For 24 straight hours every June, the world's greatest endurance race pushes drivers, machines, and engineers to their limits at Le Mans. For Michelin, it's more than a race, it's a proving ground for innovation, performance, and one of the most enduring brands in the world.

This week, Jim welcomes Omer Waysman, Vice President of B2C Marketing for North America at Michelin. Founded in France in 1889, Michelin has grown into a global company with nearly $30 billion in annual revenue. While best known for its tires, Michelin's business extends far beyond the road, spanning brands including BFGoodrich and Uniroyal, the world-famous Michelin Guide, and innovations in fields ranging from aeronautics and healthcare to advanced materials and construction.

Omer's career has taken him from France to South Carolina, where he now leads marketing, brand strategy, and go-to-market execution for Michelin in North America. Before Michelin, he held senior leadership roles at Danone and Microsoft, helping drive digital growth, e-commerce, and transformation initiatives around the world.

Tune in for a conversation exploring one of marketing's most interesting challenges: how do you build trust, relevance, and long-term loyalty in a category where consumers only make a purchase every three to five years?

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The role of the CMO is evolving. Increasingly, it is becoming a pathway to the CEO's office.

Jim's guest this week, Melissa Grady Dias, first joined the show in 2020 as Global Chief Marketing Officer of Cadillac, where she helped transform one of America's most iconic brands into the leading luxury EV brand while navigating a global pandemic and unprecedented industry disruption.

Now she has entered an entirely new chapter. Melissa recently became CEO of Measured Wellness, a healthcare company focused on preventative care, wearable technology, AI powered health insights, and what she calls "care between appointments." It is a model built around the 99 percent of health that happens outside the doctor's office. The company was founded in San Diego by Dr. Michael Kurisu, who specializes in Family and Integrative Medicine.

Melissa is a leader who thrives when navigating transformation, and she simply likes building things. Those are her words. At Cadillac, that meant helping consumers rethink mobility, luxury, and electrification. At Measured Wellness, it means helping people rethink healthcare itself by moving from reactive care to proactive wellness, from occasional doctor visits to continuous engagement, and from treating illness to creating the conditions for long term health.

Tune in for a conversation about leadership, reinvention, wellness, and the growing influence of marketers in shaping the future of business.

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What does growth leadership actually look like in 2026?

Recorded live at the Kellogg School of Management Marketing Leadership Summit, this week’s episode features two standout conversations with leaders building some of the most talked-about brands in business today. 

First Jim sits down with AT&T’s Chief Marketing and Growth Officer Kellyn Smith Kenny to chat about how a 150-year-old company is transforming itself through customer obsession, operational accountability, and AI-enabled personalization. 

Then, e.l.f. Beauty CEO Tarang Amin and President Kory Marchisotto share the culture, creativity, and community-first mindset behind one of the fastest-growing brands in the industry, and why they believe “zero distance” from consumers changes everything.

Across both conversations, there’s a shared theme: the brands winning today are the ones willing to stay curious, move quickly, listen deeply to customers, and build cultures where people can do the best work of their lives.

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Are you a hopeful leader? Is your brand a hopeful brand? What does hopeful even mean anymore? And in a moment defined by uncertainty, anxiety, and rapid change, one emotion is emerging as a powerful force for brands and leaders alike: hope.

Jim’s guests this week as both return guests, as he sits down with Samantha Maltin, Chief Marketing and Brand Officer at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, and George Carey, CEO and founder of Human-ology, for a deeply human conversation about why hope matters now more than ever. 

Together, they explore groundbreaking research on the emotional drivers of hope, why consumers are craving emotional safety and optimism, and how brands can authentically create deeper relevance by helping people feel more hopeful in their everyday lives. Samantha shares how St. Jude’s mission is built around helping families “afford hope,” while George explains why hope is not “glittery,” but grounded in grit, resilience, and meaningful human connection.

This episode could not be more timely. There is a war on hope and people are fighting it on every front. But don’t despair: what follows will help you understand hope today, and what you can do to integrate this learning into your brand platform and into how you lead.

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Learn more about Human-Ology’s insights around Hope: https://www.human-ology.com/human-insights

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A few weeks ago at Havas’ Hudson Street headquarters in New York City, industry leaders gathered on the eve of the Advertising Hall of Fame induction ceremony for a candid conversation about leadership, legacy, creativity, and courage. 

For this special episode, Jim joins NFL Chief Marketing Officer Tim Ellis in conversation moderated by Maggie Connors, Chief Marketing Officer of Havas Creative Network. Together, they reflect on the defining decisions that shape a career, especially the ones that didn’t feel obvious at the time.

From transforming Pampers into a purpose-led brand to rebuilding trust and culture at the NFL, the conversation explores what it really means to lead: building teams, earning trust, listening deeply, and creating environments where people can thrive.

This is more than a discussion about marketing, it’s a conversation about humanity, mentorship, and the lasting impact leaders leave on the people around them.

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This week’s episode is in partnership with Havas.

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What does it take to transform a legacy brand and yourself as a leader at the same time?

To celebrate the launch of the streaming series on Hulu, Designed to Last, Jim welcomes Sherina Smith, Enterprise Chief Marketing Officer at American Family Insurance. Founded nearly a century ago in Madison, Wisconsin, American Family, or AMFAM, has grown into one of the largest mutual insurers in the United States. It serves millions of customers and generates more than $15 billion in annual revenue. The company has built its brand around a powerful purpose: to inspire, protect, and restore people’s dreams.

Designed to Last is one of the boldest moves in the category, a first-of-its-kind streaming series on Hulu, with the first episode available now.

Sherina joined American Family in 2019 as VP of Marketing and is now the Enterprise CMO for American Family and its subsidiary brands. She is responsible for helping guide the company’s flagship brand. She also leads the company’s marketing transformation, as well as customer growth strategies across the organization. Born and raised in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area, Sherina graduated from Ohio State and earned her MBA from USC. She spent a foundational 11 years at Kraft, which we discuss, before roles at AbbVie Pharmaceuticals and JCPenney.

Tune in as Sherina dives into how the show came to life, why long-form content is a powerful way to build engagement, and how brands can create deeper emotional connections in a crowded, competitive space.

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Stream Designed to Last on Hulu now!

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This week, about 5.5 thousand marketers from 44 countries and 800 brands are convening in Miami for one of the fastest rising gatherings in our industry, and Jim’s guest is the entrepreneur behind it all.

Jim welcomes Christian Muche, Global President and Co-Founder of POSSIBLE. Christian began his career as an accountant before discovering marketing, with time at early internet pioneers AOL and Yahoo in the early 2000s. In 2007, he co-founded DMEXCO, the Digital Marketing Exposition and Conference in Cologne, which became one of the most influential marketing and technology events in the world. Then in 2021, coming out of the pandemic, Christian co-founded POSSIBLE. Now in its fourth year, POSSIBLE brings together thousands of marketers, brands, and innovators in Miami for a three-day experience designed to spark connections and shape the future of the industry.

Whether you are there in person or following from afar, tune in for a conversation with a leader who has built a differentiated and meaningful event platform, and learn what continues to drive his passion for bringing people together.

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What does it take to turn a simple drink into a global cultural phenomenon?

This week Jim welcomes Allison Varone, the Head of Marketing at Campari America, to unpack the strategy behind one of the most impressive modern brand growth stories. From the rise of Aperol Spritz to the expansion of non-alcoholic options, the Campari Group has become one of the world’s leading spirits companies, with a portfolio of more than 50 premium and super-premium brands, from aperitifs, tequila, whiskey, rum, to cognac. Campari has grown into a $9 billion global player, built on a portfolio of premium brands that have become part of many people’s everyday rituals and celebrations.  

Allison leads marketing for the entire U.S. portfolio, including overseeing brand strategy, consumer engagement, innovation, and integrated campaigns across Campari’s range of brands. She’s also deeply involved in shaping how these brands show up in culture, from major moments like Coachella and the U.S. Open,  to celebrating the everyday ritual of the aperitivo hour.

Alison joined Campari in 2024, after nearly 12 years at LVMH, where she led marketing across some of the most admired luxury brands in the world, including Hennessy, Moët & Chandon, and Belvedere.  Before that, she spent an eventful six years in the early 2000s at Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia.

Tune in for a conversation with a marketing leader who showcases how she balances heritage with innovation, through shaping the future of cocktail culture, consumer connection, and brand storytelling.

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Long before our guest this week became the CMO of Levi’s, he was rocking the brand as a kid, breakdancing with his brother in shell-toe Adidas and Levi’s denim. Fast forward a few decades, and he’s now leading one of the most admired brands in the world.

This week Jim welcomes Kenny Mitchell, SVP and Chief Marketing Officer of the Levi’s brand at Levi Strauss & Co. The legacy brand was founded in 1853 by Bavarian immigrant Levi Strauss during the California Gold Rush. Originally designed as durable workwear for laborers, now 173 years later, it is the market leader in denim apparel, generating more than $6 billion in annual revenue.

Kenny joined Levi’s in 2023 after serving as CMO of Snap Inc., bringing with him a track record of driving growth and cultural relevance. Since joining, he’s been focused on creating “modern-day moments” for the brand, connecting Levi’s legacy to today’s culture, from high-impact partnerships to the brand’s return to the Super Bowl with its “Behind Every Original” campaign. Previously, he has held senior marketing roles at McDonald’s U.S., Gatorade, and NASCAR. 

Tune in for a conversation about growth, culture, and leadership, and what it really takes to move a brand, and an organization, forward.

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If the role of a CMO is to make a brand interesting, why does so much marketing today feel anything but?

This week Jim sits down with Nick Law, Creative Strategy & Experience Lead of Accenture Song, the $20 billion creative services division of Accenture, to explore what’s gone wrong in modern marketing, and what leaders need to do to fix it. In 2019,  Accenture Song (then called Accenture Interactive) purchased the highly awarded and fast-growing creative agency droga 5. Teaser alert: its founder, David Droga, is a big reason Nick is now at Accenture Song. 

Nick’s journey is anything but traditional. He began his career in trade school in Randwick, Australia, before rising through the creative ranks, where he spent 17+ years at R/GA during its most innovative era, a stint at Apple as VP of Marketing Integration, and now helping shape one of the most expansive creative organizations in the world. Today, at Accenture Song, he works across marketing, design, commerce, and customer experience, bringing together systems and storytelling at scale.

Tune in for a conversation about creativity, leadership, and the evolving role of marketing in an increasingly complex world, and what it really takes to build brands that people care about.

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This week's episode is brought to you by IAB.

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If you think the biggest growth opportunity in marketing is Gen Z, Millennials, or Gen Alpha, this episode may change your mind. We kick off a special monthly series focused on how marketers approach different generations, starting with Gen X and Baby Boomers.

To explore the 50+ audience, Jim welcomes Brent Rivard, CEO and co-founder of Geezer Creative, an agency built around one bold premise: the marketing industry has been ignoring consumers who represent an $8 trillion opportunity.

Gen X and Boomers control roughly 70% of disposable income in the U.S., yet most brands remain obsessively focused on youth. Gen X alone outspends Gen Z by multiples in categories like alcohol, while affluent 50+ consumers are driving massive growth in travel, wellness, longevity, and lifestyle spending.

Brent studied at the Ivey Business School in Ontario and went on to spend two decades at top agencies, including BBDO, Anomaly, Doner, and Lowe Roche. After a stint as a CMO, he founded Geezer Creative in 2024 to help brands reposition themselves for what he believes is the most overlooked and fastest-growing audience in North America.

Tune in for a conversation with an advocate fighting for smarter audience choices in advertising.

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Learn more, request a free pass, and register at iab.com/ccs  

Promo Code for $150 off ticket prices: CMOPODCCS26

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This week's episode is brought to you by IAB.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.