Learnings from Leaders: the P&G Alumni Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Bob Gilbreath, “In Person is a 10x” May 26, 2024

Show notes

" We are a social species designed to work together — and this happens through so much more than words. It's in hundreds of unconscious things we do and notice when we're together.”

Bob Gilbreath is longtime friend of the Pod, and fellow P&G Alum - who's also a repeat startup founder with two exits in the marketing technology and agency world. Bob now serves as Co-Founder and CEO of Hearty, a people-tech company, as well as a few other interesting ventures. While at P&G, Bob worked on brands like Tide and Mr. Clean - and Mr. Clean Auto Dry, and even Fit fruit and vegetable wash. Bob’s authored books and launched several successful newsletters . In his latest Substack newsletter - the Workaround (beheartly.substack.com) - Bob shares real-life stories of his business ups-and-downs. Bob’s latest pieces is titled "in person is a 10x" about the magic that comes when we get together - because you can't co-create something special without being in the same room.

LEARN ABOUT BOB - behearty.substack.com

This is a feature of an Alumni Leader’s frequently published thought leadership. Got an idea for a future “Learnings from Leaders” episode - reach out at pgalumpod@gmail.com

Trevor Lai, Up Studios Founder & CEO May 20, 2024

Show notes

"A lot of these values and principles are very universal — it applies in China, but it applies anywhere.”

Trevor Lai is an award-winning entrepreneur, author and illustrator who published his first children's book at the age of seventeen. He is also the founder and CEO of Up Studios, a China-based production company — featured as one of the "Top 25 Animation Studios" in the world to watch by Animation Magazine. Up Studios - the creative force behind much loved Chinese shows like Piggy, Tomo and BOOMi - has received large investments from Chinese tech giant Tencent. When he’s not creating world-class animated stories, Trevor loves to play ice hockey in China and traveling around the world. You’ll enjoy this candid conversation about creativity, inspiration, and perseverance .

This is the first in our series of Learning from Leaders from China - hosted by P&G Alumni Emily Chang. Got an idea for a future “Learnings from Leaders” episode? Reach out at pgalumpod@gmail.com

Bernice Ang on Ikigai - P&G Alumni Coaching May 12, 2024

Show notes

"It truly is a matter of exploring, discovery, knowing your boundaries - to gradually get there. The key is to keep your eye on the North Star - what is it that makes you come alive?”

Bernice Ang is an Executive Coach who helps senior leaders design a purpose-centered personal brand, enabling them to integrate their work and personal lives so they can thrive, not just survive. Bernice started her career in Brand Management in P&G Asia Pacific. From there, she took on several Global Marketing leadership roles in the US with Coca-Cola, Pepsico, and Mars-Wrigley. Five years ago, Bernice left her corporate career to pursue her dream of becoming an Executive Coach. Today, she is among the top 4% of professional coaches who holds a Master Certified Coach designation, the highest credential awarded by the International Coach Federation. Bernice also helped co-found the P&G Alumni Network Coaching program, ringing together Professionally certified Executive Coaches with proven track records. You’ll enjoy this candid and very personal conversation about IKIGAI - the Japanese concept which encourages people to discover what truly matters to them - to live a life filled with purpose and joy.

This is a continuation of our series with P&G Alumni Coaching where leading Alumni will dive deep on relevant topics. Just as professional athletes have a coach to help them perform at their best, coaching can help you thrive in career and life life, through powerful questioning, exploration, and action planning. P&G Alums can learn more and sign up for their first free first session @ coaching.pgalums.com.

Bonnie Wan, author of “the Life Brief” May 04, 2024

Show notes

"How do you express what you want in a way that activates you, is unignorable, and automatically aligns your beliefs, your values, and how you show up in the world?”

Bonnie Wan knows what it feels like to struggle with burnout and uncertainty about where to go next. As a celebrated advertising strategist she spent years helping brands like Pepsi and BMW get clarity on their values and purpose, but she one day found herself mired and directionless in her own life–a “recovering perfectionist” with a crumbling marriage, a big job, and three young children. So she put her “work brain” to work - and sketched out a creative brief (one of the key tools of the ad trade) for herself, granting clarity on what was missing and what she really wanted in her life. Not only did “the Life Brief” save Bonnie’s marriage, recenter her parenting, and catapult her career (she was named Ad Age’s Chief Strategy Officer last year)—it has since gone on to help thousands of others through her speaking at Apple, Bain & Co, Change.org, Google, Goop, Jane Goodall’s “Activating Hope” Summit, SXSW and more. Her new book — “THE LIFE BRIEF: A Playbook for No-Regrets Living “ — creates a clear guide for anyone to break through life’s clutter and create deeper meaning through three simple stages: Get Messy. Get Clear. Get Active. This is a perfect conversation to help so many of us who seem to “have it all” yet feel restless or rudderless.

This is a past conversation from Raman’s other podcast, Modern Minorities, where each week we share minority conversations for all of our majority years. You’ll enjoy this candid conversation that we hope will provide new perspectives and learnings.

Stefan Homeister, Leitwolf host - on leadership and podcasts Mar 31, 2024

Show notes

“It often pays to believe in people more than they believe in themselves. Give them a bit more than they think they can handle. And everyone is going to be rewarded.”

Stefan Homeister is the host of Leitwolf, a business podcast exploring the key to leadership performance sustainably and improving business results - where he’s had conversations with P&G Alums like David Taylor, Paul Polman, and many leaders beyond the Alumni universe. Stefan’s also the Founder of Stefan Homeister Leadership, a consultancy whose focus is on improving leadership performance and strategy via consulting, training, coaching, keynotes. Stefan’s held a diverse career as Sales & Marketing Director of SAB Miller Europe and CMO for T-Mobile Germany where he had P&L responsibility for more than $8 billion. Stefan started his career at Procter & Gamble in various sales and marketing roles in Frankfurt, Brussels, and Geneva before becoming the Marketing Director for Healthcare and Pharma DACH.

In this candid conversation - we’ll explore principles and ideas on leadership, branding, legacy, and what can can be learned through the lens of podcasts, conversations, and storytelling. Be sure to check out Leitwolf wherever you get your favorite podcasts. https://stefan-homeister-leadership.com/en/podcast

Gordon Brunner, P&G’s xCTO on "Superior Products" Mar 24, 2024

Show notes

“There's no question — if you want to keep a brand viable, you have to continue innovating. If you don't, it's not going to last.”

Gordon Brunner, is P&G’s former Chief Technology Officer - leading the company’s technical community, and even serving on the Board of Directors. Gordon’s a returning P&G Alumni Podcast guest also the co-author of SUPERIOR PRODUCTS, a new book sharing a first-ever look at the technical innovations behind some of world’s leading consumer brands — as well as the systems, culture, and leadership principles that produced the products and sustained innovation. While many pay lip service to the importance of innovation and product superiority - Gordon and many other technical leaders know that words simply won’t cut it. Product superiority must be demanded, rewarded, and celebrated - with org structures and processes built to achieve it, led by senior line and R&D leadership, but importantly starting with the CEO and Board of Directors. In this conversation Gordon shares stories behind the products we love - what worked and didn’t - with lessons that are for more than just R&D’ers, but also rising business executives and students who want to foster an environment of innovation.

Check out SUPERIOR PRODUCTS as an eBook / Kindle, or wherever your favorite books are sold. And for even more of Gordon Brunner’s learnings from his time as P&G’s CTO, be sure check out our past podcast conversation from September 2021 and November 2022.

Geraldine Moriba - journalist, filmmaker, advocate Feb 18, 2024

Show notes

“I was speaking up to respected people in the industry and telling them they were wrong. But we were getting the story right.”

Geraldine Moriba’s a 5-time Emmy Award winning journalist, filmmaker, and advocate — the host and executive producer of “Sounds Like Hate,” a podcast by the Southern Poverty Law Center - documenting how American extremists become radicalized and how some of them change. Geraldine’s also SVP of of news and entertainment at The Grio - a black-owned media platform owned by businessman and philanthropist Byron Allen. A media and journalism veteran, Geraldine’s held senior roles at CNN, NBC, PBS, ABC, and CBC - including being vice president for diversity, equity and inclusion for CNN Worldwide. A Canadian-Jamaican living in New York, Geraldine’s never accepted setbacks on her journey - they were just challenges to overcome. From confronting racist administrators in college, to accepting a fax-machine invitation, Geraldine built a career that would always challenge for the right story to be told. You can learn more about Geraldine’s work at Soundslikehate.org // splcenter.org

John Pepper & Ursula Burns’ Conversation on Race & Understanding Feb 11, 2024

Show notes

“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. While John needs no introduction to many, Ursula’s impressive career is worth sharing...

Ursula M. Burns is the Retired Chairman and CEO of Xerox Corporation and VEON Limited — and among the first Black women to become CEO of a Fortune 500 company. Ursula is also a founding partner of Integrum Holdings, Non-Executive Chairman of Teneo Holdings LLC, and the Executive Chairman of Plum Acquisition Corp. At Xerox, Ursula served from 2009-2017, having joined as a summer intern in 1980, after which she rose through the ranks across corporate services, manufacturing and product development. Ursula also serves on several corporate boards, including Uber Technologies, Exxon Mobil, Endeavor Group Holdings, Waystar and Hear.com Ursula’s also involved in leadership counsel for the Ford Foundation, MIT, the Cornell Tech Board, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Mayo Clinic, among others.

From 2009-2016, President Barack Obama appointed Ursula to lead the White House national program on Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM). Ursula also led the President’s Export Council from 2010 - 2016. In February 2022, Burns joined the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Ursula is a mechanical engineering alumni of Columbia University and NYU - and she’s a member of the National Academy of Engineering, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Royal Academy of Engineering and the G7 Gender Equity Advisory Council.

This is a replay of a past episode, originally recorded on February 25, 2022. This is an important conversation we hope will make many think and feel more deeply. While each of our guests are part of some great organizations who support the sharing of our views, these are the views of our guests alone. Got ideas for future deep dive topics with past and future guests? Reach out to pgalumpod@gmail.com

Andrew Swinand, CEO of Publicis & Leo Burnett Jan 28, 2024

Show notes

“Enjoy the journey, take stock in how you're learning, how you're building your experience, your brand. It's that openness and that patience that actually creates the opportunities for exponential success.”

Andrew Swinand is the CEO of the Creative Group across all Publicis agencies, as well as the CEO of Leo Burnett

As CEO, Andrew leads the agency by emphasizing the power of transparency in regards to data, and balances that with the creativity needed to drive businesses forward for clients. He was also the founder and CEO of marketing startup, The Abundancy, and co-founded its holding company Abundant Venture Partners (AVP), an incubator focused on building media and healthcare companies. Prior to that, he was president of Starcom MediaVest Group, the world’s largest media agency. He also proudly served his country as a platoon leader in the U.S. Army. Andrew has been recognized by Advertising Age as a "Media Maven," and was inducted into the American Advertising Federation Hall of Achievement in 2008. Andrew has founded 9 companies, with 7 exits. And even worked on the Reflect Brand at P&G. You’ll enjoy this candid conversation about focusing on problems to solve, cultivating a curious soul, and practicing kind leadership.

Katherine Vellinga, Zirkova Vodka CEO & Co-founder Jan 22, 2024

Show notes

“The thing that terrifies you the most is where all the gold is — and my experience is when you bust through, there's really incredible things on the other side.”

Katherine Vellinga is the Co-founder and CEO of Zirkova, an award-winning ultra-premium vodka brand. She is a Ukrainian Canadian who first pursued a career with P&G in Product Supply but after the fall of the Soviet Union, she left P&G and moved to a newly independent Ukraine. This is where Katherine developed her love for the origins and birthplace of vodka and was compelled to share this remarkable story of women Master Distillers, classical methods, and extraordinary spirits. Zirkova is now the top-selling vodka produced in Ukraine that is sold in Canada. More than just a brand, Katherine's vision for Zirkova is a reflection of her own beliefs, of standing for the freedom to be and celebrate who you are, to toast and acknowledge others, and to create special moments that bring people together, so that everyone feels like they are part of one table. You’ll enjoy this candid conversation about creating moments that unite, not allowing fear to guide our decisions and creating a life by design vs default.

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