FAIRFIELD, Conn.—Linda McMahon, founder and CEO of Women’s Leadership LIVE, will host Bigelow Tea president and CEO Cindi Bigelow in the sixth installment of “Women Can Have It All,” at Sacred Heart University.
McMahon and Bigelow will share their perspectives on women in leadership on Thursday, Oct. 27, at 2 p.m.in the forum at the Frank and Marisa Martire Business & Communications Center at Sacred Heart University. The public is invited.
Bigelow is the third generation of her family to lead the company her grandmother started in 1945. Today the company, with headquarters in Fairfield, produces more than 1.7 million tea bags a year and is the national market leader of specialty teas. A family-owned business, it employs 350 people at facilities in Connecticut, Idaho and Kentucky.
McMahon’s ongoing series features female leaders across a variety of industries who converse on topics relevant to women in the workplace, such as management, entrepreneurship and launching and changing careers. Sponsored by the Jack Welch College of Business, it examines how women can balance career, family and personal time. Can women have it all? And why is the question never asked of men?
Bigelow often speaks to students and industry audiences on career development and business ethics. She frequently travels to tea-producing regions around the world— Darjeeling, India; Sri Lanka; bergamot orchards in Calabria, Italy; and lemon orchards in California’s Central Valley—to ensure ingredients are high-quality and employees are treated fairly and equitably. She is also a champion of sustainable practices at her company’s own facilities, including advocating for solar energy, water and natural gas conservation and waste reduction.
“Cindi carries on a legacy of entrepreneurial women,” McMahon said. “Her grandmother started the company in 1945, a time when it was unusual for women to work, let alone create businesses. Cindi spent nearly 20 years working in all areas of the company before assuming her current role as CEO in 2005—she clearly knows her company and her customer. Her leadership has helped Bigelow Tea evolve into a 21st-century company while staying true to her grandmother’s vision.”
Bigelow holds a bachelor’s degree from Boston College, an MBA from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University and honorary doctorates from Fairfield University and the University of New Haven. She was the 2015 Fairfield University graduate commencement speaker in 2015, and through the years has been widely recognized for her community service. Her numerous awards include the 2014 Walter Wheeler Jr. Leadership Award, 2014 Best in the State Connecticut Philanthropy Award, 2014 John Winthrop Wright Ethics in Action Award, 2013 WEDC Award for Entrepreneurial Excellence, 2012 Woman of Influence in the Food Industry, 2010 Notable Women in Business Award, Mass Mutual and UCONN Family Business of the Year, Ernst & Young Socially Responsible Entrepreneur of the Year and the Girl Scouts’ Woman of Distinction. The Cardinal Sheehan Center, Operation Hope and Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo’s Red Ribbon Ball have honored her for her community service, and Channel 12 News featured her as a “Hometown Hero.”
McMahon’s company, Women’s Leadership LIVE, aims to promote leadership opportunities for women. McMahon is also the co-founder and former CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), a global entertainment company based in Stamford. She helped grow WWE from a 13-person operation to a publicly traded enterprise with more than 800 employees in offices worldwide. She has been widely recognized as one of the country’s top female executives and was also the Republican nominee to represent Connecticut in the U.S. Senate in 2010 and 2012.