Meet Jean Broders: Senior Brand Manager
Jean moved with her family to Iowa in the late seventies. Her father took a job with Grain Processing Corp., which gave her an insider view into the company and the benefits it offered its employees and their families.
In the late eighties, Jean went to work at Grain Processing Corp., where she started in Customer Service and spent ten years working to expand her knowledge of the company and growing her skillset.
Jean was then asked to join the Cat Litter team with Kent Pet Group, a sister company of Grain Processing Corp., which consisted of only two other people at the time. She took on a marketing role and quickly became a jack-of-all-trades for the brand. Jean has been with the Cat Litter brand, now World’s Best Cat Litter™, for 20 years.
Jean’s favorite part about living in Iowa is the hot, humid summers. “You can find me outside – going for walks, bike rides, fishing, yard work – anything that allows me to be outside,” she said.
In her spare time, Jean has two dogs — Mazey, a lab retriever mix and Rogen, a labradoodle. Mazey is much like Jean, in that she loves the outdoors. Rogen, on the other hand, is a 90-pound lap dog.
“With my busy travel schedule, he’s become a good companion for my husband and truly is a member of our family,” said Jean.
As Senior Brand Manager for World’s Best Cat Litter™, one of Jean’s most important priorities is maintaining a positive brand presence both within the organization and within the cat community with consumers. “With the brand name World’s Best Cat Litter, it forces you to always maintain a premium position within the category and with consumers,” said Jean. “Having a product that truly lives up to its name and consumers that like to engage with us, makes my job a little easier.”
One of Jean’s favorite projects is the brand’s one-of-a-kind charitable initiative, their Give Litter™ program. “Not only does it allow us to partner with many shelters across the country and support their efforts,” said Jean, “But it also allows us to reach consumers, right at the point of adoption.”
Her favorite part of working at Kent Pet Group is the diversity of her role and the encouragement for company leaders to continue to grow in their positions. “My role has allowed me to lead and develop relationships with outside partners, that have helped to contribute to the growth of World’s Best Cat Litter,” she said.