We had an amazing conversation with the inspiring Esi Eggleston Bracey, President of Unilever USA and CEO of North American Personal Care at Unilever, who was recently named Marketer of the Year by the Advertising Club of New York in 2022. Hear her incredible journey from studying biomedical engineering at Dartmouth College to becoming a brand management powerhouse at P&G and Unilever. AC shares valuable insights on the importance of knowing yourself, being authentic, and embracing change in your career.

As we delved into Esi's experiences, she opened up about leading a large-scale merger of P&G and Coty's beauty business, which brought about some unique challenges as she navigated blending different cultures and values. She also shared her bold decision to take a sabbatical after being appointed to a big role – a time she used to discover her purpose, setting an example for purposeful leadership in today's fast-paced world.

Finally, we explored the vital connection between purpose and profit, exemplified by the success of Dove's Crown Act campaign. Esi shed light on the importance of human centricity in unlocking a deeper brand purpose and how leading with purpose can drive business growth. Don't miss this insightful and inspiring conversation with Esi Eggleston Bracey, a true trailblazer in the world of brand management and purpose-driven leadership.

Bracey is a seasoned executive leader with more than 20 years of experience in the beauty industry, previously holding leadership positions as president of Coty’s Global Consumer Beauty division and svp of Procter & Gamble’s global cosmetics business.

10 Insights Learned From Esi Eggleston Bracey

1. Embracing authenticity in the workplace can lead to career growth and success. Esi Eggleston Bracey found that by being true to herself and sharing her genuine personality, she was able to flourish in her career.

2. P&G is a great breeding ground for talent due to its on-the-ground training, culture of constant advancement, and focus on data-driven decision-making.

3. Knowing yourself, being yourself, and sharing yourself with others is key to career advancement and personal growth.

4. Leading a large-scale merger, such as the one between P&G and Coty’s beauty business, requires managing the blending of multiple companies with different cultures and values.

5. Taking a sabbatical can provide valuable time for self-discovery and personal growth, helping to shape purposeful leadership in the long run.

6. Purpose and profit are intricately aligned in brand building, as demonstrated by the success of Dove's Crown Act campaign.

7. Human centricity is essential for unlocking a deeper brand purpose and driving business growth.

8. Purposeful leadership involves creating clarity of strategy, identifying resources, breaking barriers, and brainstorming ideas to help teams and customers succeed.

9. The wellness trend is driving strategies at Unilever, including the expansion of the portfolio into ingestibles and the co-creation of a brand with Target called Beloved.

10. Community inclusivity and connectivity, as well as technology and digital advancements, are key trends shaping the future of the consumer goods industry.

Key takeaways:

• 03:37 – 05:31 – Nurturing the Achiever Mindset — P&G is a great place to start a career, known for its on-the-ground training and growth mentality. It attracts people like Bracey with an achiever mindset. She became the youngest general manager in the history of P&G.

• 05:32 – 11:45 – Know Yourself, Be Yourself, and Share Yourself — It’s easy to mold yourself to a new organization. But this doesn’t allow you to discover and unleash your full potential. Understand your strengths and desires, embrace diversity and express yourself at work. These can be the first steps to advancing in your career and helping the company thrive.

• 12:27 – 19:37 – Leading a Large Scale Merger — During her time at P&G, Bracey led the merger between Coty and P&G Specialty Beauty Business. For Bracey, this project was dynamic, exciting and fueled her personal growth. It was an opportunity to get her hands dirty and extract the best of both worlds to create a new, more innovative, performance-driven company.

• 27:04 – 32:43 – Growth and Impact: The Crown Act — There’s no compromise between growth and impact. For Bracey, a brand’s purpose is to solve people’s problems. Find out what the consumer needs and match that with your company’s goals to create something both beautiful and profitable. For example, Dove co-founded The Crown Coalition (Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair) to help pass the Crown Act, a law that prohibits racial discrimination based on natural textures and protective hairstyles. The company has continued to be one of the fastest-growing brands through this model and philosophy of beauty inclusivity.