Keely Pipkin, head of sales at Nestlé Purina PetCare, found her beginning in a short-term merchandising role and fell in love with the industry. Her goal was to use her first job to earn money and travel, but she was quickly promoted to a repping role, cancelling her plans and kickstarting her career.
From there, Pipkin was presented with the opportunity to move into an analyst position, igniting her passion for data and insights. After a number of years in account management and category roles across numerous FMCG multinationals, Pipkin moved to a market research agency consulting to suppliers within FMCG.
Pipkin joined Nestlé Purina PetCare four years ago in an account management position. She was then promoted into the role of head of category and shopper insights prior to her most recent position as the head of sales for their retail division.
When starting within the FMCG industry, people often have to work from lower-level ranks to understand how it works. Pipkin expressed her gratitude for having mentors that helped her navigate this dynamic.
“I’ve been lucky enough to have a number of generous managers and mentors who have invested in my development throughout my career,” said Pipkin. “FMCG is renowned for being an industry with best-in-class systems and processes to unlock value for customers.”
Pipkin has continued to be motivated by FMCG’s fast pace and how Nestlé provides and encourages staff to chase ambitious goals. In conjunction with her love for animals and bettering them through Nestlé Purina, this has given Pipkin life joy and satisfaction.
“FMCG is an industry that I love, filled with passionate, ambitious individuals, and I’m privileged to spend my days in good company.”
