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AAPRC’s Global Communicator: Wanda J. Herndon

Wanda J. Herndon
Senior Vice President, Global Communications
Starbucks Coffee Company
Seattle, WA

While she talks with a reporter by phone, Wanda Herndon is making coffee. Fitting, since the veteran communicati-ons strategist has spent the past decade helping Starbucks Coffee Company establish itself as a premier global brand. As senior vice president of global communications, Herndon steers media relations, crisis management, employee communications, public affairs and corporate social responsibility efforts, the management of an international network of communications managers and counseling executives and team members.

“It could be employee meetings, which we did a lot of. It could be our internal broadcast program, which we call ‘Starbucks Broadcast News,’ that was developed while I was there,” says Herndon. “When you’re involved shaping and managing the reputation of a company as visible as Starbucks, everything matters.”

Her day-to-day working life is a huge undertaking, or, rather, it was a huge undertaking. Past tense because Herndon, just 53, will retire on August 1 of this year.

“We’ve done what many consumer brands have not been able to do, that’s to build our brand awareness without the use of a lot of traditional advertising…” says the Seattle-based executive of her tenure at Starbucks. “A lot of that has been built on communications messaging which I have been fortunate enough to lead over almost 11 years.”

When she arrived at Starbucks in 1995, Herndon was very interested in refining her skills at a consumer brand in the early stages of its growth. Did she ever pick the right place! When she came on board to build the company’s corporate communications office, Starbucks had about 550 stores. Since then, that familiar logo has spread across the globe like wildfire (if you live in a major city, especially, you know that the two things you can be sure of are taxes and Starbucks). Today, the company has more than 11,000 stores and growing, as well as an array of retail products that can be purchased on and off site.

Though she’s spending a lot of her time these days transitioning her replacement, Herndon remains passionate about the company. “My job is to communicate the fact that Starbucks sources the highest quality Arabica coffee in the world, so you gotta enjoy it,” says Herndon of her appreciation for the company and its product. “A lot of people are extremely passionate about the [Starbucks] brand and about the products and about everything the brand and the product allows the company to do. I’m one of those people.”

Before Herndon became passionate about coffee, she was passionate about writing. In junior high school she decided she wanted a career that involved writing, but didn’t know what it would be. Later, she earned an undergraduate degree in journalism from Michigan State University but, when she got a look at the starting salary, decided the newspaper business wasn’t for her. She took an entry-level public relations position at the Michigan House of Representatives, where, for two-and-a-half years, she wrote press releases and planned meetings. “I realized that I wanted to actually get promoted and there was no place to go unless I wanted to run for state representative or something,” Herndon recalls. So she went back to Michigan State, this time for a Masters degree in journalism. A friend introduced her to a recruiter from Dow Chemical Company.

In November of 1978, Herndon moved to Midland, Michigan to become the first African-American and the first outside candidate hired in Dow’s communicator developer program. She spent a year in training and was then rotated to different communications functions throughout the company. She spent a little over 11 years at Dow, eight of those years in marketing. “I had to learn on the job,” says Herndon. “That was a high growth period…After progressive promotions and travel and interactions with many different people, I was like ‘this [corporate America] kind of fits my personality.’”

Her experience at Dow included positions in the chemical giant’s manufacturing divisions in Michigan and Texas. She worked in agricultural products. She did internal communications, headed up corporate magazines and managed corporate communications functions. During her stint in a management position at the Dow Chemical plastics division, her boss was promoted to president of the company’s consumer products business and moved Herndon to the division’s Indianapolis offices as the head of communications. After 18 months there working on the senior leadership team, an executive recruiter from The DuPont Company called.

“They were looking for someone with communications experience in a manufacturing environment, an agricultural products environment, and a plastics environment as well as corporate,” Herndon recalls. “I told them well, I guess you ought to be talking to me.”

She joined DuPont in 1990 as a public affairs consultant. During her five-and-one-half years there, she worked closely with the company chairman, was the communications group manager for the plastics department, and earned a position on the senior leadership team. All of those experiences –– from Dow to DuPont –– Herndon believes helped prepare her for the job that would become home for her. “When Starbucks came along they were looking for someone who could establish a communications department for them and also looking for someone who had experience working for senior leaders… Each step of the way I’ve been prepared for the job that has truly been the best gift of all, my career as a senior vice president at Starbucks.”

That career has earned Herndon the respect of her peers and her community. PR Week magazine named her one of the twelve leading African-Americans in public relations and, in 2005, Black Professionals magazine pegged her as one of the “Top 100 Black Professionals in Corporate America.” At her alma mater, Michigan State University, she serves as a member of the school of journalism’s professional advisory and minority affairs committees. Plus, in 2002 Herndon received the university’s prestigious Distinguished Alumni Award.

In addition to leading her department, Herndon is a member of the executive boards of the YWCA of King County, One Reel, a non-profit arts, cultural and special events producer, and The 5th Avenue Theatre, a non-profit musical theatrical venue. She is an active member of several other community and civic organizations, including Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. and the Seattle Chapter of The Links, Inc. She enjoys motivational speaking, traveling, reading and fitness workouts.

Though she’ll be retired by the end of the summer, Herndon will always remain connected to the company where she’s thrived. She’s decided, though, that it’s time to pursue other interests, including philanthropic projects, board work, travel, and lots of golf –– she will split her time between homes in Seattle and Scottsdale, AZ, a golf mecca. She also is a minority owner of both the NBA Seattle Supersonics and the WNBA Seattle Storm teams. Herndon also serves on the executive board of the Basketball Club of Seattle, LLC, owners of Seattle’s professional basketball franchises. Herndon, who is single, says she has no children, but nephews she adores and lots of friends who have retired early, too.

“Now it’s time for me to embark upon some new adventures,” says Herndon. “The good thing about this is that Starbucks has given me this wonderful opportunity…There’s so much out here that I want to explore and I can!”

AAPRC’s Mission
The African-American Public Relations Collective (AAPRC) is an assemblage of professionals who provide communication conduits among clients, journalists, media and our communities. We come together as a collective because we recognize the importance of building those same conduits amongst ourselves.

A great deal of what we do is professional development––updating our skills, keeping pace with technology, refining and streamlining processes, providing a forum to tackle the issues that impact our work environment––but we believe our professional lives benefit most from the forging of effective alliances. Connected to one another, we possess the power of a nationwide body of committed, knowledgeable practitioners with an eye on the future.

As we move into the 21st century at lightning speed, mass media and its potent messages occupy an ever-larger part of our daily lives and our collective psyche. The AAPRC is focused on helping our members gain a deeper understanding of media’s force and supporting their growth as powerful participants in the global communications network.

AAPRC’s Contact
GQ Media & Public Relations
1650 Broadway Suite 1011
New York NY 10019
1212 765 7910
1212 765 7905
aapublicistcoll@aol.com

Message Wanda J. Herndon and the AAPRC and tell them what you think

By Gwendolyn Quinn on 4/4/2006[read on] [1 comment]

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