Schulenburg Native Named Next President of H-E-B

H-E-B’s chief operating officer Roxanne Orsak, a Schulenburg native, will become President of the company in January of next year.

H-E-B CEO Howard Butt III made the announcement last week. Orsak will succeed Craig Boyan as leader of the largest private employer in Texas.

“Roxanne is the natural choice to serve as H-E-B’s next President,” Butt said in a statement. “She has a deep understanding of our business, which she honed from a broad range of leadership roles at HE- B during her 37-year tenure. Roxanne leads by example, embodies our culture, and recognizes the unique contributions of each Partner.”

The company noted that Orsak will become the first woman to serve as President of H-E-B, “an especially meaningful milestone for the company, which was founded 120 years ago in 1905 by Florence Butt, a pioneering female entrepreneur,” the company said in a press release last week.”

Orsak grew up in Schulenburg and went on to graduate from Texas A&M University with a degree in ag economics. She went to work at H-E-B right out of college and has spent her entire career with the company.

The Record interviewed Orsak last week about her life’s journey from a farm outside of Schulenburg to leading one of the nation’s largest independent retailers.

“As a kid, I had no idea what I wanted to do,” she said. “I just had a sense I wanted to do something in business. Growing up on a farm and being in FFA, I had a deep love of agriculture. So I went for ag economics and kind of fell in love with the business side of things.”

As graduation approached and it came time for her to interview for jobs, Orsak said one of her professors offered some sage advice.

“I had this wonderful professor at A&M, his name was Dr. Jim McGrann,” Orsak recalled. “He looked at all the job offers. When you’re a poor kid, you look at pay. But he said, ‘It’s not about the pay. It’s about the culture. What kind of company do you want to work for? What kind of leaders do you want to work for?’ After visiting with the five companies that I was interested in, and they were interested in me, H-E-B came out on top.”

Orsak said a few things stood out to her about H-E-B.

“It’s Texas-based, familyowned, and they take good care of their people,” she said. “I didn’t know anything about grocery retail. But I took the job offer, went to Austin, and never looked back.”

Orsak joined H-E-B’s store manager training program right out of college. The program taught prospective managers to become top store leaders. After about five years with the company, she became the manager of H-E-B’s San Marcos store. She spent about 11 years working in store operations before moving into a sales and advertising role. From there, H-E-B picked her to head up their photography division – an important part of the business in the days before digital cameras.

“We had 24-hour photo labs in our stores, for 35 mm film,” she said. “We had 100 photo labs and a photo manufacturing plant. That was my first time learning how manufacturing works. And I managed 100 different photo labs – how do you market, how do you buy for them, how do you price for the customer – all those different things. So I actually got to run a little company inside of a big, huge company. It was a really good stepping stone for me. I got to know all parts of running a company – from HR issues, to running a manufacturing plant and stores, to dealing with Kodak and Fuji, which were huge, huge manufacturing companies at the time. That was my start.”

She later worked in procurement for cosmetics, baby care and over-the-counter medicine before moving into general merchandise. A big break in her career happened when the company tapped her to develop a new store format that became known as H-E-B Plus. These super-stores allowed H-E-B to compete with larger retailers. They include departments for apparel, outdoor supplies, home goods and on-site restaurants.

“We opened our first Plus stores in 2004 and I was the lead on that work to get those launched,” Orsak said.

Orsak’s climb up the corporate ladder embodies the culture at H-E-B. The grocery giant has a reputation for nurturing talent within the company. Hard-working, driven employees can rise high, and in Orsak’s case, all the way to the top.

“It’s a culture, and we live it,” she said. “We believe that each and every person counts. Your job is to bring the best version of yourself to work every single day, whoever you are and wherever you are. Show up and work hard, listen and learn, take great care of the customer, take great care of the partners who work with you, and good things will happen.”

Orsak credits her success to her parents, Thomas and Mary Demel.

“My parents were hard working people,” she said. “It was a small town, and they had a huge work ethic. Mom and dad worked two jobs. We lived on a farm. You worked hard. I don’t know if I understood back then that it was hard work. It’s just what you did.”

Orsak recalled a few bits of wisdom that her dad imparted on her.

“He always said, ‘Take good care of the people who are working for you, because those are the ones who are gonna make you or break you,’” she said. “And he always said, ‘Work harder than everyone else. Show up early. Always be on time. Stay late if you need to.’” Orsak said her favorite piece of advice from her father was to leave people with a little bit more than they asked for.

“He built small, modest homes in Schulenburg and he did a lot of remodel work,” Orsak said. “My dad loved his garden. He had this huge garden. We all hated his garden because we had to pick it. But he loved it. He would always take a basket and fill it with vegetables from his garden. When he finished a house or a remodel, he’d set it on the kitchen counter. As a kid, I looked at him and said, ‘Why are you doing that?’ He said, ‘You want people to know this is special and that you care about them.’” Orsak said she has carried that attitude with her.

“That’s our company culture,” she said. “So I’ve always fit right in at H-E-B because of how I was raised.”

Orsak and her husband Joe have maintained deep ties to their hometown.

“We never really left,” Orsak said. “Joe and I have always had a place here. We were high school sweet hearts. I went off to A&M and he stayed here and worked. When I got the job at H-E-B, we got married and moved to Austin. But he has always had his ranching business here in Schulenburg. We’ve always owned real estate here and a little house to stay in. Our weekends, whenever I had off, were always spent here in Schulenburg. It’s always been home to us.”

She and Joe continue to be big supporters at local FFA and 4-H shows.

“That’s how I paid for my first year of college – through the money that I made raising animals in the FFA,” Orsak said.

A lot of folks in Fayette County know Roxanne and Joe as familiar faces at church picnics, where Joe often serves as the auctioneer. Joe learned the auctioneering business at a young age from his father, who ran Edwin E. Orsak and Sons Auctioneers.

“Joe has been an auctioneer since he was 13 years old,” she said. “He was one of the youngest licensed auctioneers in the State of Texas, and he loves it. His dad started it. After his brother Edwin and sister-in-law Lois passed, the other auctions that they used to do – the estate sales and those sort of things – I guess our hearts weren’t in it anymore. So Joe just took on doing these church picnics, and he’s become pretty popular. We can’t go on vacation because he’s got a church picnic. I love to come and sit and watch him.”

As Orsak takes the reins at H-E-B, the company appears poised for continued growth.

“We’ve got some big plans for the Dallas-Fort Worth area, and big plans all over the state,” she said. “We’ve got a lot of customers to serve. All we want to do is continue to run a better business and take great care of our partners. We want them to have a great life. And we want to take care of our customers as best we can. More importantly, we want to take care of our communities.

“We want to continue to grow, but we want to grow in a smart way,” Orsak added. “We’re not interested in being the biggest. We’re interested in being the best.”