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Paula Marshall: How to Lead with Humility

Jan 20, 2021

Paula Marshall has served as the Bama Companies CEO since 1984 and provides strategic leadership and direction to the entire organization. She embodies the Bama vision of ‘People Helping People Be Successful,’ and under her leadership, the company has grown to provide a wide variety of frozen desserts and baked goods to fast food chains and casual and family dining restaurants, including McDonald’s. Paula received her BSc in Business and her Ph.D. in Commercial Science from Oklahoma City University and is the author of four books on business and entrepreneurship.

 

Paula joins me today to share how her dad started the company with apple pies in the trunk of the car and the two God-inspired events that kicked off Bama’s expansion. She discusses how she came to head the company, why McDonald’s put her under a microscope when her dad named her CEO and the traumatic events that led to her being the only one of her siblings able to step up and take control of Bama. Paula also shares her vision for the Bama Foundation, how it helps and supports members of the Bama family, and it’s role in the wider community.

 

"If you’re a global product, you have to meet global standards.” - Paula Marshall

 

"What Bama had was passion, desire and we fixated on the product and the product quality, and we never took that out of our minds." - Paula Marshall

 

“Leaders have to have humility - when you make yourself humble, and you become a servant to the people that work for you, and you turn it around and learn from them that’s when real things start to happen.” - Paula Marshall

 

This week on The Wow Factor:

  • Paula’s experiences of growing up in Tulsa and her family’s history as the manufacturer of 98% of all McDonald’s pies
  • Why she shut down Bama’s retail business in 2002
  • How it felt going up against the good ole boy network, and how McDonald’s subsequently supported her as one of the first woman CEOs of their supply chain
  • Why Bama embeds their mission into their relationships and how that impacts the outlook of everyone in the company
  • Why they are so committed to B Corporation initiatives, and why Paula sees it as a heart and soul movement in the corporate world
  • The story of the exploding pumpkin pies and what Paula learned as a leader from the situation
  • The game-changing quality management system Paula brought in to Bama and what she learned from Demings’ philosophy
  • How impacts a corporation and why we should strive for an egoless corporation and focus on the importance of standing up for what’s right
  • Bama’s partnership with Taylor Hansen and why Food on the Move is working to mobilize good quality food into food deserts in Tulsa and Oklahoma

 

Paula Marshall’s Words of Wisdom:

Find your passion, don’t fight it! Write a personal mission statement and use it to help guide you in your decisions and find your balance in your professional and personal life.

 

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