Tastefully Simple CEO Dishes on how to Cater to your Customers and Employees
October 4, 2007 (Des Moines, Iowa) — The Principal Financial Group® has enlisted Jill Blashack Strahan, chief executive officer and president of Tastefully Simple Inc., as guest presenter for its complimentary teleclass, "Build a Rapport: How to Attract and Keep Your Most Valuable Customers and Employees." The program, to be held October 30, is part of the award-winning educational program that provides tangible advice to women entrepreneurs.
"Jill's three principles — be abundant, make magic and be real — have allowed Tastefully Simple to be hugely successful," said Michelle Swanson, advertising officer, The Principal®. "Jill was able to build her company from the ground up and is now eager to share business building tips with other women business owners."
The teleclass program, launched in 2003, features best-in-class speakers, from bestselling author Suzy Welch, to internationally-renowned time management expert Julie Morgenstern and "Good Morning America's" Financial Contributor and Ariel Capital Management, Ariel Mutual Funds President Mellody Hobson.
Held on "Teleclass Tuesdays," sessions are exclusively designed to meet the needs of a growing business owner. Each session allows the audience unique interaction in a casual format with nationally-recognized business leaders and thinkers, many of whom are women entrepreneurs themselves.
Meet the Speaker
Founder and CEO of Tastefully Simple Inc., Jill Blashack Strahan has customer and employee relations down to a science as she is responsible for more than 300 employees and 24,000 independent consultants. The company, established in 1995, is based in Alexandria, Minn. and offers upscale, easy-to-prepare gourmet foods that cater to today's hectic lifestyles. Blashack Strahan developed Tastefully Simple into a $120-million company.
Blashack Strahan's solid business model is built on the two basic concepts — taste-testing and positivity — which are at the foundation of Tastefully Simpl's success.
A graduate of Alexandria Technical College, Blashack Strahan is recognized as a leading entrepreneur and mentor. She has been featured in the Minnesota Business Hall of Fame by Twin Cities Business, one of Inc. magazine's "Inc. 500" All-Stars, Fast Company magazine's Top 25 Woman Business Builders and is an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year finalist.
How to Get Involved
Register for teleclasses, hear audio of past classes, and garner leading resources on a wealth of salient growing business issues from fellow business owners at www.principal.com/women. Classes are held at 12 p.m. Central (1 p.m. Eastern, 11 a.m. Mountain and 10 a.m. Pacific) on the dates scheduled.
About the Principal Financial Group
The Principal Financial Group® (The Principal®)1 is a leader in offering businesses, individuals and institutional clients a wide range of financial products and services, including retirement and investment services, life and health insurance, and banking through its diverse family of financial services companies and national network of financial professionals. A member of the Fortune 500, the Principal Financial Group has $282.1 billion in assets under management2 and serves some 18.1 million customers worldwide from offices in Asia, Australia, Europe, Latin America and the United States. Principal Financial Group, Inc. is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol PFG. For more information, visit www.principal.com.
1) "The Principal Financial Group" and "The Principal" are registered trademarks of Principal Financial Services, Inc., a member of the Principal Financial Group.
2) As of June 30, 2007.
