Propane Personality: Tamria Zertuche

Zertuche

Tamria Zertuche
COO
Ferrellgas

Education

Colorado State University
Completing a doctoral program for a Ph.D. in Organizational Learning, Performance, and Change

Colorado State University
MBA in Data Analytics

University of Wisconsin-Whitewater
Bachelor of Science in Management Computer System and Business Administration

Work Experience

2016-Present
Ferrellgas
⦁ COO
⦁ Chief Information Officer and Senior
Vice President of Business Operations
⦁ Vice President of Information Technology
2001-16
Blue Rhino
⦁ Senior Director of Information Technology
1997-2020
TAZ Technology
⦁ President
1995-97
Jockey International
⦁ System Analyst
1990-95
MGIC
⦁ Systems Analyst

Zertuche directed the IT department at Blue Rhino, Ferrellgas’ tank exchange business, for 15 years. Photo courtesy of Ferrellgas

The ‘rule of change’

Zertuche is currently completing the doctoral program for a Ph.D. in organizational learning, performance, and change at Colorado State University.

“The No. 1 rule of change is you have to have support from the top. When the CEO of the company speaks directly to everyone involved with change on a weekly basis, because of Zoom, because we were all able to come together, we were able to implement change pretty quickly. Support from the top is integral; that’s 101 for change.”

Ferrellgas President and CEO Jim Ferrell speaks highly of Zertuche, calling her ‘a world-class COO.’

“One thing I’ve gotten a lot of practice at over the last four months is speaking to the investment community about who we are as a company,” she says. “One thing that hasn’t changed is we are focused on our customer. We are all about our customer and making it easy to do business with us and putting that as the focal point. … We have been transforming the company away from just thinking about the product and really thinking about the logistics, the final mile and finding the right professionals to execute well on that.”

Customer expectations

“Every industry is shaped by customer expectation, and those businesses that are successful can proactively predict customer expectations and then meet them. That is where our success will lie and where our success has been to this point. We are aligned to customer expectations.”

An avid runner, Zertuche enjoys spending time outdoors. Photo: Tinpixels/E+/Getty Images

Tech solutions provider

Zertuche has spent much of her propane industry career with Blue Rhino, Ferrellgas’ tank exchange business. Her background in technology enabled her to provide solutions for a business with tens of thousands of selling locations. Solutions addressed customer relationship management, data analysis and mobile technology, for example.

“I came up through the technology side of the company,” she says.

Hobbies

“My family is very important to me, and I love to spend time writing and enjoying music. I am an avid runner, sometimes enjoying the competition of a race, and I enjoy spending time outdoors; hiking and trail runs,” she says.