Corporate Partner ARCA Continental Coca-Cola Southwest Beverages

Corporate Partner
ARCA Continental Coca-Cola Southwest Beverages

Interview with Susanne Brady-Lusk (she/her), Vice President/General Manager Coca-Cola Southwest Beverages and ARCA Continental

 In this blog post we chat with Susanne Brady-Lusk, who is the Vice President/General Manager Coca-Cola Southwest Beverages and ARCA Continental. Susanne has been a tremendous champion for the engagement with the Chamber and for LGBTQ+ community within the company. In this role, she covers half of the state of Texas and 13 sales centers.

The best advice Susanne ever received drives her to focus on the needs of her team or CCSWB/ARCA refers to employees, Heroes. As someone who identifies as LGBTQ+, she is proud of the work at CCSWB/ARCA where she can bring her whole self to work every day. Susanne, thank you for being one of our Heroes at the Chamber!

A HUGE thank you to ARCA Continental Coca-Cola Southwest Beverages for being the Title Sponsor for the 2021 Chamber Holiday Food Drive.

Can you share more about what ARCA Continental Coca-Cola Southwest Beverages does? How large is the team? What areas do you cover?

CCSWB manufactures and sells the Coca-Cola beverage portfolio in Texas, Oklahoma, Easter Mexico. ARCA Continental manufactures and sells the Coca-Cola portfolio in 5 countries. The US, Mexico, Ecuador, Peru, and Argentina. ARCA has the following businesses within the Latin Countries: Snacks Bokados, Santa Clara, Tonicorp, Ades, Sugarmill in Argentina and Wise chips in the US. The company has 8,000 Heroes. I cover about half the state of Texas, 13 sales centers.

Can you share more about your role at ARCA Continental Coca-Cola Southwest Beverages?

I am responsible for the sales and operations for 13 sales centers. I am a part of the Executive Leadership Team for CCSWB. All the sales, merchandisers, and Drivers for the 13 sales centers.

In terms of your career path, what led you to ARCA Continental Coca-Cola Southwest Beverages?

I started with Coca-Cola in New Orleans 2 years after Katrina. The grocery company I was with in New Orleans sold and the Coca-Cola team asked me to come work with them. A few years after that move, I moved to Houston Coca-Cola for advancement opportunities and then in 2017 ARCA bought the territories that CCSWB operates within and they hired all of us to join ARCA in the US

As someone who identifies as part of the LGBTQ+ community, what does it mean to you to see your company championing support for the LGBTQ+ community such as the Chamber and the Chamber Holiday Food Drive? 

It makes me proud that I work for a company in which I can bring my whole self to work every day and so can everyone who works for CCSWB/ARCA.

Speaking of…We appreciate ARCA Continental Coca-Cola Southwest Beverages’ support of the Chamber and the Chamber Holiday Food Drive? Why is this kind of support of the LGBTQ+ community important to the community? 

It is the right thing to do first of all and secondly it is being good stewards of the communities where we operate to give back.

What is the one thing you want the LGBTQ+ community to know about ARCA Continental Coca-Cola Southwest Beverages? 

It’s a great place to work, we care about our 8,000 Heroes and we are committed to community involvement and sustainability within our operations.

Can you tell us more about the many other ways that ARCA Continental Coca-Cola Southwest Beverages gives back to the community? 

Along with the Greater Houston LGBT Chamber and other LGBTQ+ chambers across Texas, we are involved in the Special Olympics of Texas, The Boys and Girls Clubs, Hispanic Chambers, NAACP and many more across our territories.

We are always proud to promote career opportunities with our Corporate Partners including ARCA Continental Coca-Cola Southwest Beverages. We know that the company values a diverse workforce. What is the best way to learn about career opportunities at ARCA Continental Coca-Cola Southwest Beverages?

Visit cocacolaswb.com and apply. We are always searching for talent and future leaders. No experience necessary.

What’s the best advice you ever received as a leader?

As a leader the needs of the many means more than the few. When you become the leader, you are the few.

Now for some fun…rapid fire! What's your favorite thing to do in HTX when you're not working? 

Catch a live theatre performance or a Texans or Astros game

Barbeque or Mexican, and where do you go for it?

Mexican – Pappasito’s Cantina

Favorite sports team?

Texans and Astros

Native Houstonian or got here as fast as you could and from where? 

From Helen Georgia

First app you typically check in the morning? 

Whatsapp

What is your most used app?

Whatsapp

Person you FaceTime most often?

My Wife, Rhonda she lives in GA at our lake house part of the year.

Most listened-to music track?

I love music so this is hard. Lately I am hooked on Chris Stapleton and Queen and Johnny Sansone

Anything else you want to mention about your company?

I really love what I do, and I love serving our front-line Heroes. We work hard every day to help them be successful and make their work life simple and rewarding.

Learn more about ARCA Continental Coca-Cola Southwest Beverages

Website - cocacolaswb.com

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