Transforming Everyday Products feat. Tanu Grewal ’05

[00:00]Brian Jackson: Welcome to Owl Have You Know, a podcast from Rice Business. This episode is part of our Flight Path Series, where guests share their career journeys and stories of the Rice connections that got them where they are.

I'm your host, Brian Jackson. And today, we have the privilege of speaking with a global marketing leader who has helped revitalize iconic brands, launched award-winning innovations, and continues to push the boundaries of what it means to be a purpose-driven leader.

Joining us today is Tanu Grewal, Rice MBA class of 2005 and vice president of marketing and innovation at AlEn USA. With over 15 years of experience in consumer products, luxury, and hospitality industries across Europe, the U.S., Middle East, Africa, and India, Tanu has built a remarkable career as a strategic marketer and brand builder.

Tanu, welcome to Owl Have You Know.

[00:54]Tanu Grewal: Well, thank you, Brian. Really happy to be here.

[00:57]Brian Jackson: Well, I'm very happy to be with you, especially, it’s my first episode as host of Owl Have You Know. Really want to start at the beginning of your incredible journey. Your career has spanned multiple industries and markets across the globe. I really want to know, what drives it? What first inspired you to pursue a career in marketing and brand building?

[01:19]Tanu Grewal: You know, that's a really interesting question. I think, at a very young age, I was really drawn to anything advertising and marketing. And I just felt that that had such power to, you know, really persuade people, drive people's decisions, and really, drive people's lives and impact lives. So, that was, kind of, what brought me in to start exploring branding.

And then I did my first internship while at Rice MBA at Coca-Cola, I actually went back to India and did the launch of a brand of tea and coffee, which is very strange because Coca-Cola is not a tea and coffee, kind of, brand, but they had launched a brand called Georgia Gold in Japan, had done really well.

And so, they wanted to replicate it in India, which is a big tea and coffee-drinking country. So, I went there and, kind of, really did, you know, the whole shebang, from going out on sales calls, working with the ad agency, working with the product, people. And that was it. That was the start of my love for marketing. I got hooked. And the rest, as they say, is history.

[02:23]Brian Jackson: So, in that pursuit and going back to India, did you draw on any cultural experiences, your background, in order to really understand this market?

[02:34]Tanu Grewal: Absolutely. So, like I said, the biggest competition for the brand was tea and coffee. And tea and coffee is, you know, brewed in people's homes. And to convince them to have, like, an out-of-home consumption. And this was, by the way, dispensed through a machine. So, a tea machine or a coffee machine. It was a very novel concept back then. So, really lots and lots of learnings on how to convince people, what are the, really, sort of, psychological motivations for someone to do that, how do you convince them that this is good quality, that it's worth, you know, the money to be spent, that it's something special that you can't make at home? So, lots of really, you know, interesting things. And I think it was, kind of, nice that I could go back and do this in India where I had grown up and I had that cultural nuance of tea drinking and coffee drinking habits.

[03:24]Brian Jackson: Yeah. I mean, the idea of tea, right? It's sitting down, it's home, it's comfort.

[03:29]Tanu Grewal: Exactly.

[03:30]Brian Jackson: Going to a vending machine and trying to convince folks that it's the same product…

[03:36]Tanu Grewal: Mm-hmm. And tea is so personal, Brian. Everybody has their own recipe for tea, right? Some people will put ginger in it. Some people will put cardamom in it. Some people will put, like, a whole, you know, we call it the tea masala. And again, it was so personal. But really, there were really good insights. You know, there was a lack of hygienic out-of-home consumption opportunities. So, there's at-home consumption. And then there were the what we call the tea wallahs, right? I mean, the roadside vendors selling tea, but their hygiene was, kind of, iffy. So, you know, the people were drinking that in a bind because it's a habit, right? You're out of home, you're in the office, you're running around, you're shopping, and you really crave that cup of tea. But the only place to have that was, you know, that roadside, kind of, guy. And you, kind of, are, like, you know, betting your life and drinking that cup of tea.

And so, I think that's where really… the machines were, you know, manufactured in Italy. And, you know, that you could customize your tea. And it was really just a very, very hygienic way. And, of course, the quality, its consistency, every time you could expect the same taste and the same level of whatever you had put in it, ginger or whatever. And those things were, really, I think, very different. And then we also chose to partner with McDonald's, which, again, I think was a big boost because that is where you expect a dispensed, kind of, beverage. So, just, yeah, it was really, really, really interesting.

[05:00]Brian Jackson: So, you know, you've also transitioned and you moved and you went across, it looks like, Europe, Middle East, Africa, eventually landed in the U.S., you know, working across these markets. What key challenges, opportunities have you seen? How did you navigate those?

[05:18]Tanu Grewal: So, yeah, that's a great question. I think one of the things that has really benefited me and I think, in a lot of places, is, I've spent most of my time in India and in the U.S. and then I did the expat in Europe. But just really, truly understanding the consumer has been a very, very, I would say, something that has helped me navigate the changes, not just in my industry and location, but also just trends, the marketplace and all that.

And I landed up in St. Joseph, Michigan, a very small place, right after my Rice MBA. You know, I needed an H1B, Whirlpool Corporation was based in St. Joseph. They were ready to do one. And they had a really great leadership program. You know, all the stars, kind of, aligned, and I went there.

By living in that small town, I got this really in-depth understanding of the American consumer that I don't think you get if you live on the coast or in a big city only, right? True America doesn't live there. True America who CPG wants their products to be consumed by lives in these smaller towns in the real America. So, I got a really good taste of that. And, you know, back in India, I had… my dad was in the army. We moved around a lot. So, I had had the opportunity to really, kind of, immerse myself in different cultures and really have the ability to talk to different people.

So, I think that's what it is. And even when I went for my expat assignment, I was managing 33 countries in Europe, Middle East, and Africa. And the first thing, you know, I said was, “I need to understand people.” So, we went out and did focus groups in different cities to really understand what does the brand mean to someone in France or somebody in Germany or in Israel. And I would recommend every marketer to really study there. And once you get an understanding, don't just stop there. Keep doing this, right? Because people change, people evolve, things around the people evolve. And I think the pace of change, if anything, has just, kind of, 10xed, right? So, that's, kind of, my secret sauce.

[07:14]Brian Jackson: So, really curious, in trying to get to know the consumer and, I mean, focus group, I think, absolutely, what do you do beyond that? How do you really connect with the small town? Let's say, for example, American. What matters to them? What is their concern with the product?

[07:31]Tanu Grewal: Great question. I find in-homes are really telling. You know, focus group, it's a great way to, kind of, get some understanding, right? But it's a manufactured, sort of, situation. And there's a lot of other dynamics, right? I mean, people will follow the most loud person and, you know, all of that.

In your home is what you truly are. And I have done a lot of in-homes, and some of them have been really interesting. You're like, “Whoa!” But it is very, very telling, right? So, when people are in their homes, first of all, they feel more relaxed and at home, of course, because they are in their home environment. But you can then go and say, “Hey, let me see you doing laundry,” or, “Let me see you clean or cook. Or, let me see what you have in your laundry cabinet.” And it's funny how many times they'll tell you something and then, when you open their cabinets, there'll be a completely different set of brands in there.

And sometimes, it even tells you that people don't pay that much attention. They're not trying to lie to you. They just don't pay that much attention to the brand. That tells you a lot as well. So, I think in-homes are really, really good. And now, with digital diaries, you have the ability to do a lot of these things online where they get a certain set of assignments. And again, you can do the in-home walkthrough digitally with somebody. And those are really, really telling as well.

[08:55]Brian Jackson: I would be terrified to have you walk through my home.

[09:01]Tanu Grewal: It is. I don't know if you know that, Brian, but when you go into people's homes, like, every category that I've ever worked for, I look at people's brands and I judge them.

[09:12]Brian Jackson: That's what I'm saying. I'm not going to have you over, Tanu. I'm sorry. I'm not willing to be judged. I can't. By what fabric softener I use or dishwasher detergent, I don't know what it says.

[09:23]Tanu Grewal: Or even, like, appliances. I mean, that was a big part of my life. Like, you know, it's just some second nature, right? You're like, “Oh, what lines do you have? Why did you buy this?” It's just really… I think consumer behavior is fascinating.

[09:35]Brian Jackson: Well, it is. I mean, you've taken iconic brands, right? Coca-Cola is one you've mentioned. Your past has been with Maytag, Whirlpool, Kohler, I mean, two of which I know are in my home. How do you work with a brand that is a household name, take it from something that seems reachable for everybody, but turn it into aspirational? How do you approach a product like that?

[09:59]Tanu Grewal: You know what? That is a great, great point. And I'll tell you an example, right? So, Whirlpool and Maytag, very different, kind of, similar things, though. They were really iconic brands and they were really a part of people's, like, people grew up with those brands. They were 100-year-old brands by the time I was working on them.

And then what happens is new entrants come into the picture, right? So, LG and Samsung were coming into the picture. There were electronic companies, to begin with. So, they were putting, like, oh, there's a big TV on the refrigerator. Do you really need it? No, but does it look really nice when you go shop for it? You're like, “Yes, I'm going to be looking up those recipes on that.” Of course, right?

And so, I think what ended up happening is, Whirlpool started to get this reputation of being literally somebody in a focus group who said, “That's my grandma's brand,” right? And that was a really, sort of, jarring moment. And we said, “We have to do something,” because we have all this, you know, we used to call it purposeful technology back then, like, technology not for the sake of technology, but because it actually does something, it forms a function, it enhances your life in some way, shape, or form. And so, we weren't doing a good, I think, communication of it.

So, we went out and started to do… we did a new campaign. We went to CES. So, CES was something we would go and have, like, a, kind of, like, a little washing machine and all that in a corner. And I had, you know, when I went to Europe, I had seen how the Europeans did their shows. And they know design and aesthetic. And I mean, that was something I really learned in my time there. There's a big show that happens in Milan every year. And we had put up a booth. And boy, that was a production. It was gorgeous. There were chefs cooking. There was, like, the whole thing there.

And then we came to CES and I told my boss, “We're not going with the sad-looking booth. We're creating, like, a nice booth that really conveys the story of who we are.” So, we actually did that. And it was really, everything in that booth was supposed to convey this idea that we are a technology-forward company as well. So, we actually went out all over the world. So, we had, you know, we had Asia and we had design centers there. And these design centers, they're always doing forward-looking, you know, like, concept cars. There's always concept appliances that we were creating, which is not sharing it. So, we actually created prototypes of those. And there were, like, really cool things. Like, there was this big fireplace kind of thing where it had a hot zone and a cold zone. You can cook on it, but you could keep your drink cold. This was supposed to be like in your living room. And we had a couple of these kinds of really nice things.

And then we bought some of our designers from all over the world to be able to talk to these things with the agency. We created this, you know, really big social media plan for the first time. We were live streaming with influencers from the booth. And I'm talking about, like, many years ago, right? So, this wasn't normal back then.

And so, really, what we had was, as an end result, we had people walking into the booth saying, “Oh, my god, I don't believe this is Whirlpool's booth.” It was like a dissonance in what they were expecting and what they were getting. And that's exactly what we were going for. So, that's sometimes you have to, kind of, do something a little jarring like that to really massively change perceptions.

[13:14]Brian Jackson: So, I mean, you're working in a crowded market, right? You talk about LG, Samsung, Whirlpool, Maytag, I guess, Speed Queen..

[13:22]Tanu Grewal: Speed Queen!

[13:24]Brian Jackson: All I know is, when I went to go buy a washer and dryer, my dad swore that Speed Queen was the machine I had to buy.

[13:32]Tanu Grewal: Oh, really?

[13:33]Brian Jackson: I was not willing to fork up Speed Queen money, but ended up with a Maytag. And he was okay with that.

But when you're working in a crowded market like this, if you're talking about standing out, being innovative, I think, is a huge part of that. What else do you see? You know, what other strategies are there?

[13:49]Tanu Grewal: I really think that understanding what the consumer needs that some nobody else is giving them, right? And then giving it to them in the right, sort of, pack size or format at the right price point and being available where they shop, classical for peace, right? You have to get that right. And research, again, like I was mentioning earlier, it's, you have to, kind of, get into the, sort of, really nitty gritties and get that one little nugget that is the one insight that really can change a lot of different things.

I'll give you an example. In my current role, we make cleaning and laundry products. And we were going into the market with…we have a very well-established fabric softener. It's actually the top selling fabric softener in the country. I mean, I won't mention competitor names, but the big ones, we sell more than that on the same shelf, right? So, we outsell them.

And really, we wanted to see, what was it? And I mean, we knew that there's a lot of the fragrance. It's a big part of the equity there. And, you know, we wanted to then go into more fragrant products, like dryer sheets and scent booster beads and things like that. And we could have gone and done… like, we work with the top fragrance houses in the world and we could have gone and done any kind of fragrance; but really, the insight that we got was that people, when they do laundry, don't want to use different scented products for different kinds of things, like, their detergent is smelling like flowers and then, you know, their fabric softener smells like something else. And so, they're like somebody said… and these things really stick with me from research and somebody's like, “I don't want to smell like a potpourri. Like, I want consistency in my fragrance,” also, because our consumer is a highly, highly scent-forward consumer. Like, the amount of fragrance they use, Brian, in overall, like, the number of products and in the laundry regimen, it's just interesting, right?

And so, what they wanted was they wanted aroma consistency. They wanted the same aroma in their detergent, in their softener, in their dryer sheets, in their booster beads. So, it builds up. One, it’s consistent, but it also builds up so the end result is a highly fragrant output.

And we wouldn't have gotten that unless we had gone and asked people, like, “Why do you do this? Why do you do this? Why are you looking for this? Why are you trying to combine this?” And once we found that, sort of, spot that nobody else was doing, that was something that helped us differentiate.

[16:13]Brian Jackson: Yeah, what an interesting… I mean, I think about the scents we use in our home. It has to be a consistent scent. I don't want one to smell like flowers and the other one to smell, I don't know, what's the other scent? Pine or something. It's interesting. So, at AlEn, in this role, they're based out of the U.S. But they also, it's out of Mexico, correct?

[16:34]Tanu Grewal: Yes. So, the easiest way to say this and explain it is, you know, we're the Procter & Gamble of Mexico. It's like that big. And our products in Mexico are in 95%-plus households. Really just massive, right? So, it's a 75-year-old company. It's family-owned. It's third generation now, which is very rare. And in the U.S., they started doing business, kind of, as a distributor, saying, “Hey, we have products. Let's sell them across the border.” And then, I would say, about 10, 12 years ago, they really started looking at it, McKinsey came in, did some sort of growth projections and said, “Hey, U.S. is where you really need to focus if you want generational growth.” And that's the benefit of family-owned businesses, that they can think in years and not in quarters, right? That's a plus point.

That's when they started really looking at it in a different way, brought on a new team on. And then, we started, you know, really doing insights work here, product development, specifically for the U.S. consumer. You'll be surprised that somebody who has, you know… because we, in Mexico, we sell a lot of products there. And for example, let's say there's a best-selling lavender there. That will not be the same lavender that will sell with a Mexican-American consumer who has lived here for 10-plus years.

Because you're a product of your environment. And so, when you live here, you moved here, you're living here, your expectations get formed by your ecosystem, right? And so, even just a small thing like that. And then, of course, habits. I mean, they don't have dryers there. So, we have to have, you know, laundry products have to be formulated differently here. Cleaning habits are different.

So, that's what we started doing. We started understanding the market here, the consumer, and really designing products for them here. And now, we are, I would say we're the, you know, one of the fastest growing companies in our categories. We have national distribution across all big retailers. Amazon, we have a big business. So, it's been very interesting.

[18:36]Brian Jackson: So, you're taking an existing product line, but then you're looking at a new market. You're adapting. You're looking at the consumer, “How can we take what we already have and adjust it, but also innovate?”

[18:48]Tanu Grewal: That was… yes, to begin with, we were doing that. We were taking it and adjusting it. Now, we're doing completely innovations done completely differently for both countries. So, across the years, we actually built a whole innovation ecosystem. We just inaugurated a huge R&D center. So, we actually do agile squad-based innovation, which is very tech, sort of. They used to have agile squad-driven innovation and we, kind of, borrowed it from them. And so, we have squads who are dedicated to the U.S. And so, they just make products only for the U.S. So, we actually have some products that we only sell here and we don't sell in the Mexican market.

[19:27]Brian Jackson: So, an agile squad, is it just a team that gets together, huddles, and problem solves?

[19:33]Tanu Grewal: They're all these together. So, yeah, it's actually a cross-functional team that works together. They have dotted lines into their own functions. But for all intents and purposes, they're a team. They actually physically sit together. They work on projects in sprints. And when we moved from what used to be, sort of, like, stage gate innovation to agile squad-based innovation, it cut out innovation time by a lot of months, because just because people are co-located and co-thinking, I guess, if that's a word, but, like, really, that power of thinking together and brainstorming and working and being faster versus, sort of, being in your silos and having to come together for a meeting once a week, that change was powerful.

[20:17]Brian Jackson: Yeah. Right now, I'm on a task force at work. And I prefer the term agile squad. It sounds far more important, so I might take that one.

[20:25]Tanu Grewal: Yeah, I think it, kind of, gives you this, sort of, idea of that movement is happening, right? Agile, you're really agile. But, you know, agile is more a mindset tool because we started with innovation, but we had to really make this change across the organization because innovation doesn't… the squad doesn't operate in a vacuum. So, I think it has made a big difference across the organization.

[20:47]Brian Jackson: So, I think, you know, out of all of this, kind of, background of growing, you've created a project, Art of Green. Could you talk about that process and give a little background to how that was developed?

[20:59]Tanu Grewal: Sure. So, Art of Green, I would say, has been one of the biggest learnings of my career. But we actually ended up shuttering the brand. So, we launched it about, I would say, maybe, was it, like, five years ago. And at that point in time, you know, there was a white space for green products that actually performed, because there's a big challenge in adoption hurdle is consumers don't think that green products actually work. So, we just really wanted to make sure that we were focusing on the performance, but at the same time, we were also not pricing them out of people's paying capability.

So, that was a white space. We entered the market. We were doing well. And then COVID happened. And I think just the timing wasn't right. I mean, there was so many other things happening in the company. We were growing rapidly on the three, the core brands that we call them. And just from a resource prioritization point, we had to make a hard call at some point and we decided to pause it.

Maybe, someday, we'll resurrect it, but I have to say that I learned so much from that entire experience. And we apply it to all our new launches now. We are also in the process of acquiring companies. So, we acquired a company called Lemi Shine that was based in Austin two years ago. And I think if we had not launched the whole Art of Green brand and learned what we did, I think Lemi Shine would have gone a little bit bumpier. But because we have those learnings, we were able to really make some different decisions on Lemi Shine.

[22:35]Brian Jackson: And it's those moments where things don't necessarily work out where we pick up little gems of wisdom, right?

[22:42]Tanu Grewal: I know. I think I will always carry Art of Green in my heart. It's just the ones that got away. But I think, in retrospect, there was so many things that needed to happen, and just resource prioritization was the key factor.

[22:56]Brian Jackson: On LinkedIn, I had seen that you had shared a post about resiliency, right? And there’s snow storm moments of, “Am I prepared? Will my pipes burst? Will the power go out?” I mean, snow in Houston, who knows? Anything's possible, right? So, I think with that, like, I'd love to know, what is your snow storm moment where you've had to adapt and build flexibility into your plans?

[23:20]Tanu Grewal: Yeah, absolutely. I think when COVID hit, that was one big one, right? So, we were actually getting ready to go to a conference and we didn't know what was going to happen and how fast it was going to happen. And then, literally, everything came to a standstill and people started knocking on our doors for product, right? Because cleaning products, think about it — wipes, bleach. It was crazy.

So, I think that was a really snowstorm moment. Like, we could have just gotten paralyzed because there was a lot happening in people's lives, and personally. And then there were retailers who we’re not doing business with who were knocking on our doors.

And I think, how we, as a company, went through that whole experience is really, I think, just so eye-opening. So, first of all, I think we, of course, everybody was working from home, but the leadership really did a great job of, you know, making sure that we were having touch points every single day in the beginning with people, asking them about, like, their families. “Do you need anything?” And the company was actually doing things to help people. You know, “Hey, if you don't have this or that.” And in Mexico, actually, because we are bigger, they were really helping people get treatment and things like that as well. That cascaded down, and everybody felt comfortable. So, that was priority number one. And it was a master class on how to do that.

And then, on the other hand, you know, we were able to really prioritize U.S. business because this was a moment of massive inflection, potentially, right? So, we actually focused certain plants near the borders because that's where our products are all made in Mexico to really just focus on U.S. demand. And we were able to get trucks rolling. We were able to supply product in Mexico. They did a lot for their employees. They were actually going and picking up factory workers from their homes in special created vans and buses and helping them, sort of, remain social distanced. I haven't said that word in a long time now. But really, just get disinfected and all of that.

And so, we were able to, like I said, we were able to build relationships with certain buyers who remembered us, right? So, consumers who didn't have product-tried us. So, again, I just think that was a master class in how you handle an emergency, is you take care of your people, number one. Always start there. And then number two is you get really nimble, right? You pivot and you figure out how to get it done because that always pays out in the end.

[25:52]Brian Jackson: That's fantastic. And yeah, I agree, in those moments, right, we're all in a challenge. It's where you, kind of, learn what you're made of. It seems like your leadership and you being on the team really was a benefit. I'd like to, kind of, pivot. So, talking about your MBA from Rice Business, I want to know, how was your experience? And how did it shape your career trajectory?

[26:14]Tanu Grewal: Absolutely. I think Rice was such a great choice because it was a small school. And coming in, international students always have to have two levels of change. One is coming back to grad school and you get into that study mode. But the other one is just the cultural factor of it, right? It's just really, I had never seen people, like, walk into a classroom, sit in front of the professor and eat while he's teaching. Like, that was just mind boggling to me. That would never happen in India. So, I think the first time that happened, I was like, “Oh, my god.” But just again, it's just a cultural, sort of, evolution that's happening.

And then, you know, the way people would participate openly. And I think, maybe in India, it's just this mindset of, “I'm going to wait till I have something really, really smart to say, and, I'm going to wait for that perfect opportunity.” And in the meantime, five people have said exactly what you wanted to say. They've said, “Oh, building on so and so blah, blah, blah.” So, you have to quickly learn those things because, you know, in a very different environment. Networking, I mean, that doesn't come very easily.

So, again, it was a lot of change. But I think, Rice, your cohort, they're so supportive, the professors were really great. Everybody was really awesome. And then I had a little bit of a hiccup because I realized I was on the wrong kind of visa where I couldn't do an internship in the U.S. And that was the whole point of doing an MBA, was because I couldn't put some known names on my resume. It's like branding myself, right?

And so, it was like, “Oh, my god, a nonprofit was my only option.” I was like, “That's not going to work.” So, that's when, again, through some Rice connections, I got connected with somebody in Coke. They used to have a bigger presence here than in Houston. They got me in touch with somebody in Delhi, and my internship happened.

And then, I started job-searching. Somebody gave me the advice to load up my courses in the fall, because spring is when you're looking for jobs. And it happened the other way around. Like, all the things were happening in the fall. And I was traveling the country. And at one point, I really thought, I said, “You know, I'm going to get a job and I'm going to flunk a class, like, something is going to happen.”

But thankfully, it was good. But I was done. I had three credits left in the spring semester, like, three. I took an international law class that was on Wednesday at 12:00. And then I went to every Partio, every lecture, anywhere in Rice University. Like, really, because I had my job offer. I had my credits done. And I really took advantage of everything that Rice had to offer.

But I think it was a great school. You know, since I've come back to Houston, I have recruited from Rice, just the quality of students, just top notch, really just a great, fantastic experience. It sets you up for a very different kind of career, which I think, now, it's getting up in the rankings as well. It's getting the recognition that I think, you know, it deserves.

[29:14]Brian Jackson: And it only gets better, right? Like, being an alumni, I think there's constantly opportunities to stay connected, to continue networking, to talk to professors, to ask challenging questions to folks who can give you good advice.

[29:29]Tanu Grewal: Absolutely. And yeah, I feel really passionate also because of my own international experience. And it's really hard for international students. So, I'm always going onto campus and talking, always happy to talk to anybody who's going through, sort of, like, this life-altering experience. It's just a passion point for me. I derive a lot of joy out of doing that. Really, it makes you feel good, no?

[29:54]Brian Jackson: Yeah. And it's servant leadership, right? Like, we all want to contribute and we want to participate, but also, continue to help other folks because we've been helped ourselves.

[30:03]Tanu Grewal: 100%. Pay it forward, right? What is it, Spider Man? With great power comes great responsibility. Whatever little power I have.

[30:13]Brian Jackson: But I think your background, too, is so unique and being a multicultural person and having to be a chameleon of some sort and adjust to Michigan, to Houston, to India, to Italy, like, all of those parts are really valuable experience that, if you can impart that to another student who's sitting in class and thinking, “God, none of this makes sense. Why are folks talking,” you know, it's really powerful.

So, right now, where you're sitting and, kind of, this cross-cultural experience you had, when you draw on that and you're trying to connect a product to a new market, but also internally, when you're working with teams of different cultural backgrounds, what are you finding is influencing your leadership and your collaboration style?

[31:03]Tanu Grewal: Yeah. To me, you know, and there's so much conversation about diversity, but I think true diversity is from your lived experiences. You can be, you know, whatever demographic, but even within that, your lived experiences can really make you a very diverse person because you have a certain way of looking at the world that your neighbor doesn't, right?

And so, that to me is diversity, because you can then look at the same problem and think about solving it very differently. And I have seen it in action, Brian, in every continent. And it always, always amazes me how five people looking at the same slide can interpret it so differently because how they've grown up, what they've, you know, what experiences have shaped their lives.

So, I'm a big believer of that, you know, getting people with different experiences. And even… actually, I'll tell you, even within a company, if you bring in people from different functions, you'll see that they will give you a point of view that's very different. And it's not often done. When I worked in a Fortune 100, you, kind of, stuck in your little silo. But when you work in a smaller startup and you have a supply chain person in the marketing meeting, they're going to look at different things and they're going to be like, “Hey, have you thought of this? And what about that?”

And so, I, kind of, uncovered that earlier on in my career with AlEn. And subsequently, we always do that. Actually, we have another word. We call them syner-teams, synergistic teams, combined,make syner-teams. And so, we actually bring people from different functions and give them, like, a limited amount of time and a specific challenge to work on. I'm just really, I think I learn a lot. And I get to see how people contribute to the same challenge, but in a very different way.

[32:50]Brian Jackson: Well, and I think you've hit it, like, that diversity of thought and background is so valuable. And, kind of, what drew me to Rice was the value of your classmates, right? And the diversity of their backgrounds, we had second-career folks. We had pivoters. We had folks, kind of, more on the tail end of their careers coming back. And you sit in a classroom and you have Socratic seminar and you're all talking and working through a point, that's the value, right?

[33:17]Tanu Grewal: That's the value, exactly. Exactly. And haven't you had a moment where you're like, “Where did that come from? Like, I would have never, in a million years, thought about that.”

[33:27]Brian Jackson: Yeah, but those are the best moments, right? Like, you want to be balanced in, why do I think this? And why is this normal or not? And I feel like having that in the room just makes you more intelligent.

[33:39]Tanu Grewal: Absolutely. Absolutely.

[33:42]Brian Jackson: Even now, it's like, you volunteer, you're in the community, you're on the International Student Advisory Board, the South Asian Women's Professional Network. I think you've drawn on your background, your experiences, but what drives this commitment to fostering these communities?

[33:59]Tanu Grewal: Honestly, I really think I've been extremely fortunate in a lot of things. You know, I grew up in India as a girl. My dad was, like, a feminist, like way ahead of his time. I mean, just, the man was... I mean, we lost him a couple of years ago. But I mean, I always think about, am I going to be able to do that for my child, right? Be that progressive and all of that? And then, getting the opportunity to come here, go to Rice, work in all the fabulous companies I have lived in all these different countries.

I mean, sometimes, when I sit and think about it, I'm like, “Man, I have got to be thankful for all this,” and then I have to give back, right? I have to help other people, because that's just what you do. And I really derive a lot of joy from giving back and from helping other people. And I always tell people, you know, you can learn from my mistakes so you can go ahead and not make them. You're going to make your own, but at least you don't have to make the ones that I made, you know. And I think that is how, iteratively, with every sort of batch and generation, we get better as humans. And so, I think that is a really essential thing to do as a human being. 

[35:06]Brian Jackson: And to be open to making mistakes, but also to be open to learn from other people.

[35:11]Tanu Grewal: 100%. And that's the other thing, right? Like, I always feel like, when I go and teach a class at Rice, for example, just the questions I get asked, I learn so much from that, always. I come back energized. I love going on campus. I just feel this energy. There's something about the campus, right? Like, when you go there, you're like, “Wow, it's so good.” But yeah, I think just, I always come back with something from that encounter as well.

[35:36]Brian Jackson: That's fantastic. I think we're inspired by people, too, right? And I look in my past and I think the folks that I've learned from and they've been a great inspiration. Who has inspired you?

[35:47]Tanu Grewal: Oh, I think I just mentioned, right? My dad, he was a really big inspiration in my life. But then I think so was my mother. And my mother, in a way, because, you know, she grew up as a traditional housewife in India, and then she lost my dad when, I think, I'm trying to think how old she was, in her 60s, let's just say roughly, right? And she was a very strong woman, growing up. And then when he passed away, I realized that she did not even know how to take money out of an ATM. That's how sheltered she had been.

And it was just there was no other way but for her to learn all these things. And so, long story short, I mean, the woman jets around on her own, manages her finances, I think may even know more about banking than I do. The other day, she asked me a question, I'm like, “What is that?” And she goes, “Just ask your banker for that number.”

Just that resilience, like, in your 60s to be able to transform your life, oh, man, I hope I have that, because that is staggering. Like, I mean, just from one day where everything is taken care of outside the home, you have no idea what's happening, to now actually actively managing your money portfolio, your real estate, your everything and going around traveling, I mean, that is just amazing, you know. So, I hope I have some of those genes.

[37:08]Brian Jackson: It's transformative. Incredibly challenging, too. So, wonderful inspiration to draw from. I’ll wrap it up here, but want to ask, you've had this career that's taken you across incredible brands. You're at an opportunity now where you're working with a fantastic company and you're somewhat pivoting into the U.S. market. For your career, where are you headed?

[37:32]Tanu Grewal: We're just getting started at AlEn. And we have a big, big aspiration to be a billion dollars here. And in order to do that, we're going to have to build a lot of things. You know, in the past few years, if I had to summarize, I'd say I built brands but then I also built teams and I also built enterprise capabilities, like innovation. 

And I think, now, from here to get to that, you know, billion dollars, it's such an inflection point. There's so many things that need to be created. Brands need to be taken to a different level. We may acquire new brands. We're working on such really cool innovation. I'm really, really excited.

One of the things that I didn't mention is that a primary consumer is a multicultural consumer. And that consumer is the biggest growth population in the United States for the next decade, right? I mean, 50% of the growth in the population is going to come from Hispanic consumers. And Hispanic consumers form households at an early age, have children, buy homes, all of these things that CPG loves, right? Because that's when consumption happens. And so, it's a very valuable consumer as well. So, I think that trend, also, is something that's in our favor. So, really continuing to understand that consumer, talk to them, sort of, build that longer-term loyalty. Lots to do. Lots to do, Brian.

[38:56]Brian Jackson: The work is just beginning.

[38:58]Tanu Grewal: The work is just beginning. We've just scratched the surface.

[38:58]Brian Jackson: Well, fantastic. I have sincerely enjoyed talking with you today. And thank you so much for joining us on Owl Have You Know. I'm very much looking forward to seeing you at an alumni event or on campus, but staying in touch.

[39:17]Tanu Grewal: Yeah. Thank you. I really enjoyed the conversation as well.

[39:23]Brian Jackson: Thanks for listening. This has been Owl Have You Know, a production of Rice Business. You can find more information about our guests, hosts, and announcements on our website, business.rice.edu. Please subscribe and leave a rating wherever you find your favorite podcasts. We'd love to hear what you think. The hosts of Owl Have You Know are myself, Brian Jackson, and Maya Pomroy.