At L&P, we’re inspired by our colleagues who go above and beyond to enhance our businesses. This month, we’re sharing stories of women at L&P who have improved our products and processes with their creativity and leadership.
Meet Amy Simmons! Amy is the Director of Product Lifecycle Management for Home Furniture and has been with Leggett for nearly 21 years in total.
After working here for just over a decade, she left the company briefly before returning. She’ll celebrate her second ten‑year anniversary with Leggett in May.
What is a day at work like for you?
My day revolves around serving my internal customers in the Home Furniture BU – functional leaders, engineers, project managers, and sales partners – and supporting my amazing team. On any given day, I might review costs on new products moving through our Idea to Launch (I2L) process, complete financial reviews to determine whether projects should move forward, or prepare pricing for products manufactured in our Asian locations.
My team and I also analyze sales performance for newly launched products, identify trends in our existing product lines, and help shape product strategies. Behind the scenes, we’re cleaning and tagging our data and implementing a new database to build stronger analytics for the future.
How have you improved L&P processes and products?
My biggest accomplishment has been developing our Home Furniture Product Data Management System in partnership with Meggan Witte and the Management Information Systems (MIS) team. I give tremendous credit to Meggan and her team for listening to my ambitious idea for a system that could capture data tags and lifecycle information to power better analytics. They worked tirelessly to build it to HF’s specifications, and as we collaborated, the project expanded to automate our item code request and review processes as well. It has launched and is still a work in progress, but I’m incredibly proud of what we’ve created together.
I’m also proud to be involved in continuous improvement projects for our I2L product development and sales monitoring processes. Since I2L launched a few years ago, we’ve been in a constant cycle of improvement as we’ve implemented processes and learned what does – and doesn’t – work.
What challenges have you faced while working to improve our business, and how did you overcome them?
In Home Furniture, one of our biggest challenges is the complexity and sheer volume of our Stock Keeping Units (SKUs). Our Product Data Management system – and the ongoing data clean‑up work – will help us manage that complexity much more efficiently.
Creating buy‑in during a culture shift or process change is always challenging. I try to connect with people on a personal level, listen to their concerns, and adjust the process where it makes sense. Over time, I’ve learned that building genuine trust and mutual respect goes a long way toward overcoming those challenges.
How do you approach problem-solving?
I like to use iterative problem‑solving by brainstorming with my team and other stakeholders, developing processes, testing those processes, and then evaluating and revising them.
I’m very process‑oriented. I’m also a strong proponent of using data to provide insights for improved problem‑solving. There’s nothing wrong with using experience or a “gut feel” to generate an idea, but it’s important to back it up with data and research.
What do you like to do outside of work?
I’m an avid reader and recently joined a couple of book clubs. When I’m not reading, I love getting outside for walks and hikes with my husband, Gregory. I’m a proud fan of the Kansas Jayhawks (Rock Chalk!) and the Kansas City Chiefs. I relocated in May 2025 and am still exploring my new home of Lawrence, Kansas.