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WFF board chair focuses on sweetening the roles for women in foodservice
It is rare when a woman or man under 40 reaches the level of respect, influence and competence across a broad range of professional and personal responsibilities as has Barbara Timm-Brock.
Timm-Brock 39, performs an array of tobs official or otherwise admirably, including chief operating officer of Atlanta-based bakery-cafe chain Cinnabon and board chair of the Women's Foodservice Forum in addition to being spouse, mother, friend, mentor, athlete, gardener and musician.
But the Minnesota native reflects that her gifts are nothing more than the result of having grown up with role models who challenged her - and from having learned to overcome obstacles by staying focused and working hard.
"She's at the top of the heap in generosity, creativity, productivity - with a willingness to take on the hard issues," observes Doug Baker, president of Greensboro, N.C.-based Kay Chemical, an industry mentor who witnessed Timm-- Brock's energetic ascendancy to the central leadership post of the Women's Foodservice Forum during its most difficult period of growth and transition.
Praised by other associates and peers for her ability to process and act on amazing volumes of information, Timm-Brock thinks back to her childhood in St. Paul when her father's serious heart illness sent her mother out job hunting to support the family. That left Timm-Brock in charge of housework, laundry and other chores such as making school lunches for a younger brother and sister.
"While I went through some very tough times around my father's illness and my mother's having to work, it was a very shaping experience," says Timm-Brock. Ironically, her husband Paul opted to become a stay-at-home dad seven years ago for their now 8- and 12-year-old sons, enabling her to grow more directly toward her potential as a leader.
Timm-Brock believes she took some valuable gifts from that childhood experience - such as her knack for prioritizing and for staying focused and organized. Indeed, were it not for the family's solidarity, she might have come away from it deeply wounded, she admits.
"At times it felt like there was just so much to do - it was about survival. And yet," she explains, "there wasn't really that much expected - as...