Career Success Podcast

Successful leadership is not easy. Driving a team forward and producing outstanding results time and time again is not something that every leader is able to do. During this Podcast, we speak with Atilla Cansun, Chief Marketing Officer and Executive Committee Member of Merck Consumer Health Company. Atilla is responsible for leading globally a brand portfolio of almost a Billion Euros, which consists of 9 strategic brands in 6 different categories. If anybody knows how to lead a team successfully, it’s Atilla. Atilla says “I am fully convinced and wholeheartedly dedicated in making a difference by applying emotional intelligence.”

Different backgrounds, functions, interest and cultures are important to build a successful workforce. But, what does it take to be a successful leader? Lauren Steibing of LS International speaks with Stijn Demeersseman, General Manager Commercial Operations CPD for the UK&I at L’Oreal to find out how lead a team to achieve the highest turnover and market share growth in 15 years. The one definition that Stijn mentioned resonates most with him is “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel” – and we have to agree.

Pol Codina started his career in marketing at PepsiCo working on iconic brands like Doritos, Fritos and Lays. After four and a half years in marketing Pol made the move to sales where he worked his way up to National Accounts Director. Along the way he was awarded BEST 2011 Lidl negotiation and commercial agreement across Europe and BEST 2011 supplier among all Eroski’s FMCG suppliers according to the Advantage Group. In January of 2016, Pol made the move to Nike where he’s leading Converse’s channel strategy and heading up a team of 25.

Javier Hernandez has 18 years of FMCG experience within P&G and Duracell. He started his career with P&G in Mexico within the market research function and soon after, he began his international career in Belgium to become the manager for Consumer & Market Knowledge for Home Care in Western Europe. He then was promoted into a Group Manager position in Geneva and in 2005, he moved into Brand Management on Dish Care for Western Europe. He worked his way up in marketing and in 2013 he became the Associate Marketing Director for Duracell for Western Europe and Global Rechargeable products where they delivered the best year since P&G acquired the brand. They achieved growth across all measures including a 4% increase in sales, 6% increase in share and over 50% increase in Profit. In 2015 he was asked to lead the Duracell integration into Berkshire Hathaway for the UK & Irish business and in 2016 he was appointed the General Manager for Duracell UK & Ireland as a Berkshire Hathaway company.

On this episode of the Career Success Podcast will be joined by John Charles. John has over 20 years of business development and sales leadership experience with PepsiCo building iconic Global Brands such as Pepsi, Gatorade, Tropicana, Frito Lay, and Quaker. In the retail sales channel, prior to PepsiCo, John worked in the spirits industry for Jim Beam International and Agribusiness for Continental Grain. All told, John Charles has worked in over 40 different markets across Latin America, Europe, Middle East/Africa and Asia. He is currently based in the USA and serves as the Vice President of International Sales for Walmart International, overseeing PepsiCo sales across Mexico, UK, Canada, Brazil, and China among other markets.

Our guest on this episode of the Career Success Podcast is Andreas Welsch, Head of International for KIND Snacks. Andreas was born in Berlin, Germany and has 28 years of consumer goods experience, where he had the chance to work with some of the leading names and iconic brands in the industry like Procter & Gamble, Reckitt Benckiser, Henkel Adhesives and Innocent Smoothies. Andreas calls himself a growth manager, because again and again he has been attracted to roles where a business needed to either be established, internationally expanded or turned around. Forming experiences include starting a sales force in East Germany less than one year after the wall opened, establishing a company in non-democratic Romania and living in Bucharest for 5 years. Andreas has held local, regional and global roles and worked on all continents except Africa.

On this episode of the Career Success Podcast we will be joined by Anna Lundberg. Anna is a business consultant and career coach. After a successful marketing career at multinational Procter and Gamble, she has since worked independently as a consultant with clients including Burberry, Vertu, and increasingly also small businesses and startups. Today, she mentors entrepreneurs and young managers while she juggles her own three businesses. Anna’s first business was her digital marketing consultancy, Crocus Communications, and she is passionate about teaching people how to engage with consumers using digital media without becoming distracted, or intimidated, by the technology behind it. Last year she co-founded Wolf Leaders Academy, which provides management and leadership training for a new generation of managers in the world of business. Having qualified as a certified professional coach, she now empowers people through her personal coaching practice, One Step Outside, to take ownership of their own careers

On this episode we will be joined by Juan Amat. Juan has 17 years’ experience, 12 within the consumer goods industry, and has worked in Madrid, Barcelona, Lisbon, Warsaw, and Geneva. He is the former VP, GM Nutrition for Western Europe and Sub Saharan Africa, where he lead Fruit, Veg and Cereal categories totaling more than $2bn in Retail Sales Value.

Eric de Cozar is our guest on this episode of the Career Success Podcast. He has 20 years’ experience in sales and marketing within large blue chip organizations such as Kraft Foods, Ferrero, and Diageo. He has had many successes throughout his career and especially in global business development for Carrefour Group where he achieved an average net sales growth at +7% for 3 years.

Listen here for our 3rd episode of the Career Success Podcast. Our guest on this episode is Heidi Greslé who has 21 years’ experience in Global Consumer Health Care companies. Heidi is currently the General Manager UK and Ireland for Merck Consumer Health Care.

Listen here for our 2nd episode of the Career Success Podcast. Our guest on this episode is Vincent Egbe who has 12 years’ experience in FMCG within the African market. Vincent is currently the General Manager of West and Central Africa for The Kraft Heinz Company.

LS International has lunched here our new 10-minute Career Success Podcast will keep you up to date with recent industry and leadership trends, and give insight on what skills are needed today to help you achieve your career goals. Our first guest is Alex Mierandino who is currently Head of Global Go to Market Strategy for Danone but has also been an entrepreneur where he grew his business to 1 million USD turnover in 9 months.

On this episode of The Career Success Podcast, LS International speaks with Tharyn Estevez, Director of Marketing and Brand Activation CEE at Mattel. During the podcast, we discuss: Where the toy industry is heading and the role of digital play vs. traditional play. Artificial Intelligence (AI) and how employees will work with machines in the future. How Tharyn’s various leadership roles have shaped her management style.