I grew up professionally in a food company where culture wasn't a program. It wasn't a survey. It wasn't something the food safety team owned while everyone else focused on production.

It was just how things were done.

People came first. Expectations were clear. There was no version of the conversation where cutting a corner on food safety was acceptable — not because of the audit, but because of who we were as an organization. That wasn't written on the wall. It was lived on the floor, every ...

There's a pattern we see after every powerful leadership event (including ours!).

The energy is real. People walk away with new language for things they've been feeling for months. They're reflective in a way that's rare during a normal work week. They have conversations on the way out that feel more honest than anything that happened in their last quarterly review.

And then Monday comes.

Not Monday of bad news or a production crisis, just regular Monday. The inbox. The team questions. The op...

Most leaders who struggle with unconscious bias aren't aware of it.

That's the point. That's what makes it unconscious.

It doesn't feel like bias from the inside. It feels like judgment. Experience. Instinct. The natural way of reading a room, running a meeting, deciding who's ready and who isn't.

And that's exactly why it's so hard to address — and why it costs so much when it goes unexamined.

The Gap Between Intention and Impact

In the food industry, leaders are often promoted because ...

Jill's Reflections

I used to think I was the exception.

I believed in developing people. I cared about my team. I wanted to see people grow.

But when push came to shove — budget pressures, competing priorities, the relentless pace of operations — leadership development was the first thing I quietly moved to the back burner. I told myself we'd get to it when things slowed down.

They never slowed down.

And I'm not alone in this. After years of working inside food companies and now alongside t...

Tia’s reflections on ownership, clarity, and what leadership really sets in motion.

I’ve been part of a team that moved like clockwork.

Not because we were all Type-A perfectionists (we weren’t).
Not because we had all the answers (we definitely didn’t).
But because we were clear.

Everyone knew why we were there.
Everyone knew how their role connected to the bigger picture.
And most importantly? Everyone knew what they were responsible for and what they weren’t.

It was like this silent current u...

A reflection from Tia Glave, Catalyst Food Leaders

I didn’t have to unlearn control—I never led that way.

My childhood friends would tell you I’ve always had a flair for connecting with others and appreciating their uniqueness.  I am genuinely curious about people.  I strived to create an environment where each person can show up as themselves - even if it’s on the playground.

In my career, I leaned into this strength. I knew that teams work best when they feel connected, and I saw myself as ...

Rewriting Your Leadership Story: Why Intentional Leadership Changes Everything

A reflection from Jill Stuber, Catalyst Food Leaders

We all start building our leadership story long before we realize we’re writing one.

We absorb what we see — how our bosses handle pressure, how meetings run, how feedback lands, how people get promoted (or don’t). Somewhere along the way, those experiences start shaping how we lead — often without us even noticing.

For a long time, that’s exactly how I led too....