Learnings from Leaders: the P&G Alumni Podcast

“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...