Brad Jakeman joins us today to share his unique perspective on mentorship, recruitment, diversity, digitization of the food industry, and the mindset to build a successful career. Having worked for some of the biggest companies in the world, Brad’s main drive (apart from his passion for marketing) was joining teams, not companies, and focusing on working for inspiring leaders instead of what companies or industries he would like to join. 

Brad Jakeman is the Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Rethink Food LLC and Senior Advisor at Boston Consulting Group (BCG). Throughout his career, Brad worked at PepsiCo as President of the Global Beverage Group, Activision Blizzard, Macy’s, and Citibank, to name a few. 

In this episode, we delve into Brad’s serendipity-driven career, the decision to test himself constantly in unknown industries to promote big changes, and his particular approach to attracting talent. Brad shared his thoughts on why diversity is not only needed but highly beneficial for companies, the lessons he learned from the mistakes in his career, the proper way to lead transformations at big companies, and what are the most challenging parts of it. 

Resources:
Visit Rethink Food’s website: https://www.rethinkfood.org/

Connect with Brad on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bradjakeman/

or follow him on Twitter: https://twitter.com/bradjakeman


Full Episode Breakdown:

1:57 – Brad talks about his career and how lucky he was to work at iconic companies and with exceptional leaders.

3:18 – Brad explains the digitization of the food industry and why it’s needed. 

7:04 – Brad describes his journey in business after college and talks about the massive role serendipity had throughout his career. 

11:36 – Never join companies; join teams. Brad talks about the moment he realized the importance of following projects instead of going after the big names. 

17:12 – Brad explains why he jumped into many different industries based on his convictions.

21:36 – Brad talks about the most challenging parts of promoting changes at leading global companies. 

26:16 – Brad describes his time at Macy’s and talks about the mistakes he made there that would be instrumental in his career’s development.

31:31 – Brad talks about his unique perspective on attracting talent.

33:19 – Brad talks about his passion for diversity and explains why it can enhance a company’s growth and success.

37:37 – John and Brad discuss the need for breaking the mold of how companies hire and form their teams. 

41:40 – White straight men wrote virtually every business process for white straight men. Brad explains why it’s vital to think outside of the box when leading companies.

45:37 – Brad talks about the importance of mentorship and why he feels like an imposter when asked to mentor someone.