In this 6‑questions‑in‑7‑minutes interview, Professor Pete Alexander talks with Bobbi Jamreska, Director of Product Management at Sea Group, about her work in automated mobile robots for warehouses, the safety motivations behind the technology, her personal journey toward better work‑life balance, leadership principles she lives by, referrals to other inspiring leaders, and a glimpse into her first job running a flea‑market food stand for her father. Bobbi emphasizes the importance of reducing workplace injuries through automation, fostering genuine work‑life balance as a manager, leading by example and being mindful of the impact of a leader’s words, and she shares contact information (LinkedIn) for further connection.
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This is Professor Pete Alexander with the Winning at Business and Life podcast, where business leaders share their insights. It is 6 questions in 7 minutes because successful business leaders are busy and rarely have more time to spare. So let's get to it. Question number 1: In a few sentences, please tell me who you are and what you do.
Sure, my name is Bobbi Jamerska, and I am the Director of Product Management at as well as training and documentation for, uh, Sea Group.
Bobby, it's great to have you on the show. Question number 2: What's the best thing about working in your industry?
Yeah, so my industry is, um, automated mobile robots for in warehouses and manufacturing. And so the thing that really drew me to it is the safety aspects of having that be an automated process. There's a lot of injuries when people do it. I have an uncle that was actually injured and eventually died from his injuries from a forklift accident. And so the opportunity to create automation that reduces those risks to humans is what drew me to it.
Wow, that's a compelling story. I'm glad that you're being able to help others not have what happened to your uncle. Question number 3: I hear from other business leaders that staying in a good work-life balance for them and their team members is a challenge. What are your thoughts?
Yeah, it's interesting. I used to have a real problem with that. I couldn't really delineate work-life balance, and I probably worked way more than I needed to. And I had an experience with a manager that sort of reset my prioritization of those things that made me realize that I was giving a bunch of my time and it probably wasn't really the best way to spend my time. So now as a manager, I make it a point to talk to my team about that and to make sure that they're, you know, trying to maintain that work-life balance. Work-life balance, and sometimes you are gonna work over, but generally you should really try to focus on maintaining it, 'cause I think you're a better employee when you have it.
Mm-hmm, I would agree, and would I, is it a good assumption that when your employees believe that you've got their back with that situation, that they're more likely to be more loyal and productive working for your company?
Yeah, I think it creates a better team dynamic, and I think it's better for your relationship as a manager if you can try to stress I've been some places where that was lip service, but it wasn't really the practice, and I make sure they understand that I think that's a very important part of life is to maintain that.
Excellent. Question number 4: What other successful business leaders like yourself should be on my podcast?
Yeah, so I thought about this. I have a couple specific names. So what I, what I thought about was who were the leaders that I encountered in my life that I think were really inspirational to me. And so a couple names, I can send you contacts for some of them, was John Coma, who was an executive at Omnicell a long time ago, John Rosen, who was my manager for several years at Omnicell, who's— I think he's retired, sort of retired now, I don't know. And then Tanya Portman, who is at Omnicell, she's actually the one that hired me. And then finally, I have a friend that owns the Monster Mini Golf business throughout the United States, and I'm going to send you her name because I think she'd be a really great fit.
Oh, that's great. I really appreciate those referrals. Question number 5: What insight or advice would you like to give to other business leaders?
Yeah, again, I thought a little bit about this beforehand. I think probably two things. One is to lead by example. And so that means if I'm going to ask you to do something, then I should be willing and able to take it up and do it myself if need be. And along with that, I think modeling behavior and understanding the power of your words as a leader, those are probably the other two things. So if you say that, you know, there's something that you shouldn't do, then the leader shouldn't do that either, because then that sort of demonstrates is, you know, poor leadership, I guess. And then the power of your words. I think as you start to climb up in an organization, that you need to be more aware of the impact that your words can have. You could say something off the cuff that you think is really not that impactful, but because of your position, you have to have sort of an awareness of that. So I think those are things that I constantly try to keep in mind. If I'm asking somebody to do something, is it something I would do myself? And in terms of understanding when I say things, what the impact of that is.
That's fascinating because, you know, one person, depending on the level that you are in the organization, though both people could say the same thing, but it has a different impact the higher up that you go in the organization.
Yeah, absolutely. I mean, people might jump and react to something that you thought was just an off-the-cuff comment. So— Yeah, that's definitely something I've had to learn too. But, but I think it's valuable to keep in mind.
Very much so. That's really insightful. And question number 6, tell me about your first job.
Yeah, so growing up, my first job, I was like 12. So my dad owned businesses all through high school, different restaurants and businesses. And so when I was 12 years old, he ran the food stand at a local flea market on the weekends. So we would get up at 5 o'clock in the morning and go to the flea market and make all the hot dogs and food or whatever for the day. And I worked there every Saturday and Sunday for a couple years. And then from there, a couple other food service places before I moved into adulthood and stopped actually working for my dad.
That's a great story. It reminds me, I did some of those flea market stands where, you know, it worked better than a garage sale to try and get rid of, you know, stuff that was still good, but wanted to get it out of the house. And so I remember, remember going to the vendors there as well to grab a drink or grab a hot dog or whatever it was. Yep.
Well, like I said, for a couple years, that was me. So from the time I was like 12 until probably 16, we did that every weekend.
That's awesome. So Bobbi, thank you for being on the show. How can people find you?
I'm actually— I'm on LinkedIn, Bobbi Jamreska. And that's probably the best place to look for me.
Perfect. This is Professor Pete Alexander with the Winning at Business and Life podcast. For more insights and ideas, please go to LinkedIn, YouTube, Facebook, or iTunes and search for the Winning at Business and Life podcast. Thanks for listening.
