Julie Roehm was a guest at the High Stakes Forum, a series of webinars organized by the C-Suite Network. Julie is Chief Marketing and Experience Officer at Party City. Throughout her career, Julie has held challenging leadership positions and has successfully transformed the way organizations think about, and engage with their customers. Julie has a track record for innovation, collaboration and driving great results.
Jeffrey Hayzlett, the CEO of the Network and Julie discussed several topics relating to current-day business challenges.
The last topic they discussed was Party City’s Diversity Action Committee
You can listen to Julie’s response, or read it here.
“We have had the Diversity Action Committee (DAC) up for just two weeks. They have already helped us derive what we should do for ‘Juneteenth’. Did we initially have the right merchandise for Juneteenth? No. Did we ever have the right focus? I would again say no. Has the DAC helped understand what our focus should be? Absolutely.
“The DAC sent out an email where they put together a merchandising strategy, not just for Black, Hispanic or Pride oriented holidays. It was more along the lines of letting us know what we are missing and what we should do and sell to be in line with our customers and associates needs.
“We have a very diverse associate base, but we may not always be able to put into action the experiences we offer and merchandise we sell to fit that base. We are now building multiple Action Committees. I am excited about that.
“As an executive, it’s often uncomfortable for me to make decisions about a piece of communication which is aimed at an audience who may not look like me. We are thankfully living in a world where we are being actively encouraged to ask uncomfortable questions and to really listen and to learn. I like having these action committees as a guide. Of course we still may not always get it perfectly right, but they help a lot. With the DAC we have people who are a part of these diverse communities, as part of our employee base – and they know those customers. We are leaning in, and I love it. It is effective and efficient. And it is a learning and growth experience for me personally.”
Thank you for telling me about the Diversity Action Committees, Julie. It really is such a good addition to your organization.
Tags: Julie Roehm, Party City, Chief Experience Officer, CMO, CEO, Diversity Inclusion