MIAMI, FL - Knowledge and wisdom are some of the most precious commodities in our industry, and with experience gaps and unprecedented changes in our world over the last ten years, sharing both has become invaluable.
While getting to know members of SEPC’s 2026 STEP-UPP Class like Kat Ciriello Clark, Senior Manager for FDC Quality at Target, she and her cohorts pointed to the core of the program’s purpose and the needs of the industry alike in spreading both knowledge and wisdom: curiosity.
"STEP-UPP very much so has reinforced the adage of lead with curiosity—curiosity should be at the core of your role, your drive, your development, and, ultimately, your success,” Kat reflected. “There are many other things, but if nothing else, STEP-UPP has both quietly and loudly reinforced that reality. Every leader—and all of us are leaders—should lean into that curiosity key in our piano on the regular. We are in an environment where everybody should be asking questions, and it's constantly reinforced by every vendor that we go to.”
I had the opportunity to see it firsthand, seeing just a couple of the several vendors the 2026 class visited for their final in-person meetup in Miami, Florida. Leaders of host companies who partner with SEPC shared both their own experiences and deep commodity insights, encouraging consistent dialogue so everyone would walk away with the tools they need.
“If we fail as leaders to continue to lean in and press that curiosity key, we will stifle our development and we will stifle our business to a certain degree. Stay curious and take the risk of asking the question, or digging in, or coming back to something," Kat drove home.
Thankfully, the curriculum and structure of STEP-UPP is built around tapping into and fostering that curiosity. From a team-building exercise within the first hours of meeting, leaders like Mike Roberts, Gary Baker, Faye Westfall, and more teach the group to form bonds, ask questions, and lean into each other’s perspectives. Because one of the great advantages of the program is that while all students are from the buy-side, many are in different roles working for a range of differing formats with different backgrounds.
“My expectations were that things would center around the procurement standpoint. I thought there would be a lot more focus in the program on what the buyers need to know or what they're being exposed to and how they make their decisions. Rather, this is definitely more of an end-to-end look at the business of produce than I had originally expected. So that was definitely a pleasure—every cog matters and without one, things can really fall apart. It was wider and more end-to-end than I had anticipated," Kat pointed out.
It is an important aspect, as everyone’s time is so valuable. Kat and I discussed at length how challenging it can be to juggle the demands of both onsite and offsite work of the program with the day-to-day demands of the job. Yet she was quick to point out that SEPC ensures everyone maximizes their time and comes back from each opportunity with tools they can immediately utilize.
"Relationships are so centric to the business and the returns are immediate. The trickle-down effect to availability on shelf—if the grower is just not getting the sizing that X Company requires on its spec, the relationship relies on having that conversation with the buyer, for the buyer in turn to have that conversation with quality on what they heard straight from the supplier, and navigating what we are willing and able to do for, say, a new crop for example. Buyers don't know unless the suppliers and the growers let them know, and so that chain has got to be nice and firm throughout," Kat pointed out.
The lessons of STEP-UPP not only directly follow that throughput, it provides resources, connection, and fundamentals to navigate these scenarios with the whole supply chain in sync. At the same time, a class becomes something more akin to family.
“We have fun and care about each other. We're all in the same fight, but more importantly and more realistically, we all have the same values, and we enjoy being around each other. Yes, there’s fun, but also, there’s appreciation for each of us and our pieces in the puzzle. I'm learning something from them and seeing their value. That's what makes it family,” she concluded. “You don't have to always know all the ins and outs about each other's path or role within the big, big puzzle of providing good, healthy produce to our families and guests. But we all have to respect that we are a piece of it. And without one cog, that machine won't run."
The 2026 STEP-UPP Retail and Foodservice Class heads toward graduation at SEPC's Southern Innovations in Nashville, TN, this September, and I can’t wait to cheer on another group emerging from this foundational program.
