Transcript
Speaker: You know, when I first started in the meat business that I made things very clear from day one. You know, why i was there, you know, what my goals were. i was young. I mean, I was 24 years old. People tried to flirt or, you know, what and i would immediately stop people and make the rules day one.
Speaker: So there's confusion.
Speaker: Welcome to the Cultivating Leaders podcast, where we get inside the minds of leaders to harvest great ideas and lessons that help you grow as a difference maker in food and agriculture. I'm your host and curiosity captain, Nicole Urszig.
Speaker: Today's guest is a powerhouse in protein. Suzanne Strasburger is a fifth generation meat purveyor, president of Strasburger Meats, and founder of Susie Sirloin. After her family business faced bankruptcy, Suzanne played a pivotal role in rebuilding it from the ground up.
Speaker: She is a mastermind in business, completing executive education programs at Harvard Business School, Wharton, and MIT. And you may have seen Suzanne featured on the Forbes Women 50 Over 50.
Speaker: Suzanne, welcome to the pod. What did I miss from your bio? Thank you so much for having me. Now, I'm very happy that you mentioned about going back to school. I went back to school a week after I turned 50, and I had no idea what I was getting myself into.
Speaker: It was the best thing i did, and I'm so happy I did it before COVID. So what it was called OPM, Owners, Presidents, and Managers.
Speaker: And it was three weeks at Harvard Business School. And I met people from all over the world, all different industries. I read over a three-year period. it was three weeks a year. 150 case studies. I read every word because I wanted to get every dollar's worth. And it was amazing.
Speaker: And like I said, i met incredible people, especially women, Women leaders that were so smart and so successful. I mean, I had never experienced anything like it in my life.
Speaker: And when I tell you these women were wonder women. I mean, they had families, they had careers. And over the years, they have bought up more and more businesses. And they're just such an inspiration to me.
Speaker: And being that it was people from all over the world, any time day that, you know, I need some ideas to bounce off people or some advice or someone to look at a contract or something, there's someone awake somewhere in the world.
Speaker: I love that. So incredible. Okay, well, I can't wait to talk more about your leadership journey, Suzanne. But let's start with your family business. You're a fifth generation meat purveyor, which I feel like not many people can say. For maybe someone who doesn't know what Strasburger Meats is, give us a little bit of background on your family business and where it started and and what it is that you do.
Speaker: ah I have the best story. So it was actually both sides of my father's grandparents. Both grandparents were in the meat business. His mother's side of the family was in the veal business.
Speaker: And then his father's family was... in the beef business and such a cute story. Like his great, great grandfather was at work and the manager Swift's daughter would like come and bring her father lunch. And that's how they met.
Speaker: And then they opened their own meat company and every generation has for 160 years have opened their own and named their own meat company.
Speaker: Wow. That is so incredible. Yes. Yes. So what was it like growing up in the meat business? So when I was three years old, I was reading, you know, like this picture book with firemen and nurses. And I went down to the kitchen and I asked my father what he did. And he said he was in the meat business with Papa. And right then and there, I'm telling you i was like three or four years old. I remember this.
Speaker: And I decided i was going to be in the meat business. And I have friends you know that I am still friends with since you know fifth grade or whatever. And all I would say was, all I want to do is be in the meat business and everything else.
Speaker: So between my father, my grandfather, all my uncles, there was always someone in the meat business. And when I was a little girl, I always went to visit my father at work.
Speaker: I just always knew I was going to be in the meat business. I still went on to college and and studied other things and, you know, had other jobs. But I always, always knew. and I feel very blessed that way that I i knew what I was going to do.
Speaker: As you've told me your story in the past, like you you always knew you wanted to be in the meat business, but the road to kind of get there has been challenging, right? So tell me about what it was like when you came it back into the family business and kind of had to rebuild things and almost start over.
Speaker: Yes. So I literally do not wish it on my worst enemy, what I went through. It was hell. It was a very, very long, difficult road. And I will tell you the truth. I started at the bottom.
Speaker: I had every single job in the place. It was very, very lonely. I was one of the only women workers. I think my first job was...
Speaker: in a warehouse, like a big room by myself, like a dark room with like a swinging light, putting corrugated boxes together. It was awful.
Speaker: And that's what I did, you know, for like, I don't know, 10 12 hours a day And then I got to pack meat, which was very exciting because i learned all the different cuts, the different weights, the different textures, the size of things, how things were boxed, how we received them. I did inventory.
Speaker: One day I was boxing meat. We had a trailer outside. And I learned from people who my grandfather hired. who I still speak to to this day are my friends. You know, we call each other up on birthdays and other holidays and stuff like that.
Speaker: And they tell me between my father, my grandfather and I, I was their favorite person to work with. But they taught me so much and I was lucky to have them have them on my team.
Speaker: And one day they threw a top round so fast and so hard at me that I just fell in the fat and blood and I was just beat up and exhausted from boxing you know meat. And I'm talking about heavy top rounds and ribs.
Speaker: So I said to my father, hey, dad, you know can I answer phones? you know i just like I was exhausted from working in the cooler and and boxing meat. But like I said, it was a great experience and I learned so much. And I learned about aging meat and you know all sorts of things.
Speaker: And then one thing led to another. And then you know I would actually listen to my dad trading meat. We sat next to each other like elbows, you know, and I'm, I'm a righty, he's a lefty, he's on this side of me, you know, taking each other's pens and lunches. And oh my God, it was, it was, it was crazy. I mean, you could only imagine like a young girl and like, there was no privacy, there were no cell phones, there was nothing. And couple stories,
Speaker: For instance, I was in the ladies' room, and you know a steakhouse called to place an order. They'd be like pounding on the door like, hurry up, they're going to give it to someone else.
Speaker: And I was like, oh my God, right can you just ask if I could call them back? right All sorts of crazy stories. This is a ah classic story. There was a steakhouse. you know At the time, there were not you know hundreds of steakhouses in Manhattan,
Speaker: There were a few on the east side, couple on the west side, and there was this one guy in the theater district, and he did not want to talk to me.
Speaker: And we you know he he's like, you're too high, and I would take one penny off, and he would like... be ready to kill me, right? trading Trading um prime meat for steakhouses.
Speaker: And he was just so mean and rude to me. I'll never forget it. And i said something to my dad. And my dad was like, honey, like what do you want me to do? He's a customer. He's a paying customer. He's a loyal customer. I can't help it you know if he doesn't like you.
Speaker: And I was like, come on, dad, just say something. And he's like, Suzanne, come on, we're in the meat business, right? I'm like, you better say something or else.
Speaker: And he said, he's like, you know, Hey, this is my daughter, you know, be, be nice. And he's like, tell her to get the hell out of the meat business. Would you believe that I ended up marrying that man 20 years later and now he works for me?
Speaker: but Incredible story, Suzanne. You just never know. Life is crazy. ah you have had wild ride. You have had such an incredible career, grueling, obviously climbing the way up the ladder in your family's meat business.
Speaker: And the meat business is a tough one to be in, honestly. Not easy, obviously. Tell me about, okay, you have you've worked in the business, you've climbed up. Wasn't there a point where where you guys faced maybe, was it is it bankruptcy? And then you had to bring everything back?
Speaker: Right. So that was before i ah started. So when I was 24 years old, my father woke me up. I was living in Washington, D.C., having the best time of my life, like living and working and doing catering on Capitol Hill.
Speaker: And I went home for the weekend, and he woke me up on my 24th birthday and said, If you want to be in the meat business, you have to come you know now and it'll be forever.
Speaker: So he gave me about five minutes to decide. you know It's like three o'clock in the morning, right? and That's what I did. i i was fully committed and I worked with my father And he taught me a business. And that is something i will always be grateful to him for. We did not always get along or agree on everything. But at the end of the day, we were able to get in the car together and go home and, you know, eat dinner.
Speaker: and, you know, make it work. And we had the same goal at the end of the day to be in business, but we were so down and out, we could not even eat our own meat.
Speaker: Like we had to sell every single piece of meat. We could not afford to take a good steak home. That's how difficult it was. It was very, very bad.
Speaker: I mean, we lost everything and had to start over. It makes me sad, you know, when I think about it. But, you know, my father was like, better days will come. We just have to get through this difficult time. and It's very interesting to be sitting here telling that story today because after 34 years in the meat business and after five years of negotiation, very difficult, long negotiations with my parents, I finally own Strasburger Meats and we just took on another 40,000 square feet.
Speaker: So I'm very excited. i am renaming the company. to be called Strasburger Meat and Seafood. it's It's been a long rough road, but so I will tell you, i'm so happy it's behind me and i I truly feel the best is yet to come.
Speaker: That's incredible. Well, congratulations. Thank you. First of all, what advice, Suzanne, do you have for someone who is maybe in the throes of it, right? Like they're in the throes of entrepreneurship or building their career.
Speaker: but would you say to them to either encourage them or or tell them to, yeah, what would you say to someone who's in it? Okay, well, first of all, i I want to go back to, you know, when I first started in the meat business that I made things very clear from day one, you know, why i was there, you know, what my goals were.
Speaker: i was young. I mean, I was 24 years old. People tried to flirt or, you know, what and I would immediately stop people. And make the rules day one.
Speaker: So there's no confusion, right? That I am not there to flirt. It is not a singles pickup bar. And I'm there to do business and do not get in my way.
Speaker: I am determined and I'm going to make it work. I never had to wait in line for the ladies room. That's for sure. I want to talk about your leadership journey. You talked about going back to school when you were 50.
Speaker: What made you make that decision, especially as someone who I feel like, I mean, like you have done the work, you have been someone who's learned on the job. but What made you think that that you needed to go back to school, learn something new, get in the classroom?
Speaker: Thank you. That's an excellent question. So we had just moved into another building, a bigger building. It was not filled, that you know, and I sat down and I said, oh my God, oh my God, like here I am. i finally have my own office after over 20 some odd years.
Speaker: And I have this huge space And I said, oh my God, how how am I going to do this? right like I got to my next goal. Literally turned on LinkedIn and I saw this video about this gentleman that went to this OPM program and I immediately signed up and it's all I like focused on and writing, you know, like to get in.
Speaker: I was just like, I have to think of something to get to the next level, to make this space that we're in work. When I went back to school, they would tease me, you know, my name's Strasburger.
Speaker: And they're like, you have to go into the burger business. They're like, we don't don't even come back next year unless you have started this new burger company. And that's what I did. And I went into the ground beef business and it saved us during COVID.
Speaker: That's such an incredible story. Throughout your career, obviously, there's been ups and downs. You faced a lot of criticisms. How do you manage those situations of, you know, either people criticizing you or all all the different things that you've been through, especially as a woman in the meat business?
Speaker: Okay, so very early on, and this is you know before the internet or whatever, I remember reading an article and I actually wrote down some key points and I had it in the back of my phone book and it's still here today. It was by a gentleman named Robert Peterson, who was the president and CEO of IBP, which is owned by Tyson.
Speaker: And he said, and I'm so lucky I got to read this in the beginning of my career because it is something I can look at still to this day. Be upfront, blunt, and clear.
Speaker: you know, tell the truth. Take a position. Lead. do not follow. Be fair. be firm.
Speaker: Teach. Don't tear down. get to work early, do something great, and then leave late. If you don't care who gets the credit, you can go a long way.
Speaker: And I said, wow, isn't that amazing? I love that. And that is from him, one of the best CEOs in the meat business in the history of America, right? So...
Speaker: Great advice, advice that he probably said 30, 40 years ago, and it can still be used today. Am I perfect to the tea to that? No.
Speaker: You have bad days and people that don't listen. think it's great advice that I want to share. Also, i was very lucky. When I first started, we were literally handwriting invoices and really giving my age away.
Speaker: And I'll never forget one of our best customers to this day, very rough guy, calls you up, screams at you, balls you out, hangs up on you, even if you did nothing wrong, yelled at me and said, you forgot to put the weight of an entire box of fillets, which could be $1,000. that day forward,
Speaker: i tried to pay the guy back like 100 times, especially in the beginning. I mean, that $1,000 could have made or broke us, right, and in a week's time, believe it or not.
Speaker: And it was such a great lesson to learn early on, you know, to be so honest. And I feel like I continued to do that throughout my career and just trading with people in the meat market and saying, oh, you know, you sent me an extra box, right?
Speaker: something and you show how honest you are that when I needed credit and for these people to fill out credit applications, they believed in me. It's not like I had all this money in the bank that, you know, I could get credit. It was really had to do with your reputation.
Speaker: It had to do with being so trustworthy and honest. Yeah, that integrity is so important. Your word is your word, yeah. h Yeah. After so many years in business, you just kind of referenced it, technology has changed a lot. How have you adapted as things have evolved and new tools have come out and different ways of doing things.
Speaker: Right. So again, I'm going to go back. I am the worst. Okay. Like, forget it. I am the worst. And so my sister has been working with me now for 20 years and I'll never forget. we were like in the meat market and our father's like, Oh, you know, I'll text you later. And we're like,
Speaker: What's a text? what what It's like our father is teaching his two young daughters about technology. So I will say my father was very good about change and and believing in technology. And my grandfather always said, you have to spend money to make money.
Speaker: But now I find it very, very exciting. And that's why I took a class on AI, which was so difficult. Oh, my God, I cried every weekend. And my older sister, who's not in the business, would be like, get yourself together just do it and finish the class. Enough already. Like every weekend she had to like give me a pep talk. Could you imagine? This was like literally last year.
Speaker: So I'm curious, what do you how do you think AI is going to impact the meat business? Oh, I think it's great. I think you know it's not going to be just the biggest meat companies in the world that are going to have the robots and stuff like that. I mean, you see it's already in the Amazon buildings and the technology, I think, is huge... huge win for the meat business. I think it's going to be great for food safety. i think it's going to be great for knowing everything about the piece of meat that you got.
Speaker: And I just think it's going to make us better as a whole. And I think it's going to be great for exporting and everything, everything, temperature, I mean, to me, it's so exciting. They have drones now that will fly through your warehouse and take an inventory. Or they have a robot that can go up a few stories high and read those barcodes.
Speaker: So I think it's phenomenal. I love it. I love it. It's only going to get more interesting and more exciting. And I think it's going to save the industry money and time.
Speaker: And I think it's going to make us better and more accurate. So how are you as a business owner going to decide when to implement some of these new tools and technologies? Yes, very good question. So, you know, I think right now a lot of things are still extremely expensive.
Speaker: So i'm sort of waiting for the cost to come down. So want to talk about your role as a woman leader. I'm sure there are many times throughout your career where you were the only woman in the room. How did you build the confidence to fully own your seat at the table? And what advice would you give to to other women who find themselves in some similar scenarios from a leadership standpoint?
Speaker: So- I'm going to be honest with you. I have been in plenty of rooms, even in the conference room here many years ago, around you know men that I really like and admire and who I've known for many years.
Speaker: For instance, I said we need to go into the ground beef business. And, you know, we just keep talking. And and like 20 minutes later, a guy is like, I have the best idea.
Speaker: You should go into the ground beef business. And I'm like, I just said that. But, you know, it's to the point now where I don't even care. You know, I have enough experience and confidence that I'm like, great, great idea.
Speaker: yeah let's do that. Right. As long as everyone's on board. But that has happened to me so many times. And, you know, I have lost sleep over it. I'm not going to lie to you. I mean, i do find once you get out of town and you meet people from all over the country, i mean, I find the people in the meat business phenomenal.
Speaker: I mean, so smart. And once you get out of town where you're not competitors, you're We help each other out, right? We help each other with food safety and cybersecurity. And I just feel like it depends on the individual, right? I mean, if there is a man that is running one of the biggest meat companies in the world, he has no problem.
Speaker: He's very confident and secure and has already done it and is already a great leader that I feel like they are more than happy to have a woman at the table. They welcome them. They they want them there.
Speaker: And they make you feel comfortable. And I do think, you know, with age and experience and and confidence, it it does get better. But it was rough in the beginning for someone to try to undermine you and second guess you. and But I think that, again,
Speaker: if you Let them know from the start why you're there, that you're very serious, that you know you have goals and you're focused, that eventually they do understand.
Speaker: Suzanne, have you ever dealt with fear in like making the right decision for your business or knowing what's the right next move to do? Yes. And that is...
Speaker: probably the most important question you're going to ask. Honestly, fear is the enemy. Okay. Fear is the enemy.
Speaker: I think without fear, you'll be fine. I mean, I've had fear, you know, and I've lost sleep again. And if you can try to have your life without fear, you're you're so much better off. Fear is the enemy.
Speaker: So how do you overcome it? Like, how do you push it to the side or trust yourself to make the right decision? Time and experience. Yes. Yes. What is a story of maybe a mistake that you made in your career and what you learned from it?
Speaker: Oh, that's so funny. So, so many times, you know, i love to make labels and try new things. And there's so many times where I thought that whether it's a product or a customer that, oh,
Speaker: this is it. Like, oh my God, you know, like I hit lotto and, and this is going to be the greatest thing I ever did. and it ends up not being, and something that, you know, you don't pay that much attention to and, and put so much thought into ends up being something that's like so steady and so great.
Speaker: I will tell you one of my biggest mistakes I ever made. i was trying to be a hero and In 1999, everyone wanted to book their delays for Christmas and New Year's.
Speaker: And I'm like, well, I'm just going to copy what the big guys do, right? They're so smart. They're so successful. I'm just going to mimic them. And that's I'm going to win. i'm goingnna It's going to be a home run.
Speaker: The market completely crashed. I was not such a hero. But I will say, i took every filet I booked and And the customers that booked the meet took the meet.
Speaker: So, you know, it's not like we went out of business or anything like that. But, you know, the competition is tough. I mean, the competition still to this day, I mean, are billions and billions of dollars that if we make the wrong move, we'll go out of business.
Speaker: They're not going to miss a lunch, right? So there's really not a lot of room for error, especially for a family business. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. What advice do you have for people who are working with family?
Speaker: Oh, my God. Okay. So my father and I actually went and took a class at a local college here about family businesses because we really... knocked head And what we did learn was that two of the same siblings in the same family should never have the same responsibility, right? So for instance, my sister and I are not competing against each other. We do not have the same responsibility.
Speaker: responsibilities. So she has the tough job of accounts receivable and collecting money. That was some really great advice. But some other advice I would give is, look, I don't care what kind of business you're in If business is good and you're making money, everyone gets along. But when things get tough and tight and difficult, you know people don't always get along.
Speaker: And what I really admire and respect about other families, in the meat business that did it right was they had a plan like written the second the children walked into the business.
Speaker: Like for instance, one family... knew the kids were going to buy out the father over the next 10 years. So everyone knew the plan, right? They knew the goal.
Speaker: We did not have that. It got a lot more difficult the older my father got. So it was it was hell. What is the legacy that you hope to have with Strasburger Meats and now Seafood?
Speaker: Yes, right? Can you believe it? Not just like about meat, but like I would say about a woman in any sort of business. And that would be that you know I never gave up, right? I tell my employees all the time, i go, listen, I've seen 30 other family meat companies just like ours go out of business.
Speaker: And I go, and I i tell them the truth. I say, look, they... had a lot more money than we do. They were a lot smarter than we were.
Speaker: But somehow they gave up. They went out of business. And I think that is the only difference, that I am determined and I don't ever give up. There's always a way. You always have to find a way.
Speaker: i think that that's what's important. And I do feel blessed to work with my sister, Andrea. She's made it you know a lot more fun. And I think we're great as a team when we go out and see customers. And also, since I was in a high chair, I mean, I literally have been hanging out with major meat buyers, meat directors of major grocery stores. So was something...
Speaker: I feel very comfortable with. So when now I you know walk into an office with a meat director, they have no idea that you know I've been talking to people like them since i was in my high chair.
Speaker: What do you think that the next leaders in the meat business need to know? Let me think about that. I do more and more want to make it about women, to be honest with you, because There is room for women in this business.
Speaker: And I'm very proud to say here at Strasburger Meats, we are 40% women in and outside of the processing room. So in the office and in the warehouse, we are 40% women. That's incredible.
Speaker: Yeah, it really is. I never thought that would happen in my lifetime. But I also want to say that to have a mentor, that is the most important thing. okay I think to have a mentor is very important. It's something I really did not have.
Speaker: I probably didn't get to meet a lot of women leaders until I was well into my 40s. And um it's women I really admire and respect,
Speaker: who are great leaders, and again, the men in the meat business, you know welcome them and have a seat for them at the table. but I have all sorts of things that I want to share. you know There's no straight line up for success, right? It's sort of up and down, up and down.
Speaker: My friends' kids say, like, how do you get to the top? And there's a saying that there's no elevator to the top. You have to walk up every step. And I highly recommend it because you know I've had every job here Yep. You've been in their shoes.
Speaker: Yes. Okay. Well, we are going to move into the rapid fire section of our podcast. So we'll try to answer these quickly. What is one business tool you could not live without?
Speaker: The phone. What is one industry trend do you think people are getting wrong? Oh, well, this whole thing with the fake meat was just a train wreck from the start. it was It bothered me because they were giving all this wrong information, and my husband just kept saying, honey, don't worry, it's just decaf coffee.
Speaker: What is one thing you wish you could go back and tell your younger self? Oh, well, that would be that God gave me more than my prayers. What is your professional accomplishment that you're most proud of?
Speaker: So I guess Susie Sirloin doing that brand. and And that's a perfect example of one day that I was not happy with someone else trying to take the credit. you know So that is one of the reasons why I called it Susie Sirloin, so other people couldn't get the credit.
Speaker: That's another reason why I went back to school. So other people couldn't take the credit for that. you know It's funny, when my sister and I talk, we've been through a lot. i mean, we used to have to run to post office to get those checks and beg the bank to stay open so we can, you know, make a deposit and stuff like that. But it's funny because people say, what was the moment when you felt like you were successful and that you had turned a corner?
Speaker: And I'll never forget, it was when we were able to give back and and give to charity. We were like, yes, we made it, we did it, we can do some so And we really love to give here, we're in ah Northern New Jersey.
Speaker: Believe it or not, there's a million people who are hungry. And that's just too many, right? That's too much. There's a charity called Table to Table that I really believe in. And they help feed these people.
Speaker: Because no one should go hungry. And we have the best meat in the world. And we're the envy of the world. And we own flavor and taste. There's no reason why anyone should starve in this country.
Speaker: And I think with AI and with technology, we're going to figure that out. What is the best leadership book you've ever read? Oh, gosh, I've read them all. That's a great question.
Speaker: They're all good in their own way. me think for a minute. You know what I'm reading right now? Mel Robbins, Let Them. i love it. it is I wish it was around 20, 30 years ago, right?
Speaker: It's so good, isn't it? Oh, the the next book I'm going to read is called No One Alone. I just met a girl. She did ah book and a small documentary called Dream Weavers.
Speaker: Her name is Jenny Jingzua, and her story coming from a small town in China and and and making it, Great by choice.
Speaker: You know, all of these Jim Collins books I love. Good to great. Okay, that's my final answer. Good to great.
Speaker: Good to great. that's That is a good one. Yes. Okay, Suzanne. So we always like to ask our guests for their hot takes. We like bold opinions, unconventional thoughts. So what is your hot take about leadership or the future of agriculture?
Speaker: So this is something I've always been very consistent on, and it's all about the ranchers and the people who grow our food. Hats off to them. God bless them. We love you. We thank you. You are the real stars of the universe.
Speaker: If there's one thought you want to leave our listeners with about leadership or career development, Suzanne, what would it be? Never give up. And um dreams are worth chasing and can come true if you work hard enough and never give up, especially during those darkest hours.
Speaker: Yeah. All right. Well, at AFA, we are all about building bridges and connecting people. So where can people connect with you and learn more about Strasburger Meats and what you do? Oh, thank you.
Speaker: So we are on Instagram, Susie Sirloin, Strasburger Steaks, LinkedIn, i love.
Speaker: Thank you so much for your knowledge and wisdom, Suzanne. I always love getting to chat with you and the stories that you have are just so incredible and inspiring of you know your career and the the business that you've built. So I really appreciate you sharing your wisdom, not just with me, but also with our listeners. so Well, thank you. I really appreciate it. I'm going to leave you with one last thing, and that is do not let anyone steal your joy. um Great advice, Suzanne. Thank you so much for being on the Cultivating Leaders podcast.
Speaker: Thanks for listening to the Cultivating Leaders podcast brought to you by Agriculture Future of America. If you've been here before, you know we value feedback as a gift. Please leave us a review and let us know how we're doing.
