Lifeway Foods - Female Executive of the Year

Company: Lifeway Foods, Inc., Morton Grove, IL
Entry Submitted By: Cercone Brown Company
Company Description: Founded in 1986 by Russian immigrants, Michael & Ludmila Smolyansky, Lifeway is now the leading manufacturer of kefir in the U.S. under the leadership of CEO, Julie Smolyansky. Lifeway offers multiple kefir varieties & flavors, including lowfat, whole milk & organic versions as well as a children's line and other natural probiotic dairy products for health-conscious consumers.
Nomination Category: Individual Awards Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Female Executive of the Year – Consumer Products –11 to 2,500 Employees

Nomination Title: Julie Smolyansky

Julie Smolyansky became the youngest female CEO of a publicly held firm at the age of 27when she took over leadership of Lifeway Foods in 2002. The company was founded by herrefugee parents over 35 years ago with the mission of bringing Kefir, an Eastern Europeanproduct, into the U.S. mainstream. Under Julie's leadership, Lifeway has boosted revenues to over $100 million today from $12 million when she took over,and has expanded distribution throughout the US, Mexico, the UK, France and Ireland, plus portions of Central and South America and the Caribbean. During her tenure as CEO, Julie has been named toFortune Business‘40 under 40,’Fortune’s55 Most Influential Women on Twitter andFast Company’sMost Creative People in Business 1000.

Julie also serves as an emeritus member of the United Nations Foundation Global Entrepreneurs Council and was part of the 2015 class of Young Global Leaders of the World Economic Forum. She has produced several films focused on social justice, including the Emmy-winning documentary “The Hunting Ground.”In 2018, Julie releasedThe Kefir Cookbook, a collection of healthy recipes that led to her recognition as aVeryWell2020 Champion of Wellness.

Under Julie Smolyansky’s leadership, Lifeway Foods has experienced consistent growth during the COVID-19 pandemic. Lifeway’s 2021 Q1 results marked the sixth consecutive quarter of year-over-year net sales increases, a quarter in which the brand also experienced a net income increase of 800% compared to Q1 of 2020. During Q1, Lifeway also launched two new kefir products, including Organic Grassfed Kefir, which was recently honored with aGood Housekeeping2021 Healthy Snack Award.

Lifeway’s recent success is due in large part to Julie’s forward-thinking response to the pandemic. In early March of 2020, she called for her production team to build seven weeks of inventory (they normally have three days’ worth on-hand) in case staff got sick or weren’t comfortable coming to work. From there, as demand for Lifeway’s products continued to increase, Julie prioritized the health and wellness of her employees by reconfiguring the production floor plan to make it easier to maintain social distancing and implementing the Lifeway Hero Award - a bonus program to show extra gratitude for production & warehouse employees who worked every day to make sure Lifeway products got to grocery store shelves.

Julie was also committed to keeping her communities as healthy as possible during the pandemic. Under her leadership, Lifeway donated over 370,000 servings of kefir to food banks, shelters and frontline health care professionals. She also spearheaded Lifeway’s self-care-inspired IG Live video series that provided Lifeway’s community with resources to stay as mentally and physically healthy as possible during the pandemic.

During a period when businesses and industries all over the world struggled, Julie not only led Lifeway through consistent growth, but she did so without sacrificing the health and wellness of her employees. In fact, she was just as committed to protecting her team as she was to keeping Lifeway’s business profitable. While many executives rely on their staff to keep operations running smoothly under normal circumstances, let alone in the face of the pandemic, Julie integrated herself into every department of the company - from supporting the marketing and implementation of Lifeway’s self-care inspired IG Live Series, to learning how to drive a forklift in the warehouse.

This selfless brand of leadership extended beyond her role at Lifeway. Julie’s devotion to serving her community through impactful donations and volunteering efforts speaks to her passion for helping all people live healthier, happier lives. Beyond her support for food banks and shelters from a donation standpoint, Julie also volunteered at local shelters and organizations for domestic violence victims. Prior to working at Lifeway, Julie was a crisis counselor.Knowing that domestic violence surges during times of recession, Julie understood how critical it was to return to her roots to support those who were most vulnerable.

While Julie is driven by her compassion for others, and not recognition or accolades, it’s worth noting that her approach to navigating COVID-19, and leadership in general, has been featured in top-tier media outlets includingForbes, Bizwomen, Inc.andThe Drew Barrymore Show.

Reference any attachments of supporting materials

In the links included below, you will find a variety of press releases, articles, award announcements, and TV show appearances that outline in more detail Lifeway’s growth as a business and Julie’s recognition as a fearless, compassionate leader from July 2019 to date.