The Sourcing Hero

Ep 222: Communication as Persuasion in Procurement & Beyond feat. Liz Milan

Communication is a complex craft. It involves speaking clearly and with a consistent message, actively listening to see how the message is received, and - the ultimate test - if we are communicating to persuade, watching to see if that message has the desired motivating effect.
In this episode of The Sourcing Hero podcast, Host Kelly Barner welcomes Liz Milan. Liz is a former procurement executive and adjunct at the University of Portland Pamplin Business School where she teaches a course on Negotiation and Persuasion. She is currently doing board work for Open Adoption and Family Services.
Liz speaks about why persuasive communication is so critical for procurement:
Never forgetting the bigger picture dynamics that may be at play when making recommendations about supplier contracts
Creating opportunities to learn as much as possible from the sales side of the business
The sacrifice that may be required of anyone who aspires to hero status
Links:
Liz Milan on LinkedIn

Ep 220: Hitchhiker’s Guide to Procurement & Sales feat. Mike Lander

Procurement thinks sales is always trying to sell them something that isn’t what they want, is over priced, or won’t live up to the hype. Sales thinks procurement is deliberately trying to throw a wrench in a long proposal process, only cares about price, and has no feelings at all.
What if they are both wrong?
In this episode of The Sourcing Hero podcast, Host Kelly Barner welcomes Mike Lander. Mike is the CEO of Piscari, a coaching firm that helps sell-side teams improve their negotiating skills, better understand procurement buyers, and - ultimately - arrive at better commercial deals.
Mike speaks from his experience in both sales and procurement about:
How the two sides perceive each other and why those perceptions are dangerous for everyone
The importance of understanding where you fit in the other side’s worldview, and how they see your company in return
The conditions that have to be in place for sales and procurement to create value for both companies at the same time
Links:
Mike Lander on LinkedIn

Ep 221: Building Supply Chain Resilience in an Uncertain World feat. Sunder Balakrishnan

"It ain't about how hard you get hit, it's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward." - Rocky Balboa
Supply chain professionals know how to take a hit. In most cases, they are strong enough to get back up time and time again. How quickly they are back on their feet each time is an indication of resilience, an essential quality that can be improved through reflection, examination, and analysis.
In this episode of The Sourcing Hero podcast, Host Kelly Barner welcomes Sunder Balakrishnan. Sunder is the Director of Supply Chain Analytics for LatentView Analytics, where he specializes in consumer products, retail, technology, and industrial automotive. His background includes roles focused on process and data, all with the end goal of solving some of the biggest challenges facing companies today.
Sunder takes on both the idea of resilience and the effort to make our supply chains more so:
Where the majority of disruptions take place in supply chains today
The level of visibility most companies have into their multi-tier supply chain at the beginning of their resilience journey
How to focus on getting back up faster, putting processes and systems in place to offer supply chain teams a much-needed boost
Links:
Sunder Balakrishnan on LinkedIn

Ep 219: Why and What… but the HOW? feat. Tara Milburn

It is common for business strategy discussions to start with a definition of ‘Why?’ This makes it easier for leadership teams to formalize and articulate the reasons behind a set of decisions, and to share that vision with the rest of the company. As hard as it is to define a shared ‘Why?’ pairing that with an effective ‘How?’ may be even harder. 
In this episode of The Sourcing Hero podcast, Host Kelly Barner welcomes Tara Milburn. Tara is the President and CEO at Ethical Swag, a Certified B Corp and the leading on-line distributor of sustainably sourced promotional products in North America.
Tara speaks about how she and her team combine their ‘Why?’ and ‘How?’ across everything they do:
The ‘North Star’ that guides the company from the top, but also by empowering each employee to keep the team on track
How digital advancement is creating opportunities for companies to align with change in families and communities
What “meaningful work” looks like in practice, and the benefits of creating these kinds fo opportunities
Links:
Tara Milburn on LinkedIn

Ep 218: Taking the Lead in Technical Procurement feat. Chuck Shehadi

The discussion about how much technical category knowledge procurement should have is ongoing - and the right answer depends a lot on the company in question. When close collaboration is needed between procurement, R&D, and suppliers, technical expertise is a must, but so are humility and curiosity.In this episode of The Sourcing Hero podcast, Host Kelly Barner welcomes Chuck Shehadi. Chuck is the COO at Solugen, a chemical manufacturing company based in Houston, Texas. When it comes to the skills required to be considered a talented procurement professional in his world, that means technical - highly technical - and with the right level of category specialization.In this interview, Chuck talks about the unique backgrounds he and his team have and how they put them to work:
Why former engineers and PhDs would choose to pursue a career in procurement
How they balance having that knowledge with the experience brought by R&D and suppliers
His advice for someone in procurement looking to become more technically proficient or someone in engineering that might want to step into procurement
Links:
Chuck Shehadi on LinkedIn

Ep 217: The Night the Lights Went Out in Spain feat. Kris Lance

On April 28, 2025, most of Spain, Portugal, and the south of France lost power for a day. Everything instantly ground to a halt: transportation, airports, ATMs, hospitals, cell phones, traffic lights, etc., and while this was a rare event for an area roughly the size of the state of Texas, it was catastrophic for everyone affected.
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 discuss the power outage: 
The most popular speculations about how and why the outage occurred, and what those theories tell us about people’s mindset
Lessons the rest of the world can learn about the risks to nations, governments, families, and energy infrastructure
Silver linings that may show themselves under difficult circumstances like these 
Links:
Under Armour, Unless partner on plant-based sportswear collection
Kris Lance on LinkedIn
Subscribe to Una’s Procurement Newsletter, “The Sidekick”
Episode 212: Trying Regenerative Sportswear on for Size
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

Ep 216: Looking at Procurement Through the Lens of Finance feat. Mark Gilham

For most procurement professionals, the only contact they have with finance is when their savings projections are being audited or approved for internal communication. Those are hardly the circumstances under which collaborative relationships form - but that doesn’t have to be the extent of their contact.
In this episode of The Sourcing Hero podcast, Host Kelly Barner welcomes Mark Gilham. Mark is the Vice President and Head of the Enable Advisory practice. Most of his past positions have been strategic finance and accounting roles, allowing him to develop a first hand perspective that can certainly help procurement teams today.
In this interview, Mark talks about the opportunity that exists for finance and procurement teams who can work together:
What it looks like when finance takes a broader, more commercially-minded perspective
Forms of value beyond savings that finance can help procurement make the business case for achieving
The number one thing procurement should never (ever) do to finance
Links:
Mark Gilham on LinkedIn

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