“Know your boundaries,” Mindy Barry from Mars Petcare

Meet Mindy Barry, Global Vice President of Marketing, SHEBA brand, for Mars Pet Nutrition, where she is known for achieving exceptional results through inclusive leadership, change agility, and brand building expertise. Her diverse experience spans across global, local, and agency positions where she leads through innovation, insights, analytics, and creative excellence to drive business impact.

Mindy’s commitment allows her to build highly engaged, purpose-driven teams. She is known for her inclusive leadership, believing the best-performing organizations are those where all associates feel heard and valued. She is committed to developing the next generation of talent in Mars through recruitment, development, and engagement, and she has seen first-hand the power that purpose can play in supporting this. Mindy is also an active Board Member for Junior Achievement of Middle Tennessee and a volunteer for Boy Scouts of America.

Mindy joined Jocelyn Hudak, Senior Director, Content and Digital Marketing for a conversation in our Pass the Mic booth at Cannes Lions where they discussed staying true to your priorities, being an inclusive leader, and putting it all on the table. Tune in to the full interview below. 

Know your boundaries. 

Highlight: “Somebody's always wanting something more of you. Knowing your boundaries, meaning knowing what's important to you and staying true to those priorities, that's huge. Because your company will always ask more of you. Your family and your community will always ask more of you. And so ultimately, you've got to know what is going to matter most to you.” - Mindy Barry

Put it all on the table. 

Highlight: “One of the things I bring to my leadership style is a positive mindset. I have a bias to focus on the positive, and so I like to have an approach with the team of putting the tensions on the table first, and then let's talk about what would need to be true… Once that is laid out, we can figure it out from there. Who do we need to talk with? How can we influence change?” - Mindy Barry

Don’t take no for an answer. 

Highlight:  “I've had fantastic mentors, I've worked for great companies. But I look back and I realize there's also a little bit of finding the positive in things. Men did get more opportunities, did get a better seat at the table. I was rationalizing the flip side, that it was allowing me my work life balance and so it was fine. But now I look at my daughter who is 11, and I love it.. She doesn't take no for anything. She questions everything.. And it helps me realize a whole different way of approaching things.” - Mindy Barry

Inclusive leadership is valuable. 

Highlight: “Inclusive leadership is a core value for me… I believe when everybody feels safe to have their voice be heard, or they feel that they're being given a place or a forum in which they can express their ideas, that is how we get to the best results. That can be as simple as asking somebody what they think, making sure they have a seat at the table… A lot of the time, it's understanding who it is that you're working with. And then designing the experience with that in mind, knowing that everybody's comfortable with different approaches.” - Mindy Barry

Know where you want to go.

Highlight: “It’s important to remember that you're not alone and to surround yourself with amazing mentors. It’s also valuable to know the difference between a mentor and a sponsor, and be intentional in that as well. Knowing where you want to go and pushing hard for it. In hindsight, that’s where I would have spent more time earlier on in my career.” - Mindy Barry

Give yourself some grace.

Highlight: “Give yourself some grace, because it's really hard to be a working parent, a working mom, and yet we are making great things happen. I believe giving that grace, and letting go of the guilt is a huge opportunity for every one of us.” - Mindy Barry 

Mindy is asking the important questions and reminding us to give ourselves some grace. If you’re ready for even more inspirational content, check out our Pass the Mic page.