Friday, May 12, 2023

How long have you been with Mondelēz International? What role are you in?

I celebrated two years with MDLZ in February 2023. I am currently the Senior Director, Talent Acquisition for the US, leading a team of US and Costa Rica based recruiting professionals.

Tell me about what you love best about MDLZ?

One of the things I love the most is the pride and nostalgic feelings that I have for our iconic brands. Like most of us, I grew up eating Oreo cookies, Chips Ahoy!, Swedish Fish and many of our other delicious treats. I think it's pretty cool that I get to work for the company that makes America’s favorite cookie!

You recently took advantage of a family LOA. Tell us about that? What was it like for you?

I took parental leave from October through December last year as my wife and I welcomed our second son, Landon. It was an incredible experience to be able to be physically and emotionally present to support my wife and family 100% of the time, particularly during that first three months when there are so many things to do to ensure that mom and baby are taken care of. It helped a lot that I had a great team at Mondelēz  that stepped up during my leave and made it easy for me to focus fully on family time.

Now that you are back from the leave, how are you finding juggling being a new dad with your work responsibilities?

It's not easy balancing work and being an active and engaged dad! I have found that setting boundaries and expectations for how and when I work helps me to focus on getting the most critical work done so that I can unplug to spend quality time with my family. Mondelēz offers a hybrid working option, so while I’m back at work 100%, I’m able to work from home often so that I can be there for my family.