Connections Leadership Series Podcast

 We interviewed Peter Horst, former CMO of Hershey Company, in our latest podcast. Horst shared his biggest challenges, his thoughts on finding balance, and his best advice to the next generation of marketers.  Here are our top three favorite highlights: On facing challenges.   “Well, I'd say the most challenging might have been the last one I had, which was Pop Secret Popcorn, and that had been for years, I think something like 10 years running, the most successful new product. It was just, you know, an absolute darling of the company… And about 10 minutes after I took the job, a whole bunch of things came together to just bring all that growth to a screeching halt.   “The penetration of the microwaves as an appliance in the home tapped out, penetration of microwave popcorn tapped out, the patent on the technology they gave at a product superiority expired, price brand… changed the world from this wonderful glorious place with 35% growth every year to absolute dead halt, flat.   “That required not only figur

In our latest podcast, we spoke with Howard Handler, Chief Marketing Officer of Major League Soccer. Handler shared his marketing journey, how he defines leadership, and the power of having a mission.  Here are our top three favorite highlights: On leadership. “At summer camp, we would do wilderness trips, canoes, packs. We would be out in virgin wilderness and we would have to read maps, make our way, find campsites, [and] figure out how to protect ourselves from the elements… Sometimes the weather could be pretty troubling and we were just kind of there and were in a position to try to figure it out… You would learn who was going to lead, who was going to follow, [and] what role everybody was going to play… I learned what effective leadership might look like, who showed grace under fire, who was flexible, who was creative, and I tried to model some of my own decisions after that.” On having a mission. “[T]he people that distinguished themselves to me were the people that had the greatest leadership skills,

In our latest podcast, Ray Cao spoke with Jeff Smith, Company Group Chairman for North America, Johnson & Johnson Consumer Companies. Smith reflected on his career and shared his best advice for rising sales and marketing leaders. Here are our top three favorite highlights: On schedules.    “[I do] simple things like always making sure I scan my full week on a Sunday night and understand [that] what's in front me still exists. But the ability for it to shift and change during the week is increased by a factor of a hundred-fold from my early days. So you tend to learn that while what might look like something on a Sunday night, by Wednesday it could look very different.” On work-life balance. “I tend to walk out and whether my boss is still there or not. It doesn't really matter over the years. You just keep up with whatever works in your different pace, I think. The whole concept of work-life balance doesn't exist as a macro level; it exists as an individual level. And you need to figure out what works fo

In our latest podcast, Ray Cao spoke with Phil Thomas, CEO Ascential Events, parent company of the Cannes Lions. Prior to his current role, Thomas helped run both Empire Magazine and FHM.   Here are our top three favorite highlights:   On finding your career path. “[W]hen you look at young people leaving college, so few of them really know what they want to do, and it always takes a bit of experimentation and working around things and trying new things and jumping and changing before you really find your path. And as it happens, photography wasn't quite right for me. The thing about photography is you've got to be exceptionally talented. It's very, very, very competitive and you've got to be exceptionally talented. And I was reasonably talented, I wasn't exceptionally talented. So, I kind of worked out quite quick that photography was not gonna be quite right for me.”   “[When] I started writing those articles and I realized actually I seem to be better at writing than I am at photography. I mean, I think one

In our latest podcast, Ray Cao spoke with Steve Sadove, former CEO of Saks Fifth Avenue and Board Member, Colgate-Palmolive. Sadove started his career at General Foods, became the CEO of Clairol (which he helped sell to P&G), and then took over as CEO of Saks Fifth Avenue which was sold to HBC just a few years later. Here are our top three favorite highlights: On failure. That was one of the great lessons I learned... if you're a baseball player and you hit 333, you're in the Hall of Fame. So you can't hit 100%, and part of the cultural lessons that I learned and I still teach people is… "It's better to try and fail than not try at all." And that you can't have a culture where people get shot if they stick their head up… We want our people who are trying things all the time and learning and saying, "Ah that worked and that one didn't work." And that you have a culture that you support that where people feel that they can do it. On leadership. I firmly believe that the role of a leader, that there are

“The people who I found to be most world-altering are those with the most preposterous ambitions.” — Michael Fanuele Our interview with Michael Fanuele was very entertaining, and brought a fresh perspective to the world of marketing and advertising. Michael’s creativity stems from his diverse background in politics, comedy and advertising, which gives him a unique ability to understand human behavior and emotions. Here are the three things I learned: - Before stand-up comedy, and before agency life, Michael’s career started in politics, working on Capitol Hill. While he was able to interact regularly with the Secretary of State, the Vice President… etc., he quickly realized that politics was not a place for him. At the time, he felt the main tool used to persuade others were exploiting their fears and insecurities. This self-awareness of what caused him stressed helped him quickly pivot his career in a more creative direction which led him to where he is today. - Agencies and Clients look at new ideas in vast

My latest interview is with Patrice Louvet who is the Group President of Global Beauty at P&G. Patrice oversees some of the world most iconic brands such as Olay, Secret, Old Spice, Pantene, Herbal Essences, Gillette and more. I found Patrice incredibly down to earth but his professional track record shows that he is anything but laid back. He has achieved so much in his career and has always been a high performer. I've come across many global leaders but Patrice certainly stands out as one of the top with international experiences after living and working in countries like France, Switzerland, Japan, the United States and the United Kingdom. He touches on a couple of key points that really resonate with me. The first is on focus. Focus on the few things that really matter as everything else is just noise. The second is that to guarantee success, you have to make others around you successful. There is plenty of wisdom in this interview and I think you'll enjoy it. This Podcast is brought to you by Exact M

This week's interview was with Michael Aidan. At the time of our conversation, he was transitioning between his role as Chief Digital Officer at Danone, to joining a relatively newer organization as the Chief Marketing and Business Development Officer of DxO. Michael has incredible entrepreneurial tendencies, he's a true intrapreneur. This comes through so clearly in the interview, I'm really excited for you to hear it. This Podcast is brought to you by Exact Media, which works with brands to sample their products using the excess space in eCommerce parcels. Companies like P&G, Unilever, Johnson & Johnson, L'Oréal, Coca-Cola and Pepsi have all used Exact Media to reach consumers in their homes. Learn more at www.exactmedia.io. These are just a few of the highlights from the interview: - To get his first international job in marketing, he had to get permission from the French government to go work in New York in lieu of his military service. He got rejected seven times and escalated his case to the Fre

My conversation with John LeBoutillier, who is the President & CEO of Unilever Canada, was very thought provoking. This interview has some really good tactical advice for people at all stages of their career.  This Podcast is brought to you by Exact Media, which works with brands to sample their products using the excess space in eCommerce parcels. Companies like P&G, Unilever, Johnson & Johnson, L'Oréal, Coca-Cola and Pepsi have all used Exact Media to reach consumers in their homes. Learn more at www.exactmedia.io. We talk about important leadership lessons, approaches to integrating yourself into a new organization after a career change, and his views on work-life balance. John got to the top by simply outworking everyone else, and he covers that story in-depth throughout this interview.  These are just a few of the highlights from our chat:  - He believes that he has an average intellect, but he compensates for this by outworking everyone else. He couldn’t talk until he was four years old and

I recently interviewed Javier San Juan who is the President of the Latin American region at L’Oréal. I first met Javier several years ago when he was the President & CEO of L’Oréal Canada. He’s incredibly entertaining and always puts a humorous spin on things. After doing this interview, I couldn’t help but notice that he’s probably experienced more adventures in one lifetime than most people will have in multiple. For all those who are aspiring for the top job, this interview can be of great value.  This Podcast is brought to you by Exact Media, which works with brands to sample their products using the excess space in eCommerce parcels. Companies like P&G, Unilever, Johnson & Johnson, L'Oréal, Coca-Cola and Pepsi have all used Exact Media to reach consumers in their homes. Learn more at www.exactmedia.io.   Here are a few snippets from the interview:  - At the age of 10, he would regularly monitor the stock market while waiting at the bus stop. As a child, he didn’t want to be a soccer player o

I had the privilege of interviewing Martine Reardon, who was most recently the CMO of Macy’s and spent more than three decades at the company. In this interview, we talk about how she got into the retail industry, what it was like being a female leader, how she managed her time, career setbacks as well as the story of how Macy’s grew into the being the largest department store in the United States. Martine was very honest about the sacrifices that she had to make in order to get the top marketing job at Macy’s. This Podcast is brought to you by Exact Media, which works with brands to sample their products using the excess space in eCommerce parcels. Companies like P&G, Unilever, Johnson & Johnson, L'Oréal, Coca-Cola and Pepsi have all used Exact Media to reach consumers in their homes. Learn more at www.exactmedia.io. Here are some of the highlights from our conversation: - Started her career off as an intern at Abraham & Straus (now part of Macy’s) in the events and PR department. - One of her mo

I really enjoyed my conversation with Vineet Mehra who is the Global President of the Baby Care business for Johnson & Johnson (J&J). As a fellow Canadian, it's always a nice bonus to hear the story of someone who started their career in Canada. Vineet now oversees a massive global business at J&J. There's a ton of practical and useful advice in this conversation and I hope you'll enjoy it as much as I did. This Podcast is brought to you by Exact Media, which works with brands to sample their products using the excess space in eCommerce parcels. Companies like P&G, Unilever, Johnson & Johnson, L'Oréal, Coca-Cola and Pepsi have all used Exact Media to reach consumers in their homes. Learn more at www.exactmedia.io. These are just a few of the highlights from our chat: Grew up with a Tiger Dad (not mom). Strict upbringing where his parents had incredibly high expectations of him. Got into the packaged goods industry in high school when his entrepreneurship teacher told him about a company c

I was fortunate enough to meet David Sable over a lunch that we hosted almost a couple of years ago. David is the Global CEO of Y&R, one of the world’s largest advertising agencies with over 16,000 employees around the world.   This Podcast is brought to you by Exact Media, which works with brands to sample their products using the excess space in eCommerce parcels. Companies like P&G, Unilever, Johnson & Johnson, L'Oréal, Coca-Cola and Pepsi have all used Exact Media to reach consumers in their homes. Learn more at www.exactmedia.io.  Here’s a sneak peak and some of my favorite moments from our conversation:  Was the son of a rabbi and so because his dad was always in the spotlight, he always had to be careful of his actions.  Incredible mentors were critical to his development. People such as Edward Chapman III, Harold Burson and Lester Wunderman. Getting mentors was serendipitous and never planned.  Career was never planned and was non-linear. Instead, he chased after opportunities where