Hear Her Story with Monica Camarin.

For most of us, our career ladder is more like a lattice. We often navigate roles we never envisioned we would hold but help us gain the experience and maturity to develop ourselves and our careers. Monica was in the right place at the right time to join the meat industry. She sought to get into marketing and the opportunity came about through various positions. She was originally a clothing and domestics buyer, and came to work at SBF as a transportation broker, then worked in sales and is now in marketing.

Today Monica is the Senior Brand Manager at SBR, responsible for managing the strategic direction of fresh pork brands. She works with the retail and food service sales teams to develop plans to increase brand presence and drive sales.

Over the course of her career industry changes have been slow, but in the last 5 years she has seen major improvements. Monica sees a larger number of young and diverse people in the meat industry than at the start of her career and given this trajectory, she feels the industry is set to have a very inclusive workforce in the next 10 years.

Monica has worked through difficulties throughout her career by being transparent with her employer. Work-life balance has been a challenge during her career. As the wife of a retired army officer and police sergeant, her daughter and she have had to navigate through 2 deployments and crazy schedules. What worked for her was being open and honest with her company and being kind to herself. In her career, she has found everyone has challenges and it’s the job of mentors and leaders to be accommodating and understanding. Allowing yourself to be vulnerable and share your challenges gives others the opportunity to understand your journey and help remove obstacles from your path.

Working through challenges and looking toward the future have kept Monica on a leadership path. A positive outlook is key to her success, Monica sees nothing but great things ahead. She has experienced the presence of women in the meat industry on a steady rise and is excited to hear their stories and learn from their expertise. Being open to new people and experiences keep her outlook fresh and allows her to have a continuous improvement mindset.

Monica believes everyone has a story, and they are all so unique. No one path is a straight line, and it can be encouraging for younger generations to hear these stories as they embark on their own journey in the meat industry.