Jan 28, 2020
Mark Smucker is the President and CEO of The J.M. Smucker Company, and the sixth CEO in the Company’s 120+-year history— succeeding his father and uncle, in 2016.
Smucker is a well-known manufacturer of jam, peanut butter, pet foods, coffee and other products. Founded in 1897, Smucker has expanded into a portfolio of brands, which grossed an estimated $7.84BB in sales in fiscal year 2019.
After his early career as a middle school science teacher, Mark reentered the business when Smucker was a growing, mid-sized company.
Mark’s path to leadership happened during a period of massive expansion and change.
In our conversation, Mark shares the inflection point and key insight which allowed the company to grow exponentially.
Brands which Smucker either acquired, or launched include JIF peanut butter, Uncrustables, Folgers, Café Bustelo coffee, and in the pet category— Rachael Ray Nutrish pet food and snacks, and Milk-Bone dog biscuits.
Prior to being named President and CEO, Mark held many leadership roles, including President of the U.S. Consumer and Natural Foods divisions, and the Coffee division.
He holds a bachelor’s degree from the College of William and Mary and an MBA from the Arizona State Thunderbird School of Global Management. He lives in Akron, Ohio with his awesome wife Katie, and their two children.
We cover so much great stuff in this conversation. What I love about Mark is how he shows up authentically in all areas of his life and business. As you’ll hear, he’s incredibly passionate about people, workplace culture, and corporate responsibility. Under his leadership, the company continues to meet aggressive goals to reduce waste, and water use, while educating suppliers on more sustainable farming practices.
Mark also has an intense passion for music, and DJ’s house music regularly as DJ Mind.E. We discuss the opportunity of bringing more of ourselves to work, and why it’s so important.
How Mark shows up to his many roles— as a family guy, CEO, and a House DJ— is a great example of Full-Life Integration.
This Epic Life Presents Mark Smucker.
Additional Links
- Mark Smucker on LinkedIN
- Smucker's Company on LinkedIn
- Smucker Company on Instagram
- DJ Mind.E on Instagram
- DJ Mind.E on Mixcloud
- About The Smucker Company
- Careers + Culture at Smucker
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You will learn in this conversation:
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- A day in the life of a Fortune 500 CEO, and how he thinks about rallying people around change.
- The importance of aligning business strategy to core principles.
- The key insight the Smucker's company discovered during a period of slow growth, that allowed them to more than 10x the size of their operations and revenue.
- The back story of the Smucker's family, and what each of the 6 generations of leadership contributed to the company.
- What bringing your whole self to work can look like, even at the highest level of executive leadership.
- Mark's passion outside of work as a DJ of house music, and the ways that brings him joy.
- Why he chose Beastie Boy's Paul's Boutique to test his new sub-woofer :D
- How he thinks about corporate responsibility and
sustainability— reducing the company's landfills, water usage, and
energy use by 95% in some cases.
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