Richelle Barker is passionate about placing her team members in the right roles and inspiring them to do their best, all while making our brands stand out in the Australian market. This is the seventh in a series of stories where we spotlight employees who have been nominated by their co-workers as role models in how to shape living for the better.
As the Director of Marketing for Australia and New Zealand, Richelle Barker puts a lot of energy and enthusiasm into her role. Just ask her colleagues. They said: “Richelle is an inspirational leader of our marketing organization and passionate about developing her team— inspiring, enabling and coaching them to be the best they can be.
“The Australian team, together with support from the entire organization, was able to grow brand equity and make Australia the number-three biggest market for Electrolux globally. Richelle has been committed to ensuring that our key brands in Australia—AEG, Electrolux, and Westinghouse—shape living for the better, creating best-in-class taste and care experiences.”
Richelle is an identical twin living in Sydney and started at Electrolux as an assistant brand manager 12 years ago. She has such a keen focus on what she does that she even has the quote: “Everything should begin and end with the consumer,” on her resume.
What does shape living for the better mean to you?
It means creating better experiences and a better life for people. Our products impact everything in the way people live and the environment, too. Even from a very basic level, designing an Electrolux fridge that keeps food fresher for longer means that people can have delicious, healthy, nutritious ingredients and with less waste. That means you have a healthier environment and a healthier person, too. Of course, that’s just one product example from one category. There are obviously so many things that we can do to create better living experiences for everybody.
At Electrolux, we think about the consumer in everything we do. Even our company purpose to shape living for the better makes sure that we do this.
What’s your favorite part of the job?
It’s the people by far. Actually, it’s because of the people I work with that I have stayed with Electrolux for so long! We have a great leadership team and a fantastic marketing team that collaborate daily across all parts of the business.
I also enjoy the opportunity to be able to grow, share and learn. I genuinely feel I am always learning something new.
Why are you passionate about your role?
I love what I do, the brands we represent and, as mentioned above, the people I work with. We have such great brands and products that are truly the heart of the home. I think we should be proud of that. We do have a great culture of Teamship and work for a great company. I feel I am valued as part of the team and as an individual. It’s a nice feeling.
What do you think it takes to succeed at Electrolux?
The first thing is to make sure you are always learning. It’s a very fast- moving world that we live in today and especially with digital technology, everything is constantly changing.
You also need to really care, be passionate and take personal ownership of your work. If everyone cares about their work and the people they work with, it creates a nice collaborative environment.
Tell us about a particular time when you knew you were in the right role.
For me, it’s the wins along the way with my team that keep me motivated. If you wait for a big milestone, it’s a long wait. But there’s a continuous motivation from the small wins like seeing someone that you hired present really well in a meeting or successfully complete a project. These proud moments keep me motivated and make me realize how much I enjoy my role.
What kind of challenges do you face?
In this market, we have quite a number of brands to manage. Our challenge is to ensure each of the brands are relevant, distinct and stand out from the others. I would like to think we do that quite well.
What has been your biggest success?
I am hoping our biggest success is yet to come. Other than that, I believe the Australia marketing team is a big success. It’s a great team and being able to make sure the right people are in the right roles has been a big part of that. The quantity and quality of work they manage has been amazing. I am proud of them all!
What do you want to accomplish in your role?
I want to be a great leader. Having great leadership over the years has inspired me. This has led to great learning and success for me. Having people that truly motivate, support and guide me has been good for me and the business and I would like to be able to provide that for my team moving forward. I am excited about getting the broader company working together to run projects and build strong brands with us.
What does someone in your role do?
I am the leader for the brand, customer marketing, design studio and digital marketing teams. My role is to build distinct and desirable brands for profitable growth. We all work together as one team and ensure we have the right brand plan and strategy for meeting our goals in this market; leading to a strong business in Australia and New Zealand.
