ST. CHARLES, MO. — With more than 30 years of experience enhancing corporate reputations and stakeholder engagement, Racquel White found a way to combine her love of pets with her passion for growing responsible businesses through relationship building and advocacy. After years working for legacy brands such as Marriott and Coca-Cola, White took advantage of an opportunity to bring her skillset to Royal Canin North America.

“I’m proud of being able to continue to build a really great team here at Royal Canin,” she said. “I’ve loved playing a significant role on our leadership team … and really being able to play a strategic role as an advisor.”

In the following Q&A, White shares how her leadership position at Royal Canin has provided her with the opportunity to mentor her colleagues and engage with the industry while supporting the healthy lives of pets.

PFP: How did you get your start in the pet industry, and how did that experience lead you to where you are now?

White: The role that I’m in now is how I got into the industry. I have done communications and stakeholder engagement and government affairs all my career, but I’ve done it for different industries. For Marriott, Coca-Cola, for the automotive industry, car auctions and commercial cleaning. I found myself looking for a new role and this one came up at Royal Canin — I jumped at the chance. I’ve always been a dog lover, so this made a perfect fit for me. I’ve been in this role for almost four years.

PFP: What has been your biggest challenge — personal or professional — related to your work in the pet industry?

White: I can’t say that there have been many challenges. I absolutely love what I do. Corporate affairs has always been a good mix where you get to know a lot about the business and government affairs. I get to communicate both to news media and to our associates. Everything has its inherent challenges — making sure that you’re sharing the strategy of the business, while making sure that you are connecting with government officials the right way. But I've been pretty fortunate in that I have loved every minute of it.

PFP: Tell me about a professional accomplishment in the pet industry that you are proud of.

White: I think, first of all, I’m proud of being able to continue to build a really great team here at Royal Canin. I’ve loved playing a significant role on our leadership team — having corporate affairs represented on a leadership team that sits alongside the CFO, the regional president and so on, and really being able to play a strategic role as an advisor. I think being able to see this business transform and be the growth business that we’ve known it could be is something I’m particularly proud of.

PFP: What is top of mind for you and/or your business in the industry right now?

White: We are the only brand that has breed specific formulas and we have that because we believe that different breeds have different challenges and predispositions. I grew up with German Shepherds, and we know that they have a propensity toward hip dysplasia and joint issues. I had no idea when I was a little girl that this kind of food existed for German Shepherds, one that helps to support joint health throughout their life.

There’s such an opportunity to really educate around breed specific formulas — why they are important and how important it is to target specific nutritional needs for our pets. It’s really quite a big deal.

The biggest opportunity for Royal Canin is to really educate pet parents about the different breed formulas that we have, why they are necessary and important for your pets and how your dogs and cats benefit from them.

PFP: If you could pick three trends influencing the industry today, which are the most important and why?

White: Humanization of pets — So many people feel like their pet’s food needs to look like their food. If they can see peas and carrots in their food, they need to see peas and carrots in their pet’s food. I don't know if that is necessary. It is about the nutrients that our pets need — are they getting the nutrients in the best format to put them to use? When you put the focus on the health and wellbeing of your pet, you might find that you make different decisions about what to feed them.  

Sustainable packaging — As I think with many industries, we are trying to move toward being more sustainable in our practices and in how we operate. First, we look at packaging, how can we move to more sustainable packaging? All of our cans, multipacks, and cardboard containers are currently recyclable. For bags, we also have a recycling partnership with an environmental services provider, TerraCycle® to set up collection points at different locations within communities, including veterinary clinics and pet retailers.

Sustainable sourcing — We’re looking at sustainable ways to get the nutrients we need for our pet food in ways that aren’t harmful to the environment such as using algae oils versus using the fish themselves. We’re constantly looking for better ways and improved ways of sourcing our raw materials.

PFP: What is something about the pet industry that people outside of the industry may not realize?

White: I love sharing little tidbits about what I learn about pet food to my friends and family, they always find it really interesting.

Many people don’t realize that there is breed specific food that is better suited for their specific breed of dog or cat. There’s also food out there that’s made in different shapes to help slow down how fast your pet eats his food.

It’s amazing what nutrition can do for pets with allergies and other issues. I think we’re starting to understand how important nutrition is for us and our pets.

“Staying in your comfort zone keeps you where you are, so getting uncomfortable every now and then really helps you to push the boundaries of what you experience and the experience that you bring to your work,” said Racquel White.

PFP: What advice would you give to other women in this industry?

White: I always say to other women, in any industry, that I believe strongly in two things. One is truly understanding business strategy and how your business makes money and how you can best support your business in that. The other thing I would say is take risks — I believe in taking risks. Staying in your comfort zone keeps you where you are, so getting uncomfortable every now and then really helps you to push the boundaries of what you experience and the experience that you bring to your work.

I love the experience that I have here as a member of a Mars company as well as a pet care company. We have veterinarians, veterinary technicians, and a science and diagnostics company, all of that under the Mars umbrella and a part of the pet care ecosystem. I think it provides a great opportunity for career growth as well as great opportunity for mentorship — that’s something that I really enjoy doing. I try to talk to someone new every month and let them know I'm available if you want to ask questions and want to talk about where you want to go, what experiences you want to get in your career. More than anything — and I believe this mostly about women — I think we need to do everything that we can to help each other through our career environments.

PFP: Just for fun, do you consider yourself a dog person or a cat person? Or, if you have pets of your own, tell us a little bit about them.

White: I always grew up with some sort of dog in my life. About 12 or 13 years ago, I was walking my parents’ dog in their neighborhood, and I saw a dog in an overturned trash can looking for food. He came out and played with my parents’ dog for a minute and then followed us home. I kept saying, “little guy, you got to go,” and he would stop, look around and keep following me. Finally, I just let him keep following me home. He was the sweetest thing. The vet figured out by his teeth that he was about two years old. Max has been with me ever since; he’s the best thing that ever happened to me.

When I lived in Georgia, I would take Max to a particular dog park and I noticed that a lot of his friends were dogs that had some sort of handicap. He had a lot of fun with three-legged dogs, he was good friends with a blind dog. I thought to myself how amazing it was that animals just accept each other for the way that they are. They don’t ostracize each other; they just accept each other.

Years ago, I wrote a book about Max’s adoption to teach kids about the process of adopting and owning a pet. How you can go to a shelter to pick out your pet, then they get their shots and a bath and you can take them home. Then you have to exercise them and take care of them before you go to school. The book was to teach kids about the responsibility of owning a pet.

I’m writing a second book now about Max going to a dog part to meet all his friends. He meets a three-legged dog and he meets a dog with two daddies. It’s a fun way to teach kids diversity and acceptance through Max and his experiences.

Racquel White is a leader in reputation, communications and stakeholder engagement at Royal Canin North America, a role she’s held since 2021. As a leader, she is committed to responsibly creating and growing sustainable business through relationships and advocates, removing roadblocks and enabling positive growth within the business. With 30+ years of building, enhancing and protecting corporate reputations in a variety of industries, White has nurtured important stakeholder relationships in global governments, led M&A integrations, became a crisis expert and leveraged her expertise across the world to benefit legacy brands, such as Mariott, Coca-Cola, Newell Brands and Mars. She received a Master of Arts in Public Communications and a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish/Latin American Studies, both from The American University.

Continue reading about other female leaders featured in our Women in the Pet Industry series.