The Sourcing Hero

Ep 212: Learning to Appreciate the Value of Time feat. Vytas Sliesoraitis

What would it feel like if all of the tasks, meetings, obligations, and pressures of work were suddenly… gone? Would it be a relief or would the stress associated with making the decision to step away from work be so strong that it ruined your newfound freedom?
In this episode of The Sourcing Hero podcast, Host Kelly Barner welcomes Vytas Sliesoraitis. Vytas is a career procurement professional with experience at companies like Intel, Google, Epic Games, and Gilead Sciences. That said, it is the time he has spent away from the office, taking a deliberate sabbatical, that has taught him the true value of time.
In this interview, Vytas shares some of the details of his sabbatical experience:
How he structured his time, balancing family, professional development, and Ironman training
What he learned about himself during this period
How it has changed his outlook now that he has returned to the professional world
Links:
Vytas Sliesoraitis on LinkedIn

Ep 211: Is your ‘happy place’ hiring? feat. Gale Daikoku

A career is a heck of a thing to manage - especially when it is your own. You change with each phase of growth and new experience, and your job prospects change as well. The better you know yourself and what makes you happy - yes, HAPPY - at work, the more successful you will be in your next endeavor.
In this episode of The Sourcing Hero podcast, Host Kelly Barner welcomes Gale Daikoku. In addition to having deep experience in the procurement space and the global influencer marketing space, Gale is a highly professional networker. She is constantly commenting on other people’s content and always knows someone else to pull in on the topic.
Gale shares what she has learned by managing the twists and turns of her own professional journey:
What you need to know about yourself
Taking a big picture view of compensation
Why relationships are one of the most important parts of any job
Links:
Gale Daikoku on LinkedIn

Ep 210: Totally Understanding TCO feat. Louis Bastone

While procurement often thinks about purchase price as equal to cost, some purchases come with a longer term cost to own and maintain. Being able to understand the concept of total cost of ownership (TCO) and factor that into sourcing and award decisions will ultimately determine whether procurement’s negotiated savings reach the bottom line or evaporate into costs for waste, downtime, and maintenance.
In this episode of The Sourcing Hero podcast, Host Kelly Barner welcomes Louis Bastone. Louis is the Senior Indirect Procurement Category Manager - Real Estate and Facilities at ASML. After holding sourcing specialist and manager roles in the pharmaceutical industry, Louis made the jump to manufacturing where he works to drive cost savings and improve strategic processes within construction, site services, and utilities categories.
Louis shares his experience with TCO management:
The role that specifications play in reducing total cost
How to win stakeholders over to the variability associated with individual supplier innovations
Which categories best lend themselves to a first-time TCO-driven sourcing project
Links:
Louis Bastone on LinkedIn

Ep 209: Emotions Aren’t Baggage feat. Ryan Christensen

Could how you think - about yourself - change the way you experience the world around you?
We all have past experiences that we carry with us, often for life. Those experiences and how we process them not only become a part of who we are, they influence how we process later events and circumstances.
In this episode of The Sourcing Hero podcast, Host Kelly Barner welcomes Ryan Christensen. Ryan is a professional hypnotist specializing in peak mental focus and performance. After 23 years of experience in the intelligence community, he’s now worked with hundreds of high-achievers and neurodivergent professionals to radically transform their mindset and shift their subconscious beliefs towards inevitable success.
In this interview, Ryan talks about his own experiences dealing with emotion and how he now helps others do the same:
Why many ‘healing methodologies’ fail to reach below the surface
Why emotions can be so challenging to process
Changing how we relate to our own emotions and becoming our best selves
Links:
Ryan Christensen on LinkedIn

Ep 208: All Cracked Up - Understanding Today’s Egg Prices feat. Kris Lance

Hard boiled. Over medium. Scrambled. Poached. Deviled. There are lots of ways to enjoy eggs, one of the most popular and least expensive sources of healthy protein available, but lately there has been only one way to describe them: expensive.
In this episode of The Sourcing Hero podcast, Host Kelly Barner welcomes back Kris Lance, Vice President and Senior Director at Una, for a monthly conversation about current news stories. Kris has experience in multiple industries and has his finger on the pulse of the trends and topics that procurement, sourcing, and supply chain professionals need to be aware of.
In this month’s discussion, Kris and Kelly talk about gradual rise and sudden fall of egg prices in America: 
What factors have contributed to the high and rising cost of eggs over the last few years
Whether we are starting to see signs that those costs - and prices - are on their way back down
Why procurement and supply chain professionals are uniquely positioned to be rational about supply shocks and the impact they have on consumers 
Links:
Kris Lance on LinkedIn
Subscribe to Una’s Procurement Newsletter, “The Sidekick”
Episode 204: Hot Times in the Arctic Circle
Episode 200: Fostering the Conditions That Lead to Success
Episode 196: The Best of Kris Lance in 2024
Episode 192: The Surging Power of the Podcast Format

Ep. 207: Balancing Big Bold Bets with Small Pragmatic Moves feat. Priya Kumari

We all know that a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, but it is easy to forget how intimidating those first few feet can be. Whether procurement is focused on strengthening their core skills or pushing for larger scale impact, it is essential for everyone to be aligned in their thinking, to leverage their strengths, and to know where the journey is expected to end.
In this episode of The Sourcing Hero podcast, Host Kelly Barner welcomes Priya Kumari. Priya is a manager at Kearney where she specializes in strategic operations, sustainability, and innovation. Her experience in consulting gives her a broad perspective on the importance of performance transformation, operating model design, and change management.
Priya speaks about the many opportunities procurement has to increase their impact:
Where the boldest leaders and decision makers find the inspiration for their ideas
How procurement can balance ‘big bold’ aspirations with table stakes efforts
What separates companies that struggle with procurement transformation from those who succeed
Links:
Priya Kumari on LinkedIn

Ep 206: Driving Successful SRM at Scale feat. Celia SGAR

Most procurement professionals will acknowledge that supplier relationship management (SRM) is a core part of value creation and risk management, but how many organizations are effectively carrying SRM out at scale to the benefit of their company and their suppliers?
Not as many as would like to be successful at supplier relationship management.
In this episode of The Sourcing Hero podcast, Host Kelly Barner welcomes Celia SGAR. Celia is the co-founder of Vendor Score IT, a solution based on the premise that procurement can and should improve the way they manage supplier relationships and performance.
In this interview, Celia speaks about what she has learned by specializing in SRM:
Why it is such a challenge for procurement teams to execute successful SRM at scale
The levels of governance that are necessary to make sure SRM works for the business and suppliers over time
The roles procurement may play - or share with other parts of the business - in strengthening supplier relationships
Links:
Celia SGAR on LinkedIn

Ep 205: Procurement’s Unique Form of Influence feat. Richard Beaumont

Imagine a group of people is having lunch on the deck of a ship, and that ship is sailing into a storm. Along comes a waiter with a tray of drinks, and that waiter is riding… a monocycle. Even as the seas start to rise and the wind blows, the tray can’t be allowed to fall.
That waiter… is procurement.
In this episode of The Sourcing Hero podcast, Host Kelly Barner welcomes Richard Beaumont. Richard is the Founder of Eruditic, a professional training and coaching organization, and the co-host of "The Procurement & Finance Coffee Break" on YouTube.
In this interview, Richard shares why he’d rather be on the monocycle than at the table any day, but especially in a storm:
The influence procurement holds even without being the ones to decide which suppliers are selected for contract
How quantitative decision making can help procurement support initiatives like ESG that might otherwise fall victim to ‘altruist’ short term rationales
Why it takes so much courage to work - and be successful - in procurement
 
Links:
Richard Beaumont on LinkedIn