Leslie Johnson

I think it really starts with my background and my foundation. In my house, I was always, from very little, given the confidence that I could do anything, be anything, just work hard at it. I'm a former athlete, college athlete, so that was kind of where I connected those ideals of if you work hard, you can accomplish these things and these great things and get to explore these great opportunities. I think just having that institutional support that I got from Winston-Salem State, which is where I got my undergraduate degree, gave me a sense of community and the understanding that although the world could view you immediately and think that you're not readily qualified, you absolutely are based on those skills. So I think it absolutely starts at home, even before I joined the workforce. It's home, my parents, my siblings, my go-to safety net, if you will, of just always a phone call, reinstating that anything is possible and that the road is endless.

I heard somebody once say that a baby shark is still a shark, and I absolutely love that. No matter who you are, be confident in your skills and abilities, and know that when you walk in a room, you may have to prove those things to other people, but as long as you know who you are and the abilities that you can bring, overall, you'll just continue to be that shark in the water.

I would say be confident in who you are. I heard somebody once say that a baby shark is still a shark, and I absolutely love that. It's like, no matter who you are, be confident in your skills and abilities, and know that when you walk in a room, you may have to prove those things to other people, but as long as you know who you are and the abilities that you can bring, overall, you'll just continue to be that shark in the water. It's about confidence, and knowing that a lot of people view me, simply because I'm a woman, as that I would be inferior, and there is some male person above me, whether that be boss or whatever, and that's quite frankly not the case.

Every day you walk into a room, and most often you're the only woman in the room. And so I think very quickly you see these opportunities where you're having to prove not just the business, but prove who you are and that you're capable, and so that is very uncomfortable. I've seen my male counterparts in various industries, various companies, get the automatic yes, just because they were one of the guys, as opposed to women, we have to really dive deep and not just convey the story, but really take it to the next level. I often have experience in the past where I go into a meeting, and even though I'm the most senior person on the team, the person on the other side of the desk asks for my boss, insinuating that I had to have been reporting to a male. It's 100% a male-dominated world, and it feels like the higher you get, the bigger the customer, the bigger the attention, the more males are on it, and the least females you see. While there have been strides, working at the Hershey Company we had a female CEO, first CEO in the company at the time, Michele Buck, so that was incredible to work under female leadership at such a high rate. I do think that there have been changes just since I've been working in the industry, but it absolutely is still a male-dominated world. I think there's definitely still some ways for us to go and opportunities, but I'm very confident once we're in the room, we will take over.