pass on that culture to our future leaders.
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How do you work with your team to provide premier service? I work side by side with my associates to be the example for them that Mr. George was for us.
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Store Manager Aissata Deme
#282, Atlanta
Years with Publix: 16 • Years in current position: 1
As part of the Publix family and now a top woman in grocery, what has helped you get to where you are at this moment? My strong family values — dignity, respect, trust, loyalty and credibility — made it easy to identify with Publix’s values. I was taught at a very early age that what you get in life is not about entitlement. It is about ownership and taking personal responsibility.
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How do you work with your team to provide premier service? I take pride in knowing customer service plays a vital role in our overall strategy. My goal is to heighten the awareness and importance of service with all of my associates in every department. I have a personal responsibility to set the pace, standards and overall expectations within my store.
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Store Manager Trish Heenan
#645, Plantation, Florida
Years with Publix: 33 • Years in current position: 2
What are you most passionate about and how has this helped you become a top woman in grocery? Believing in people and helping cultivate the great potential in our future leaders. I feel the purpose of my job is to be a good leader, and I believe the only way to perpetuate Publix’s culture is through being consistent with what I teach people and monitoring their progress.
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How do you work with your team to provide premier service? Mr. George talked frequently about how customers are not an interruption of our day. I try to instill in my team, as Mr. George did, to treat all customers like queens and kings. I have daily huddles to emphasize the importance of eye contact, a smile and a genuine interest in our customers and their needs.
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Store Manager Kathy Lobinsky
#1231, St. Augustine, Florida
Years with Publix: 25 • Years in current position: 2
As part of the Publix family and now a top woman in grocery, what has helped you get to where you are at this moment? I must attribute much of my success to my very supportive family. Many of my family members work or have worked for Publix. I have also had many mentors who believed in me and helped me understand what it takes to be successful in the grocery industry.
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How do you work with your team to provide premier service? I believe proper training is very important. It gives associates the tools and knowledge to properly serve our customers. Mr. George provided us with his philosophy and culture; we must now share this with our associates to carry on his legacy.
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Store Manager Missy MacQueen
#362, Royal Palm Beach, Florida
Years with Publix: 30 • Years in current position: 6
As part of the Publix family and now a top woman in grocery, what has helped you to get where you are at this moment? The desire and drive to be a leader in our company has allowed me to be where I am today. Working alongside some of the best leaders in our company and having their support has helped me be successful.
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How do you work with your team to provide premier service? Providing premier service is our focus every day. I support this objective not only with my words but my actions. I encourage my team to not get caught up in the everyday tasks but to remember that engaging customers is our top priority. I want every customer to leave our store believing it was a pleasure to shop here.
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Store Manager Sue Orden
#30, Aventura, Florida
Years with Publix: 32 • Years in current position: 2
What are you most passionate about and how has this helped you become a top woman in grocery? I am very passionate about striving to do the right thing. I try to instill in my team the desire to always do the right thing and have a passion for taking care of our customers. When you care about doing things right, and you take good care of our customers and your Publix family, everything else falls into place.
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How do you work with your team to provide premier service? I try to celebrate successes with my team — no matter how big or small. I feel my team does a fantastic job of providing premier service, and I’m grateful to be part of this wonderful family atmosphere.
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Housewares Buyer Sue Quillen
Years with Publix: 25 • Years in current position: 6
What are you most passionate about and how has this helped you become a top woman in grocery? I am passionately focused on customer value; my goal is to provide our customers with the right variety of quality products with effective promotional pricing. By setting goals and remaining focused, I work to achieve outstanding results.
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How do you work with your team to provide premier service? We thoroughly analyze and evaluate data to make the best buying decisions. We develop a strategic category plan with attention to details and trends. I am a buyer, associate and shopper, which enables me to see things a little more creatively.
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Store Manager Tiffany Raley
#525, Augusta, Georgia
Years with Publix: 15 • Years in current position: 3
What are you most passionate about and how has this helped you become a top woman in grocery? I am most passionate about getting to know people. It is important I have a great relationship with the people I work with and the customers we serve.
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How do you work with your team to provide premier service? I like to work hands-on in each department. I can show my team how fun it is to interact with customers and easy techniques to provide premier service.
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Store Manager Kerry Teems
#507, Eustis, Florida
Years with Publix: 27 • Years in current position: 12
What are you most passionate about and how has this helped you become a top woman in grocery? I am most passionate about succession planning and supporting associates; I feel it is my responsibility to help them reach their goals. There is nothing more important I can give an associate than my support. Sometimes all an associate needs is for someone to believe in them, and I believe in my associates.
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How do you work with your team to provide premier service? Providing service is very simple, but it’s also something we either want to do or choose not to do. I start at the hiring process and remind associates that we have the ability to strongly impact our customers by the way we treat them. I remind them that a can of beans is a can of beans and our customers can go anywhere for that, but it’s our associates and the service we provide that keep our customers coming back.
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Store Manager Kerri Tubbs
#1122, Orlando, Florida
Years with Publix: 17 • Years in current position: 4
As part of the Publix family and now a top woman in grocery, what has helped you get to where you are at this moment? I take true ownership of the store and our company and share our mission statement and strategy map with my team. I have always craved a challenge and am so proud when we can accomplish our goals or face challenges together as a team.
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How do you work with your team to provide premier service? I set the example every day in all I do, by treating customers like queens and kings and expecting all associates and managers to do the same. I challenge my team to enhance our level of service daily. We discuss this through huddles and in our weekly meeting, as well as throughout daily walks of the store.
