Mentor profiles

Position Description: I lead brand strategy, strategic partnerships, and PR for Chefs Plate, Canada’s first national meal kit brand. I ensure the business maintains strong brand health while driving growth in the fast-paced e-commerce food industry. Experience: I began my career as a Brand Marketing intern at Kraft Foods (now The Kraft Heinz Company) and progressed throughout the organization to Brand Manager. I then transitioned to Chefs Plate, a food-tech startup, to develop my digital marketing skills and challenge myself in a startup environment. I have embraced two company acquisitions by learning to adapt to change and make decisions with ambiguous information. Years as a BMMP Mentor: 5 years

Position Description: I manage a portfolio of emerging brands including SunChips and Stacy’s, as well as new brands not yet launched in the Canadian marketplace. My day-to-day role covers a wide spectrum of marketing, from conducting market research to better empathize with consumers, to commercializing new snack varieties and flavours, to launching new advertising campaigns with my agency partners that build brand love. Another big part of my job is developing strategic business plans that will deliver sustainable growth for the long-term, and influencing at the senior management level to gain full-system alignment to those plans. Experience: My experience with CPG started during my 3rd year at Sauder, when I landed an internship position as a Marketing Assistant at Happy Planet Foods. Upon graduation, I joined the PepsiCo Foods Canada team where I’ve since spent my entire professional career. I’ve had the pleasure of working on a variety of sub-disciplines within marketing such as brand, shopper, and innovation. Years as a BMMP Mentor: 8 years

Position Description: When the highest paid YouTuber in 2018 is a 7-year-old toy reviewer, it really makes you think about how the toy industry is evolving. I lead the Games portfolio at Hasbro where I manage the brands we all grew up with like Monopoly, Scrabble, and Jenga. I also help launch trend-based games like Speak Out to deliver newness and strategic growth. My role is all about bringing new experiences to people through innovative marketing campaigns and retail alignment. Experience: My brand management experience spans multiple industries from healthcare, to food, to entertainment. My early years were spent at Sanofi, Maple Leaf Foods, and Unilever, but over the past four years, I’ve focused on building iconic brands such as Transformers, Nerf, and Monopoly. Beyond the toy category, I’ve been building these brands into franchises and extending the consumer experience into movies, t-shirts, and other consumer goods. Years as a BMMP Mentor: 6 years

Position Description: I manage the Canadian portfolio of Cheerios, Honey Nut Cheerios, Multi-Grain Cheerios, Oatmeal Crisp, Chex & Fibre 1 among others. I drive sales, share growth and profitability through launching new innovations and driving holistic margin management projects while continually driving brand love through developing multi-faceted national consumer campaigns. Experience: After being a part of BMMP as a mentee I landed an internship at L'Oreal in brand management and then switched gears to work at Nielsen to develop and strengthen my analytical skills as a Sr. Market Analyst serving a large range of CPG clients in Vancouver and Toronto. I joined back into the brand management side at General Mills and recently led the Meals portfolio (Pizza Pops, Hamburger Helper, Toaster Strudel & Others) before being moved to my new role on Cheerios. Years as a BMMP Mentor: 4 years

Position Description: Managing P&G’s storied Tide brand, I work in between the company’s vast internal business unit and large retailer teams assigned to serve Wal-Mart, Loblaws, Costco, Amazon, among others. My goal is to bring global brand strategies into fruition as winning retailer-facing executions. It is a fast-paced, centrally-located role that has to balance competing priorities but I relish making a positive impact on the marketplace while finding a way to win with an incredible brand like Tide. Experience: My CPG career began in my 2nd year, and I have never looked back. I got my first opportunity to manage a brand with Reckitt Benckiser, working on the Air Wick brand, ironically competing against Febreze, which is owned by my current company. In my 3rd year, I interned at Mondelez International on the Thins Portfolio, working to launch the Potato Thins brand into Canada, revitalizing the Rice Thins brand, and working to grow the main Wheat Thins business. I then started my post-graduate career as an Assistant Brand Manager at L’Oreal on the Garnier Fructis Hair Care portfolio. After a year, I decided to pivot into the Sales function, joining Procter & Gamble in 2015. I started at P&G by managing the Fabric & Home Care portfolio of brands at Shoppers Drug Mart, then pivoted over into National Sales Strategy for the Fabric Care category. Years as a BMMP Mentor: 4 years

Position Description: Billions of people turn to YouTube to learn, to be entertained, and to feel part of a global digital community. Our team helps brands across all industries to build full-funnel marketing strategies to reach this audience. We work with the world’s largest advertisers and agencies to solve different brand challenges by using Google’s data to turn insights into YouTube strategies that help brands drive meaning consumer connection and achieve their business objectives. Experience: Prior to Google, I was a Marketing Manager at L’Oreal Canada leading the L’Oreal Paris Skincare business with the objective of driving year-over-year market share gains by developing localized brand strategies, creating innovative media plans, and building a multi-year product pipeline that best reflected the needs of Canadian consumers. Years as a BMMP Mentor: 2 years

Position Description: In the nutrition industry it takes time to spot the difference between a trend and a fad, but seeing “plant based” on all the top trend lists for the 8th year in a row is a reminder that consumers continue to shift towards cleaner plant-based foods for both their health and the environment. Working for the #1 plant-based protein powder brand in North America, and own the day-to-day brand management of our portfolio of bars and ready-to-drink shakes. I drive projects around strategic planning, packaging improvement, and new product development to ensure that we’re providing products that consumers love and that help our retailers win. Experience: After an early internship in channel marketing at Smart Technologies, I knew that I favoured project-based work and the idea of owning my own portfolio. But it was only through the BMMP network that I found the break I needed. I landed an internship with Colgate-Palmolive executing a national campaign for Speed Stick while supporting innovation for Soft Soap and Irish Spring. When I graduated I combined these experiences with my passion for health and fitness to jump into a Trade Marketing role at Vega, and eventually used this rounded marketing experience to transition to the Brand team and steadily increase my portfolio and exposure to business challenges.