Q&A With Heather Kern

Commercial Leader, Pest Management North American Division

Bachelor of Science degree in communication disorders from Central Michigan University; master’s in business management from Aquinas College

What do you do for Douglas Products?

I serve on our leadership team, and I lead all commercial activities for our pest management brands in the United States, Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean.

Main responsibilities?

My main focus is working to grow our markets down to the consumer and end-user levels. The goal is to help our fumigation customers grow their businesses. So, for Vikane^® gas fumigant we launched the FumigationFacts.com website, which makes it easier for fumigators to educate homeowners about structural fumigation and its unique benefits. And we want to grow the bedbug market. In the postharvest market we need to show commodity folks the value of fumigation versus other treatment options.

Douglas Products has been a quiet company, but the acquisition of the sulfuryl fluoride (SF) business from Dow AgroSciences made us the leader in fumigation with SF and phosphine (PH₃). That meant taking a lead on regulatory matters, such as new Office of Inspector General rules in Florida and working with industry partners to manage reevaluation of mitigation rules in California. Marketing and regulatory are distinct, but in this business, part of delivering quality products is quality support.

I also manage our sales representatives who support our structural and postharvest fumigation customers. They are a veteran group. My focus is to allow our team to help our distributors and fumigation customers to be successful to their customers.

Your background and career path?

I worked for The Dow Chemical Company for 15 years in sales, marketing and purchasing roles. I worked in sales and marketing for the first 10 years, and then moved into a global logistics purchasing role. I started working with the Vikane and ProFume^® gas fumigant brands in 2012.

What do you enjoy most about your job?

I enjoy working with people and I love the fumigation industry. It is a very close-knit, welcoming group of folks. There is a lot of passion and sincerity around what our customers do, and we wouldn’t be successful without them.  It’s a very complicated industry. I enjoy the challenges. I had an opportunity to do something else at Dow AgroSciences, but said I wanted to stay. I wanted to help our customers sell more fumigation by understanding their challenges and helping them overcome them. When Douglas Products acquired the SF business, I came over with the rest of our team in the acquisition.

Learning about the fumigation business?

I was amazed that it was such hard work, so complicated and so hands-on. I wasn’t familiar with fumigation before working in this business. No two jobs are exactly the same. I became an immediate believer in the process. I’ve seen it work. I’ve also seen alternative treatments, and it reinforces for me that once you know about the advantages of fumigation it’s easy to make a decision to go with it. Education is so critical.

What might surprise people about your background?

My focus in college was to become an audiologist, which explains the degree in communications disorders. By the last semester of college I questioned that goal. I went to work for Amway Corporation for a few years. I managed outsourcing call center resources for temporary support to other companies. During that time I decided to go back to grad school for a master’s degree in management, focusing on marketing and international business. I began working for Dow after I finished grad school.

What motivates you?

I want to see fumigators make the profit they deserve. To me, fumigation is the Cadillac of pest management. I think consumer awareness around fumigation is a big opportunity for our customers and incredibly important. I want to help the industry develop that awareness.

What do you to relax?

I am very active and have two boys — not a lot of time to relax. I do like to know what I’m eating, so that fits with my love for gardening and cooking. I also enjoy travel and running. Running is relaxing and burns off the stress. I enjoy interesting races in different cities, such as the Disney Princess half-marathon that I ran this past February in Orlando, Florida.