Forbes article 11-20-07 -
>>> Wise Beyond Her Years
Matthew Kirdahy, 11.20.07, 1:30 PM ET
One minute your dad is explaining the nuts and bolts of the family business. The next minute, you're its CEO, at 27.
Julie Smolyansky, chief executive of the publicly traded Lifeway Foods, was going to be a psychologist. Suddenly, her dad died of a heart attack, and someone had to step up and run the show.
Smolyansky, now 32, is one of the youngest CEOs of publicly traded companies in the U.S. But that doesn't seem to faze her, or the business. Her determination has had nothing to do with age.
"It's funny, because I don't feel that I'm so young anymore," said Smolyansky. "I feel like I've gotten a couple of years under my belt, and I actually feel like I'm right there with some of the older people. I've always kind of felt that I have an old soul, but I feel like I do now for sure. It's going to be interesting to see how the next 20 years of my life pan out."
Lifeway, which makes health-food products, reported Friday a 32% jump in sales for its third quarter, however, profits were down 4% to $2.72 million, from $2.82 million the same period a year ago, as Lifeway faced increased production costs.
Year to date, shares of the Illinois-based company are up more than 21%, or $2. The company has annual revenue of $27.7 million. Smolyansky earned about $195,200 in 2006. Her mother Ludmila is director and chair of the board, and her brother Edward is CFO.
Forbes.com: What was it like taking the title of CEO of a publicly traded company at age 27 after the sudden passing of your father?
Smolyansky: At that age, it was very stressful, obviously, not knowing that this was going to happen and not being prepared for it at that moment. Dad had always told us that we would be able to take over his business and he would prepare us to do so if we were interested. At that time, I was interested.
[My brother Edward] started within four months of graduating college. He was really super entry level. My dad was intending to groom him, but I was the older one and I had been in the business from 1997 to 2002. Being in the family, it became something we talked about at the kitchen table. So we had kind of known about a lot of things happening anyways.
Was this a business you knew you were going to get into from the beginning?
I was actually studying to be a psychologist. So I was attending graduate school and I worked for my father part-time in data entry. I had no intention of going into business with him. Looking back on it now, I could see how my interest in schooling and what I was interested in became very close to what I actually ended up doing in my job. It wasn't too far removed. At the time, it seemed very off, but now looking back on it, it actually makes a lot of sense.
I had always been interested in nutrition and how we eat and a healthy lifestyle. And I don't know if that was just a consequence of just being a young woman. My interest in school was in advertising and how it affected how we eat, or our behaviors and how we could influence it positively or negatively.
We can be more involved in the community and in doing positive things for the Earth, but I think that's something that's relative to all business in our world. I feel that, at least in my company, we take very active measures to at least try and not to do any harm to our Earth. For example, renewable energy is something that we purchase. We are carbon neutral, and our footprint, we made neutral. Being a manufacturer, I feel positive about that step that we've taken.
They say women are the conscious nurturers, so I don't know if that's just me, my role, but that's something that's really important to me. I don't know how men think about it, but it's something that I think about actively. Being a young leader in this time, that's something I see the young people doing, and I sort of 'clean up' what our parents kind of made wrong.
You're still young by conventional standards, and already a CEO. What's left to accomplish as a professional?
Our stock dropped [when] we announced that my father passed away. The stock price went down and it took some time and a couple quarters to get it back up. To kind of gain trust and show people that we could continue.
To be honest, I didn't have the feeling that it wasn't going to be successful or that we weren't going to do great things. I knew everything was going to be OK, it was just that more of my own personal struggle with losing our leader and losing my father and having this all happen in one shot. But never, ever did I imagine that the company wasn't going to do amazing and great things.
What do you do to stay sharp and in tune with industry trends? Do you engage in any activities to improve your leadership skills?
I do bounce my ideas off several mentors and do engulf myself in business books or things like Donny Deutsch, and I think it's really interesting to listen to entrepreneurs or leaders who think of different ways to do things. I try to see any speakers in my city, or anything that I get invited to. I try to see things that are relevant and talk to as many people as I can and get perspectives. And I've definitely taken up as many things as I can to put myself out there to communicate with someone and maybe meet a great CEO who I wouldn't meet otherwise.
Have you any idols or role models in business?
My father and my mother were obviously both great role models, and if I didn't have either one of them, I probably wouldn't be here today. But I think that both of them were just incredible entrepreneurs. She has started five delicatessens over the course of her life here in the States, just two years after coming. It's a small business, but it's a really successful one, and just seeing her doing it and working and achieving something and working toward the goals she set, you learn that anything is possible.
It never really entered my mind that a woman couldn't do X, Y and Z. My father had always made a very active step in showing me role models. And actively saying 'Oh, here, look at this person; look at what they're doing.'
When I was in high school, I'd come home and there was a special on CNN about Christie Hefner and her business and leadership. My father would say, 'look at this young woman.' She was very young when she started ,and she took over her father's big multi-million company--and in an industry that's probably controversial for a female to be running--and look at all the things that she's done. He said, 'I want you to do that. I want you to be just like her.'
My father would push me out there and made sure that I was confident. And I had the chance to meet her [Hefner] a couple times, and I'm just amazed. I had some great opportunities to meet some amazing CEOs, and I just kind of draw on all their experiences.
It's very easy to have a lower self confidence about your leadership style, I think--that you're never good enough. I feel the opposite--and it took me some years to get there.
What's been the main obstacle for you in running Lifeway?
My father start[ed] a business as a Russian immigrant with no finances, with no network of support. I think that I'm actually luckier than him, because I have a Rolodex of friends from high school, from college. He didn't have a fraternity. He didn't have friends that were here. He started it all, and he had a strong, heavy Russian accent, and I'm sure that can't be easy on Wall Street or when you're talking to investors. That was his obstacle to overcome. Being a young female might be my obstacle. Young, specifically--I don't know if female is true anymore, at least in my industry. There are a lot of women in the food business and in the natural business. So I think it's a great category to be in.
What does the future of Lifeway foods look like?
I think the sky's the limit. I can't really answer that. I just go day by day, week by week, month by month and year by year. We have great plans to continue to grow and be creative and innovative within the company that markets the whole category. I would just like to continue to build the brand.
I would like Lifeway to be as known as any other brand that we can think of. I really just hope we can implement on all the things that we've done. But I don't have an actual dollar number...if you're looking for it [laughs]. <<<
AI
