Meet Rosa Pen

Rosa's Story

When Rosa joined Tegel in 2021, she wasn’t sure exactly where she wanted her career to go. Joining the graduate programme gave her the opportunity to try different roles, discover what she enjoyed and build experience across the business.

Now Brand Manager for Tegel Take Outs, Rosa looks after campaigns, social media and new product development for Tegel’s takeaway-style fried chicken brand. Her journey is a good example of how trying something new can open up opportunities you might not have expected.

Fresh out of university, Rosa was drawn to Tegel’s graduate programme because it offered the chance to explore both sales and marketing.  She started in sales, working with quick-service restaurant customers, where she quickly discovered she enjoyed the fast pace and problem-solving involved.

“When an issue came up, you had to work out how to solve it quickly. It taught me a lot, and I ended up enjoying it much more than I’d expected.”

Rosa enjoyed the role so much that she took up a permanent position as a Key Account Executive before completing her third graduate rotation.

Having the opportunity to experience the work first hand helped her make decisions about where she wanted to go next, rather than having to figure it all out before she started.  After gaining experience in sales, Rosa was ready to explore marketing again. She returned to the team as a Marketing Assistant working on Tegel Take Outs, before progressing to Brand Manager.

Today, her role brings together several aspects of the business, from marketing campaigns and social media to developing new products. One of the things she enjoys most is being involved in the product development process and seeing an idea move from conversations and decisions across the business to something customers can buy.

Stepping into the Brand Manager role brought a new set of challenges. There was a lot to learn, and building confidence in her abilities was an important part of the transition.

Rosa found that one of the most valuable things she could do was ask questions, even when she felt she should already know the answer.

"As I worked through new challenges, I started to realise how much I was capable of. You can keep learning while taking on more responsibility. You don't have to have every answer from day one."

It’s a lesson she continues to carry with her: confidence grows through experience, and asking for help or clarification is part of learning to do a role well.

One project Rosa is particularly proud of is helping bring the first gluten-free product for Tegel Take Outs to market. Joining the project partway through, she helped work through a number of hurdles, including ingredient sourcing and a last-minute packaging redesign for Australia.  When things were delayed, staying calm and bringing the right people together made a difference. Sometimes, picking up the phone and talking through an issue was more effective than letting the pressure build.

Seeing the product make it onto the shelf was a real highlight for Rosa, bringing together the teamwork, problem-solving and learning that have shaped her career at Tegel so far.