Women in Leadership: Claiming Your Seat at the Table

Episode Guests & Host

Host: Amy Pack — AccruePartners

Guest: Terri Zandhuis — Chief People Officer, Krispy Kreme

Introduction

Amy Pack: Welcome back to Building People, Companies, and Careers. I’m your host, Amy Pack. At AccruePartners, we partner with organizations during times of growth, change, leadership transition, and transformation — here in Charlotte, across the Carolinas, and beyond. In honor of International Women’s History Month, today’s conversation features a woman leader who has spent decades shaping organizations, driving impact, and redefining what leadership looks like at the highest levels. We’ll explore her journey, the lessons she’s carried forward, and the legacy she’s leaving behind. Terri, I am so excited to have you join me for this conversation.

Amy Pack: Let’s start where we always start. Tell me about yourself.

Terri Zandhuis: That’s never in the script, Amy! Going off script right out of the gate. This is actually a really interesting moment in time for me. After 35 amazing years in this field, I’m about a month away from stepping down from my current role — and I use the lowercase ‘r’ when I say retirement, because I genuinely believe I need to stop working in order to figure out whether I want to keep working, and what ‘what’s next’ actually looks like. What I can say with certainty is that I have been incredibly fortunate. I’ve had a career working with phenomenal brands and remarkable people — always in the human capital space, long before it was called that. I’ve worked across banking, financial services, consulting, technology, and media. And then this most recent chapter has been the most joyful of them all: eight and a half years as Chief People Officer for Krispy Kreme. There is no brand quite like it — wherever you are in the world, when you tell someone you work there, they light up. I am so proud of what we built and the people I got to build it with.

Amy Pack: Your energy absolutely matches that brand. Congratulations on this milestone, and I know everyone will be watching closely to see what the next chapter brings.

Terri Zandhuis: Me too, honestly. Me too.

The Experiences That Shaped Terri Zandhuis as a Leader

Amy Pack: When you look back across your career, what moment or decision most shaped you into the leader you are today?

Terri Zandhuis: I don’t think it was a single moment — it was really a tale of two cities. The experiences that had the deepest impact on me were the people I worked for. And in most cases, I was genuinely fortunate to have extraordinary bosses, mentors, and sponsors. But I also had one experience with a truly difficult boss — and both were equally formative. When you work for a leader who creates psychological safety, gives you clarity and context, offers real feedback, and genuinely invests in bringing out your best — that becomes the standard you aspire to. You see what’s possible when leadership is done well. And when you experience the opposite — no air cover, constant second-guessing, a culture of uncertainty — it teaches you something equally valuable about what you never want to create for someone else. I have spent my career trying to emulate the former: building teams where people do their best work, grow as leaders, and trust that someone has their back. And honestly, the most rewarding part is that as your team rises, you learn as much from them as they learn from you.

Owning Your Seat at the Table: Confidence, Context, and Earning It Every Day

Amy Pack: Was there a point in your career when you had to consciously stop waiting for permission and simply own your seat at the table?

Terri Zandhuis: It’s something I’ve thought about a lot. When you’re first invited to the table, you have what I’d call positional authority — but that lasts for a very short window. What sustains your presence is how quickly you earn it. That means getting your voice in the room with clarity and conviction. It means being honest about what you don’t know while actively seeking to understand. And critically, it means showing up as if you already belong — because you were invited for a reason. I think women in particular can fall into the trap of self-categorizing as ‘still learning’ when the situation actually calls for leading with confidence and asking questions from a position of strength rather than deference. You’ve earned the seat. Own it. And then do the daily work of making sure you stay worthy of it — staying relevant, staying curious, and staying connected to what the organization is trying to achieve.

Amy Pack: They saw something in you. So like you said — own it, and then keep earning it.

Terri Zandhuis: Exactly. Own it first. Earn it every day after.

Building People, Not Just Driving Results: The Three A’s of Leadership

Amy Pack: You’ve been exceptional at developing people throughout your career. How do you think about your responsibility as a leader when it comes to building others, not just delivering results?

Terri Zandhuis: This is something I feel deeply about, and it connects directly to the kind of leaders I was fortunate to learn from. Early in a career, success is about what you personally accomplish. But as you grow and lead broader teams, it becomes clear very quickly that your job is to make the people around you successful. I think about this through what I call my three A’s. The first is Accessibility — and that doesn’t just mean being available or returning calls. It means giving people genuine access to context: what are we trying to solve for, why does it matter, and what’s the landscape we’re operating in? The second is Autonomy — trusting your team with the tools, the development, and the latitude to actually do the work and grow through it. And the third is Air Cover — having the backs of your people. That doesn’t mean shielding them from hard feedback. It means they know you’ve invested in setting them up for success, and that you’re in their corner when it counts. When you do all three consistently, you create an environment where people do their best work. And the most rewarding moment of my career? Watching someone I hired five years ago step into my role as my successor. There’s no better way to leave an organization.

Amy Pack: That really does say everything. And the teams and individuals who have worked for you reflect exactly that. So what advice would you give to a woman who’s been handed an opportunity to step into a bigger role?

Terri Zandhuis: Say yes — and then step in fully. Acknowledge the learning curve, but don’t let it be your lead. Women often carry a disproportionate share of imposter syndrome, and while I think it’s worth sitting with that feeling and understanding it, it shouldn’t be what holds you back. Lead with assurance. Build your support system quickly — find the people inside and outside the organization who are genuinely committed to your success, who will challenge you and tell you what you need to hear rather than what you want to hear. Be a great student. Seek out people who know more than you in the areas where you have gaps. And remember that showing up with confidence and showing up with humility are not mutually exclusive — the best leaders do both at the same time.

The Leadership Belief Every High-Achiever Has to Unlearn

Amy Pack: What’s one belief about leadership that you held early in your career that you eventually had to unlearn?

Terri Zandhuis: The belief that you always have to have all the answers. It’s incredibly pervasive, especially among high-performers and people who’ve been rewarded their whole careers for being the one with the answer in the room. But what I’ve found is that the willingness to be visibly vulnerable — to say ‘I don’t know, but here’s how I’m going to find out’ — is actually disarming in the best way. It makes you more human. And counterintuitively, it inspires more confidence and trust in the people around you than projecting false certainty ever would. Surrounding yourself with people who have the answers you don’t have isn’t a sign of weakness. It’s how strong leaders are built.

Amy Pack: I had almost this exact conversation earlier today. You can’t have all the answers in every room. And being willing to admit that doesn’t cost you credibility — it builds it. Vulnerability, done well, earns respect.

Terri Zandhuis: Completely. And connected to that — one of the most valuable things I’ve built over my career is what I think of as a personal board of directors. Not cheerleaders. People who are willing to tell you what you need to hear, not just what you want to hear. People who challenge you, support you through the hard moments, and give you a genuinely safe space to think out loud and be real. For me, that’s included a lot of high-powered, remarkable women — but also trusted male allies and advisors. Diversity of perspective in that inner circle matters enormously.

Amy Pack: Have the variety. Have the people who keep it real.

Terri Zandhuis: Exactly. Those are the relationships that sustain you.

The Bold Career Move That Changed Everything

Amy Pack: You’ve worked for incredible brands and done remarkable things across your career. What was the single boldest move you made that you believe truly changed your trajectory?

Terri Zandhuis: After about 12 years in Charlotte and 10 years at one of the most respected financial institutions in the country, I had the opportunity to take a Head of HR role for a division of a company just outside Philadelphia. They had made a significant acquisition and needed someone to lead the people function through that transition. And I had to genuinely wrestle with it — because I was comfortable. I loved what I was doing. I had built something meaningful. But I also knew that if I didn’t move at that moment, I might never move. So my husband and I made the decision together as a family: two careers, three kids, some fish and a couple of dogs — yes, including the fish — relocated to Villanova, Pennsylvania. We left family, close friends, everything familiar. And the first six months were humbling in a way I didn’t fully anticipate. I had been part of an exceptional, well-resourced machine for a decade. I had developed an incredible toolkit. What I hadn’t realized was how much of my work had been operating within an already-built system versus building from scratch. This new role required original thinking, architectural decisions, and a level of ambiguity I hadn’t had in years. It was hard. It was also the most formative professional experience of my career. We rebuilt the team, drove meaningful cultural transformation, and I came away with capabilities I never would have developed otherwise. And I never would have had the opportunity that eventually brought me to Krispy Kreme if I hadn’t taken that risk first. Big personal move, significant professional risk — and it unlocked everything that followed.

Amy Pack: And you came back to Charlotte, which wasn’t even the plan.

Terri Zandhuis: Not at all — we genuinely thought we were leaving for good. Coming back was a gift. And I’ll say this: leaving gave me something I couldn’t have gotten any other way. You don’t fully appreciate what you have until you’ve had to rebuild it somewhere new. We came back with a much deeper sense of what this city and these relationships mean to us. After 25 years here — with that one exception — Charlotte is absolutely home.

What Meaningful Success Looks Like Beyond Title and Achievement

Amy Pack: As you look ahead to this next chapter — the lowercase R, as you called it — what does meaningful success look like now that it’s no longer defined by title or organizational achievement?

Terri Zandhuis: A few things. First, leaving well. Being able to hand the reins to a successor I helped develop, with an organization and a team that is genuinely positioned to thrive — that’s not something every leader gets the privilege of doing intentionally, and I’m deeply grateful for it. Second, the relationships. Over 35 years across multiple companies, some of the most meaningful things in my life are the people who are still in it — not as colleagues anymore, but as friends. The fact that those relationships have endured through career transitions, personal ups and downs, and every kind of change imaginable tells me something important about what actually matters. And third, the opportunity to use this experience in new ways — non-profit board work, mentoring, and frankly, the luxury of being able to choose what comes next rather than having it chosen for me. I’m someone who is genuinely energized by contribution and connection. I don’t see myself sitting still. But I’m looking forward to figuring out what that looks like on my own terms.

Amy Pack: I cannot picture you sitting idle. And on the mentoring piece — that topic comes up constantly right now, and for good reason. The young professionals entering the workforce today are navigating more complexity and adversity than I’ve seen in my 35 years. The challenge of building real professional experience, relationships, and cultural instincts in a largely virtual world is one I don’t think we’ve fully reckoned with yet.

Terri Zandhuis: I share that concern deeply. Those of us who came up in offices — with mentors in the hallway, informal culture to absorb, relationships built through proximity — often don’t fully recognize the invisible scaffolding that shaped us. For people who entered the workforce in a fully virtual environment, that scaffolding simply wasn’t there. The missed opportunities are real, even if they’re hard to quantify. My strong encouragement to anyone early in their career: if there is an opportunity to find a mentor, join a resource group, participate in a cross-functional project, or simply be present in a room with people who have experience you don’t — take it. The compounding value of those experiences over time is enormous. And the same goes for networking. We saw it collapse during the pandemic and recover slowly. Even now, in 2026, it requires real intentionality. The people who wait until they’re in a moment of urgency — a job loss, a relocation, a pivot — to start building those relationships find that the muscle isn’t there when they need it most. Build it now, while the stakes are low.

Amy Pack: That’s such an important point. Networking built out of desperation feels different and shows up differently than networking built from a genuine place of connection and curiosity. Build the relationships before you need them.

Terri Zandhuis: Exactly. It’s the difference between authentic connection and transactional outreach — and people feel that difference immediately.

Closing Remarks

Amy Pack: Terri, thank you so much for sharing your journey so openly today. Your story is a reminder that great leadership isn’t about having all the answers, accumulating titles, or staying comfortable — it’s about building people, taking bold risks, staying curious, and leaving things better than you found them. Anyone who has had the chance to work with you, alongside you, or for you is genuinely fortunate. I appreciate you, I’ve loved getting to know you and your family over the years, and I cannot wait to see what the next chapter looks like.

Terri Zandhuis: Amy, you are a perfect example of a colleague who becomes a friend — and that means everything. Thank you for this conversation and for everything AccruePartners does to champion these kinds of connections. I’m grateful.



Amy Pack: Thank you, Terri. We’ll be watching.