The Sourcing Hero

While most people hungered for a return to ‘normal’ after the pandemic shut downs, many of the workforce trends that companies experimented with offer lasting lessons and value. From flexible work schedules to innovative sources of talent, the opportunities for hiring managers and prospective employees are as diverse as the roles that need to be filled. In this episode of The Sourcing Hero podcast, Host Kelly Barner welcomes Mika Cross. Mika is a U.S. Army Veteran and a workforce futurist. She was focused on distributed team workforce requirements two decades before the world went home to work in 2020 - in the aftermath of 9/11 - and continues to follow the associated trends today. In this interview, Mika shares her expertise at the intersection of workforce requirements, distributed talent, and company culture: Links: Mika Cross on LinkedIn

At 1:30 am on March 26th, the container ship Dali struck the Francis Scott Key Bridge and sent it falling into the Patapsco River. Six members of a construction crew lost their lives and the port of Baltimore has been partially closed since. Dueling investigations are underway, with the FBI working to determine whether any federal laws were broken and the NTSB looking to reconstruct the accident and learn from it. The ship is still in place, with the bridge on its bow and the crew onboard, and The Army Corps of Engineers hopes to have the port of Baltimore fully open by late May. How is this tragic situation affecting each of us - all of us? In this episode of The Sourcing Hero podcast, Host Kelly Barner welcomes back Kris Lance, Senior Director at Una, for a recurring monthly conversation about current news stories. Kris has experience in multiple industries and has his finger on the pulse of the trends and topics that procurement, sourcing, and supply chain professionals need to be aware of. In this month’s discussion, Kris and Kelly talk about the varied responses to the bridge collapse and what we can take away from the situation as a whole: Links: Kris Lance on LinkedInSubscribe to “The Sidekick”Episode 158: All Eyes Should Remain on the Red Sea with Kris LanceEpisode 154: The Sourcing Hero Gets a Sidekick with Kris LanceEpisode 150: 2024: The Year of the Dragon? with Kris LanceEpisode 145: Looking Back and Looking Ahead with Kris Lance

Recognizing the need for procurement transformation sometimes comes from within procurement, and in other cases it is driven by management-level goals and expectations. Regardless of where the idea for transformation begins, few stones in the organization will be left unturned by the time it is over. In this episode of The Sourcing Hero podcast, Host Kelly Barner welcomes Nataša Cikač. Nataša is the CEO of Cronata, a Croatia-based company that provides procurement transformation support and coaching. In this interview, Nataša shares her perspective on effective procurement transformation - including a story or two: Links: Nataša Cikač on LinkedIn

Few environments require leadership in higher concentration than the military. And yet the development of leadership skills is still a highly personal journey - where each individual has to find their own style and improve it over time through training, observation, and repetition. In this episode of The Sourcing Hero podcast, Host Kelly Barner welcomes Tom Williams. Tom enlisted in the U.S. Army in 2013 as an Airborne Intelligence Analyst. He has served in locations from the Middle East to the Arctic, displaying exceptional dedication and forming his own unique philosophy on leadership. In this interview, Tom shares the lessons he has learned about leadership while serving as a member of the U.S. Army: Links: War Forged Leadership

It goes without saying that travel has changed since the pandemic - although not in the way most of us might assume. There have certainly been adjustments to logistics and expectations, but, most of all, companies are doing a better job of recognizing the wellness considerations intertwined with business travel, and finding purposeful ways to accommodate their travelers without onerous increases to the budget In this episode of The Sourcing Hero podcast, Host Kelly Barner welcomes J. Grant Caplan. Grant is the President of Procurigence, a managed travel consulting and conference resource firm specializing in optimizing spend. He is a relationship driven professional who finds a natural fit in a role that requires calm heads and an emphasis on hospitality. In this interview, Grant shares his extensive experience as a managed travel consultant and active road warrior: Links: Grant Caplan on LinkedIn

Human nature has a way of becoming numb to that which we absorb as part of the status quo. Sadly, this doesn’t just pertain to the weather; it also applies to human suffering and warfare, especially if it is far away. Today this applies in the form of the Red Sea attacks that continue, and which have escalated, turning global supply chains into a literal battlefield. In this episode of The Sourcing Hero podcast, Host Kelly Barner welcomes back Kris Lance, Senior Director at Una, for a recurring monthly conversation about current news stories. Kris has experience in multiple industries and has his finger on the pulse of the trends and topics that procurement, sourcing, and supply chain professionals need to be aware of. In this month’s discussion, Kris and Kelly talk about how continued instability in the Red Sea will affect us, and our supply chains, close to home: Links: Kris Lance on LinkedInSubscribe to “The Sidekick”Episode 154: The Sourcing Hero Gets a Sidekick with Kris LanceEpisode 150: 2024: The Year of the Dragon? with Kris LanceEpisode 145: Looking Back and Looking Ahead with Kris LanceEpisode 142: 2023 Listener Favorites with Kris Lance

Marketing requires a combination of data and storytelling to motivate people to take a desired action, whether that is making a purchase, supporting a cause, or providing their email address. Procurement can leverage a marketing-esque combination of information and storytelling to build consensus, increase influence, and even control the narrative when plans go awry. In this episode of The Sourcing Hero podcast, Host Kelly Barner welcomes Alex Ball. Alex has spent most of his career in marketing and demand generation, helping companies connect with and engage their target personas. He has also had the opportunity to work with procurement and has seen some ways that his marketing knowledge can be applied inside of companies to increase procurement’s influence. In this interview, Alex applies his experience in marketing to some of the most common situations and challenges faced by procurement: Links: Alex Ball on LinkedIn

In 1748, Benjamin Franklin wrote “Time is money.” All of the changes and advancements we have seen in nearly 300 years have not managed to render that advice obsolete. Certainly, time has inherent value (whether measured in dollars or otherwise), but time can also cost money - through delays, misalignment, and poor decision making. In this episode of The Sourcing Hero podcast, Host Kelly Barner welcomes Emilie Schario. Emilie is the Founder and CEO of Turbine. A data engineer by training, she is now applying her skills to the supply chain space. Emilie has seen the difference that shortening the data feedback cycle can make, whether in marketing or inventory management. In this interview, Emilie illustrates some of the ways that time continues to be money for today’s businesses, and how speeding up data can be a source of savings and value: Links: Emilie Schario on LinkedIn

“Victory is about meaningful connections.” - Mark Grieco Procurement professionals constantly find themselves in a tough spot, multiple cost and non-cost based objectives to hit, stakeholders to appease, suppliers to wrangle with, and that is just the beginning. They’re also finding ways to do all of the above in a work environment where we have less in-person access to their colleagues. In this episode of The Sourcing Hero podcast, Host Kelly Barner welcomes Mark Grieco. Mark has a very unique background: he is a procurement attorney and educator, accustomed to being in the trenches with the procurement team. In that capacity, he has had the opportunity to observe a number of development opportunities - associated with contracts and otherwise. In this interview, Mark shares what he has learned while training,mentoring, and working side by side with procurement teams for years: Links: Mark Grieco on LinkedIn

“People who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do.” After 3.5 years and over 150 episodes, it had to happen eventually: The Sourcing Hero now has a Sidekick. This sidekick may be a monthly newsletter, but it is no less ready to fight the good fight than Robin, Chewbaca, or Dr. Watson. In this episode of The Sourcing Hero podcast, Host Kelly Barner welcomes back Kris Lance, Senior Director at Una, for a recurring monthly conversation about current news stories. Kris has experience in multiple industries and has his finger on the pulse of the trends and topics that procurement, sourcing, and supply chain professionals need to be aware of. In this conversation, Kris and Kelly talk about “The Sidekick” - Una’s new procurement newsletter: Links: Kris Lance on LinkedInSubscribe to “The Sidekick”Episode 150: 2024: The Year of the Dragon? with Kris LanceEpisode 145: Looking Back and Looking Ahead with Kris LanceEpisode 142: 2023 Listener Favorites with Kris LanceEpisode 138: Procurement Out of This World with Kris Lance

Meeting a new friend To ponder the color of Unripe bananas Talking to heroes Who earn their hidden capes while Loving procurement Ikigai is a Japanese philosophy focused on finding purpose and meaning. The parts of the word are “iki” which means “alive” and “gai” which means “worth.” Given how much time procurement spends thinking about value and worth, their personal and professional choices should absolutely make them feel alive. In this episode of The Sourcing Hero podcast, Host Kelly Barner welcomes Paul Nilsen. Paul is the Director Of Procurement at Douglas Elliman Real Estate - and an avid reader. Paul recently shared a book he was reading on LinkedIn and sparked both an interesting online discussion and this podcast interview. In this interview, Paul talks about Ikigai and how it comes into the decisions he makes as a procurement professional: Links: Paul Nilsen on LinkedIn

Is it possible to change the life of someone, and their family, and their community just by making purposeful decisions about corporate spending? Yes it is - and it doesn’t cost as much as you might think. In this episode of The Sourcing Hero podcast, Host Kelly Barner welcomes Colin Downie. Colin is the Sales and Partnerships Director for WildHearts Group, an organization that enables large enterprises to have a positive social impact at home and abroad through how they spend. Since they reached a fully operational state in 2010, the WildHearts Group has transformed 2 Million lives - leveraging the power of money companies were going to spend anyway. In this interview, Colin talks about the challenges and change he has seen firsthand in poor, rural communities: Links: Colin Downie on LinkedIn

What could possibly be even more complicated than tax accounting? Managing your detailed shipping costs - and the carrier logic that drives them. Details change every year, and the high level information released to the media rarely reflects the nuanced information that appears on shipping invoices. In this episode of The Sourcing Hero podcast, Host Kelly Barner welcomes Nick DiNatale. In addition to being an accountant by training, Nick is the Founder and CEO of ShipPlug, a platform that leverages his extensive supply chain experience to streamline shipping costs and simplify related business processes. In this interview, Nick talks about the many things shippers may not know that may be costing them in multiple ways: Links: Nick DiNatale on LinkedIn

In Chinese culture, the dragon represents good luck, strength, and health. Given the challenges dominating this year’s headlines, all of us are probably going to need a balance of all three to make it through the year successfully. Every new day’s headlines remind us that no matter where we live and work, global forces can swoop in and change everything at a moment’s notice. When geopolitics is the focus, some players on the world stage have an outsized impact - none more than China. In this episode of The Sourcing Hero podcast, Host Kelly Barner welcomes back Kris Lance, Senior Director at Una, for a recurring monthly conversation about current news stories. Kris has experience in multiple industries and has his finger on the pulse of the trends and topics that procurement, sourcing, and supply chain professionals need to be aware of. In this conversation, Kris and Kelly talk about three major news stories related to China that all procurement and supply chain professionals should be aware of: Links: Kris Lance on LinkedInEpisode 145: Looking Back and Looking Ahead with Kris LanceEpisode 142: 2023 Listener Favorites with Kris LanceEpisode 138: Procurement Out of This World with Kris LanceEpisode 134: The Complexity of Navigating the Panama Canal with Kris Lance

Despite the understandable enthusiasm around supply chain sustainability, there are many challenges associated with the fight to lower emissions: regulations, costs, and engineering, just to name a few. One of the challenges procurement will appreciate most, is the journey towards a workable business model that reflects today’s infrastructure reality and companies’ ability to invest. In this episode of The Sourcing Hero podcast, Host Kelly Barner welcomes Ron Hunt. Ron is the Director of Business Development for Forum Mobility, a company working to make it realistic for fleets to achieve their zero emissions goals without having to build capital intensive charging capabilities. In this interview, Ron shares much of the advice he offers to carriers looking to partner with their customers as they pursue zero emissions fleets: Links: Ron Hunt on LinkedIn

Procurement professionals often talk about how they ‘fell’ into the field without a plan. And while this means procurement has a diverse range of skill sets in their ranks, it does leave many teams without a solid educational foundation like what might be found in marketing or operations. In this episode of The Sourcing Hero podcast, Host Kelly Barner welcomes Robert Čačković. Robert is a sourcing buyer for Bugatti Rimac, a Croatian company that develops and produces cutting-edge hypercars. He has been in procurement since college and is currently completing his MBA, with a master's thesis focused on improvements of procurement processes in the automotive industry. In this interview, Robert talks about the positive impact of studying and working in procurement at the same time: Links: Robert Čačković on LinkedIn

Supporting decisions about which suppliers to work with is one of procurement’s most critical responsibilities. But, like so many other business decisions, the ‘Why’ matters, both to the supplier being chosen and to the potential for value creation associated with that partnership. In this episode of The Sourcing Hero podcast, Host Kelly Barner welcomes Erica McMannes. Erica is an entrepreneur who has deep experience working to support the military community by working in the private sector as well as for the Department of Defense. In her current role as Chief People and Community Officer at Instant Teams, she connects companies with military spouses that have the talent they need. In this conversation, Erica talks about being a ‘people person’ in a people business and creating value in and through her community: Links: Erica McMannes on LinkedIn

Procurement is used to dealing with a whole series of stereotypes associated with the profession: bean counters… pencil sharpeners… and penny pinchers, just to name a few. Those nicknames stand in sharp contrast to the value procurement delivers on a daily basis - value that extends far beyond savings to improve the competitive position of the whole company. In this episode of The Sourcing Hero podcast, Host Kelly Barner welcomes Today my guest on The Sourcing Hero podcast is A’Keela Johnson. A’Keela is the Director of IT and G&A Procurement at Molson Coors, but more importantly, she is focused on strategic operations management. A’Keela is on a mission to evangelize the benefits of working in procurement to people that are already here as well as aspiring sourcing professionals. In this conversation, A’Keela combines her personal experience with humorous stereotypes about procurement to illustrate why procurement is a great field to work in: Links: A’Keela Johnson on LinkedIn

There are so many news stories and events contained in any one year that it can boggle the mind trying to remember them all, let alone process their combined impact. But the end of one year and the start of another is a natural time to reflect back before looking ahead to what the new year may hold. In this episode of The Sourcing Hero podcast, Host Kelly Barner welcomes back Kris Lance, Senior Director at Una, for a recurring monthly conversation about current news stories. Kris has experience in multiple industries and has his finger on the pulse of the trends and topics that procurement, sourcing, and supply chain professionals need to be aware of. In this conversation, Kris and Kelly talk about the trends and news stories they think were most impactful in 2023 and the ones they are already watching for 2024: Links: Kris Lance on LinkedInEpisode 142: 2023 Listener Favorites with Kris LanceEpisode 138: Procurement Out of This World with Kris LanceEpisode 134: The Complexity of Navigating the Panama Canal with Kris LanceEpisode 130: Building and Understanding Trust with Kris Lance

What we experience personally cannot be completely separated from what we experience professionally, and vice versa. This is as true for the impact of digital communications on relationships and trust building as it is our ability to ‘hear’ and connect with others. In this episode of The Sourcing Hero podcast, Host Kelly Barner welcomes Julienne Ryan. Julienne is an author, an executive coach, a storyteller, and - most importantly - a true people person. Her career includes an impressive number of leadership roles, and she was able to be succesful in each one because of her interpersonal and communication skills. In this interview, Julienne speaks honestly about : Links: Julienne Ryan on LinkedIn