Why the Senior Manager, Ontario Business Insights at Constellation Brands loves his job

Name: Sasha Teska

Title: Senior Manager – Ontario Business Insights

Company: Constellation Brands

Years worked in current role: 2

Years of experience in food industry: 12

In 300 characters or less describe your job:

As part of the Ontario sales team I drive the Insights that fuel growth for our wine business. In essence, I am a glorified story teller. I turn numbers into stories.

What are the top 3 characteristics you need to be good at your job:

• Analytics
• Communication
• Strategy

Why did you decide to pursue a career in food?

A career in food was something I fell into as I pursued opportunities within consumer packaged goods in Category Management and Business Insights. I enjoy being able to walk through a grocery store / LCBO and understand why things are placed where they are and what that means for the consumer/shopper. The fun part about my job is that you also learn a lot about wine in the process and everyone LOVES wine. Coming into my job, my wife made fun of me as she bought a bottle of Ravenswood Zinfandel to celebrate the opportunity. I told her Zin is a starter wine for young girls drinking for the first time. Little did I know that Ravenswood Zin is a bold aggressive red wine that is now one of my favorite wines. So, falling into the industry has been fun because I get to do something I love (working with #s) and also have a chance to learn and share wines with friends and family. Given my economics background I never thought of a career in food, now that I am here I absolutely love it!

Top 3 advice tips for students and new grads coming into the industry

1. Find your niche and exploit it: Succeeding in WINE has come from looking at things a little differently and helping those around me understand why that matters.
2. Look to understand and enjoy all aspects of the business: Succeeding in WINE means understanding the big picture so that you can adjust your role to meet the changing needs of your business
3. Winning is fun: find a way to spin everything into something positive. Being positive is infectious and helps drive winning results.

Tell us why your Food Job Rocks?

It’s a simple recipe for success:

Amazing people + Exciting Business + Positive Energy + Wine =  #Myfoodjobrocks!

Favourite quote?

“I can resist anything but temptation”  Oscar Wilde