Great Expectations for Gaby Gutierrez

Gaby Gutierrez, vice president of global supply chain planning for Amway, has always been driven by results

Gaby Gutierrez, VP, Global Supply Chain Planning, Amway (Photo by Garrett Bleshensk)

BY KEITH LORIA, HISPANIC EXECUTIVE

From her early days in Chihuahua, Mexico, surrounded by close-knit friends and family, Gaby Gutierrez always dreamed of becoming a doctor, but life had something else in store for her.

“When I was fourteen, my dad—who was an engineer at Ford—got a new work assignment, and we moved to Michigan,” she recalls. “It was thrilling but terrifying. I didn’t speak English at all when I started my freshman year of high school.”

Driven and curious, Gutierrez learned the language quickly. By the time she headed to college, she was still holding on to her dream of working in medicine.

“I started out premed, but as I went through it, I realized how many years I’d need to commit to school,” she explains. “At the same time, my status changed from resident to international student after my parents returned to Mexico, which meant tuition skyrocketed. I began to reconsider what I really wanted to do and what was possible.”

That reflection opened the door to a new passion: business and supply chain. She shifted her focus and graduated with a degree in logistics and distribution management. Today, she serves as vice president of global supply chain planning for Amway, a health and well-being company based in Ada, Michigan.

Gutierrez has been with Amway for fourteen years, but the journey there was rich with experiences that shaped her leadership style and business perspective.

Her first role was at Irwin Seating Company, a family-owned business where she dove into logistics and distribution.

“In a smaller company, you learn so much because you can’t hide behind numbers, and you have the opportunity to wear many hats,” she says. “After a few years, though, I realized I was ready for more.”

That realization led her to pursue a master’s in supply chain management at Michigan State University. While studying, she met individuals from Whirlpool and soon took a job as a supply chain analyst.

The new role meant long commutes and living away from home during the week, but it taught her invaluable lessons about the fast pace and high expectations of a publicly traded company. “I loved it, but ultimately, I wanted to be closer to family,” she shares.

That decision brought her to Amway, where she started as a material planner, managing orders and ensuring materials were ready for production.

“It was a great entry point because it taught me about manufacturing and planning from the ground up,” she says. “After a few years, I stepped into a supervisor role leading our planning activities for the homecare business and eventually led various areas of supply chain planning.”

Although Gutierrez had experienced leadership early on right after college, a role she admits was “too soon” at the time—her roles at Amway allowed her to truly define her identity as a leader.

“I’ve always been driven by results and clarity,” she explains. “But this was also where I began shaping my leadership brand and learning to balance high expectations with empathy and humility.”

Gaby Gutierrez, Amway

(Photo by Garrett Bleshenski)

An especially transformative chapter came when she accepted an assignment in South Korea, leading a team in Busan and managing distribution planning across Asia Pacific.

“I led a team of energetic, talented young professionals,” Gutierrez recalls. “It was an incredible experience—no one left the team during my time there, which I’m really proud of because it is a testament of the culture we built together.”

That Korean team laid the foundation for a larger supply and planning organization at Amway. A decade later, Gutierrez finds herself leading that very team as an executive, an experience she describes as “surreal.”

Today, she is spearheading one of Amway’s major initiatives for 2025: the Demand Planning Transformation, which focuses on how the company forecasts and plans for global product demand.

“With over sixty shops in places like Thailand and Malaysia, it’s a complex puzzle to make sure products are available where and when they’re needed,” she says. “We’re introducing new software and becoming more connected to our customers than ever.”

Her responsibilities span beyond the US and Korea, with significant SC planning hubs in India, Mexico, and Netherlands.

“I’ve always been driven by results and clarity. But this was also where I began shaping my leadership brand and learning to balance high expectations with empathy and humility.”

Gaby Gutierrez

Another priority for Gutierrez is pushing the evolution of technology and processes to drive stronger business outcomes.

“Supply chain planning is deeply data-driven,” she notes. “The better we can harness our data and technology, the more impactful we can be. This year, we’ve been focused on building business cases and preparing for more transformation.”

With a team of about 220 people, Gutierrez’s leadership philosophy is about providing clarity, creating vision, and empowering her teams.

“I have high expectations because I believe we owe it to ourselves to bring our best,” she says. “Sometimes, that means pushing people beyond what they thought they could do. But it also means leading with empathy, recognizing we’re all human and supporting each other in and out of work.”

Beyond her work at Amway, Gutierrez is passionate about continuous learning. Last year, she taught her first college-level supply chain class, a milestone she considers part of her own growth journey.

“Being around younger generations, seeing how they think and solve problems, is inspiring,” she says. “Staying curious and understanding industry trends helps me bring fresh ideas back to my work.”

From her roots in Chihuahua to leading global transformation efforts at Amway, Gutierrez’s story is one of resilience, reinvention, and relentless pursuit of growth—for herself and the people she leads.

Hispanicexecutive.com