To celebrate Earth Week, Jim Stengel welcomes Brad Hiranaga to The CMO Podcast. Brad works as the Chief Brand Officer of Cotopaxi, the colorful outdoorsy brand you likely see around on streets, in airports, and of course, in the great outdoors. It’s a fast growing brand; it has just about doubled its size every year for the past three years. Cotopaxi’s products include backpacks, hip packs, jackets, and other outdoor products and experiences.

Inspired by his time living in Latin America, Davis Smith founded Cotopaxi about 10 years ago in Salt Lake City. Cotopaxi is named after a volcano in Ecuador–where Davis lived–and the brand icon is a llama, for the quirky herd animals of the high Andes.

Brad is a returning guest on this show. Jim chatted with Brad back in December 2020, when he was the Chief Marketing Officer for General Mills. Brad worked at General Mills for over 16 years (four as CMO). He briefly worked as interim CMO for Beyond Meat after leaving General Mills, and he joined Cotopaxi in September 2022 as its first Chief Brand Officer. Tune in to learn why Brad chose purpose as this stop on his career and how Cotopaxi is looking forward as a sustainable brand.

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With women's sports on the mind, Jim's guest this week on The CMO Podcast is Shelley Zalis, the Founder and CEO of The Female Quotient, or FQ, the ten-year-old company that curates experiences, media, and solutions that advance gender equality. The FQ is famous for its Equality Lounges at some of the most important global gatherings–like Davos, CES, SXSW, and the Cannes Creativity Festival.

One of Shelley’s mantras is “to conquer imposter syndrome you must believe in yourself," and she has vividly exemplified that conviction throughout her career. Shelley began her career in consumer research, and eventually founded a company in 2000 called OTX, a pioneer in the then-emerging field of online research. Then in 2010, Shelley sold OTX to research giant Ipsos and left in 2015 to found The Female Quotient.

Shelley is also the co-founder of #SeeHer, a movement led by the Association of National Advertisers to increase the accurate portrayal of women and girls in advertising and media. Shelley is a supreme connector, a tireless advocate, and a great storyteller.

Follow Shelley and her travels: https://www.instagram.com/shelleyzalis/

and learn more about the Female Quotient: https://www.thefemalequotient.com/

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Joining Jim this week on The CMO Podcast is Mauro Porcini, the SVP and Chief Design Officer of PepsiCo, the $91 billion company by revenue. Pepsi’s founding dates back to 1893 with the invention of Pepsi-Cola in a small town in North Carolina. In 1965, the Pepsi company combined with Frito-lay to become PepsiCo, and has become one of the most admired food and beverage companies in the world, with brands that range from Cheetos to Mountain Dew to Gatorade to SodaStream to Quaker.

Mauro is the first Chief Design Officer to appear on the podcast. And speaking of firsts–Mauro was the first ever Global Chief Design Officer at 3M (where he spent 10 years) and PepsiCo, where he has thrived for the past 12 years. Mauro was born and raised outside Milan, Italy, studied at the National College of Art and Design, and earned a Masters at the Politecnico di Milano. Mauro is an evangelist for human-centric design and has an unrivaled artistic capacity and energy level. Not to mention, he’s stylish—with GQ Italy naming him one of the best dressed people in Italy. Tune in for a conversation with one of the top design thought leaders in the world.

Follow Mauro on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mauroporcini/

And pick up a copy of his recent book "The Human Side of Innovation: The Power of People in Love with People": https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/714051/the-human-side-of-innovation-by-mauro-porcini/

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.