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Enjoying
herself—again
By Pam Droog
Juanita A. Hinshaw Sr. Vice President/Chief Financial Officer of
Graybar Electric Co.
Juanita Hinshaw says she really did enjoy retirement—all 14 months
of it. After she left Monsanto as vice president and treasurer in
March 1999, she stepped up her civic and charitable activities,
served as chairman of the board of the National Association of Corporate
Treasurers and traveled with her husband. She even took golf lessons,
but didn’t get to play much, because Graybar Electric came calling
with a very tempting offer. “That’s about the time I started missing
what I enjoy most,” Hinshaw says, which is “finding creative ways
to finance a company’s growth. I didn’t think there would be anything
like that in St. Louis.”
At first, Hinshaw turned down Graybar, the St. Louis-based independent
wholesale distributor of more than 800,000 electrical and communications
products. “I still had things I wanted to do,” she says. “But I
said, ‘Come back later and we’ll discuss it further.’ I thought,
it can’t hurt to talk.”
She weighed the pros and cons. The fact that Graybar is privately
held appealed to Hinshaw. “That means you don’t have to deal with
outside influences, and you can focus on long-term goals rather
than quarterly earnings,” she says. Also, she liked Graybar’s strategy
for growth. “They offered an exciting story and future,” she says.
She joined the company last May.
Today, as Graybar’s senior vice president and chief financial officer,
Hinshaw plays an important role in Graybar’s annual sales of $5
billion, and in the company’s five-year plan for growth. “Finance
touches every part of the organization, so I stay informed about
what’s going on throughout the company,” she says.
Hinshaw is involved in a new information-technology strategy assessment
at Graybar that will go all the way through implementation, she
says. She’s also busy evaluating various creative financing ideas.
“That hasn’t been done before because of Graybar’s privately held
position,” she says. “But even though Graybar is a large company,
we have strong growth aspirations, so we should at least look into
our options,” including obtaining a public credit rating. “That
would lead to us issuing public debt, which would save us money
in the long run,” she says.
Hinshaw’s career history would not surprise anyone who knew her
growing up in Ashboro, N.C. She was her high school class treasurer
and treasurer of her church. “I knew I liked dealing with money
and with people,” she says.
Hinshaw joined Burlington Industries while she attended college.
She was in management when she had an opportunity to go into the
company’s Treasury Department—in a clerical position. “It was a
big risk but it was my chance to get into the area I preferred,”
Hinshaw says. She worked in a variety of positions in Treasury,
and stayed at Burlington a total of 12 years, until she was recruited
by RJR Nabisco. Hinshaw spent four years there, when she was asked
to move to London as the company’s European treasurer. “We were
ready to go. My husband had quit his job to move to London,” she
says. “Then Monsanto called, wanting me to become their corporate
assistant treasurer. We moved, but to St. Louis.”
Hinshaw says the move was another risk, “but it put me five years
ahead in my career.” She remained at Monsanto 15 years until her
retirement.
At Graybar, Hinshaw relies on a management style that has served
her well. “I believe in a participatory style,” she says. “I like
to meet with my staff fairly regularly and stay apprised of what
they’re doing. Otherwise, I leave them alone to do what they need
to do.” This method works more often than not, she believes, “because
people tend to live up to your expectations.”
As one of the newest members of the RCGA board, Hinshaw has expectations
for the St. Louis region. One issue she’s particularly interested
in is the airport, “especially now with American Airlines’ purchase
of TWA. I’m quite interested in what will happen with the expansion
project,” she says. In addition, from her vantage point on the board
of Grand Center, Hinshaw plans to focus on promoting the arts regionally.
Besides serving on Grand Center’s board, Hinshaw chairs the United
Way’s finance committee and is a member of the executive committee.
She served as campaign-co-chair for the United Way Women’s Leadership
Giving Initiative last year. She’s also a board member of Insituform
Technologies, Inc., “another growing company with great opportunities,”
she says. In addition, Hinshaw is a board member of Ranken Jordan
Children’s Rehabilitation Center, Bethesda Health Group and KETC-Channel
9. “How do I do it? I just make the time!” she says. “I can’t attend
every meeting but I make a real effort to be at the most important
ones.”
Away from work and community activities, Hinshaw manages to read
two or three books a week and considers herself an “avid crossword
puzzle worker.” She travels to Mexico for two weeks every year with
her husband, who retired a few years ago (and stayed that way).
“It was great being away but it’s such an exciting time to be at
Graybar,” Hinshaw says. “Although the company is 130 years old,
it’s in the midst of rapid growth. I’m thoroughly enjoying myself.”
Pam Droog is a St. Louis-based free-lance writer. |
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