Liz Dee, co-president of the American confectionery company The smart ones with her sister Jessica Dee Sawyer and cousin Sarah Dee, she didn't always know she wanted to join family businesswhich was founded by her grandfather Edward Dee in Bloomfield, New Jersey in 1949.
However, Dee continued to answer the call, working on the first copy for Smarties website when she was in high school and helped start and maintain it social media accounts in college and graduate school. She assumed her current leadership role in 2008.
Smarties, which just celebrated its 75th anniversary, is still based in New Jersey, where Edward Dee immigrated with his family from England the same year he started the company. Since its inception, and even during Dee's own tenure as co-president, marketing the landscape has changed significantly.
“It's an uphill battle to maintain relevance and shelf space,” says Dee. “Even if people love your product and love your brand, (you have) maybe a few faces on the shelf when some of the other companies out there have, say, 25% of the shelf space, and that's a limited resource. “
Halloween is coming up, and Smarties attributes more than 25% of annual sales to the holiday. This year, Smarties saw the earliest Halloween demand ever in Dee's time with the company, with requests to ship for the holiday beginning in June.
Smarties unveils inventive gift campaigns, including one for Halloween: Sweet Switchwhich allows people with food allergies or sensitivities to exchange candies that are not safe for them with Smarties.
“You don't need to send us your cakes again,” Dee explains. “Someone can just upload a picture of it to us, and we'll go ahead and send them Smarties. It's a good way for us to both highlight the fact that we're allergen-free (and) we're there for people who are going to get a lot of candy but might feel a little left out.”
Image Credit: Courtesy of Smarties
During her time as co-president of Smarties, Dee has led with one important goal: the company's commitment to remain family-owned while maintaining its relevance and authenticity in the space filled with candy.
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Dee shares with me entrepreneur leadership lessons that help Smarties accomplish those goals—including the advice she chose to ignore.
“No job is too small.”
Fittingly, Dee's grandfather Edward Dee, who was just inducted into Candy's Hall of Fame last weekend, gave her some leadership advice that has served her well during her time at Smarties.
“My grandfather attributed this quote to him Thomas Edisonbut he would say, “Most people miss opportunities because they're in overalls and it looks like work,” says Dee. “And that really speaks to how we do it, which is that no job is too small.”
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In Smarties, Dee tries to lead with some “destruction” and “screaming.” The factory floor is on the other side of her office wall, and she's no stranger to rolling up her sleeves to get a close-up look at the manufacturing process, she says.
“I'm able to be there supporting team members and also seeing what's going on where the cakes are being made,” explains Dee. “If people go further and further up the ladder, they can just get further and further away from making the products that allow them to even have the lights on . their offices”.
“You bring people with you.”
On the subject of ladders, Dee mentions another piece of leadership advice she strongly believes in: You don't climb a ladder and bring it with you.
“You bring people with you,” says Dee. “(I have always believed that it is very important to continue to support, empower and lift up team membersand we look for opportunities to do that where we can. That definitely speaks to a sense of connection and gratitude that I feel for how I'm here and why I'm here — because we're supporting each other, working together to achieve common goals, across the company.”
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“We will not hide who we are.”
Moreover, early in Dee's career, when she switched to head in the candy industry, she received “bad” leadership advice she didn't agree with—and decided not to take.
The suggestion came from a 60-year-old man, Dee recalls, who told her that she and her co-presidents should hide the fact that Smarties is a business run by women. He didn't think it would be good for the company — a belief that spoke more for his perspective than any real consumer analysis on the subject, Dee says.
Image Credit: Courtesy of Smarties. Sarah Dee, left; Jessica Dee Sawyer, center; and Liz Dee, right.
“We're not going to hide who we are, regardless,” Dee says. “It's really important, especially as women in leadership, to tell our stories (and) not be ashamed or afraid to be authentically ourselves. We're a women-run business. We're a majority-owned business women. And we have a triumvirate leadership, which is an unusual leadership structure, but it works for us.”
“People love Smarties.”
Now, as Dee looks to the next 75 years of Smarties and beyond, she is excited to carry forward her legacy, one rooted in a family history that has already laid the foundation for a successful future.
“People love Smarties,” says Dee. “(They) tell me about it. It brings them joy, and they share that joy, and I want that to continue. I know we can continue that by going our own way, keeping our family heritage and doing what we do is keeping our people first (and) making sure we continue to deliver the same consistent, high-quality products that people know and love us for.”