Mission Critical: The purpose of strategy alignment

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Mission Critical: The purpose of strategy alignment

29 Apr 2026

Joanie Spencer

Since 2008, Joanie Spencer has covered the retail and wholesale sides of the baking industry.
Serving associations such as the American Society of Baking (ASB) and BEMA, Joanie is also in demand as an industry presenter on bakery operations and trends. She holds a bachelor’s degree in communication from Rockhurst University and a master’s degree in journalism from the University of Missouri.

When she’s not running or playing soccer, Joanie spends her time with her husband and 11-year-old son.

COLORADO SPRINGS, CO — From generational bakeries to newly reformed corporate entities, a smart and lasting strategy is the key to long-term growth. During the American Bakers Association (ABA)’s annual convention, being held April 19-23 in Colorado Springs, CO, an executive panel — including Paula Marshall, CEO of Tulsa, OK-based Bama Cos.; Brian LeComte, president and COO of Fall River, MA-based Gold Medal Bakery; Tyson Yu, CEO of Los Angeles-based Aspire Bakeries; and Bill Quigg, president and CEO of Richmond, IN-based Richmond Baking — shared their perspectives on how purposeful strategy and execution can create sustainable success for the future.

For Marshall, as the third generation of leadership at Bama, rewriting the company’s mission statement was an early task in her role. A mission statement, she noted, should be easy to memorize so that anyone in the company can reflect on it at any time.

“For forty years, we’ve been guided by our mission statement, which is, ‘People helping people be successful with caring and accountability,’” she said. “That’s how we build all of our policies and how we conduct ourselves, with our people and systems.”

Mission: Simple

After becoming Aspire Bakeries in 2021, the company had a similar approach, creating a mission and vision that would guide its long-term growth strategies.

Similar to Marshall, Yu emphasized the importance of simplicity in the mission to create a strong foundation.

“When the mission is simple, it easily translates into the strategy and then to execution,” Yu said. “As we build new three- or five-year plans, we’re continually guided by that mission. It emboldens us to drive toward a purpose every single day.”

Mission: Purpose-Driven

Purpose is something ingrained in the culture of Richmond Baking, as well. In developing the company’s mission, Quigg works to ensure that the company’s mission remains “trend agnostic,” and, rather, focused on a purpose-driven culture that will remain relevant regardless of what’s trending.

Although the company is more than a century old, Richmond Baking and its subsidiary More Than A Bakery, rewrote its mission statement about five years ago.

“The challenge we’ve had in our mission statement is having new leadership with issues that are close to their hearts,” he said. “For us, it’s about getting everyone in leadership to buy into the mission while staying true to what’s important to them. And that can’t be affected by whatever it is that’s trending at the time.”

Mission: Communication

From one-on-ones to town hall-style meetings, communication is the conduit from strategy to execution.

At Gold Medal, the Rule of Seven is often used.

“The Rule of Seven says that you have to repeat something — in this case a strategy — seven times, ideally in seven different formats, before it will fully cascade throughout the organization,” LeComte said. “For me, there’s no better way to do it than getting out on the plant floor and talking about how the work relates to the strategy.”

While Aspire Bakeries operates multiple facilities, communication requires different tactics, but repetition remains at the forefront.

“After setting the strategy, we’re going on four straight years of reiterating and repeating it,” Yu said. “That repetition goes a long way. We have 13 bakeries across the US and Canada, and being at the bakeries, on the front lines to repeat that simple message about what we’re doing and why, is very powerful. It’s a lot of miles and a lot of time, but reaching out from the C-level team all the way to front lines has a major impact on how we deliver on strategy.”

When the mission is simple, clear and trend-agnostic, and communication starts at the top, strategy and execution will often follow organically.

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