Podcast

Lessons from a Chief Strategy & Brand Officer

Making meaningful change and getting credit for it

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April 3, 2024

Maisie Ganzler is the former Chief Strategy & Brand Officer at Bon Appétit Management Company and author of the new sustainability leadership book You Can't Market Manure at Lunchtime: And Other Lessons from the Food Industry for Creating a More Sustainable Company.

An expert strategic advisor with deep experience in scaling organizations, branding, cross disciplinary management, forging supply chains, and sustainability, Maisie paints a picture of what it takes to not only embed sustainability into every aspect of a company, but to also (perhaps most importantly) get credit for it. Her advice: align systems, be radically transparent, and tell your story.

Dive into the episode to learn more and to hear advice and insights on:

  • What makes for an effective sustainability leader in an organization
  • Embedding sustainability and ESG work into every department because, spoiler alert,  it’s not just the responsibility of a sustainability team (she argues you might not even need one)
  • Why getting credit for sustainability efforts is important for both customers AND internal stakeholders
  • Turning sustainability costs into revenue drivers
  • Capitalizing on your sphere of influence for quick wins
  • Tackling the tough stuff head on (and there will be tough stuff along the way)

If you’re looking for advice from someone who’s been there and has built programs that scale, consider this: Maisie has nearly three decades of leadership experience and helped grow Bon Appétit Management Company to over $1.7 billion in annual revenue. The company operates 1,000-plus cafés for corporations, universities, and cultural institutions in 33 states, serving more than 250 million meals per year!

Key takeaways

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