Geering is now the central operations director at the Heineken-owned pub arm in what was once “a very male-dominated business”.
She explains: “Throughout my career, I let myself be clouded by ‘impostor syndrome’, never thinking I was good enough, wishing I had more confidence, I spent too much time worrying what other people thought and thought I’d be found out.
“I wish I had more confidence in my own abilities and if I could tell my younger self anything today would be trust yourself, be bold and own it, really own it because you know what you’re doing.”
On balancing her work and family life, Geering says: “I’ve been really fortunate to have an incredibly supportive family. They have been my cheerleaders every step of the way.
“When my daughters were young, it was hard and took some adjustment in juggling work and travel – it really wasn’t easy. I was working twice as hard in what was, at the time, a very male-dominated business.
“We were managed by spreadsheets and timetables. My mother-in-law had a timetable as well and she knew where everybody needed to be and it kept us all on track. It was a bit of a military organisation!”
A truly Welsh person, Geering states she was born into the industry. Her grandparents had a pub in Brecon, her father trained as a chef and eventually bought his local pub so from a young age, she was immersed in pubs and hospitality and often “roped in as free labour”.
“It was cleaning pubs to waitressing to working behind the bar and in the cellar, line cleaning, etc,” she says.
“As a teenager, a bit of rebellious one I suppose, I thought I don’t want to be in the family business, I want to carve out my own career and do something different but I ended up finding myself doing a hospitality degree and the pull of the industry was just too strong.
“In university, I joined Bass Taverns, which had a brilliant training programme that took you through the ranks – that was where the fire was lit.
“I climbed the ladder there from assistant manager to manager and, whenever I saw the area manager visiting, I was like ‘I want his role’. I was very ambitious and was always looking for the next step.”
Cherished time
By the age of 24, her dad had grown his business to several pubs so Geering decided to go back and help him out.
She sees the time spent with her dad as a period when she learned a huge amount and also a time she cherished the most.
She adds: “We grew to a 30-site pub company, which he eventually sold and that’s when I entered the leased and tenanted world. I joined Brains Brewery and was with them for several years. I was a BDM for leased and tenanted then.”
From Brains, she moved to Admiral Taverns and was with the group for several years and then moved on to Punch.
“I moved from BDM to regional operations director and moved across with the acquisition of Punch pubs by Heineken to its Star Pubs division,” she states.
“And I moved across this regional director back on to leased and tenanted for Wales and west at the time and then eventually moved to the role of central operations director.”
She explains her current role is the end-to-end customer journey, from on-boarding, recruitment to the training team to the back-office support team and also procurement with non-drinks and drinks – also looking to streamline processes and systems to make ease of use key for everyone.
Highlights of her career are not selfish ones. She reveals: “What truly stands out for me is the people. I’ve met some incredible, inspiring and like-minded people throughout my career who are just as passionate about this industry as I am.
“Many of them have become lifelong friends and I love meeting them at industry events such as The Publican Awards – we are just one big hospitable family.”
Of course, everyone has low points – and many are from five years ago – Geering says: “Every year we’ve got challenges, industry-wide, but on a more personal front, I hate bringing this up all the time, the pandemic was probably the toughest. It was heartbreaking.
“Pubs are places where people come together – that’s what we do – and to suddenly see them closed was devastating.
“The positive I can take out of it is how resilient this industry is. We adapt, we innovate – look what happened with deliveries and takeaways of beer and food. We really do all pull together and it reinforced we are a community at the end of the day. It’s not just a job.
“We are still on the road to recovery but it did accelerate a lot of the changes we knew were coming in the consumer landscape, such as that stay-at-home element, home entertainment, people going out less, low & no and healthier choices. We’ve got to work a lot harder to get that consumer out to the pub.”
Honesty is clearly something Geering invests in and what causes the most pressure in her job shows this…
“Apart from the obvious industry challenges, it’s technology,” she states.
“It’s a constant challenge and there was a time when I was the tech-savvy one in meetings fixing and showing people what to do but now I’m asking my daughters to show me – the pace of change with this is relentless.
“It’s difficult to stay ahead and also choose the right tools that genuinely help me and my teams because it’s already changed by the time you’ve embedded something.”
Can’t know everything
A genuinely human approach is again offered on the subject of whether anything has surprised Geering about taking the role she currently has.
She says she is a detailed person and although she doesn’t micromanage, she likes to have the knowledge and be aware of everything that’s going on so she can make better decisions or support my team.
She adds: “What I realised is when my previous roles have been purely focused on one area, operation and pubs for instance, now I’ve got seven functions, I can’t know everything and it’s accepting that as well – and reminding people too.
“You have to step back and trust your teams more so you can think more strategically and support them. It’s probably not been a surprise but more of a huge shift in moving into this role.”
Geering admits her proudest moment was born when attending a ‘women in leadership’ event.
He says about four years ago, she had the opportunity to listen to female C-suite leaders.
She explains: “One that really stood out for me was a lady called Sonia Davis, and she was the CEO for [luxury travel business] Scott Dunn. I found her really inspirational. She’s a fellow west Walian and her entire story really struck a chord with everything she was saying such as the lack of confidence, imposter syndrome, etc. It really gave me the push to be bold and go for my current role.
“I knew the role would become available so I set the markers out with all the relevant people to say I wanted that job so I was being bold and really clear.
“That was the moment where I truly believed in my own abilities and that belief really changed everything in my career.
“I look back on that with pride and say to myself ‘well done’.”
Equally, someone wanting to reach her career heights is something Geering is happy to give advice on.
“I would say what I’m telling my 18-year-old daughter now is ‘don’t rush’,” she begins. “Be patient because your career is not a race, it’s a journey. Take your time to really learn and grow.
“Although my career path was more linear, I’m really a big fan of the squiggly career path because it is OK to have those sideways moves because it broadens your skills. Every role you go into improves your skill set. You’re building that cross-functional knowledge, whether it’s in your business or across different companies and that’s what you will carry forward.”
She adds not to lose sight of reality and to have your feet firmly planted and look out for roles that can teach you people skills, leadership and resilience.
Working in a pub is probably one of the best places to build those skills, Geering states because “you’re interacting with different characters, a wide range of personalities, thinking on your feet, under pressure, always busy, managing stress and expectations. You’re always wanting to deliver your best at the same time”.
She adds: “You will build emotional intelligence as well, because you recognise those characters the more you go through life as well and that’s hugely important.”
I’m a workaholic
Physical activity is an aspect in Geering’s personal life that she bring into her working role and, every couple of years, she will take on a big physical challenge.
She says: “It’s my way of resetting a little because I am a workaholic, I love work because I enjoy it but sometimes you got to sit back because you’ve got your family, friends and your own mental health and wellbeing.”
She says the last big event she took part in was Pedalling for Pubs in Sri Lanka and the next one will be Pedalling for Pubs in the Lakes. The event itself is great, she explains, but it’s the training and the lead-up she finds invaluable because it “forces me to put down the laptop, go out and train”.
“I can step away from work, take care of myself, involve the family and it does help you become your best self and that way you can engage better in work and inspire others as well.”
Of course, leadership can put anyone in a position of loneliness and sometimes Geering has found this to be the case.
“As you move through to more senior leadership you know some decisions are resting solely on yourself.
“However, building that network, having people around you that can support you can bring you together.
“It’s invaluable to involve my team as much as possible because it’s not about me having all the answers, it’s a kind of more collaborative effort. Everybody’s on board and feel they’ve been part of that decision.”
To this end, decisions must be made at any business and Geering offers sage words to smaller pubcos looking to expand.
She explains: “As a BDM, I’d always be meeting pub operators who wanted to go from one site to two to three… and although it’s exciting, it’s really overwhelming and it’s probably the most difficult step to take because you’ve got to have the right infrastructure to support that so that means strong back-office systems and controls, really decent information and data so it gives you time and clarity to focus on what’s really important, which is your teams and people out front – not stuck in an office trying to analyse data.
“We do a lot of customer surveys and if teams are happy, your customers are happy as well.”
The three qualities a good leader must possess are empathy, authenticity and adaptability, according to Geering.
She continues: “With empathy, it’s about staying close to reality and really understanding the challenges that my team, the teams or/and customers are facing.
“I might not have all the solutions but just being there and being genuine, caring and understanding really does help and builds trust as well.”
On authenticity, she says this is core to her beliefs and it was really good advice she had received early in her career by an industry leader and is “the best advice” she was ever given.
“Losing imposter syndrome means ‘this is me’ and this is how I lead,” Geering says. “I’m not hiding or trying to put on any heirs or graces. Be yourself and that has served me really well as a leader.
“By being genuine, you bring your whole self to work and stay true to your values – people respond better to that.”
On adaptability, the world doesn’t stand still, she says, so one needs to be open to change, being able to pivot when needed and also being able to navigate through challenges and changes. She adds it keeps you grounded as well.
Excellent leadership means leading with your heart and head, Geering says.
She continues: “I’ve been fortunate to work for some really great leaders who’ve really inspired me and I’ve taken a lot of the best bits.
“I have observed how they do it and built a great culture where people thrive, knowing you can only achieve success through that collaborative approach and bringing people on the bus with you.
“It’s about being a leader who you’d want to work for.”
Finally, Geering states she wouldn’t change a thing if offered the chance to do so.
Geering says: “I have loved my journey. I’ve worked through many levels of the industry that have really supported me in my role.
“When you think of the grassroots of being brought up with pubs and understanding the intricacies around running a pub and bringing operational experience into central teams – that’s invaluable insight and perspective.
“I wouldn’t trade it for anything. I love it.”
