At the 2024 NextUp Leadership Summit, attendees heard from Pamela Stewart, Chief Customer Officer of Retail for The Coca-Cola Company’s North America Operating Unit, as she shared the three principles that guide her life and work: Be Bright, Be Gentle, Be Bold. In our next PowerTalks with The Coca-Cola Company, we are honored to bring Pam’s inspiring message to the entire NextUp community.
Could you tell us a bit about yourself, including where you are from and how long you’ve been part of the NextUp community?
I am an aficionado of the arts and a creative person who just so happened to choose a logical career. I made my way to Atlanta in adulthood. In my first time entering the city, I saw a glowing red Coca-Cola sign, looked at it, and said, ‘I will work there one day.’
As fate would have it, I had the opportunity to join The Coca-Cola Company 25 years ago, and I have been here ever since. I have held multiple roles—starting in finance, then moving through sales, sales operations, and franchise operations—and now I am the Chief Customer Officer, leading all retail partnerships for North America, which is an honor.
I have been with NextUp for over 20 years, from when it was just a group of women with bold ambition to what it is today. No matter what role I have been in throughout my career, I have been with NextUp. It is an amazing organization, and I believe in its mission.
Your session, “Be Bright. Be Gentle, Be Bold,” at NextUp Summit 2024 was powerful. How do you apply this mindset within your own work?
I live by what I shared at NextUp Summit and have always embraced this mentality: Be Bright, Be Gentle, Be Bold. Be Bright means being a beacon of light for others, so that theirs might shine brighter. Be Gentle means giving others the space and grace to be human, to learn, and to grow. And be Bold means living life with a spirit of constructively disrupting, dreaming big, and being courageous. At the heart of it, I seek to create safe spaces where people can feel more comfortable with their own skin and stretch people beyond their own perceived potential.
What impact have you seen it have on others?
I fundamentally believe that culture comes before people and business results. I understand the power of creating spaces where a high sense of excellence, empathy, curiosity and hunger must coexist. My role ultimately is to extract that from others and select people who have the right balance of intelligence quotient (IQ), emotional quotient (EQ), and authenticity quotient (AQ). That is where I focus my greatest impact because such leaders create a thriving culture.
What advice would you give to other NextUp partner companies to help their teams and customers feel comfortable and supported?
The advice that I would give to NextUp partner companies is to harness the power of setting a bold vision, exhibiting empathy, and exercising the necessity of listening.
When setting an ambitious, aspirational vision, galvanizing the organization is the most important thing. Giving them something to aspire to that is bigger than themselves and bolder than the moment, gives them a reason to hope, believe, and try.
On the power of empathy, putting oneself in others’ shoes—whether it be the consumer, the customer, teammates, or leadership—allows for a multidimensional solution to any problem statement.
Lastly, the art of listening often does not require an expedition to find out how people feel and what they are thinking. Asking and allowing an unfiltered, objective view of what is said will give you everything you need to create solutions and foster an environment and culture that thrives, is growth-minded, and result-oriented.
Given your experience, what is one piece of advice you would give to NextUp members ascending in their career?
Embrace your authenticity and exercise resilience every step of the way. Before you walk into the room, be super clear about what you offer that is unique to anyone else in the room – whether it is a point of view, a thought, the way your mind works, your creativity, or whatever differentiates you. Demonstrate it consistently wherever you are.
As it relates to resilience, there is no fail proof way to always be right and successful with every decision. You must quickly embrace the lesson and keep moving. The difference between a winner and a true champion is the timeframe in which disappointment and failure keep a person down and how soon they get up. I believe that innately.
Pam, what gets you excited? What gets your engine going, either at work or when learning something new?
I am inspired by impacting others’ lives by achieving goals that others said were impossible. Being around my family also brings me great joy, and I count it as a privilege. Every breath I get the opportunity to inhale motivates me to live a life worthy of that breath.
Curiosity is another driving force for me. I am a lifelong learner and in a constant quest to discover and grow. Each day offers the opportunity to become a better version of myself. This requires humbling myself and surrounding myself with people from whom I can learn. This journey begins with a foundation of curiosity.
As a long-standing member of the NextUp community, how have you seen the organization evolve?
When I first joined NextUp 20 years ago, it was solely focused on retail, and now there are leaders from different industries in the room. NextUp has incorporated insights on the most disruptive forces in the business landscape, equipping members with the knowledge and strategies to navigate these challenges effectively.They have also evolved to become much more gender inclusive, recognizing the importance of allyship, mentorship, and sponsorship in the mission of Advancing All Women.
Was there a particular moment in your NextUp journey that stood out to you?
One moment that stands out to me is when Melody Richard and I hosted the 2020 NextUp Leadership Summit. She is such a fierce woman and human being, and having the opportunity to come together during a time when we could not physically congregate was incredibly special to me.
The second moment was last year, when I had the honor of being a keynote speaker at Summit. NextUp has always been dear to me, and having the chance to give back to an organization that has supported me throughout my career meant the world. I have spoken at many places, and this was the one occasion that made me nervous. The power and impact of this organization on the industry are immense, and I wanted to make sure I measured up to that.
What are you most looking forward to in NextUp 2025?
I am really excited for Lisa Baird (NextUp CEO) and Dagmar Bogg’s (NextUp Board Chair) vision for the organization, particularly as NextUp expands into more industries and continues to represent greater inclusion. What I am most looking forward to is giving middle-level, senior-level, and executive-level leaders a mirror of who they are and who they can be. It is all about being able to look above and across to see who came before us and who will come after us. I am excited to witness the continued effect of NextUp, both near-term and in the long future ahead of us.
Thank you for reading the PowerTalks with The Coca-Cola Company series! Be sure to stay tuned to the NextUp Content Hub for more profiles and follow us on LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook.
