“John Smale pushed the company to have a deeper ear toward what consumers really want. He made a greater effort to take a listen.” Janet Reid and Gordon Brunner are two P&G Alumni who had the privilege of coming up at the company during John Smale's rise in leadership at P&G. Janet Reid is Founder, CEO and Managing Partner of BRBS World, but spent 10 years as an early African American brand manager at P&G, from 1980 to 1990. And Gordon Brunner - a familiar guest on this podcast - was...
Nov 20, 2022•44 min•Season 3Ep. 138
“The purpose, values and principles — John Smale understood the importance of the soul of the company.” Bob McDonald & Bob Gill are two P&G Alumni who share many things in common, least of which is their first name. The first is no stranger to this podcast — Bob McDonald, who served as P&G's former CEO from 2009-2013, and was the United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs from 2014-2017. And our second guest is another well known Alum to many P&G Executives — Bob GIll - who serv...
Nov 13, 2022•1 hr 8 min•Season 3Ep. 137
“Democracy works best when every eligible voter has an opportunity to have their voice. American business is built upon having a stable democracy.” Chip Bergh is President & CEO of Levi Strauss & Company — and a returning podcast guest (2020). Chip spent 28-years at P&G in leadership roles from Folgers to Swiffer, from Asia to Gillette and Old Spice. He got his start in the US Army as a paratrooper, rising to the rank of Captain. Chip came back on the pod to talk about something he's...
Nov 05, 2022•54 min•Season 3Ep. 136
“We learn from stories of character. How to live making decisions, caring for people, and carrying out the responsibility of a corporation, which John Smale perceived way before others.” For this month’s podcasts, we'll be hearing reflections from leaders on John Smale, P&G's former Chairman & CEO, who led P&G from 1981-1990, and served as General Motors’ Chairman from 1992-1995. These conversions are in honor o f the new book "Here Forever: The Timeless Impact of John Smale on Proct...
Oct 30, 2022•45 min•Season 3Ep. 135
“We live in a world of massaging perceptions. It's okay to make a mistake, but the second time you have to learn from these things.” James Michael Lafferty is a returning guest to the podcast — rejoining us for an open and honest conversation about making mistakes, and owning up to them. Jim is the CEO of Fine Hygienic Holding - a leading CPG company across the Middle East, Africa, Europe, Asia, and USA - as well as an accomplished writer, coach, and athlete. Jim is an internationally-tenured le...
Oct 23, 2022•1 hr 9 min•Season 3Ep. 134
"What gets made gets affected by the quality of the insights." Edward Norton is an actor, filmmaker, and activist. He has been nominated for three Academy Awards for his work in Primal Fear, American History X, and Birdman and has starred in several other acclaimed films including Fight Club, The Illusionist, and Moonrise Kingdom . Edward is also a UN Ambassador for Biodiversity, a successful investor (Uber, CrowdRise, and Kensho — acquired by SAP for $550 million), and deeply involved in wilder...
Oct 16, 2022•1 hr 3 min•Season 3Ep. 133
“From the moment we wake up to going to bed, we spend a lot of time consuming. But If you are consuming all day, you are not creating. We need to turn down the noise.” This week we’re sharing a talk on “The Power of Disconnecting in the Digital Era” by P&G Alumni Judy Okten - given at P&G Alumni Global Conference Madrid in 2019. It’s a topic that’s becoming more relevant as we become more and more connected every day. Judy Okten is the Co-Founder & CEO of Burgeon Labs, a science-base...
Oct 09, 2022•30 min•Season 3Ep. 132
“When you meet resistance - teach. Because one of you doesn't have the context that the other one has. Rather than debate and clash - better to explain why it is.” Kyle Schlegel, is Weber Inc’s VP of Americas Marketing and Direct-to-Consumer - where he helps bring to life the most innovative, legendary grills in the world. Prior to Weber, Kyle spent three years at Louisville Slugger before its acquisition by Wilson Sporting Goods, where he then led all marketing strategy and execution across the...
Oct 02, 2022•56 min•Season 3Ep. 131
“Business cannot sit on the sidelines — we're not moving at the scale and speed needed, we as industry leaders have an enormous responsibility to drive these tipping points.” Paul Polman, one of our most prominent and vocal P&G Alumni, who also happens to be the former CEO of Unilever. In this talk from 2021 P&G Alumni Global Conference Paul talks about "Net Positive: How Courageous Companies Thrive by Giving More Than They Take" - a recent book he co-authored, the Financial Times named ...
Sep 25, 2022•28 min•Season 3Ep. 130
“That was the moment I realized that if you're able to articulate complex things in a very simple language, that's the ultimate goal – in arts, in literature, in business.” Alyona Tkachenko is the CEO and cofounder of Nommi, a mobile WiFi hotspot that provides LTE data in over 100 countries. She also serves as the VP of Global Markets at Sergek Development. Prior to founding Nommi, Alyona was the head of marketing for Love to Code, a coding school for children in Kazakhstan. Alyona started her c...
Sep 18, 2022•43 min•Season 3Ep. 129
“Diversity is almost synonymous with humanity — our communities and companies should reflect that diversity of the rest of the world to make impactful change.” David Youn is President of Master Lock, the 100-year-old American company that is the leader in manufacturing & sales of locks, safes, and commercial security equipment. David started as a management consultant but learned that he enjoyed running businesses more than analyzing them. From entrepreneurship to corporate, from P&G’s b...
Sep 11, 2022•50 min•Season 3Ep. 128
“Leaders must define the vision of how the world could exist — based on values, ideas, imagination — and driven by love for your people and passion for possibility.” Tom Asacker is a longstanding strategist, speaker, and trainer — well known to many P&G executives. Tom is a writer, former GE executive, past owner of a high precision electronics firm and Founder & CEO of a medical device company. Tom holds medical patents and product design awards - and is recognized by Inc Magazine, MIT,...
Sep 04, 2022•51 min•Season 3Ep. 127
“Making improvements is challenging. But we can't give up and we've got to learn how to do it better.” “Speak, engage, help, be helped. Be part of society. Be an optimist towards the fact that people can change, that people can learn.” John Pepper, P&G’s former CEO, and Ursula Burns, Xerox’s former CEO, sit down for a candid conversation on race, understanding and our discourse with each other. This is a conversation the two longtime friends have been having for years - alongside many of us....
Aug 28, 2022•57 min•Season 3Ep. 126
TED talks are "Ideas Worth Spreading" - short talks and presentations that have lit up the internet since 2006. But did you know a # of Alums have shared TEDx talks at official events with their communities? We're featuring THREE such TEDx talks from co-hosts - Andrew Tarvin, Ida Abdalkhani, and Rajiv Satyal — all of which have amassed more than a few views online - and share one important theme in common (a coincidence, we promise!). We guarantee you'll enjoy these talks, and hopefully learn a ...
Aug 21, 2022•48 min•Season 3Ep. 125
“Approach life as a lifelong learning journey. Be curious enough to really ask why - as that wisdom has no expiration date.” Ana Maria Henao is PepsiCo’s Global Marketing VP, leading the Marketing Excellence and Partnership Strategies across both food and beverages for PepsiCo globally, reporting to the Global CMO. Ana Maria has over 22 years of Marketing experience, having started her career at P&G in Bogota, Colombia, as an ABM in detergents. Having worked in a variety of roles across deve...
Aug 14, 2022•45 min•Season 3Ep. 124
“No question, you have to speak up. Because I know people spoke up for me and questioned incorrect assumptions or bias in the room.” K. Patrick Davis is the VP and General Manager for Blue Buffalo, the #1 natural pet food brand in the US, and now General Mills largest brand. Previously Patrick was Henkel’s SVP and Head of US Laundry & Home Care — working on brands like All, Snuggle, Persil, and Renuzit — where he also functioned as the division CMO. Patrick also spent ten years as VP + Gener...
Aug 07, 2022•49 min•Season 3Ep. 123
Katie Couric is renowned and award-winning journalist, producer, and best-selling author. Katie is currently the Founder of Katie Couric Media, a multimedia news and production company. Katie also publishes the daily newsletter "Wake Up Call" From 2013 to 2017, Katie was Yahoo's Global News Anchor. Katie has been a host on all 3 major US TV networks — NBC News from 1989 to 2006, CBS News from 2006 to 2011, and ABC News from 2011 to 2014 — and in her early career she was an assignment editor for ...
Jul 31, 2022•34 min•Season 3Ep. 122
“Tech will do everything - but it won’t make you a better human. Use technology to get less busy and focus on being a better human, and the world will be a better place.” Vivek Sunder is CEO of Cuemath - the education technology company whose mission is to make the world’s children great at math — to create invincible problem-solvers who will go on to solve humanity’s biggest problems. Vivek’s been in the lead of the India-based company since 2021 - with aims to scale the business globally. Prio...
Jul 24, 2022•44 min•Season 3Ep. 121
“You need other people — work well with others and learn from them. The more you grow, the more you realize you don't get anything done alone.” Poliana Sousa is Latin America’s Coca-Cola™ Lead, which includes communication strategy and innovation in 39 countries in South and Central America, the Caribbean, and Mexico. Poliana also plays a key role in the brand’s long-term strategic planning and leads key global projects as part of the Global Coca-Cola network. Before joining Coca-Cola, Poliana h...
Jul 17, 2022•46 min•Season 3Ep. 120
“Leading in social media and fighting bad actors - these problems didn’t always exist. It's fascinating how quickly things change.” Jakub Kocinski is a Digital Safety & Trust leader - with experiences across P&G, Google TikTok, and Meta — where he’s held responsibility for a wide array of key issues of digital platform integrity. Prior to his most recent role of Responsible Innovation at Meta - Jakub served as Director of Trust & Safety at ByteDance, the company behind the popular ap...
Jul 10, 2022•51 min•Season 3Ep. 119
“Creativity is listening to an idea, even a bad idea, and helping turn it into a good idea.” Guy Raz is arguably among the most prolific voices in podcasting. He’s the creator and host of popular shows like “How I Built This”, “Wisdom from the Top”, and “The Rewind” — and the co-creator of “The TED Radio Hour” and the kid’s show “Wow in the World.” Guy is the only person to have had three shows ranked in the top 20 podcasts worldwide and a recipient received the Edward R. Morrow Award, the Danie...
Jul 03, 2022•55 min•Season 4Ep. 118
“We are all intersectional - uniqueness is our greatest gift. Empathy makes you a better leader.” This Pride Month, we wanted to replay a few conversations with past LGBTQIA+ guest on this P&G Alumni Podcast. Shelly McNamara is P&G’s Chief Equality & Inclusion Officer, where she’s responsible for shaping culture, policies, and leadership to promote greater diversity. Shelly’s also an avid storyteller, speaker and writer — her new book No Blanks, No Pauses - weaves her life story with...
Jun 26, 2022•55 min•Season 3Ep. 117
“Let's be wrong sooner because we'll learn from it - move on and take on challenges in a very different way.” This Pride Month, we wanted to replay a few conversations with past LGBTQIA+ guest on this P&G Alumni Podcast. Jay Sethi is the CMO of Diageo Beer Company and Senior Vice President of Diageo’s Convenience Category. In addition to leading and executing for three of Diageo’s business units, Jay has a strong passion for inclusion and diversity and was instrumental in creating the “Love ...
Jun 19, 2022•46 min•Season 3Ep. 116
“Being the first person in a role can be a career accelerant.” This Pride Month, we wanted to replay a few conversations with past LGBTQIA+ guest on this P&G Alumni Podcast. And what better executive to revisit than Julie Eddleman, DoubleVerify’s Global Chief Commercial Officer. Prior to joining DoubleVerify, Julie spent six years at Google as one of the companies top Client Partners - accelerating partnerships with companies like GM, Ford, Fiat Chrysler, Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, and P&G. ...
Jun 12, 2022•41 min•Season 3Ep. 115
“Authenticity and relevancy are easy to connect back to the business when you have people who represent the diversity of our consumers.” Kevin Shapiro is Coty’s SVP of US Marketing at Consumer Beauty at Coty, where he manages a large portfolio of consumer brands, including Sally Hansen and CoverGirl. Kevin has led beauty brands across a number of iconic global companies, including L’Oreal, Revlon, Elizabeth Arden and Procter & Gamble — where he served as brand manager on The Art of Shaving a...
Jun 05, 2022•44 min•Season 3Ep. 114
“Politics is all about empathy — people believing that you understand their plight, their issue, their life — and that you have a plan to help them.” Aftab Pureval is the Mayor of the city of Cincinnati. As Cincinnati’s 70th Mayor, Aftab has made equitable economic growth a top priority of his administration, as well as a comprehensive reform and improvement of public safety, affordable housing, and environmental action. Formerly serving as the first Democrat to be elected Hamilton County Clerk ...
May 29, 2022•51 min•Season 3Ep. 113
“There is a level of compassion to understanding that there's things that need to be done.” // “We have to make up for lost time - transparent actions and results need to follow.” In the midst of all the social and upheaval we continue to face facing - we sat down with serial entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuk, alongside Logitech CEO (+ P&G Alum) Bracken Darrell for a conversation with two “Masters of Digital Disruption”. In a candid conversation that spanned the internet and blockchain technologi...
May 22, 2022•58 min•Season 3Ep. 112
“It's through language that you understand another culture - how their world works. It's about that human connection with people.” Mike Shangkuan is an EdTech entrepreneur, fitness fanatic, and pioneer in language learning. As the CEO of Lingdoda, Europe’s leading online language school. And he’s a polyglot - speaking six languages - English, German, Spanish, French, Chinese and Japanese — having lived in 8 countries across 4 continents, and traveling to over 100 countries. Prior to leading Ling...
May 15, 2022•47 min•Season 3Ep. 111
“The study of Implicit bias asks are we doing our job as well as we can be? To be consistent with values, goals and intentions — we want to do something about it.“ Dr. Mahzarin Banaji is an award-winning experimental psychologist and professor at Harvard University and the author of “Blindspot: Hidden Biases of Good People.” Her research explores the human mind, why and how we think and feel, especially in social context. Dr. Banaji helped create world-renowned frameworks to better identify and ...
May 08, 2022•56 min•Season 3Ep. 110
"Humor is a way to deal with failure, because you'll be onto something much bigger. Nothing is the defining moment of your life — if you don't let it be.” Did you know that several P&G Alumni have become (inter)nationally known stand up comedians? In honor of World Laughter Day (May 1st), we decided to go deeper and chat with not one, not two, but THREE P&G alumni who are now full-time in the world of comedy — Greg Warren, Josh Sneed, and Rajiv Satyal. And if you count P&G Alumni Pod...
May 01, 2022•1 hr 15 min•Season 3Ep. 109
