Katie Albright, 33
Director, Commercial Operations – Strategic Growth Initiatives
Rexel USA
Katie has been in the industry and with Rexel for nine years. “Like most, I stumbled into the industry,” she recalled. “My college roommate was moving and trying to help the team backfill her role. I was looking for a new position at the same time and sent her my resume. The rest is history!”
Katie started with the company in 2014 under the Gexpro banner in its National Support Center in Indianapolis. “While at Rexel, I have had five different positions and moved from Indianapolis to Denver and back again,” said Katie. “My first role was supporting one of our largest national accounts, supporting multiple branches across nine different states. I took an operations specialist position in 2015, and then moved to Denver (in the same role) in 2017. Though they were the same job titles, I considered it a promotion. They were vastly different jobs with different focuses. This is the role where I really saw the day-to-day of the distributor life. It was Rexel’s second largest location in the country at the time and I touched all parts of the branch. It’s also where I first got exposure to managing people: I managed a team of five counter sales individuals at that time and would later manager up to 21 people in 5 different functions.”
Katie also joined Rexel’s two-year leadership program in 2016. “This was a turning point in my career,” she said. “It allowed me to move to Denver and get a completely different experience from what I would have had in Indianapolis.”
In 2018 Katie was promoted to operations manager and then to business simplification manager in January 2021. “I took on the additional ESG manager responsibility in January of this year but had been leading the effort since February 2022,” she noted. Katie accepted a new role, director, Commercial Operations—Strategic Growth Initiatives, in September.
Asked what about the industry appealed to her—and continues to do so—Katie said, “I wanted a company I could grow with and learn from. During my initial interview, the team told me that the sky was the limit at Rexel if I was willing to put the work in, which I was. That statement was why I came to work at Rexel and why I continue to work at Rexel today. I have had many fantastic opportunities in my career to expand my skill set, learn something new, and learn the business.”
Katie pointed to electrification and decarbonization as challenges the industry is currently facing. “With the renewed focus on decarbonization in the United States, our industry continues to see more of a priority within our organizations and with our customers. Though it is more of an opportunity, it still brings immediate challenges to ensure we are ready to handle the need and deliver to our customers,” she explained. “In my previous position, I was fortunate to help Rexel with our internal and external missions to decrease our carbon footprint and continue to be the best in class to support customers through electrification. As distributors, we consume many natural resources to store and ship products. As the ESG manager in our region, I partnered with Rexel nationally to help build plans and programs to implement within my region. I worked hand in hand with our branches to decrease our usage and change behaviors in areas within our control. As our simplification manager, I worked with the sales leaders to understand customers’ needs, ensuring we build processes and change that will allow us to better service the customer.”
What would Katie tell someone new to the industry? “Advocate for yourself and don’t be afraid to take on an opportunity out of your comfort zone,” she said. “You are your best advocate, and if you don’t put your hopes, dreams, or aspirations into the world, there is no way anyone else can help you find the right opportunities to make them come true.”
When she’s not working, Katie can be found spending time with her two-year-old son and her husband, traveling, and taking scenic photos from their trips. “I also love watching Hallmark movies in my free time,” she said with a laugh. “I’m a sucker for cheesy romances.”
Each year tED magazine recognizes 30 of the industry’s best and brightest under the age of 35. Please visit tedmag.com/30Under35 for nomination information and updates about the 2024 program. Questions can be sent to tED Editor Misty Byers at mbyers@naed.org.
Tagged with 2023 30 Under 35, 30 under 35, people, Rexel, Rexel USA