Leadership Lessons from Penn State’s Alumni Conference (The Home Depot, Avanos Medical and Blue Mountain Quality Resources)
School is back in session—and so is the CMO Podcast, live from Penn State’s Alumni Leadership Conference. In our annual tradition, Jim welcomes three remarkable Penn State alumni on stage to explore the art and science of decision-making. Together, they dive into the vulnerable moments that shaped their lives, the career pivots that defined their paths, and the lessons learned when decisions didn’t go as planned.This year’s guests bring diverse experiences:Whit Friese, VP of Creative Marketing at The Home Depot, whose career journey spans advertising, Hollywood, and Emmy-winning creative work at CNN.Camille Chang Gilmore, Senior VP & Chief Human Resources Officer at Avanos Medical, who built her career leading people and driving diversity at Boston Scientific.Jim Erickson, founder and longtime CEO of Blue Mountain Quality Resources, a leader in life sciences software solutions.Join us for an honest, inspiring, and lively conversation about the critical choices that shape leaders—and the wisdom they pass on to the next generation of Nittany Lions.---This week's episode is brought to you by Deloitte.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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Colin Kelton (Vanguard) | Building a Lifetime Career
Not many CMOs can say they’ve had just one job their entire career, but our guest this week can say he can. Joining Jim is Colin Kelton, the Global Chief Marketing Officer at Vanguard, the 50-year-old investment management giant founded by legendary investor John Bogle. Vanguard is a pioneer in asset management, with a unique investor-owned company structure. It has a simple and powerful purpose: To take a stand for our investors, to treat them fairly, and to give them the best chance for investment success. Colin’s story is unusual in today’s world. He started with Vanguard in 1990, fresh out of Penn State, and he never left. Over the years, he has held a number of leadership positions, including Chairman and CEO of Vanguard Australia. In 2018, he became Vanguard’s first Global CMO, and in January 2024 he added Chief Communications Officer to his responsibilities.Recorded in person at the Next Gen CMO Academy at Deloitte University, this conversation explores Colin’s remarkable journey, what it means to lead with purpose, and how a lifetime at one company can shape both a career and a culture.---This week's episode is brought to you by Deloitte.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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Lisa Materazzo (Ford) | Ready Set Ford: Inside the Bold Global Relaunch
For the first time in its 122-year history, Ford Motor Company has launched a singular global campaign—Ready Set Ford. To mark the occasion, Jim Stengel and The CMO Podcast traveled to Detroit to sit down with Ford’s Chief Marketing Officer, Lisa Materrazzo, at the company’s cutting-edge NewLab near the iconic Michigan Central station. With two decades at Toyota behind her, Lisa joined Ford two years ago to reinvigorate the brand and prepare it for the future. So tune in as Jim goes behind the scenes of one of the most ambitious—and promising—brand relaunches of the decade, exploring what it takes to reintroduce an iconic company to the world. Ready Set Lisa!---This week's episode is brought to you by Deloitte.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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George Felix (Chili's Grill & Bar) | The Playbook for Becoming Brand of the Year
Who doesn’t remember the Chili’s jingle—“I want my baby back, baby back, baby back…”? Or maybe you’ve seen the viral TikToks about Chili’s Triple Dipper. Chili’s is back in culture in a big way, and much of that credit goes to their Chief Marketing Officer, George Felix.George is one of today’s most dynamic marketing leaders. He started his career at P&G—where, like me, he worked on the legendary Old Spice turnaround—before moving on to Yum! Brands with KFC and Pizza Hut. Three years ago, he took on Chili’s, and the results have been remarkable. Under George’s leadership, Chili’s has gone from not even being a national advertiser to becoming Ad Age’s Brand of the Year, with George himself named CMO of the Year.In this episode, George shares his playbook for turning brands around, the importance of listening to frontline team members, and how to make a heritage brand cool again. And yes—we even take a detour into Taylor Swift.This conversation was recorded in person at the Next Gen CMO Academy at Deloitte University.---This week's episode is brought to you by Deloitte.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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Ariel Kelman (Salesforce) | Leading the Charge in AI Innovation
Fall is here, which means back to school, football season, crisp apples, and the world’s biggest blend of tech conference and music festival: Dreamforce. Now in its 22nd year, Dreamforce 2025 returns to San Francisco on October 14th to the 16th, featuring headline speakers like the CEOs of Google and Starbucks, plus musical guests Metallica and Benson Boone.In this week's episode, Jim welcomes Ariel Kelman, President and Chief Marketing Officer of Salesforce, to talk about the power of Dreamforce, what it’s like working under visionary founders like Marc Benioff and Jeff Bezos, and why rethinking organizational design with agentic AI at the core is critical for the future. With Salesforce leading the charge in cloud-based CRM and now AI innovation, Ariel shares his unique journey—from his early days at Salesforce, to Amazon Web Services, to Oracle, and back again—offering lessons in marketing leadership at scale.---This week's episode is brought to you by Deloitte.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Jim Stengel, former CMO of the largest marketer in the world (Procter & Gamble), and now small company entrepreneur sits down for intimate conversations with the most dynamic CMOs from all over the industry. This is not your typical marketing podcast, this is a unique look at the thought process and motivation of the CMO. Jim, who put purpose on the map gets in depth with each guest to reveal more about this pivotal role every brand seeks to fill. Through personal and revealing discussions Jim and his guests paint a picture of this demanding position that very few understand, yet affects the entire consumer experience.The CMO Podcast is sponsored by Deloitte.
Ireland