When Maggie Timoney was appointed as Chief Executive Officer of Heineken USA, she became the first woman to serve in that position for a major U.S. beer company. And by doing so, she has made her historical mark in a strongly male-dominated industry.
Timoney has been in the beer and cider industry for more than 25 years. She joined Heineken USA in 1998 in a national sales planning role and rose to the position of managing director of Heineken Canada in 2006. She moved back to Heineken USA in 2010 as senior vice president of human resources, before taking on a position as managing director of Heineken Ireland three years later. She then returned in 2018 to Heineken USA to serve as CEO.
And like so many other women in the industry, Timoney aims to be considered as a peer and regarded in the same way as male CEOs. She said in that respect, "I'll be judged on my results, not whether I'm male or female...I was put in this job not because I am a woman. I was put in this job because Amsterdam believed in me."
But standing out is not new to her. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree and MBA from Iona College in New Rochelle where she played basketball. She was the team’s leading scorer and also captain of the Irish National Women’s Basketball Team. She holds the record as one of the greatest Irish women’s basketball players.
"I am often asked about how I feel about being a woman in business. I just don't think about it that way and I think it's because we grew up playing basketball. There was a girls' team, there was a boys' team, but when it came to games against other teams, the boys and girls had to join together in order to have enough players," she said.
In any case, Heineken certainly made right move, as a female CEO could help increase its marketing strategy and brand’s connection with women customers. Timoney is known for her knack of making the complex simple and her ability to deliver outstanding results through people. Back in Ireland, she had already achieved the company’s successful expansion into cider. And there is surely much more to come.