Neil Dudley: Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Pederson’s Farms podcast. We are so excited you’re here. We appreciate you joining us. And we look forward to sharing these conversations with thought leaders from our industry. They’re going to paint a picture from every perspective – consumer, customer, vendor, employee, and peer – that I think is going to be super valuable, and we’re really excited to share. So, thanks for tuning in. Remember don’t tune out, and grab life by the bacon.

Well, here we go, everybody. This is another episode of the Pederson’s Farms Podcast. And oh hi, by the way, to everybody out there on YouTube. I am excited to welcome Britt Hayes to the show. If you don’t know who she is, well, you just don’t know much about Pederson’s. She’s been working with us for a long time. She is, I guess, newly appointed, promoted, commissioned VP of Sales for the company, so we’ve got to talk to her a little bit. I want you all to meet her, to know her. She’s certainly a piece of the heartbeat of what we do, been with us a long time. Britt, what do you got to say? 

Brittany Hayes: You finally suckered me in to getting on the podcast as a guest and not just as a cohost.

Neil Dudley: No, that’s good though. That’s right. Maybe I think a good spot to start is a little bit, let’s paint that picture and tell that story of your life with Pederson’s, with the company. I think it is a fun one. It really illustrates some of what we’re all about. 

Brittany Hayes: Yeah, that’s definitely been a long and fun journey. I’ve been working with Pederson’s for almost 12 years. This summer will be 12 years. Started out with a Skype call after Neil’s wedding reception. My mother-in-law attended Neil and Stacey’s wedding and was bragging on us out in California, her son and myself, and that piqued Neil’s interest because he’d been wanting to hire somebody local in Southern California to help support some of our accounts out here. So, we jumped on a Skype call and talked about a couple of things and knew I was interested in learning more about the job. So, the next time he came to California, he pulled up in a giant Crown Victoria and folded out in a red cowboy- red shirt and full cowboy attire on a 106-degree July day. And the rest is history. That was quite a first exposure to Neil Dudley. 

Neil Dudley: I love how like you’re just telling it true. What is up with this dude, fully like long pants, long shirt, all this, middle of the summer? Well, I mean, I didn’t know any better. I mean, we just always have the shirt. It is fun to tell this story. I just told it. Like we actually had to postpone this interview for an hour, so I could finish up a little plant tour with one of the customers Britt has brought to the company, Snooze AM is a big customer of ours. They set up some of their managers from one of their stores to tour our plant. We were just talking about- Britt’s ears must’ve been burning because we were talking about LA and how it’s cool to have kind of roots within the community that you’re selling to. It’s a thing Pederson’s has to work really hard to do because we have, like we make the bacon in Hamilton, Texas, but I promise Hamilton, Texas, is not the same community as Beverly Hills, or I don’t know, pick any one of them, all around the country. We just ship product to everywhere. So, we have to really try to learn and be a part of those communities. Britt’s a great example of one of the first people we tried to do that with. We ended up being really successful with it. She’s now been with the company for a good long time. She’s worked herself up. I think it’s a great testament to Britt as a human, just smart. What do we always say – humble, hungry, and smart. That’s what it takes to be a part of the Pederson’s team, and you represent that. Like even just give everybody a quick glimpse into what you did prior to demoing bacon.

Brittany Hayes: Yes. Thank you for allowing me to grow through the ranks here at Pederson’s. When you came out to visit and kind of propose the opportunity to start working for Pederson’s, it was mostly going to be doing demos and supporting stores and merchandising, etc. And at the time, I was working as a nanny during the day and playing in a heavy metal band in the evenings, on the weekends, etc. One of those made me a good income and one of those not so much. Needless to say, music did not become my full-time job ever. But it was quite fun for many years. 

Neil Dudley: It makes for great at the bar talk, too. Punk rock, heavy metal band – what? 

Brittany Hayes: Oh yeah. Back in my mohawk days and colored hair and everything else. Thankfully, I didn’t go crazy with tattoos. I don’t have anything permanent, hair went normal many, many years ago. But yeah, certainly, again, I find this with customers, like sometimes that’s the thing that we relate on. I remember a meeting with Lowes Foods, hanging out after a trade show and we started talking music and they both happened to be heavy metal fans. And it was just like the coolest thing that we were relating on that because neither one of us really fit that bill anymore. He was in a suit and tie, and I was dressed up after a trade show and you just kind of wouldn’t have expected that of each other, but it’s fun. And I know you find things to relate with to customers that are quite different than I do. I remember we’ve talked about the scenario to where I also surf, so sometimes that’s the thing that I can relate on with a customer. And you were like, yeah, that’s not one I’ve ever been able to relate on. So hence being in the Southern California community, usually I’m able to hit on that one a lot more often than you are. But yeah, I started out just demoing and supporting the stores and kind of transitioned into an account management role. And as those skills came up to par, I started working on pitching new customers and expanding our distribution pipeline. We got to a certain point where we decided we wanted to hire other counterparts of mine. So, I’ve been a big part of the interviewing and hiring and training process here at Pederson’s. And really, yeah, just have continued to work my way up with the size of customer, size of the team, size of the company etc., into now my latest role VP of Sales. So I think I’ve held like six or seven titles here where they’ve all just kind of been whatever, a smattering of things. 

Neil Dudley: Which is really do whatever needs to be done. I think for listeners that are just consumers of our product that are interested in our story, this is a big part of it. For listeners that may be in the industry and are thinking, wow, cool, I might want a Brittany Hayes as part of my team, or I might want to be Brittany Hayes or live a similar trajectory or career path, this is all valuable information. Look, as a guy that just had to try to put a team together, I would encourage everybody to think about it this way – you may not find your next VP of Sales in the industry. I mean, ours came from a nanny and punk rock band. So, find those people that meet your core values within your company and just plug them in because they’ll build the thing with you and probably take you to levels you really couldn’t have gotten by yourself. All right, so as we’re kind of doing this, let’s talk about sales a little bit. You’ve already started doing it because it’s just that thing you live each and every day. How do you think about sales? What’s the challenge? What’s the easy part? Do you eat the products you sell? Like let’s tell everybody about that a little bit. 

Brittany Hayes: Yes, for sure. Another fun fact, I was a vegetarian for many years growing up. At the tender elementary school age, I realized that meat was animals and I shied away from that for quite a few years. And then all of a sudden, I was at a birthday party, a 16th birthday party, and the mom was making steak and potatoes, and I was just like I have to have that in this moment, I need to have that. And so, I started eating meat again and apparently, I don’t know, I guess it was maybe 10 years after that or something I started working for Pederson’s. And I just think it’s kind of funny that now I’m so immersed in this better-for-you and natural and humanely raised meats that, yeah, I eat the product all the time. I buy it for my family. I have a three-year-old son now who’s a big fan of bacon and sausage. He would probably eat it for every meal.

Neil Dudley: And the banana telephone. One of our most- to put color to it, one of Britt’s most recent social posts, I don’t even know if your profile is public or not, but it had her kid listening to the banana phone and it was a reel maybe. 

Brittany Hayes: But he has on a Pederson’s shirt that I horded like seven years ago when I didn’t even have a kid, but I snagged one kid size and finally he’s big enough, and it is still like a dress on him, but finally he’s big enough to wear it. And yesterday was the first day he wore it. And then of course, he was being cute playing pretend with his banana. So, there you go. That’s social media content right there. But yeah, he’s a big fan of our products, huge meat eater, which is surprising to me because I was not a huge meat eater even when I was little, toddler age before I really knew, probably just a textural thing or something. But he’s always been a really huge meat eater. So, I’ve definitely tried through all of our products to find his favorites. Surprisingly enough, he likes the spicy breakfast sausage, even though it makes his eyes water a little bit, he doesn’t shy away from spice. It’s kind of funny. And old world is another fave and bacon. I probably cook bacon the least, admittedly. I don’t like the mess. And living in Southern California where it’s warm a lot of the times, I love the hack of cooking bacon in the oven, but I don’t always like heating up the house with the oven. So that’s usually a seasonal item here in this house. I only make it in the winter.

Neil Dudley: I think it’s so- it’s a great- it just makes me want to explore that. Like how women, moms, people living in hot environments, I don’t know if that’s really the right way to say it, but just talk about that. Like how you relate or how Pederson’s is a solution, or even just working for the company and doing it remotely. All of those things are so relatable, I think, for people that might be thinking about trying Pederson’s or already eat Pederson’s. I never thought about that. I’ve known you for 12 years. I never considered that truth about bacon. Like you just don’t eat it a lot because you don’t want to heat the house up so much. That’s cool. That’s an interesting kind of perspective I never thought about. 

Brittany Hayes: Yeah. And as a working mom and all that kind of stuff, it drives my choices to make one pot meals and sheet pan whatever and things that are just easier and that became more prominent in the last few years since being a mom. I even remember days working for Pederson’s where we’ve had a trade show or something like that where your time is really away from the computer and your days are really, really full. And what else did I have to do? Sit up until nine o’clock and catch up on that inbox, and I just had that experience a couple of weeks ago where I’m going, wow, that really puts you at a deficit when you don’t have the flexibility to just catch up all day, all night, whatever. And you have to have that live-work balance. It made me really uncomfortable at first. Like I thought I was never going to get caught up and then I reminded myself that I am an organized, dedicated employee, and sure enough, a couple of days later, I caught back up and all was okay. But yeah, it definitely brought me outside my comfort zone a little bit. And I try to be aware of all of those things as a benefit to my work and my career and the way that I relate with our other employees and folks that report to me, etc., and try to share some of those experiences so that maybe the next person doesn’t feel the panic inside that I felt for those few days where I thought I was the worst employee in the world because I had 800 unread emails. Come to find out, a lot of that was just industry news and stuff I was copied on and whatever else. 

Neil Dudley: But it’s emotional. It’s stressful. I think I love your vulnerability and transparency with that. It’s so- 

Brittany Hayes: I don’t know any other way to be. 

Neil Dudley: Well, and it’s true. It’s just truth. It’s just honest. That’s what the podcast is about. That’s why we want to talk to employees. I think in your new role, what are you going to do better than what I screwed up? I think that’s kind of like, what are some of your plans that you’re excited about that, oh, cool, now I have my hands on the reigns of this piece of this machine, what did I suck at that you’re looking to improve?

Brittany Hayes: Right now, I’m really trying to dive into, and especially with our latest hire, the newest person I put on the team, Beth, just really trying to dive into the ways in which our departments interact and work together and could potentially share information better. I know for many years, you and I have talked about communication, this and that. And I think what I’m really starting to hit on more than we all need to talk to each other all the time is we need to talk the same language and share some of that within our workflows, so that the communication isn’t so cumbersome and it can happen kind of quickly and behind the scenes. And it’s not about me making a point to set an appointment with the shipping team to say, oh, I need to tell you these 10 things, when they might want to access that information, where can they go to find it? And so that’s how I’m trying to kind of pivot how we’ve been using our CRM to flesh that out a little bit more and really make sure that each of us are sharing the most amount of data that might be relevant to another department as well. Like I said, so you can just kind of when you’re ready for that information, go and find it yourself and not have to have some employee throw up on you five things that you better not mess up on.

Neil Dudley: Death by meeting. I mean, you end up killing your company because everybody’s in meetings all the time and not able to focus on the things they enjoy. It’s just all that stuff. Like how do you kind of get people that time to do the things that they are great at? 

Brittany Hayes: I think it is a blessing and a curse within our team that we are also personable. So, we want to get on and also relate and talk and all of those kinds of things, but the conversation goes sideways. You forget you needed five more things on the agenda. Somebody else has to jet.

Neil Dudley: I’ll argue that’s leadership. That’s leadership. That’s totally- 

Brittany Hayes: Trying to just focus a little bit more on some of that- 

Neil Dudley: No, not on you, but on me. Like I’ve set that structure up. I’m the rabbit chaser. That’s why I want to talk on a podcast. It’s the thing, I want to talk. I think you have already- And I mean, people, you’re really getting behind the curtains here because we’re really even just talking about our company. Like you’re already fixing some of that stuff. Like the team is enjoying it. I think they enjoy the idea that, ooh, there’s a time limit to this. We’re not going to ramble on with Neil for three hours. I think just keep all that up. To everybody, all the team at Pederson’s that may listen to this, this is all good progress. And they play a role as much as-

Brittany Hayes: It’s all coming from their feedback. I think that’s what we’re trying to do too, is poll the audience a little bit more, what’s plaguing your workday, what’s frustrating you, whatever, and just really provide the time to talk that through but the action to do something about it. And it’s not about perfection, but progress is really important, and it makes people feel seen and heard because they are seen and heard and you start doing something about it. And I think that just, it’s just come about naturally. Our company has grown so much, and I’ve grown so much with the company that I’m really able to relate to how cumbersome it is to come in without all of that history that I had the luxury of learning at a very slow pace and taking a little bit more of this and taking a little bit more of that. Well, the company is at a certain size, the pace is much faster these days, the responsibility, customer size, all of these things are far greater than they’ve ever been, which is an awesome problem to have. Go us, go Pederson’s. But I think it’s time to just kind of grow up some of those working processes and standards. And I’ve had amazing conversations with other super key players within the company, and it’s really been fun to be able to spearhead that and kind of own it. I enjoy that type of work, which is why you and I have always been like such a yin and yang. 

Neil Dudley: Right. But I mean, it paints, I think for just listeners, watchers on YouTube, whoever, wherever you might be consuming it, Britt is painting a picture for you of what you can do and could be. Like she grabs responsibility, and that’s how you become more valuable to the people you work with, to the company, to your family, to all these different people, as you’re willing to say, okay, cool, put my name on that, I’ll take care of it. 

Brittany Hayes: It’s interesting, I think that skill set for me, I’ve tried to do a lot of reflecting to say like where does that come from? And I don’t really know how I apply it so naturally at work. But I had organized always one step ahead of things mom. So, I have that kind of as an example. And then, I really think something that was pivotal for me was the amount of time I spent nannying where your job is to stay one step ahead of mom and kiddos and everything else and try to just, yeah, grab those responsibilities. What can I take that can make your morning flow easier or take the workload? And I got to really exercise those muscles. But not on my own kids. So, I still got like a full night’s sleep, and all of these other things, and started to really be able to apply them at work for many years before I had my own kid. And we have a nanny in our family dynamic and I see her do that so effortlessly for me too. And I just think, wow, that’s such a skill set. That’s already that mom mentality where you can juggle a thousand things and make sure that everybody’s taken care of. And I think it just, it’s kind of all coming full circle, like I said. Learning it as a nanny, getting to put it into my workflow, and then exercising it again and really kind of flexing those muscles as a mom really kind of made me double down with approaching work that way, trying to stay ahead of my team’s needs and head things off at the pass before things really go sideways.

Neil Dudley: All right. So that just parlays to more great insight into how you think about things. So, we’ve talked quite a bit right there about a working mom juggling kids, having that nanny help. So how do you empathize with the stay-at-home mom and how just that is probably so, I guess, different for each person? The world doesn’t value the stay-at-home mom like they used to, or that whole truth of mommy shaming over what you feed your kids or are you teaching them? Give us some perspective in how you deal with that because I know it just has to be- because it has to happen for every woman. 

Brittany Hayes: Sure. I just try to have open eyes and an open heart for anybody that I encounter, whether it’s parenthood that they’re going through or a plethora of other things that are a struggle. I mean, I empathize with tweens right now and having to deal with social media and all of these other dynamic things. Some of the just social divides these days are tough on everybody. I live in Los Angeles, a densely populated Metro with folks from all walks of life. Most of my friends are working moms. I’m not really sure why or how that turned out. But I do have a few friends who are stay at home moms and I just want to hug them every day because I-

Neil Dudley: It is almost like work is a break. 

Brittany Hayes: -and go to work. And it’s not a break, but it is a change in your day and exercising a different part of yourself, your skillset, your, I don’t know, anything. I might be working, but at least I can sit by myself- 

Neil Dudley: And you’re talking to other adults. Like that’s what I think one of those stay-at-home mom truths is. We’ve got a friend here in Comanche that she’s a mom, she babysits during the day. Like she’ll look up and it’s been three months where the only adult person she may have interacted with or talked to would be her husband at home and some people at church, and the rest of the time, it’s just kids. So you think, man, that’s tough, people. So, like high five to the people, the ladies and men, out there living that truth. 

Brittany Hayes: It’s definitely a different stimulation level and skillset that it requires to really do that 24/7. And I think, I mean, the only thing that I can say is like, oh, I guess you just have to recognize that in yourself and use their strengths where they best fit.

Neil Dudley: Yes, and understand you’re important. Like get away from it. Don’t feel bad about getting away from it. If somebody tries to mommy shame you over it or whatever, just those people are not you. And if you’re not healthy, you really can’t be the best you for yourself and then kids and family and business and job and all those other things. So, what do you do? What do you do to decompress? I mean, I think I have a couple of guesses, but tell the people. 

Brittany Hayes: Actually, my favorite part of the day is when my nanny leaves and transitioning like that next hour with my son. He wants my undivided attention and I’ve dedicated that time to giving it to him. So, it usually means we, well previously, I put him in the stroller and go for a walk and he’s getting to be such a big boy these days, he either wants to ride a scooter or ride his bike, and I have a scooter too, which is super fun. And we usually run into other friends in the neighborhood with small kids that are just getting off work as well. And it’s always informal and impromptu, but you get to just socialize for that minute, watch your kids go crazy seeing their friends. And then everybody says, bye, I’ve got to go focus on something else and walks home. And I’ve always been an extrovert. I’m a very social person. I like to talk, all of that kind of stuff, but I don’t need to be entertained. And actually, making plans and all of that kind of stuff can feel really overwhelming for me. So, I’m really thankful that in the last few years, our community is all- I mean, we’re just surrounded by young families now. And I didn’t have that for a lot of years. I’m the only person in my family that still lives in California. I have some cousins quite far away, but I don’t live in a network or close knit environment with my family. So just having those kind of casual pop out the door, you’re bound to run into somebody, and that hour to kind of decompress after work, get in stride with my kid and kind of get on that level is super nice. And then, his cup is full and my cup is full, and we get home and he’s not hanging on me while I try to make dinner because I haven’t given him my undivided attention and that kind of stuff. So, it’s really- it just kind of came about naturally, but it’s something I really hold dear to just taking that time for both of us to pivot, him from having his nanny one-on-one and me from focusing on work and get in stride together as a family for the evening. That’s kind of our daily thing after work. It’s a short amount of time before dinner and baths and bedtime and what have you. 

Neil Dudley: How do you do that though? See, I’m terrible at that. Like, I want to say I would do that, but the fact is- like, what’s your trick? Or is it you just make it such a priority you guarantee that that’s not going to get messed up? Because I know I’m emailing, calling in the middle of that hour you’re trying to spend with him. 

Brittany Hayes: It makes the time really miserable if I try to multitask because he’s three and he doesn’t understand. And he just is excited to see me and whatever else. So, I have found that if I give the time and the attention on the front end, it makes for a much better result for both of us. And then if I do need to multitask while I’m doing dinner or whatever, because there’s still some outstanding work or something else that’s being brought to my attention, then no stress, no guilt. 

Neil Dudley: And you totally live on the west coast, which is a crazy dynamic in itself because it’s two hours behind central Texas. It’s like I know I’m waking you up some mornings with calls and I’ll completely just forget. And then the east coast is another hour in front of that. So, your workday or the rest of the world is kind of going to bed when you’re still chugging. 

Brittany Hayes: I am way behind when I sit down at the computer and it’s fast and furious in the morning, but you’re right, that does play into it. Things have quieted down for a few hours. So, I’ve really been able to kind of finish off tasks towards the end of the day. And I’m ready to give that time. And like I said, I try to recognize that, it’s relatable to work projects too where you can stress yourself out trying to do three things at once, or if you’ll take a pause and let one of them take priority, the next two will be substantially easier. So, I try to remind myself of that in my personal life and in my work life that you can’t be all things to all people all at once. It just makes me feel really crappy. 

Neil Dudley: And there’s no thing that’s such a big fire the whole world’s going to burn down if you don’t get to it. Like that’s where I mess up. Like, oh man, if I don’t do that in the next 30 minutes. No, you could probably not do it for three days, and somebody might be a little bit mad, but everything would still survive. I mean, but I preach urgency. Like we want our customers, I used to anyway, preach urgency about we want consumers, customers to feel like we care, let’s get on it. And that’s still valid. 

Brittany Hayes: Yeah. I’m talking about finding that sweet spot where it could take you three hours to do three things, or it could take you one hour to do each thing and not feel miserable by the time you’re done with it. That doesn’t always happen that way.

Neil Dudley: Sure. No, I think that’s great insight. I appreciate you sharing it. It helps me. It’s kind of cool. Like we get to work with people in our business, in our company that help us, that challenge us. It is so good. All right, so we’ve already been doing this for 30 minutes. It flies by. I’m always like shucks, we’ve got so many things we need to touch on. Well, we just can’t get to all of it. I don’t know. Tell the people what’s the big fish? What’s the thing like you’re thinking, man, if I could pull this one off, I’m going to be really excited? Have you got one of those? Or is it a million little fish you’re trying to land at once? Or what is your favorite product we make? Just some nugget everybody might be able to take away and say, oh cool, that’s a thing other people don’t know. 

Brittany Hayes: Big fish perspective is just really grabbing food service and ingredient business, the pandemic was such a disruptor to those industries that there’s a lot of opportunity there. And I think Pederson’s is more ready than ever to be good partnerships in B2B and food service type relationships. And I mean, another goal would really be to continue to, I was going to say wrangle, but maybe I’ll choose a nicer word and say elevate our e-commerce business and process, etc. I have learned so much just being a part of that over the last few months, it’s truly running an entirely separate business, the nuts and bolts of just production and inventory control and costing and all of these things that go into an e-commerce structure. 

Neil Dudley: Doesn’t customer service get so dynamic? 

Brittany Hayes: It’s crazy. And it’s like, okay, well they’re both sales, but wholesale sales is quite different than this direct to consumer world that we took a big old bite of a couple years ago. And it’s just been so fast paced the way that that has changed and the way that we’re dealing with it and growing it and learning from it. It kind of took me back to learning the wholesale side of things, and some of those challenges, like jeez, I just didn’t even know that was going on behind the scenes. So that’s been really cool to be exposed to. And my favorite product is- there’s too many good ones. I was going to say jalapeno and cheese sausage, but-

Neil Dudley: It’s hard to find, right? That’s true. How is it our favorite product we don’t even make anymore? People, business is just crazy. 

Brittany Hayes: I think yours is breakfast sausage, and we like barely make the regular brick. 

Neil Dudley: It’s funny how you have to realize your preference and favorite may not sell to the masses- 

Brittany Hayes: That is just what I was going to relate it to, too.

Neil Dudley: Oh, sorry. I took it away from you.

Brittany Hayes: That’s fine. Totally, that’s a real thing. 

Neil Dudley: That is good insight for anybody building a brand or thinking about putting a new product out. How many times have we been there with a new product that, oh, we all love it, but it just won’t play in a greater setting? 

Brittany Hayes: And people say different than they do. I say that, but I almost exclusively buy Old World Kielbasa because my kid will eat it. 

Neil Dudley: There you go. That’s great. I think that’s a great insight for everybody to just kind of hear as we part. Britt’s favorite product is jalapeno and cheese sausage, but the one she buys the most and everybody would think is her favorite is Old World Kielbasa. So, there’s so much insight in that right there. I hope you all have enjoyed this conversation. I have. Like, I just love working with-

Brittany Hayes: My cheeks hurt from smiling so much. 

Neil Dudley: And look, we can’t show it all in 30 minutes of talking. There have been tough times. There’s been tough conversations. There’s been hurt feelings. It’s like, these are all a real part of us doing this thing together. And I want everybody to know all that stuff. But this is a good glimpse at Britt, her career with Pederson’s, our company as a whole, a couple of people that work together. And I hope it gives whoever listens some value, some insight, and really for the team back home at Pederson’s or out there in the world with Pederson’s, there’s some insight into what we talk about and your next. Like if you’re on the Pederson’s team, you’re next. You got anything, parting shots you want us to make sure we touch on or do we just say done? 

Brittany Hayes: Hi, Mom.

Neil Dudley: All right, good. Everybody, thanks for listening. This has been another episode. I hope you come back next time because we’ll be talking to either a customer, a consumer, a vendor, or a peer, or an employee, and you’ll learn something about Pederson’s and where your food comes from. Thank you, Britt. See you, people.

Hey, everybody. Thank you so much for listening to this episode of the Pederson’s Farms Podcast. It’s been a blast bringing this to you, and I sure hope you enjoyed it and found value. If you did, tell a friend, share it out on social media, hit that subscribe button, or go check us out at pedersonsfarms.com. We sure hope you do. And thanks for being here.