Julie – General Manager Coffee & Tea Retail, UK

Since joining Sara Lee in 1993 I guess you could say I've had a fairly classic marketing career path, moving through the ranks from senior brand manager when I joined to marketing director in 2001. On the way I've also had a year in sales as a business group manager and 18 months in global, heading up the bath & shower category. I moved to General Manager in August 2007.

There are lots of reasons I come to work at Sara Lee every day- I've been here 15 years now, so there must be plenty of them! I like that we have the opportunity to really make a difference. We share a sense of empowerment and autonomy, but combined with a real team culture designed to deliver results. Lots of companies focus on the individual to make the difference, but we all know that most good things come about as a result of great teamwork – which is what the culture at Sara Lee focuses on. I also love the continuous improvement mindset - constantly challenging ourselves to do things better and striving to be best in class. And if you deliver, the rewards are there! If you're the kind of person who enjoys a challenge and has a real can-do, make it happen attitude, then this is the perfect environment for you.

Another element I enjoy about working at Sara Lee is the work-life balance – which for me means I can have a career and be a mum (I have two young kids aged six and eight). Sara Lee is quite a caring organization: it treats people as individuals and as adults who are free to make their own decisions. This enables employees to juggle their work commitments with their family commitments (e.g. time off to attend your child's school play during working hours) so that they get the best out of people. When I say ‘caring’ I also think of the community. At Sara Lee U.K. we host an educational establishment called Activate where typically about 20 young people come on-site to complete the last year of their study. We also offer employees up to two days per year to work in a community project of their choice.

I think the approach to career development is that the individual owns their own path and needs to drive their own direction, but the performance and talent management processes allow for regular discussion of training and development and on the job experiences to help you achieve your goals and discuss opportunities. On a personal note, I've been lucky to have good mentors and coaches at Sara Lee who have been both supportive and offered lots of advice - and probably encouraged me to try moves I wouldn't have ordinarily thought of.

What is my favorite product? I'd have to say Douwe Egberts coffee of course! It's a great tasting coffee - the best on the market - and there's nothing more rewarding than hearing your consumers tell you how much they love it. And, by the way, it makes great coffee ice-cream!