Learnings from Leaders: the P&G Alumni Podcast

"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.

“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

“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.

"I had an authentic connection to the problem - a perspective on cultural connection. So it wasn't powering through rejection, it was neglecting it - because I just knew something they didn't.“ Tristan Walker is the Founder of Walker & Company Brands, where he was also the CEO when it was acquired by Procter & Gamble in 2018. Walker & Co. is best known for best-selling brands like Bevel & Form - Healthy and Beauty designed for communities of color. Prior to Founding Walker & Co, Tristan was Entrepreneur-In-Residence at Andreessen Horowitz, the prominent venture capital firm. He also served as Director of Business Development for Foursquare - managing strategic partnerships with brands like American Express, The New York Times, CNN, MTV, Starwood Hotels & Resorts, and Starbucks. Tristan’s also had experiences with Boston Consulting Group and Twitter. Currently, Tristan serves on the Boards of Foot Locker, Shake Shack, Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, and the Metro Atlanta Chamber. Tristan is also the Founder and Board Chairman of CODE2040, a program that matches high-performing Black and Latino undergraduate and graduate coders and software engineering students with Silicon Valley start-ups for summer internships. Fortune Magazine named him as one out of 50 of the “World’s Greatest Leaders.” You’ll enjoy this candid conversation about neglecting the laziness of others, and truly empathizing with your customer’s experiences. This is a replay of a past episode from February 2022 - from our partners at P&G’s “More Than Soap” Podcast - available exclusively each week to P&G Employees at GetMoreThanSoap.com. On “More Than Soap,” P&G shares weekly conversations with Inspiring guests, unique perspectives, and unconventional ideas. “More Than Soap” is P&G’s official internal podcast - available to all 100,000 P&G employees worldwide, and hosted by Dorion Positano, P&G’s Director of New Business and Content Innovation and AI Integration Strategy. Interested in learning more about P&G’s “More Than Soap” podcast, or P&G Studios? Reach out directly to Dorion on LinkedIn. GetMoreThanSoap.com

“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 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.

“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

“Really great leaders oftentimes will surround themselves with people who have contrary opinions who have differing sorts of thoughts.” Dr. Barbara Oakley is a Professor of Engineering at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan and her work focuses on the complex relationship between neuroscience and social behavior. Barbara was a captain in the U.S. Army, a Russian translator on Soviet trawlers, a radio operator in the South Pole, and the author of 8 books. She is also the creator and instructor of Learning to Learn, the most popular Massive Open Online Course ever with over one million enrolled students. But Barbara is not exactly a P&G Alumni, so what’s the deal? Alongside our partners at P&G, we’re thrilled to share another episode of P&G’s “More Than Soap” podcast - available exclusively each week to P&G Employees at GetMoreThanSoap.com. On “More Than Soap,” P&G shares weekly conversations with Inspiring guests, unique perspectives, and unconventional ideas. “More Than Soap” is P&G’s official internal podcast - available to all 100,000 P&G employees worldwide, and hosted by Dorion Positano, P&G’s Director of New Business and Content Innovation and AI Integration Strategy. Interested in learning more about P&G’s “More Than Soap” podcast, or P&G Studios, can reach out directly to Dorion on LinkedIn. GetMoreThanSoap.com

“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.

“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.

“A mentor is someone who advises you and helps you become smarter about your world. A sponsor is someone who advocates for you when you're not in the room and enables you to be better.” Karen C. Francis serves as Chairman of the Board of Vontier, a global transportation / mobility technology company, as well as on the Board of Polestar Automotive and Senior Advisor to TPG Global. Karen made a name for herself as one of the youngest female leaders in the automotive industry, serving as General Manager of the $8 billion Oldsmobile Division of General Motors and then as Vice President of Ford Motor Company, where she was responsible for the corporate venture capital group and global technology-driven business strategies. Karen transitioned to Silicon Valley fifteen years ago and is deeply engaged with emerging automotive technology companies. Karen’ts career has also included executive positions at Procter & Gamble, Internet Capital Group, Bain & Company, Berol Corporation, and Publicis. Karen graduated from Dartmouth College and has an MBA from Harvard Business School. And is Owner of Limerick Lane Cellars, a 53 acre estate vineyard property in Northern California. You’ll enjoy this candid conversation about mentorship and advocacy.

“We don't understand people we disagree with, and being challenged by the news is something people find refreshing. I figured I couldn't be the only person out there who wanted that — and it turns out I'm not.” So it’s a new year, and it’s going to be an interesting one, so what better way to start 2024 by an introduction to a different perspective? P&G Alumni Co-host Rajiv Satyal - beyond being a world-class entertainer and comedian - also hosts the TanGent show, featuring conversations from fields of entertainment, politics, business, religion, and tech. Rajiv recently sat down with journalist Isaac Saul, whose newsletter and podcast TANGLE NEWS (ReadTangle.com) is an increasingly relevant source of independent, non-partisan source summarizing the best arguments from across the political spectrum on the news of the day. Rajiv and Isaac covered a lot of topics including the political makeup of Tangle’s audience, and how our news sources really dictate our outlook and discourse. It’s a down the middle approach that might give you some pause. So wherever you’re coming from, we hope you’ll enjoy this candid conversation about how and where we get our news for a very important year to come...

As 2023 comes to a close, we compiled some of the year’s learnings from leaders. So sit back with your beverage of choice and enjoy. And give us a gift - leave a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts — hearing from YOU, our fellow Alums makes a big difference for our team as we reflect on the year. THANK YOU for the continued support of our podcast and our amazing guests. Heard something you missed? Be sure to go back and check out each guest’s full episode. Got a suggestion for a future episode? Send a note to pgalums@gmail.com — we’d love to hear from you! Thanks for your continued support of our Learnings from Leaders podcast!

“People are interconnected in India, there's an interdependence that doesn't exist here — a connectedness, a togetherness.” To continue our series on travel - we’re going to (talk about) India, with co-hosts Sharad Lal and Rajiv Satyal, who also happen to be of Indian origin. At the turn of the century, many said India had gone through more change in 20 years than the West had gone through in a century. And now we’re another 20 years later. India is an emergent superpower on the world stage - some would argue a swing vote on the geopolitical map — with all the same sort of wonder people have romanticized over decades, but now also with all the social and political growing pains one would expect from such a...colorful country.

David Taylor & A.G. Lafley are two of P&G's Emeritus CEOs, who joined the recent recent P&G Alumni Global Conference in Washington DC for a candid conversation going beyond their personal stories - or even the stories of the day - to discuss their approaches to some of the broad challenges we have to face together, to meet the moment...

“There's a better way to live and work — Dan showed you can be effective and have a good time doing it.” “For someone to be in a rock band and talk like a rock star, and still have the command and respect of your business partners — it showed that you can get beyond stereotypes and be successful.” Dan Hamilton was a longtime friend and mentor to many - an experienced marketing, media, and creative leader - who passed away suddenly last December of 2022. This is the second of two conversations with friends and colleagues who knew Dan - this one with two fellow P&G Digital Alums: Bob Arnold, now a Media Innovation leader at Google, and Aaron Fetters, now CEO of Transparent Partners. https://adage.com/article/opinion/ocean-spray-remembers-dan-hamilton/2459791 Dan Hamilton was a dreamer, a mentor, and someone who had a passion for coloring outside the lines and breaking all the rules, and bringing us along for the ride. Dan was a bandmate, a father, and a friend. He was born in Seattle in 1969 to Valerie and Vernon “Bud” Hamilton. Bud is a fellow P&G Alum who retired after 37 years as a VP in Sales, Marketing, and Governance, and one of the reasons Dan came to P&G. Dan grew up in Cincinnati later studied journalism and jazz guitar at the University of Cincinnati and CCM, he co-founded the band Spookfloaters, which he toured with, then went back get his Masters of Computer Science from Miami of Ohio, after which he joined P&G as one of the earliest digital marketing managers, starting in the beauty business on Olay. Dan quickly changed the game in digital, rising to become media leader of Olay, arguably one of P&G’s most innovative brands in marketing and media during Dan’s tenure. Over nearly 15 years Dan worked across Olay digital, Olay media, Olay design, P&G’s corporate brand, and personal care. Dan spent another seven years in Colorado as a marketing, media and creative leader @ WhiteWave Foods, as it later merged with Danone. In 2021 he joined Ocean Spray as the company’s Head of Marketing Center of Excellence. Across his entire career, Dan was a friend and mentor to the many who had the privilege of working with him. He was always one of the Alums we wanted to reconnect with on this Learnings from Leaders podcast, but we regret missing our chance. So to capture some of the “Learnings from Dan” - we wanted to share a few stories from those that knew him well. Got a Dan story? Please send an email or voice memo to pgalumpod@gmail.com - we’d love to hear it, and share with the many friends and family who survive him. We know you’ll enjoy this candid conversation about our good friend Dan.

“Don’t give up on the things that you believe are worth fighting for - Dan had this endless optimism - if you fought hard enough that you could make anything work.” Dan Hamilton was a longtime friend and mentor to many - an experienced marketing, media, and creative leader - who passed away suddenly last December of 2022. This is the first of two conversations with friends and colleagues who knew Dan over the years - this one with Monisha Dabek, Chief Commercial Officer of Ocean Spray Cranberries, who was one of Dan’s friends and partners in his most recent professional adventures at Ocean Spray and Whitewave. https://adage.com/article/opinion/ocean-spray-remembers-dan-hamilton/2459791 Dan Hamilton was a dreamer, a mentor, and someone who had a passion for coloring outside the lines and breaking all the rules, and bringing us along for the ride. Dan was a bandmate, a father, and a friend. He was born in Seattle in 1969 to Valerie and Vernon “Bud” Hamilton. Bud is a fellow P&G Alum who retired after 37 years as a VP in Sales, Marketing, and Governance, and one of the reasons Dan came to P&G. Dan grew up in Cincinnati later studied journalism and jazz guitar at the University of Cincinnati and CCM, he co-founded the band Spookfloaters, which he toured with, then went back get his Masters of Computer Science from Miami of Ohio, after which he joined P&G as one of the earliest digital marketing managers, starting in the beauty business on Olay. Dan quickly changed the game in digital, rising to become media leader of Olay, arguably one of P&G’s most innovative brands in marketing and media during Dan’s tenure. Over nearly 15 years Dan worked across Olay digital, Olay media, Olay design, P&G’s corporate brand, and personal care. Dan spent another seven years in Colorado as a marketing, media and creative leader @ WhiteWave Foods, as it later merged with Danone. In 2021 he joined Ocean Spray as the company’s Head of Marketing Center of Excellence. Across his entire career, Dan was a friend and mentor to the many who had the privilege of working with him. He was always one of the Alums we wanted to reconnect with on this Learnings from Leaders podcast, but we regret missing our chance. So to capture some of the “Learnings from Dan” - we wanted to share a few stories from those that knew him well. Got a Dan story? Please send an email or voice memo to pgalumpod@gmail.com - we’d love to hear it, and share with the many friends and family who survive him. We know you’ll enjoy this candid conversation about our good friend Dan.

“Things that are outside your control, be transparent — because oftentimes those collisions of change can create innovation.” Carol Fusek is a Neuroleadership Institute brain-based coach who works with individuals, organizations and families to help them thrive. Currently based in Singapore, Carol was P&G’s Asia’s Associate Director of Customer Service & Logistics, where during her 26-year career with P&G she held various leadership roles. As a coach, Carol’s coaching is influenced by brain science and how it can shape leaders and teams. In this candid conversation, we discuss how brain based coaching can bring about lasting change. Carol shares about the SCARF model — which involves five domains of human social experience: Status, Certainty, Autonomy, Relatedness, and Fairness — a powerful neuroscience based model for coaching. We explore hot topics - inclusion, psychological safety, trust. We talk about how leaders and organizations can prepare for change and a lot more. 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.

Thanksgiving’s always been special because it combines two universally loved things, being around friends and family, and food — some of the very topics we talk about on another podcast (of Raman's): MODERN MINORITIES, where we share minority voices for all our majority ears. So we decided to revisit of our favorite questions with some of our favorite FrieMMds of the Pod over the years: Raman Sehgal (UK edition), Jieun Kirtley, Justin Richmond, Tyanne Benallie, Andres Barragan, Paris Hatcher, Steven Wakabayashi, Mira Jacob, Jonathan Hill, Gina Brillon, Ian Haddock, Dani Goulet, Gene Luen Yang, Sara Alfageeh, Bhavik Kumar, Aaliyah Habeeb, Tolentino, Seif Hamid, Nidhi Chanani, Victor Luckerson, Chirstina Lee, Sung Kang, and Mandi Sehgal So enjoy some delicious - and not so delicious recos as you make your final run to pick up some last minute cranberry sauce (or chutney!). We hope you’re making the time to be with folks you care about, and find a moment to enjoy some great food with them. Happy Thanksgiving from our family to yours...

“Don’t look for conflicts — look for issues. Because every issue or problem is an opportunity to learn and grow.” Kshitij Mulay is currently Sephora’s Chief Information Officer (CIO) for Asia - enabling the prestige beauty retailer win in digital, eCommerce and data in the omni channel world. Kshitij is a commercial tech leader with over 20 years experience across APAC in local, regional & global capacity. Prior to joining Sephora, Kshitij was the Global CIO for SK-II and has also served as P&G India CIO and Shared Services Leader. At P&G, Kshitij was a master trainer for the “Corporate Athlete” and “7 Habits of Highly Effective People” training programs in the company. An engineer & MBA by qualification, Kshitij is married with 1 daughter residing in Singapore. You’ll enjoy this candid conversation about the need for passion, honesty and a growth mindset - all in service of growing as a leader and finding purpose at work.

“Just realize every decision you make is a prediction and act like it - figure out what it is implicitly predicting and make that explicit.” Annie Duke is an author and a consultant in the decision making space, as well as a former professional poker player. Annie is the only woman to have won the World Series of Poker Tournament of Champions and the NBC National Poker Heads Up Championship. Prior to becoming a professional poker player, Annie was awarded a National Science Foundation Fellowship to study cognitive psychology at the University of Pennsylvania. Annie is the co-founder of the Alliance for Decision Education, a nonprofit whose mission is to improve lives by empowering students through decision skills education. My discussion with Annie focuses on her recent book, “How to Decide, Simple Tools for Making Better Choices.“ But Annie is not exactly a P&G Alumni, so what’s the deal? Alongside our partners at P&G, we’re thrilled to share another episode of P&G’s “More Than Soap” podcast - available exclusively each week to P&G Employees at GetMoreThanSoap.com. On “More Than Soap,” P&G shares weekly conversations with Inspiring guests, unique perspectives, and unconventional ideas. “More Than Soap” is P&G’s official internal podcast - available to all 100,000 P&G employees worldwide, and hosted by Dorion Positano, P&G’s Director of New Business and Content Innovation and AI Integration Strategy. Interested in learning more about P&G’s “More Than Soap” podcast, or P&G Studios, can reach out directly to Dorion on LinkedIn. GetMoreThanSoap.com