As the workforce has grown ever more transient and business challenges ever more complicated, there’s something to be said for longevity in leadership. This year’s Women in Business issue profiles three executives in southeastern Wisconsin who have spent most of their careers with one organization and have made a profound impact there while ascending the
As the workforce has grown ever more transient and business challenges ever more complicated, there’s something to be said for longevity in leadership. This year’s Women in Business issue profiles three executives in southeastern Wisconsin who have spent most of their careers with one organization and have made a profound impact there while ascending the ranks.
Joining Kohl’s Corp. in 1999 as a senior financial analyst, Jill Timm has been part of the company’s growth from a Midwestern department store chain into a national omnichannel retailer. Since stepping into the role of chief financial officer in 2019, she’s led the company through some of its most challenging times to date.
Melissa Winter’s entrée to the business world came shortly after graduating college, taking a job as a claims representative at Acuity in 1998. What she assumed would be a stepping stone into an entirely different industry has instead evolved into an accomplished tenure with the property and casualty insurance company, which she now leads as president.
Marti Wronski launched a career in professional sports upon joining the Milwaukee Brewers in 2003 as vice president – general counsel. Fueled by a fascination with the inner workings of the franchise and constant pursuit of improvement, she worked her way up to the role of chief operating officer last year.
When Melissa Winter took her first job out of college in 1998 at Sheboygan-based Acuity, she was contemplating a future career in business law.
Like many of her colleagues, Winter joined the company (then known as Heritage Mutual Insurance Co.) through its training program for recent college grads. Before she’d pursue a graduate degree, her plan was to spend some time getting a feel for the business world while also, as a claims representative, tapping into the problem solving and investigation skills she enjoyed studying while getting her undergrad at the now-shuttered Cardinal Stritch University.
Three years later, a promotion to central claims manager ultimately changed her mind.
“I stepped into that leadership role probably at about the time that I would have considered moving into graduate school of some sort, but I loved leading, loved managing a team and that really cemented my love for the insurance industry,” she said.
Today, Winter leads a workforce of roughly 1,600 employees as president of Acuity, a property and casualty insurance company that covers more than 130,000 businesses, including 300,000 commercial vehicles, and nearly half a million homes and private passenger vehicles in 31 states.
Announced in February, Winter’s promotion set in motion a leadership transition that has Acuity’s longtime head Ben Salzmann stepping aside after nearly three decades as president and chief executive officer. He will remain CEO for the next three years before passing the title on to Winter and retaining his seat on the company’s board of directors.
Meanwhile, the company continues to gain momentum in expanding its workforce, geographic footprint and market share, with written premiums totaling $2.2 billion last year. Acuity has been recognized as a top employer by various publications, including Forbes’ list of America’s Best Midsize Employers for the past three years. Securing that reputation has helped it hire at a rapid rate, with staff size increasing 18% from 2018 to 2022.
Looking back, Winter’s initial decision to stay at Acuity was rooted in what she described as a “revolution” taking hold under Salzmann’s leadership, one that ultimately transformed Acuity’s culture and performance into what defines it today.
Now, as she takes the reins, Winter sees one of her greatest responsibilities as being a “great steward and enabler” of the employee-centric, innovation-driven culture that has underpinned her 25-year career and continues to power the 98-year-old company’s future growth.
Stepping up
Winter spent seven years on the claims side of the business before moving laterally into Acuity’s internal consulting department, where she worked on claims strategy, training, process improvements and led several strategic initiatives.
She landed her first executive role in 2016 upon being named vice president of business consulting. The enterprise-focused role, overseeing strategic planning, staff functions and internal innovation teams, gave Winter a broad view of the organization and helped develop her leadership style from one centered on coaching and directing into one grounded in partnerships with other leaders driving toward a common goal, she said.
And it was within the company’s internal consulting arm where Winter developed a close working relationship with Salzmann. Through frequent collaboration on strategic planning initiatives, the two were aligned in many of their thoughts and approaches, and that helped lay the groundwork for Winter to one day carry the torch.
“We both are very passionate about innovation, very passionate about culture, looking at ways that we can stretch the organization,” she said. “I think that makes for a really strong partnership as we work through the transition years because we have a long history of open and honest communication and being able to successfully challenge one another.”
‘Staring down risk’
Acuity is poised for continued growth under Winter’s leadership, with plans to expand into another eight to 10 states over the next decade while also growing into new commercial business and customer segments and bolstering its presence in existing markets.
Driving this growth is a culture that “stares down risk.” Spelled out as part of Acuity’s common purpose, the mantra is somewhat of a rallying cry, said Winter.
“Insurance is about risk management and taking on risk, but we use staring down risk really to apply to more than that, that we are willing to stretch organizationally into new places, that we want to innovate, that we want to take on new challenges and step into spaces where other organizations may be held back,” she said.
In today’s post-pandemic world, that has meant embracing a hybrid workplace as a long-term strategy, “because as the world changes, our culture has to grow and thrive with it,” said Winter.
Prior to the pandemic, more than 75% of Acuity’s total workforce worked exclusively from its massive headquarters building in Sheboygan, fully visible from I-43 near Kohler. The 1.2 million-square-foot campus, which features a 400-foot flagpole (flying a 140-by-70-foot American flag), 2,000-person theater, 65-foot Ferris wheel and several Dale Chihuly glass sculptures suspended from lofty lobby ceilings, is much quieter these days.
Acuity doesn’t have an official flexible work policy. Instead, it’s up to managers to work with team members to determine a schedule that works best for both the company and the individual. There are certain roles – managing cash and checks or maintaining the computer system, for example – that require employees to be on-site full time, but the company tries to “empower” its employees with choice whenever possible, said Winter.
“We believe in the culture that we have and that it is not bound by the walls of a building, rather that culture is rooted in the way our employees work with one another and in the sense of community they create,” she said.
At the same time, the company has spared no expense to bring teams together and maintain the in-office experience for those who prefer it. For starters, all employees still have their own desk space – breaking from the post-pandemic workplace trend of hoteling. And then, there are the perks. On “Free For All” Wednesdays, employees are treated to breakfast, lunch and happy hour, usually featuring some sort of entertainment. Winter said the offering has been a “big hit,” generating positive energy among the team.
Hybrid and remote work options have turned out to be a major competitive advantage for Acuity as it continues to strengthen its workforce. Not only has it helped retain existing employees who have relocated elsewhere since the pandemic, but it has also allowed the company to broaden its talent pool beyond southeastern Wisconsin.
“We get access to talent in Colorado, Georgia, across our operating territory that is otherwise talent we wouldn’t have been able to secure, which just makes us a more diverse organization and really allows us to fill our talent needs into the future,” said Winter.
The first three years of Jill Timm’s role as chief financial officer of Kohl’s Corp. were far from traditional.
Headlined by a global pandemic, followed by two attempted board takeovers, some might call it baptism by fire. Standing on a foundation of experience, Timm took those challenges in stride.
“Having 20 years of experience here helped me feel very confident to make decisions – and you didn’t have time to second guess yourself,” she said, recalling the pandemic’s onset when Kohl’s was forced to temporarily shut down its entire store base, ultimately contributing to a loss $163 million in 2020.
Timm joined the Menomonee Falls-based retailer in 1999 as a senior financial analyst and worked her way up through the company’s finance department before becoming CFO in November 2019.
Navigating the pandemic right out of the gate prepared her for a different yet equally as tumultuous battle against a group of activist investors who attempted to take control of Kohl’s board in 2021, and again in 2022. While both campaigns resulted in shareholders voting in favor of the company’s incumbent leadership, the experience proved to be a test of strength.
“I had to be really confident in what I knew was the right answer, in what we were moving forward with,” Timm said. “I’m a much stronger person and more confident leader because of it.”
Over the course of Timm’s career, Kohl’s has expanded from a Midwestern department store chain with only 200 locations to a national omnichannel retailer with 1,171 stores in 49 states and a $5 billion e-commerce business.
With each phase of growth, Timm found new opportunities to advance her career, all while keeping pace with a rapidly changing retail landscape and constantly evolving consumer demands. Timm says she thrives in this fast-pace, high-pressure environment: It’s a key part of what made Kohl’s a “great match” at the start of her career and why she’s still at the company 24 years later.
Steering the ship
Today, Timm sits among nine executives who currently make up a relatively new C-suite at Kohl’s. Six of those – including CEO Tom Kingsbury and president and COO Dave Alves – took their respective posts within just the past year. With her proven track record as CFO, building on 24 years of institutional knowledge about Kohl’s and the apparel retail industry at large, Timm has claimed her place as a leader among leaders.
She sees her role on the executive team as somewhat of a mentor as well as a reference point for the company’s current long-term growth objectives, most of which Timm helped set in motion within the past few years under former CEO Michelle Gass.
Timm isn’t afraid to acknowledge the reality of doing business in a volatile market that feels the impact of everything from the weather to gas prices. She often tells people that retail is “not for the faint of heart.”
Last year, Kohl’s reported a net loss of $19 million and sales decrease of 7.1% as a result of inflationary pressure on consumers. Macroeconomic conditions have since improved, but the first quarter of this year still saw net sales drop 3.3% year-over-year, and earnings were flat at $14 million.
But Timm is encouraged by the company’s shorter-term initiatives, such as expanding its partnership with beauty chain Sephora into 850 stores by year’s end; tapping into home décor, impulse purchases and gifting as potential new revenue drivers; and keeping prices low at a time when value is paramount in the minds of consumers.
She’s also optimistic about what’s ahead for Kohl’s under what she described as a “fresh, new” leadership team that brings new ideas to the table. Tapping into the minds of fellow executives is also part of how she continues to develop and grow in her own right.
Even as Kohl’s has grown, its culture has maintained a “small-company feel,” said Timm, which has allowed her the freedom to put family first – even in instances when it wasn’t especially convenient, like the time she chaperoned her daughter’s fifth grade field trip to the Wisconsin State Capitol during quarter close.
“Not an ideal time for someone in finance to be on a school bus going to Madison,” she said, but upholding a commitment to her daughter was more important. “And there was never a moment that I felt like that was the wrong choice. Kohl’s didn’t make me feel that way, I didn’t make myself feel that way. … My daughter also plays basketball, and I will tell you, I don’t miss a game.”
By openly demonstrating her priorities, Timm aims to uphold a standard for other working parents at Kohl’s, especially those who might be struggling with the pressure of balancing work and home life.
At the same time, she continues to be an example for her daughters, now 17 and 20, of what’s possible.
“Being a CFO as a woman is not something you see a lot, so really breaking that glass ceiling for them. I think now they know the sky’s the limit, which is fantastic,” Timm said.
Timm describes mentorship as one of her passions, largely as a result of the people who have mentored her throughout her career. These days, she keeps in touch frequently with Wes McDonald, who served as Kohl’s CFO from 2003 to 2017. His guidance was particularly impactful during the pandemic and remains so today as Kohl’s continues to navigate an ever-changing retail landscape and macroeconomic headwinds. She attributes McDonald’s influence not only to her passion for developing the next generation of leaders, but also to her own success.
“Without his mentorship, without his pushing me, I don’t know that I’d be sitting in the seat today because you have to build that confidence and to have someone sitting in this seat telling you that you can do this definitely helps,” she said.
In today’s world of hybrid work, in which random run-ins at the cafeteria or post-meeting conversations are harder to come by, Timm has had to adjust her approach to shepherding in the next generation of workers, including the finance department’s 15 summer interns this year. She makes a point of attending happy hours and team gatherings so she can stay visible and approachable. She regularly meets with the interns in groups of five leading up to their final presentation at the end of the summer.
“I think the younger generation is really the future of this organization and my job is to help them be ready for those positions, so the more I can act and be part of that the better,” Timm said.
In November 2003, when Milwaukee Brewers executive Rick Schlesinger, then the team’s executive vice president of business operations, first called Marti Wronski to see if she was interested in leading the Brewers’ legal department, she turned him down.
At the time, the Brewers’ $400 million baseball stadium – known then as Miller Park – was just two years old, and the club’s front office was in a rebuild mode coming off a leadership shakeup.
Wronksi had two children under the age of one and was teaching part-time at Marquette University Law School, following a five-year stint as a legal associate at Milwaukee-based firm Foley & Lardner. She wasn’t interested in the Brewers’ role, but she offered to help with the search.
When she told her husband, Andy Wronski, now head of Foley & Lardner’s Milwaukee office, he encouraged her to call Schlesinger back and explore the opportunity.
Fast forward 20 years and what started as an interim role with the Brewers – allowing Wronski to remain on the faculty at Marquette Law School for a time – has instead become a career in professional sports. Wronski has been the team’s general counsel and later senior vice president of administration. In December, she was promoted to chief operating officer, which added business analytics and strategy to her existing responsibilities overseeing the legal, information technology and human resources departments of the Brewers. It’s the title Schlesinger held with the Brewers from 2011 to 2018 until being named president of business operations.
“It’s interesting because there’s I guess some natural evolution to it,” Wronski said, reflecting on her tenure. “I’ve evolved with the organization.”
Several factors have kept her with the club: the ever-changing nature of professional sports, her drive to meet the next challenge (these days it’s Major League Baseball’s recent rules changes and post-pandemic shifts in consumer behavior), and the family-oriented culture of the team. The Wronskis’ four sons, now young adults, grew up around what is now American Family Field, climbing on dugouts and crawling on the warning track.
A leader who’s always on the move, Wronski continues to drive the small-market franchise forward into a new era of pro sports.
Learning and listening
The early days of Wronski’s career with the Brewers were all about learning. Having never worked in professional sports before, she was far more familiar with the business side of the franchise than she was with the baseball side. She remembers sitting in meetings and jotting down baseball jargon to look up later and pouring over the official MLB rulebook, “just to make sure I had as much knowledge as I could control,” she said.
She sought out colleagues who were willing to take the time to explain the nuances of the business, and that laid the groundwork for building trust and relationships.
As Wronski set to work building her legal team – from just one paralegal to now three lawyers and a paralegal – and getting the club’s legal matters in order, she was automatically exposed to the inner workings of the franchise and became fascinated with the synergies between the baseball side and the business side.
“If you’re doing your job right as in-house counsel, most discussions touch you or go through you,” she said. “I would just take it all in, and I started to learn the priorities for the different departments, how they thought about their piece of the business and then how the different pieces of the business fit together.”
Over the next several years, Wronski had a front row seat to the wave of rapid change moving through the pro sports industry, with advancements in technology and wide adoption of analytics-based strategy both on and off the field. And with that, the nature and expectations of the talent pool was changing, too.
A new generation of workers was asking more of employers. Rather than bending over backwards for a job in pro sports – as had long been the industry norm, said Wronski – employees were raising the bar for what it would take to attract them. The Brewers organization was now competing for talent amidst a much larger field, and its operations and culture would need to adapt to meet this challenge.
So, in 2017, Wronski was approached by Schlesinger and Brewers principal owner Mark Attanasio to lead a culture shift across the organization. In this role, she’d be responsible for spearheading “operational processes and efficiencies required to grow and evolve the Brewers brand,” the club described recently in announcing Wronski as one of 50 women named to the Sports Business Journal Game Changers Class of 2023.
Five years later, the organization has made “great progress,” said Wronski, but change doesn’t happen overnight.
After the COVID-19 pandemic hit, it was back to square one as the entire organization had to essentially recreate how it did business for two seasons of scaled-back operations and fan capacity. But the challenges of the past three years have also called attention to additional opportunities for growth, including a heavier focus on diversity, equity and inclusion. Wronski is currently working to launch another strategic planning initiative in the next six months.
“We’re still putting these pieces together of who we are. … I don’t think it ever ends, and I don’t think you can ever take your foot off the pedal, or you’re faking it,” she said.
Paving the way
Wronski’s promotion to COO last year marked the first time the Brewers front office had named a woman to that post. Wronski will also be the highest-ranking female executive for the Brewers since Wendy Selig-Prieb led the franchise as president and CEO from 1998 to 2002 and then for three more years as chairman. Selig-Prieb herself had a hand in hiring Wronski, so the presence of female leadership in the Brewers front office wasn’t a complete anomaly to her.
But the significance of being now one of only two female COOs in Major League Baseball hit home when Wronksi received numerous letters of congratulations following the promotion announcement – from crayon drawings by young girls to words of encouragement by accomplished women Wronski had always wanted to meet. She’s since made it a priority to be available for panel discussions and conversations with other women in the industry and beyond.
“I realized pretty quickly that I looked at my role as doing better for the organization, but they looked to me for a little more than that. … When you’re put in a position of having an opportunity to do something right and better, you better do it,” she said, adding her hope is that one day there will be no more “firsts” left to celebrate.
