We are honored to recognize Daniela Nath for the Females in Food Member Spotlight Award. She has blazed a career from science to procurement while balancing going back to school and starting a family. She is a REAL woman showing up every day to learn, grow, challenge, innovate and succeed. She embodies the qualities of authentic leadership through her selfless dedication to her work, family, and helping other women in the industry succeed. In this short Q&A Daniela opens up about her career journey, accomplishments and how she can help other Females in Food members connect and advance.
Q. Tell us about your current role.
A. I currently work as a category manager for Centralized Supply Chain Services (an exclusive buyer for IHOP and Applebee’s restaurants). I manage beverage, dairy-based sauces and soups for both brands.
Q. What has your career path entailed?
A. I started my career as a food scientist. I worked for Subway Latin America (Miami office) in R&D and Quality Assurance developing and approving suppliers to support their growth in those markets. After that, I moved to Kansas City and worked as Food Scientist for Dine Brands (Applebee’s and IHOP) in their Quality Assurance department. I made my career move from science to procurement in 2015 after completing an MBA with an emphasis in Supply Chain.
Q. What accomplishments you are most proud of?
A. I think I had 2 big career moves, or accomplishments, that I am proud of. One was taking the leap of moving from Brazil to the US in 2008. After graduating with a Food Science degree I wanted to pursue grad school abroad and I chose a Grain Science program at Kansas State University. Getting accepted for grad school in the US when you are from another country is no easy task, and even though I will be forever thankful for the professor and people who supported and believed in me at that time, I also need to give myself credit for all my efforts to get the grades and scores required to get in.
My second accomplishment was the career move from science to procurement. I loved being a scientist and I truly enjoyed my time in R&D and QA. However, I was looking for a career path that would give more flexibility as far as places to work and career spectrum. I felt procurement would be more aligned with my future goals and lifestyle. With that in mind, I decided to start an MBA program that would give me the basic knowledge and introduction into the business world. A couple of months before I finished the program a position opened up with the company I work for now, and even though I felt I was not yet ready to even apply for the job a female peer [that was in the role I wanted to apply for] talked me into it. I am so thankful that she did because I got the job and love what I do now. This career also gives me the flexibility that I need and allows me to work from home.
Q. What are your areas of expertise for Females in Food members to connect with you on?
A. I am passionate about everything Food Service. From the overall supply chain, logistics of bringing food from farm to table, manufacturing, and distribution. Since I manage beverage and dairy sauces I follow the markets for coffee, FCOJ, and dairy (butter, cheese block, and barrel, milk, etc.). I am also interested in connecting with other women to learn more about how they find joy and balance in their lives at home and work.
Q. What do you enjoy doing most in your free time?
A. There is no such thing as free time when you have small kids. I was blessed with the cutest pair: Leo (9 months) and Elena (3 years old). I enjoy spending time with them and my husband. I also love going for long walks with my senior dog Rocky. If time allows I also have a side gig that I am very passionate about but probably haven’t been spending as much time as I wanted to on it: my food blog https://themamagourmetblog.com/.
Q. What do you want to accomplish in 2020?
A. My list of goals includes: Widen my network with Females in Food to connect and collaborate, work more hours on my blog, continue to read new books and learn new skills (probably photography is on top of the list), and exercise more.
