Her Story
About Lorena
I've been in my field for about 7 years collectively, though the time was broken up along the way. Honestly, I got into this industry by chance. I started in finance and accounting and did that for a little while. When I worked for Walmart, there was a position open in the procurement space. I worked really closely with marketing finance on the marketing side, doing the invoicing and accounting and things like that. When that position came open, they wanted me to apply because I knew the customer so well. I took the job, and it ended up being the funnest job that I had at Walmart. To be able to do it again at Tyson has been really cool. In my role in marketing procurement, I'm essentially a matchmaker for Tyson. When Tyson says they need a media company, a social media agency, or whatever they might be looking for, it's my job to go out and find the love of their life and make sure that goals and priorities align and that the capabilities are there. Then I award the business to one of the suppliers. It's a lot of contractual work and negotiating, and we have a vetting process called an RFP (Request for Proposal). We go out and find different suppliers to meet whatever need, bring them in, and they present what they have to offer Tyson. That whole RFP process is really the meat and potatoes of what I do. It's a lot of fun to build relationships with these suppliers and then watch their projects come to life. Once everything rolls out, you see everything you're doing firsthand in the stores, with the marketing campaigns, commercials, and different ads. It's really cool to watch it come to life.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Lorena
01What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
When I look back at my early career, I was a hard worker and I'm smart, so I was able to promote really quickly. Not that that's a bad thing - it led me to some really cool opportunities and good experiences. But I think a piece of advice I would give to a young professional is don't just chase the promotion, but look for the job that gives you energy, the thing that motivates you. I heard it when I was younger, and I was like, I don't know, but it hits home so much more now that I'm older. What I do now gives me energy. It literally recharges me. That's something I hadn't found in other jobs when I was younger, but it was because I was chasing the dollar. I wanted more money, so let me go for the promotion. I feel much differently about that now, because I feel like I'm in a place where my career is much more sustainable. While the growth and development is still available to me, it just looks different because I'm putting my energy into something that is giving me energy back.
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