Making an Impact by Embracing The CHEW

As National Account Manager for Ferrara Candy Co., the leading manufacturer of sugar candies, William Felder exemplifies the qualities of one of its top brands, Now and Later.

In managing the $50 million portfolio for Target—Ferrara’s second largest seasonal desk—his DNA has been infused with the power of CHEW: Champion, Hustle, Empower, Win.

Growing up in Columbia, S.C., Felder was influenced and nurtured by his parents’ lessons on the need to maintain a solid reputation and take a “no-excuses” approach to work and life. Over the years, he has applied his retailing, technology and management prowess to boost revenue and market share growth for iconic brands, including Now and Later, Laffy Taffy, BRACH’S and SweeTARTS. A decade-long veteran in the consumer-packaged goods industry—having held positions at Mars Wrigley Confections, Advantage Sales & Marketing, Lumidata and Target—Felder, 37, has been aptly designated by the National Confectioners Association as a 2022 Future Leader.

In addition to driving the top line for his division, he pushes his bottom-line concerns related to diversity, equity and inclusion at Ferrara and throughout corporate America. The South Carolina State University alumnus serves as co-chair of Ferrara’s Black Employee Business Resource Group—known as BE—and a member of the company’s Diversity Council, engaging with its senior management team on strategies to advance DEI. In fact, he received Ferrara’s highly acclaimed Empathy Award for his efforts.

Residing in Minneapolis with his wife and two children, he has witnessed firsthand how the tragic death of George Floyd at the hands of local police officers impacted the local Black community and galvanized organizations and individuals across the globe to take a stand against racial inequities. Felder, and Ferrara’s BE, continue to collaborate and ideate with the Now and Later brand on initiatives to promote its message of industry and philanthropy with African Americans and expand outreach efforts to the Black business community and HBCUs.

In coordinating his expansive agenda, Felder maintains he specifically embraces two qualities of CHEW – empowerment and achievement. He asserts:

“Winning alone isn’t as good as winning with others. I love empowering others to be their true selves. It lifts everyone.”

In our recent BLACK ENTERPRISE interview, Felder, among other topics, shared valuable lessons he gained in his career journey, the importance of DEI in corporate America today and his favorite Now and Later moment. The following are edited excerpts from that interview:

What led you to attend the HBCU South Carolina State?

I was on a marching band in high school, and South Carolina State played at halftime during one of our football games. I was hooked and said, “That’s where I’m going to school.” To this day, it’s the best decision I made. I only applied to one college, and it was South Carolina State. I didn’t really understand the value of HBCUs in high school. It wasn’t until I attended the institution that I understood the history of South Carolina State, and it made me proud. We have a [Henry] Smith, [Sammy] Hammond and [Delano] Middleton Memorial on our campus. Those are the three students killed during the Orangeburg Massacre. We have Sojourner Truth Hall. Everything about an HBCU is in your blood. It’s for us by us. It’s a family.

How did your experiences there further your drive to enter the confectionery industry?

That experience created the pathway. When I got into the Department of Business on campus, it was the best decision I had ever made. I wasn’t just there to “learn business.” They taught me how to be a Black man in the business world and made me feel as though I wasn’t just another number. Students also took etiquette classes. We had to wear a suit every Wednesday. They were teaching us how you’re supposed to dress in a corporate environment. I learned what a gig line was. I learned where my tie is supposed to stop on my pants. Like BLACK ENTERPRISE Magazine, “There’s nothing casual about business.”

Share your experiences that led to your current role.

I got an internship at the Enterprise Rental Car Management Program, which was my first real experience in the 9-to-5 world. That internship was very fast paced, so it made me comfortable working in a space that moved very quickly. It was trial by fire, and I think that’s why, every time I learn something, I can’t tiptoe in it. You just got to throw me in, and I learn how to swim. In this industry, specifically at Ferrara, we say, “Ferrara fast,” because everything is always moving. The industry’s always changing. For me, that’s my wheelhouse. That’s where I’m comfortable. I can move quickly.

Your professional work, coupled with tech innovation, prepared you for a broad-based experience in the food industry. When designing your career, did you determine that you wanted retail experience in placing a product and buttressing that with data analytics?

My work experience at Lumidata was a happy accident. I was originally at a company headquartered in Minneapolis, and it didn’t work the way I wanted it to work. So, I needed to find another job. I knew someone from that company who transitioned over to Lumidata and told me [it was focused on computer software.] I was like, “I don’t know anything about computers.” she said, “But you would understand the software and we are teaching people how to read the category data.” I went to the company and in explaining the familiar software to customers, I refined my selling and category management skills. So, it started as a happy coincidence, but if you look at my résumé, the experiences strategically build upon one another to where I am now.

Share with us the mentors you acquired along the way. Were there managers within these different experiences—whether you’re talking about Target, Mars, or Lumidata, among others—who guided you to the next step of your career?

One of the biggest influences of my career was Lena Lewis, a former executive at Ferrara. While working on different programs, she would say, “Hey, I need you to come to this meeting with the CEO so you can tell them what you’re doing.” I felt a bit anxious, but she would say, “You need to tell them what you’re doing to gain visibility.” That happened enough times to where they knew who I was by name and face, and knew the success I was able to achieve.

She was an advocate for me. She really impacted my career. I try to do for others what she did for me because I can see how it made a difference. She was a huge influence. I share that story often as possible to help inspire others to understand the value of being an advocate.

What have been the most significant challenges you’ve had to overcome, and how have the lessons learned made you a stronger professional?

Being a Black man in corporate America. I am from Columbia, S.C. My first big career movement was in Minneapolis, Minn. Not only did I have to learn about a completely different region of the country, but I had to try to navigate a culture I knew nothing about. I was the only Black man on the entire team. Not only that…I was the only man on the team. I had a hard time relating to my team on a personal level and I was afraid to share anything. I did the work, but I just could not relate to anyone. As a result, my peers assumed I was standoffish and cold. That was the hardest two years. I called my mom and told her, “I think I made the worst mistake of my life.”

It was that difficult for me because I could not be myself. I could not be authentic. I couldn’t be Will. I was trying my hardest to fit in that box and just could not.

Every job I had where I felt like I had to try to fit in somebody else’s box was unsuccessful. Not unsuccessful in the fact that “I quit. I failed.” But it just did not feel comfortable for me. What I’m trying to do at Ferrara and with our BRGs [Business Resource Groups] is make everyone comfortable in being themselves. Do you want to grow your hair out? Do you want to color your hair? Do you want to wear something different? Do it. The length of your hair doesn’t take away from the knowledge in your head. Be you. It’s like [BLACK ENTERPRISE Earl “Butch” Graves Jr. said at the Black Men XCEL Summit], “When you’re confident, you perform better.”

Serving on the Black BRG and being on the Ferrara Diversity Council, you have dealt with this crossroad related to corporate diversity, equity, and inclusion. We’re in an era in which corporations are wrestling with employee demands for workplace environments that embrace authenticity and belonging. In your roles, how do you help Ferrara make this shift in corporate culture?

In the aftermath of George Floyd two years ago, corporate leaders had to assess everything internally. Everybody wanted to have a diversity conversation. Everybody was going full force. Right? Now, it is our job to maintain enthusiasm and keep the conversation going. What do we do specifically at Ferrara? We have CEO listening tours.

CEOs are trying to run the company and don’t always have a pulse on how individual contributors are feeling. That is our job as a BRG. We translate how employees at all levels feel so senior leaders can receive the feedback and act. At Ferrara, we do not want to just change our internal environment. We want to impact the environment as a whole. We are taking 2% of our total media spend and investing it into Black-owned companies. By 2024, we will have 30% of employees of color at director levels. This is a direct result of the work we are doing with our BRGs.

What’s your impression of this post-George Floyd moment of change related to racial equity and systemic change? Do you think it is sustainable or a brief period before corporations revert to the status quo?

That’s a really good question, and I would need a crystal ball to answer it because we are still in the storm. I think the next generations will answer that question. How hard are they going to continue to push to maintain and drive new change?

From a corporate standpoint, I look at a lot of companies the same way we look at [people getting in shape]. When they first start, they go on an extreme diet. They say, “I’m going to work out when I get up in the morning. I am not eating this… I’m not eating that.” Then eventually, a week or so later, you’ll ask them, “You still working out in the mornings?”

The response: “I don’t have time.” Eventually, they fall off the wagon. Some companies are falling off the wagon.

At Ferrara, specifically, we are not. We are leaning on our BRG’s and the DEI council. We have the metrics and reporting to hold ourselves accountable. We’re hiring more Black talent, we are finding more Black interns, we are making partnerships with HBCUs and we are investing in the Black community. As a BRG, we are showing that there are consequences to not having a diverse talent pool and diverse associates.

What are your aspirations at Ferrara or within the food industry in general?

If you asked me this question a few months ago, I’d say, “I’m going to be a sales director. I’ve always been in sales.” However, as a member of the National Confectioners Association, I am exposed to different events, people and experiences. I’m having conversations with CEOs, vice presidents, and senior level change makers. In the future, I want to influence the culture and decisions of a company.

I don’t just want to say, “We did Now and Later partnership with BLACK ENTERPRISE and it went really well.” I want to make a connection and leverage our partnership so we can come to BLACK ENTERPRISE and say, “We’re looking for a candidate for a CFO. Do you have anybody that we can tap?” Really driving the culture of a company. I don’t know if there’s a specific title for that, but that’s what I’m leaning toward. I want to take Ferrara to a place where employees say, “I enjoy Ferrara, and you should come join us because this is different.” Maybe, Chief People Officer. That is where I see myself.

Given your position and engagement with the Now and Later brand, can you share a Now and Later story?

My favorite color is red. All of them…strawberry, cherry, whatever. If it’s red, I’m going to eat it. My Now and Later story is more recent. Being at Black Men Xcel, it was clear that everybody including [civil rights attorney] Ben Crump or [former NBA star and entrepreneur] Grant Hill responds to the brand in some way. They’ll say, “Oh, I remember Now and Later and what it tastes like” or “Yeah, I used to sell them for a nickel. I used to sell for a dime.” It is rewarding to work for a brand so many great people who have a strong connection with.