Each month, we put the spotlight on a Tirlán employee and for our February newsletter, we’re talking to Amber Taylor, Regional Director Americas

Amber Taylor, Regional Director Americas, grew up on a large crop farm in Missouri and her role is to grow the market across the USA, Canada, Mexico, Caribbean, Latin America and South America, now that we have more freedom in sales.

The MBA graduate is on a mission to make Tirlán the go-to ingredient supplier and is passionate about building strong relationships with customers, both inside and outside of work.

Amber joined Tirlán in September of last year. She lives in St. Louis, Missouri with her husband Ben and three boys – Conor (4), Cooper (2) and Caden (10 months) and works closely with the network she has built over past experiences to marry value-add customers with Tirlán’s excellence.

“I have also been tasked to look for mergers and acquisitions (M&A) opportunities in the region to grow the Tirlán portfolio. Everyone is so kind and helpful. The diverse ingredient profile is challenging in a very positive way. We can bring Tirlán to many different companies through many different applications. I love my trips to Ireland! I am very thankful for the opportunity to grow Tirlán into a household world-class brand.

“Technology and innovation are at the forefront of changes. When I think there couldn’t possibly be more ideas to do with milk, lo and behold something pops up. One that really stands out is the cell-based agriculture and precision fermentation. It will no way take over the dairy industry, but it will surely be there to supplement dairy needs with food supply needs increasing and land resources decreasing.”

Customers make the business and Amber is proud to have cultivated many different customers with several top companies over the years. “Face to face visits with customers are the best way to develop relationships. I get to know the customers I manage. Most customers want to be heard and it’s my job to listen. Once I have heard what they really need, which is sometimes different than what they think they want, I offer suggestions and we work on things together.

“I like the teamwork approach. I get to know customers outside of work as much as possible. We develop strong relationships and keep up with each other’s families over the years. It is important to understand what drives the customers to help make the business most successful.

“The customers I work with are in various business sectors such as sports nutrition, infant nutrition, active lifestyle and foods. These customers applications’ include bars, dry mix beverages, ready to drink beverages, dips, yogurts, ice cream, snacks, cereals, bakery and the list goes on!”

As Amber continues to grow into her role, she is eager to continue the Tirlán legacy of world-class, increasing value-add customers in the region, thus equating to higher returns to the farmers for their milk and investments.

“Flexibility is key! Customers have ever-changing needs and it is important to pivot to those needs so that the business can continue to deliver world-class ingredients and service. This business is not a one person show, but rather a team that makes all the business come together. The US is poised for growth. I would love to see Tirlán invest in assets in the US from dairy and plant,” she said.

As for hobbies and interests outside of work? “I love spending time with my family. We try to do a beach trip once a year. We love to visit family, which is about 2-3 hours south of us. We love to go to the farm and take in the slower pace of life and get our hands dirty in the fields and with the animals.

“When not working or busy with the three boys, I love to entertain and cook. I don’t do anything fancy, but it’s a good relaxed time with plenty of seconds. I also enjoy gardening. We moved into our home about a year ago. My husband and I have lots of outdoor projects we want to do.”

For participants, the Emerging Leaders programme helped bring Tirlán’s Values to life

Above: Cian Moloney, Advanced Analytical Manager, Tírlán

In January 2024, the Capstone event for Tirlán’s Emerging Leader programme took place in the Newpark Hotel, Kilkenny. Designed to accelerate development and growth, encapsulating our Values along with our coaching behaviours, the Emerging Leader programme consisted of three two-day modules, complimented with one-on-one coaching with a professional coach. Cian Moloney, Advanced Analytical Manager at Tirlán, took part in the event, where programme participants teamed up to bring Tirlán’s Values to life.

“The Emerging Leader programme aims to give people the tools and skills they need to become leaders in the business. Modules were very much in keeping with our four key Values and demonstrated to us how we can lead in a way that promotes the Values,” said Cian.

The programme encouraged participants to think about the ways in which they approach tasks. “It led us to question ourselves, how we might approach certain situations and perhaps have a greater appreciation of the bigger picture and what’s really important. I think one of the biggest lessons for me is that you can’t control everything but that you can probably have more of an impact than you might think.”

The progamme also presented Cian with an opportunity to learn from the other participants. “The group came from right across Tirlán and it was an ideal opportunity to learn from others with different experiences. It was a great group and it was so interesting to see how others handle different situations. Everyone ended up learning from each other. It was a lot of fun too.”

Speak less and listen more was another key learning from the course. “I think people naturally tend to jump in to say they know the answer or volunteer information. For me, one of the biggest lessons from the course was that if you speak less, you’ll learn more and get a deeper understanding of things.” At the end of the programme, the group was spilt up into four sub-groups and each assigned one of Tirlán’s Values. Each group was tasked with delivering a presentation to senior leaders at Tirlán on how their Value was embedded into the business. “We had to communicate what the Value really means and what we can do every day to ingrain it into our working life. It was great working with Emma, Joanne and Steve and on the day it was a bit nerve-wracking, but it went well! It was a great exercise to really make you think. We have these four core Values that we see all the time, but I’m not sure we stop often enough to think about what they really mean, or what we can do to really embody the Values. The presentations were a great way to bring them to life.”