Maintain open communication. Lead with love. Accept uncomfortable challenges. These actionable steps have been empowering at RaceTrac, said Terry Black (pictured left), director of procurement center of excellence, and Alexandria Venison, procurement contract manager.
The pair shared their work experiences on stage at the second-annual Convenience-Store Women (CSW) Event held Nov. 4-6 in Charleston, South Carolina.
Venison began working in procurement at RaceTrac after having spent six years at department store Macy’s. She made the jump after talking with her father about the next steps in her career.
- RaceTrac is No. 17 on CSP’s 2024 Top 202 ranking of convenience-store chains by store count.
“I didn’t know what procurement was, but my dad gave me the rundown on how supply chain and procurement work together, and I told him I’d look into it,” Venison said.
A couple of weeks later, Venison came across RaceTrac’s open position for a procurement operations analyst. Venison said she soon found out that Black was also in procurement at RaceTrac. The two leaders knew each other beforehand, having both worked at Macy's.
“We met and talked about the culture at RaceTrac, and how it differs from Macy’s,” Venison said. “At RaceTrac people leave the door open so you can ask questions, or they will connect you with the right person to answer your questions.”
Black, who has been in corporate environments for more than 20 years, has had four promotions at RaceTrac. When asked what keeps her motivated to keep growing, Black mentioned her faith.
“God told me that I am on assignment, so that means that I can’t leave until my assignment is done,” she said.
Black, who has been with RaceTrac since 2016, said she has embraced that she is here for a reason, which involves strategy building and being able to understand how to pour into her teams. When it comes to leadership support, Black recalled how her superior encouraged her to go outside of her comfort zone.
Black said she was in sourcing at RaceTrac and her director said her talents would benefit the company’s procurement operations team. She said she was at first scared because she loved sourcing but looking back, Black is appreciative of the encouragement.
“They saw something in me that I didn’t see myself,” she said. “Now I love procurement.”
Based in Atlanta, RaceTrac, has nearly 800 retail locations representing the RaceTrac and RaceWay brands in 13 states.
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