Life at General Mills
Cheerleader finds cereal success
By day, Tove Garber is a senior brand associate on the Cheerios team at General Mills. But outside of work, she holds another important role.
Following her dreams
She’s a Minnesota Vikings Cheerleader. And she lives for gameday.
Born and raised in Minnesota, Garber has always loved the state’s sports teams. She grew up dancing and dreamed of one day becoming a Vikings Cheerleader.
“I have wanted to be a Vikings Cheerleader for a really long time. I actually auditioned five times before I made the team,” says Garber. “I was on the training program, which is kind of a backup team they had for four years before I finally made the team. This is my third season.”
Garber loves to perform but says the Viking’s involvement with the community is what really stood out to her about the team.
“Something that drew me to be a Minnesota Vikings Cheerleader was the opportunity to be with the community,” she says. “The Vikings works really closely with all different organizations within Minneapolis and outside the metro area.”
The year she made the Minnesota Vikings Cheerleaders team was the same year she joined the Cheerios team at General Mills.
“Some amazing things happened the year I made Vikings,” she says. “That was the same year I got my dream job at General Mills … and I met my now husband.”
Garber attributes part of her success to the support she’s received from General Mills and her coworkers.
“General Mills has really enabled me to pursue my passion by allowing me the flexibility to do what I need to do to succeed,” says Garber. “As long as they know that I’m doing everything I need to do in the office, they’re 100% supportive of doing things outside the office.”
But she says juggling both roles takes a lot of work.
“I feel like time management has become one of my best friends. I’ve learned how to work my day and allow myself to succeed in everything.”
On the Cheerios marketing team, Garber supports new product launches and limited edition releases.
“What I love most about working on the Cheerios team is that we get to work on such a large brand and make a huge impact,” says Garber.
The Vikings are also supportive of Garber, and her teammates, in pursuing both roles.
“Everyone on the team is either full-time students … full-time employees; they’re nurses, they’re in corporate, they’re all doing incredible things.”
At the end of the day, it’s all about being with her teammates and doing what she loves.
“We get an opportunity that is unlike anything else.”