|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Emmanuel “Manny” Ramirez is willing to admit that he is a full-on procurement junkie. The director of strategic sourcing at Smithfield Foods had better be, because he oversees more than $620 million in spend across services that include corporate functions, healthcare, marketing, and professional services for the largest pig and pork producer in the world.
“That’s not a number [budget spend] I think about,” Ramirez explains. “Growing into a leadership role has required a pretty significant mindset shift. My main concern at the start of every morning is ‘what kind of obstacles can I remove for my people? Where are they stuck, and what can I do to help?’ I think that’s a much more productive place to start my day.”
That people-first approach reflects a broader leadership philosophy: Ramirez believes that when teams are supported, connected, and unblocked, strong performance becomes a natural outcome rather than a forced target.
Highly Adaptive
Before Ramirez was a people leader, before he was a procurement junkie, he was just a young man who got really good at adapting to challenging situations. He grew up the son of two Colombian immigrants. His father was a Green Beret, frequently and consistently deployed to battlefields across the world. His mother slowly built her own successful home daycare business. The challenge was moving every two or three years and having to start over.
“Moving around so often, making new friends, that created adaptability in me,” the director explains. “I’m an extrovert. I can talk to anyone, and I feel very comfortable fitting into different cultures, perspectives, and other situations where others might be more uneasy.
At the time, I would tell you it sucked. But I came out better for it.”
That skill may speak to his openness to try something new. Ramirez credits an early mentor, Charleen Widener, for recognizing skills that would make him a good fit for the procurement industry. The director says his mentor gave him confidence, coached him, and, ultimately, provided him with a path that would shape the rest of his career.
“I couldn’t even spell ‘procurement’ at the time,” Ramirez jokes. “But Charleen told me that I would be a great fit. She took a chance on me. She brought me into a discipline. And I took that trust incredibly seriously.”
Ramirez attended the Institute of Supply Management, the gold standard of his profession. He racked up certification after certification and built experience at Ferguson Enterprises and BlueCross BlueShield prior to coming to Smithfield in 2021. He’s been promoted twice since then.
Growing Into a Leader
As he’s taken on people leadership responsibilities, Ramirez has had to rise from “enthusiastic individual contributor” to an enabler for others. That can be a tough evolution for people who genuinely love what they do. Ramirez was the person leaders relied on to pull off complex, high-impact projects for a great deal of his career. Over time, however, the measure of success has shifted from Ramirez’s individual performance to his ability build, develop, and lead a high-performing team.
“My team spends so much time together, I don’t want to create an environment where people dread coming in. What can I do to improve their lives at work? What can I do to build connectivity? I’m not thinking about savings targets, because I have faith that my team will figure it out. If we focus on making sure my team feels like they can do their best work, the rest will follow. I genuinely believe that.”
Ramirez’s leadership approach starts with the moment he wakes up. The first-generation immigrant says that he makes sure to be thankful for the roof over his head, the fact that he gets out of bed unaided, and things many of us take for granted. He knows that he is not far removed from a family that, through no fault of their own, wasn’t sure they were going to have a meal at night. It’s a daily reality check to keep his priorities in perspective.
Remember the Roots
The now father of two married a proud Virginian, and Ramirez says that they have intentionally raised their children bicultural, highlighting the best that both bring to the table. His children speak Spanish and will be sporting both USA and Colombian jerseys for the upcoming FIFA World Cup this summer.
Growing up first-generation, Ramirez remembers just how important overcoming imposter syndrome can be for first-gens like himself and parents alike.
At a recent Christmas party, Ramirez pulled aside the mother of a young professional on his team who was still early in her professional career. He told her how impressed he was, how her daughter had “punched above her weight class.” It was a passing, honest comment from him. It was much more for the mother of his colleague. The young woman came back from the holiday break and told him how much the conversation had meant to her mother.
Moments like that resonate deeply with Ramirez because he understands the pride, sacrifice, and uncertainty many first-generation families carry alongside professional success. He knows firsthand that career milestones are rarely individual accomplishments alone, they often represent years of hard work and hope from parents who may not fully understand the corporate world, but deeply understand opportunity.
Those experiences continue to shape both his parenting and leadership philosophy today. Whether at home or in the workplace, Ramirez hopes to instill confidence, pride in identity, and the belief that people do not need to abandon where they come from in order to succeed.
At Cintas, we help companies keep their workplaces running safely, efficiently and professionally, delivering essential products and services to over one million customers and allowing leaders to focus on what matters most. That partnership is especially critical for customers like Smithfield Foods, the world’s largest hog producer, where scale, complexity and reliability are part of everyday operations. Supporting that work is Emmanuel Ramirez, a procurement leader overseeing more than $620 million in enterprise spend across facilities services, healthcare, marketing and professional services. With a career shaped by continued education, mentorship and discipline instilled early by his family, Ramirez brings intention and resilience to the partnership — reinforcing the trust and collaboration that allow Cintas and Smithfield Foods to succeed together.
