“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.