The Sourcing Hero

Ep 215: Pranks, Purpose, and Procurement Leadership feat. Dr. Cindie Burkett

Procurement is the kind of job where success is largely fueled by the strength of your relationships. Having trust and respect between procurement and the business, as well as between procurement and suppliers, can often make or break an effort. But it all starts with the team dynamic that exists within procurement.
In this episode of The Sourcing Hero podcast, Host Kelly Barner welcomes Dr. Cindie Burkett. Cindie is the Vice President of Procurement for Specialty Dental Brands where she is busy building out her procurement team and forging relationships with suppliers for the good of the organization. 
Cindie shares her point of view on relationships, and why they are so critical to business success:
Healthy ways individuals can process their mistakes in a way that everyone benefits
Why having close relationships with suppliers doesn’t reduce procurement’s leverage at renegotiation time or when there are performance issues
How procurement can resolve perception-based issues that the business has with a supplier’s performance
Links:
Dr. Cindie Burkett on LinkedIn

Ep 214: Making a Deal from Both Sides of the Table feat. John Latham

Procurement has come a long way over the last few decades, but the fact that they always want to achieve more shouldn’t lead them to discount or overlook how good they have it today. Whether that means the quality of supplier relationships, the speed of spend analytics, or the regard they enjoy from stakeholders, there is a lot to be grateful for.
In this episode of The Sourcing Hero podcast, Host Kelly Barner welcomes John Latham. John has a really interesting mix of experience - deep category expertise on the buy side of the procurement process, but also business development and account management roles as well.
In this interview, John shares lessons from his many years working in and around procurement:
Why today’s procurement professionals should appreciate the digital support they may take for granted
Knowing when it is valuable to have category expertise in house and when it is not necessary
What procurement and sales professionals should both remember about the objectives they share
Links:
John Latham on LinkedIn

Ep 213: Trying Regenerative Sportswear on for Size - feat. Kris Lance

Activewear company Under Armour unveiled a line of regenerative sportswear at Milan Fashion Week in 2025. This is their first collaboration with recent acquisition Unless Collective, a producer of zero-plastic, plant-based fashion. 
The effort to remove non-degradable textiles from landfills is admirable, but will it work?
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 Under Armour’s decision to experiment with plant-based clothing: 
Consumer first impressions to new innovations, and how the best of intentions don’t always work as planned
Being aspirational about brand identity, while staying firmly rooted in reality
How we can ensure space for experimentation, suspending disbelief  long enough to allow new ideas an opportunity to prove themselves
Links:
Under Armour, Unless partner on plant-based sportswear collection
Kris Lance on LinkedIn
Subscribe to Una’s Procurement Newsletter, “The Sidekick”
Episode 208: All Cracked Up - Understanding Today’s Egg Prices
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
 
 
 

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