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In this inspiring episode of Journeys to Leadership, Agnes Scott College President Leocadia Zak sits down with Carol Tomé, the current CEO of UPS. Carol shares her remarkable journey from humble beginnings in Jackson, Wyoming, to becoming one of the most respected leaders in global logistics. Tune in to hear Carol's thoughts on risk-taking, leading with authenticity, and the importance of developing future leaders. From her early career in finance to her transformative years at Home Depot and UPS, Carol's story is one of resilience, purpose, and unwavering commitment to creating value, having fun, and kicking ass.
Creators & Guests
What is Journeys to Leadership?
Journeys to Leadership assembles the collective wisdom of local, national, and international women leaders representing a cross-section of industries and organizations that drive our world. From career trajectory and turning points to game-changing wins, the Journeys to Leadership podcast will enlighten and inspire emerging and seasoned leaders through authentic and engaging stories that will enrich their own leadership journeys.
This podcast is produced by Agnes Scott Alumna, Sydni Michelle Perry '21.
Carol Tome
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Carol Tome: [00:00:00] And so I always thought, you know, if I take a risk and if it doesn't play out the right way, what I have to worry about because I know how to hunt and fish and cook and sew and I can live off the land. So I always felt like I'd be okay, that I'd always survive no matter what came my way. And that with, you know, with risk comes reward.
Carol Tome: And clearly my career is a, a good. Hello
President Zak: and welcome to Agnes Scott College's podcast, Journeys to Leadership, where we explore the paths of inspiring women leaders from around the globe. I'm Leo Kadiazak, president of Agnes Scott and the host of this podcast. I hope that our guest stories not only encourage you, our listeners and leaders of today and tomorrow, but they also inspire you as you take the next steps in your own journey.
President Zak: Today's guest's journey began as a commercial lender with the United Bank of Denver, now Wells Fargo. She [00:01:00] served as the Director of Banking for Johns Mansville Corporation, and Vice President and Treasurer of Wells Fargo. Of Riverwood International Corporation, eventually transitioning to the Executive Vice President and Chief Financial officer of the Home Depot.
President Zak: Currently, she serves as the Chief Executive Officer of the United Parcel Service, or as its globally known UPS. She's the 12th CEO, and the company's 116 year history. She actively contributes to various boards, including Verizon Corporation, Inc., the Carter Center, Grady Memorial Hospital Corporation, and the Atlanta Botanical Garden.
President Zak: A native of Jackson, Wyoming, with a bachelor's degree in communications from the University of Wyoming and a master's degree in finance from the University of Denver. She embodies the values of UPS. Customer first, people led, [00:02:00] and innovation driven, and is a trailblazer in the business world. Please join me in welcoming a woman who defines leadership through her commitment to excellence and community service, CEO of UPS, Carol Tomei.
President Zak: Welcome to Journeys to Leadership, Carol. We're so excited to have you. Thank you. I'm delighted to be here. On our show. We understand that leadership doesn't just happen. It's a journey during our time together. We want to explore your journey, the ups, downs, surprises, all of it, or as close as we can get.
President Zak: So let's begin. You began in Jackson, Wyoming. Tell us a little bit about your life there. And did you dream about being a CEO when you were in Jackson?
Carol Tome: Well, president Zach, I was actually born in a log cabin hospital 67 years ago. Oh my goodness. Yeah. And the town of Jackson back then it was about 3000 people.
Carol Tome: And it was an amazing place to [00:03:00] grow up. It's, it's centered in the, in the the heart of the Grand Teton National Park and Yellowstone National Park. And it's a beautiful country. And I was really, really, um, blessed in that my parents, well, they gave me lots of opportunities to do lots of different things like hunt and fish and so, and cook and live off the land.
Carol Tome: And a Renaissance woman, totally, you know, totally. And you know, it's a, it's a great, uh, ski country. And so my dad put me on skis when I was, And I was actually a downhill ski racer for most of my youth through college. Congratulations. Yes. I
President Zak: have to say that's a tough mountain.
Carol Tome: It is a very tough mountain.
Carol Tome: So it's, it's the longest vertical run in the United States. So way cool. Actually, I had an amazing childhood and you know, to your question, did I dream about being a CEO? Well, heavens no. You know, I love it. I'm a cowgirl, right? I, I thought actually that I would end up staying in Wyoming, working for my dad who was a community banker.
President Zak: So then what led the transition to Atlanta? Yeah. How did, how did you end up [00:04:00] leaving Wyoming? I know a little bit for graduate school, but what was your journey?
Carol Tome: Well, um, because I wanted to work for my dad, I, I thought after I got out of the University of Wyoming, where my parents went to college, I thought, well, I'll go get a master's in finance because that's a good thing for a banker to have.
Carol Tome: And in my last year of school, um, my father called me and said, I've got some news. And I'm like, what's the news? He said, well, after 27 years of marriage. I'm divorcing your mother. I'm like, Oh, that's just really awful news. And then he said, and I'm selling the bank. And all of a sudden it all came crashing down around me.
Carol Tome: I'm like, what? You know, cause that was, that was the career aspiration I had.
President Zak: Well, it must've been so difficult. I mean, losing several things at once, a relationship that you knew and the place you thought you were going to go work. How did you work your way through that?
Carol Tome: Well, it was, it was, it was a real shock for sure.
Carol Tome: But, you know, I thought Alright, I thought I'd be a banker, I'll be a banker. So I took one interview in school at the [00:05:00] largest bank in Colorado and was hired into a commercial lending training program, which, you know, launched a career that took me all the way to UPS through a number of different roads, if you will.
Carol Tome: But as I reflect back, it was the greatest gift my father ever gave me was the gift to actually do something else.
President Zak: And how then did you get your way to Atlanta?
Carol Tome: Yeah. So after serving as a commercial banker for a number of years, I determined that I wasn't really growing my corporate finance experience and knowledge base because it was a regional bank.
Carol Tome: And I thought if I'm going to really expand my, my expertise in this craft, I need a, to move to a money center bank. So as I was thinking about that journey, one of my clients started talking to me about joining them. This client was the Johns Manville Corporation, the largest manufacturer of asbestos at the time, and if you know anything about asbestos, you know it causes cancer.
Carol Tome: Um, and they had, uh, filed Chapter 11 [00:06:00] because they had a number of lawsuits filed against them because of this cancer producing, uh, product that they, uh, manufactured. And I said, Carol, you know, we Why don't you join us, um, and help us consummate our plan of reorganization. And that'll be a great learning for you.
Carol Tome: So I'm like, Hmm, that's an interesting offer. I call my dad, we were still friends. I'm like, dad, what do you think? And he's like, you know, you're nuts. You're crazy. Don't go work for a company in chapter 11. So of course, what did I do? I went to work for the company at chapter 11. And it was, it was really an incredible experience.
Carol Tome: We consummated our plan of reorganization and started to grow and we were growing through acquisitions. And I was on the deal team and acquiring companies really around the globe. And we decided to make a very large acquisition for a paper and packaging subsidiary owned by Manville. Um, that's a, that acquisition was headquartered in Georgia and we decided the best way to fund that acquisition was to spin out the paper and packaging company through an IPO.
Carol Tome: So I was on the IPO team. This was [00:07:00] in the early 90s and we spun it out. We made the acquisition and now there's a new publicly traded company here in Atlanta, Georgia. And the new company said, do you want to come join us? And I'm like, wow. I just kind of burst you. I was on the IPO team. Of course I do. Now I had a working spouse at the time.
Carol Tome: And I'm like, Ramon, what do you think? And he's like, well, what about me? And I'm like, well, can you work it out? He said, I can work it out. So I ended up coming to Atlanta by myself in 92, left Ramon back in Colorado. And I commuted back and forth for about six months until he did work it out and, and joined me here.
Carol Tome: And it was, it was a great experience working for that now publicly traded, uh, paper and packaging company. But interestingly, back in the early 90s, I had never heard of the Home Depot. And when we moved here, I became very familiar with the Home Depot. There weren't any Home Depots in Colorado back at the time, actually.
Carol Tome: There were none.
President Zak: And
Carol Tome: of
President Zak: course, you've changed that. I'm sure.
Carol Tome: Yeah, [00:08:00] of course. And so we, I became like a shopper, like I was in the store all the time. And then I'm like, I really love this company. So I became a shareholder. And then in 1995, they called me and said, Hey, we'd like to talk to you about an opportunity where we think we're going to grow globally.
Carol Tome: And we don't really have any experience outside the United States. We'd like to talk to you. And I'm like me, you know, I'm a customer, I'm a share owner. Alright, and here's a story of, this is a really interesting story and a big lesson I learned. I had my first interview with Home Depot, and after my interview I'm like, nope, not for me.
Carol Tome: I'll be bored. They just don't have the same challenges that global companies have, and they don't have exposure to currency and commodities, and they're not very levered, and I just don't think I'll be that challenged. And the, the search firm that was working on this search said to me, do you want to take a minute before I tell the company no.
Carol Tome: And back then Home Depot only had 400 stores and revenues of only 14 billion. They're like, do you want to just take a minute? And I'm like, okay, I'll take a [00:09:00] minute. And I called up some of my friends and I'm like, what do you think? And they said, you know, you should go back and talk to them again. So I went back and I met with Arthur Blank, one of the founders.
Carol Tome: This is what Arthur said to me. He said, Carol, we don't know how high is up for you. That's for you to show us. We'll give you every opportunity. Yeah. to reach your highest potential. I'm like, huh, every opportunity to reach my highest potential sold. So I joined the company in 95 and ended up spending almost 25 years of my life there.
Carol Tome: And it was an amazing, an amazing experience. And of course, Home Depot now one of the leading companies in the world.
President Zak: Let me ask you a couple of questions. You mentioned a little bit about that risk taking. Yeah. First of all, with respect to a company that had produced asbestos, What was it that made you get over that risk?
President Zak: Why were you willing to take that risk?
Carol Tome: So I think it actually goes back to the way I was raised. You know, as a kid, my, my parents and my grandmothers instilled in me an incredible sense of self [00:10:00] confidence. They told me I could do anything and be anything that I wanted. They also instilled in me just the ability to live off the land.
Carol Tome: And so I always thought, you know, if I take a risk, and if it doesn't play out the right way, What do I have to worry about? Because I know how to hunt and fish and cook and sew, and I can live off the land, so I always felt like I'd be okay. That I'd always survive, no matter what came my way. And that with, you know, with risk comes reward.
Carol Tome: And clearly, my career is a good proof point of that. I've had an incredible amount of good fortune come my way, because I've taken a lot of risk.
President Zak: But you've also gone into areas and maybe living off the land that drew you to Home Depot and what it can do. What about being a woman in these environments?
President Zak: These are not necessarily traditionally female environments.
Carol Tome: No, gosh. First of all, finance is not. Secondly, home improvement, retailing is not. And thirdly, logistics certainly is not. Um, so it, for me, it's been really all about bringing my real, genuine, [00:11:00] authentic self Um, so, yeah. to work and letting people understand who I am, not about my gender so much, but who I am as a person.
Carol Tome: And while I have been by myself in so many meetings over my now over 40 year career, um, I've never really felt that alone actually, because I was just bringing my real genuine, authentic self to work.
President Zak: You also mentioned when you were making the decision to go to Home Depot, you called some of your friends.
President Zak: Who are these people? Are they people in business? Are they just people you've known? What's your support network?
Carol Tome: Yeah, I actually think one key to success is to build a very strong network, and I have an incredible network. These are people that I grew up with, people that I've, are I have had friendships with my entire life, it's like almost a personal board of directors.
Carol Tome: Some of them are business colleagues, some of them are personal colleagues, some are just really wise, wise people. But I have an amazing network and in fact, I say I have a great Rolodex, I know that's an old fashioned [00:12:00] term, but I do. It's like I, whatever comes up, I'm like, Oh, I can call so and so or so and so about that issue.
Carol Tome: It's a blessing. Now, to build it, I learned early on is that you have to create deposits, so if you need to take a withdrawal, you can. So every time I was working on building a relationship was what could I do for them first. You know, so if people ask me to do something, be it a volunteer event or maybe get some money, I always said yes.
Carol Tome: I always said yes because I wanted to build up some deposits, so if I need to take withdrawals I could.
President Zak: You can tell you worked at a bank. Always. From your analogy. Yeah, exactly. Which is wonderful. Well, Home Depot said they would give you the platform. what happened? How did you take advantage of that platform?
Carol Tome: Yeah, it was, it was, it was amazing, um, in that I was able to. I think make a considerable difference to the company. And I, you know, there are many, many ways to measure that success. Um, I could do it through the lens of finance. Uh, the shareholder value created when I was CFO was 450%. So that's a nice metric, [00:13:00] but what I'm most proud of is the impact I've had on people.
Carol Tome: I've had 16 people who've worked for me, who are now CFOs of publicly traded companies. These are people that I trained who left to become CFOs. CFOs of other companies. I have about five people who work for me who are CEOs of publicly traded companies, including the current CEO of Home Depot, Ted Decker, whom I hired and I trained.
Carol Tome: And now he's running that company. I am so very proud of Ted. And the list could go on and on and on. And, and to me, that's one reason. Why I actually ended up at UPS, because you know I had retired. I had actually retired, and maybe we'll talk about that journey. But, but when I got out, when I came out of retirement to come into UPS, it's because the opportunity to develop people.
Carol Tome: We have nearly 500, 000 people, so I get a lot of opportunities here, and that
President Zak: was pretty compelling. Well, it's interesting you mentioned the fact of developing people, and I have to say, as we were preparing for today, our producer, [00:14:00] Sydney Perry, had the opportunity to work with many people at UPS. She talked about the fact that she really enjoyed them, but they really enjoy working here, and especially with you as a leader.
President Zak: What do you think, why is that? What is it about your leadership that you have a global company that is happy to come to work and also that respects you so?
Carol Tome: Well, I think the question is better directed to them, uh, than to me, but you know, I'm a purpose, purpose filled person. And I, I think that's part of the reason when I got here.
Carol Tome: I, I said, you know, we know what we do at UPS. We move 6 percent of the U. S. GDP every day. We move 2 percent of the world's GDP every day. We know what we do, but we hadn't declared our why. So we put together a cross functional team and they did a masterful job of iterating and iterating and interviewing lots of different stakeholders and landed on our why, which is moving our world forward by delivering what [00:15:00] matters.
Carol Tome: And I love that because you can unpack it in so many different ways. It's not just about moving goods. doing good too, and as I reflected on that work, I'm like, gosh, Carol, you know, why, why are you here? You know, for, for a long time I said, Oh, I'm here to make a difference, but I, I really reflected on why am I here?
Carol Tome: What is my purpose? And I landed on lead to inspire, serve to create, give to remain, and I, perhaps that's why people like work. Working for me because I, I think I'm a pretty inspirational leader. The first day I was announced that I was the incoming CEO, I stood up in front of the, of the group. Um, and I said, you know, we're going to kick ass and have some fun.
Carol Tome: And people were like, Oh my God, she swore. Like, it's, I don't really think that's smart. And it's about having fun. You know, we're going to do good, but we're going to have some fun too. And people are like, wow, this is, different, you know, this is, this is very different. And I also am a big believer in just authenticity.
Carol Tome: So one of the first things we did in terms of [00:16:00] addressing sort of employee dissatisfactions is like, Bring your real, genuine, authentic self to work. Our tattoo policy was more restrictive than the U. S. Army. If you were African American, you could not have natural hair. You could not have a fro, a braid, a twist.
Carol Tome: You could not. And if you were male and you wanted to have facial hair, well, you were prohibited. And I'm like, for heaven's sakes, you know, we need to reflect the customer base that we're serving. Of course, we need to be professional, but bring your authentic self to work. And that didn't cost a dime. It didn't cost a dime to do, but people were like.
Carol Tome: This is not, this is not your, the old UPS. This is, you know, we're going to hold on to the best of who we are, of course, but we're going to, we're going to change because we have to change.
President Zak: Well, you may have spoken a little bit to it, but you did make a change yourself from you decided to retire.
Carol Tome: Yeah.
President Zak: And then you decided to become a CEO.
President Zak: Yeah. That's a big change. Yeah. What drove that?
Carol Tome: So, you know, I was fortunate [00:17:00] enough to join the UPS board back in 2003. So, I very I know the company from a board perspective. And as the board was going through CEO succession planning, they put together a CEO scorecard of the skills and attributes of the next CEO.
Carol Tome: And when they matched that or took that scorecard and matched it up against the existing leadership team. It was like, well, they're great, but nobody really fits yet. They don't fit yet. So the board decided to go outside to look for a CEO. And when they looked at the skills and attributes that, uh, they thought the next CEO should, um, possess, he's like, Carol, we, we think you fit.
Carol Tome: And I'm like, you think I fit? Yeah, we'd like you to be considered as the, the CEO. And I'm like, At that time I was 62 and I'm like, you don't think I'm too old? And they're like, no, you know, we don't think you're too old. Our retirement age is 75. We don't think you're too old. I'm like, huh, well, why would I do that?
Carol Tome: Cause I was, I was [00:18:00] enjoying retirement. You know, I, we have a farm in Northwest Georgia. So I'm on my farm doing a number of corporate boards. My husband and I had set up our own family foundation. So life was good for us. But I, I, I reflected, um, thoughtfully on why and I'm like, okay, well, first of all, I'm a values based person and the company's values are aligned with mine.
Carol Tome: So check. Secondly, um, I like to create value and the stock had been flat for a number of years. And I'm like, I think if I get in there, I can, you know, figure out what dials to turn and we can create some value. That would be fun. Check. Third, I love to develop people. And as I mentioned, and so I'm like, well, I get in there, I could really be committed to grooming the next CEO.
Carol Tome: So when it's time for me to leave, the board can choose from inside rather than going outside. So check. Then I talked to my husband. This is our 40th year of marriage. And I said, Ramon, what do you think? And he's like, Would you please go back to work? You are driving me crazy. [00:19:00] So check. So everything's check, check, check, but I'm still candidly, I'm still like, I don't know.
Carol Tome: I don't know. It's a big commitment. It's a big company. The first person from the outside. What if I get rejected? So, you know, I was, I was struggling candidly with, uh, with the decision and I'm working out one day. With my trainer. I'm like, oh, Saida, I don't know. I just, I just don't know. And she just looked at me.
Carol Tome: She looked at me and she said, You have to do this. You must do this for the women of the world. I'm like, oh, right. Check. So there you go. . That's
President Zak: what brought me here. So we can, we can credit sya after this. I have to say, trainers are some of the biggest supporters around there, and they get us to go right to the end of our edge.
President Zak: Right, which is wonderful. To the end of the edge, so and so direct, right? Yes.
Carol Tome: It's like, I don't want to, like, we're going to, and you're like, right, I am.
President Zak: Well, in the process, you talked about the many people that you've mentored and how proud you are [00:20:00] of them, which is just fantastic. Do you have particular mentors yourself?
Carol Tome: Well, throughout the years, I've, I've had so many mentors, some of them formal, most of them informal. Um, and I'm so very grateful to them just to name a few. Arthur Blank, um, was just a terrific mentor to me, um, at Home Depot. And when he left, Depot continued to, to, to mentor me. Frank Blake, who I served as his CFO, he's on your board, you know, It's been a wonderful mentor to me as well.
Carol Tome: I so appreciate him. Such an amazing, amazing person. Uh, Faye Wilson, who was on the board of Home Depot when I joined after she has passed away, but she was an incredible supporter to me because I was the first outsider hired into that company as well. And so I'm like, Whoa. You know, I didn't grow up here, and people are looking at me like, who are you and where are you from?
Carol Tome: And Faye was amazing, put her arms around me, helped me navigate that company, [00:21:00] and in fact, um, I created the first women's resource group at Home Depot, and wanted to name it in her honor. And I'm like, eh, we can't call it the Wilson Group, because that sounds like some sort Um, you know, band, you know, what are we going to call it?
Carol Tome: And Faye, um, was very, uh, she was, she was a very petite woman, um, and her, she was from North Carolina and her voice was very, it sounded like velvet, but she was also very strong woman. The first time I met her, I walked into her office and it was pristine. There was only one thing on her desk and it was a book and I looked over to look at the title of the book and it was The Art of War.
Carol Tome: So I'm like, you know, Faye was pretty, she's pretty awesome, right? That's fantastic. Yeah, it's pretty awesome. So we named this group. The velvet because her voice was like velvet hammers with that and in that was super fun You know the first meeting I had of that group It was held in my living room. We didn't even fill it up.
Carol Tome: There were not enough women leaders to fill it up. And now they have hundreds and hundreds of women leaders at Home Depot. So I'm super proud of [00:22:00] that. And Faye, I'm sure she's looking down from heaven. She's
President Zak: proud of that too. Oh, that's fantastic. I'm sure she's very proud, Carol. It's been such a pleasure.
President Zak: And as we come to a close, are there words of encouragement that you'd like to provide to our listeners? Oh gosh.
Carol Tome: You know, I, I think there's so many. So many words, uh, that I could use, but I think I might go to Cheryl Sandberg when she talked about leaning in. And I think that's a very good piece of advice.
Carol Tome: If you're leaning in to your career, you need to lean in to grow your career. But remember, if you're leaning in, you're leaning away from something. It's just gravity. You're leaning away from something. So be very clear with yourself. about what you're leaning away from and then own that, own that decision.
Carol Tome: Because once you do, everything is possible for you. But if you don't, you have all this cognitive dissonance and it's kind of hard to stay really focused on what you want to do. So that would [00:23:00] be my piece of advice for you. Lean in, but understand what you're leaning away from.
President Zak: Carol, thank you for sharing your story to our listeners.
President Zak: I hope you are encouraged and inspired. Carol Tomei's journey is one of many that we're thrilled to share with you. Thank you for listening. And thanks to our producers, Sydney Perry for making this podcast possible. I am Leocadia Zak, and this is Journeys to Leadership.