Kiernan Laughlin is the General Manager and co-creator of Deep Indian Kitchen, a growing CPG brand whose mission is to bring a modern, high-quality Indian food experience to consumers worldwide. Kiernan previously held senior brand management roles at large CPG companies like Johnson & Johnson and Unilever, and he spent his early career in marketing, promotions, and partnership leadership at Gorton’s Seafood.

Highlights from our conversation include:

• Core business and leadership lessons from Kiernan’s career in multi-stage CPG (1:26)
• Useful skills Kiernan picked up outside of work that have percolated into his leadership style (5:27)
• Going from a structured corporate environment to leading an emerging brand (8:01)
• The challenges and opportunities of building a team through rebranding (11:22)
• Elements that make a successful relationship between CEO and Founder (19:36)
• Keeping his team aligned and agile as the company evolves (21:48)
• Hiring for qualities that go beyond the resume (22:49)
• How Deep connects their mission to action through their foundation (27:08)
• Advice for the next generation of CPG leaders (30:13)

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Executive leader and board member Wilma Wallace joins Roy to discuss her experience recruiting and mentoring leadership teams at Gap and REI during her extensive career at both legacy brands. After spending over 20 years in senior roles at Gap, Wilma served as Chief Diversity and Social Impact Officer, as well as Chief Legal Officer at REI. In 2024, she retired to focus on impacting change, particularly from an equity, access, and justice perspective, on several boards. Her work centers social impact, environmental justice, and human rights in both the for-profit and non-profit sectors. Wilma and Roy discuss accounting for and addressing changing levels of trust across organizations, internal succession planning versus seeking external candidates, the link between alignment of purpose and successful performance in leadership teams, and much more.

Highlights from our conversation include:

• How Wilma evaluates candidates’ leadership abilities (4:18)
• Creating an environment that fosters high potential future leaders (6:48)
• Recruiting external talent (8:26)
• Leadership assessment practices at Gap & REI (11:08)
• Ensuring that an organization’s culture stays dynamic and resilient (14:01)
• Leading and hiring through periods of growth and change (17:35)
• Ways in which leaders should be vetting culture and values before taking on new leadership roles (20:30)
• What gives Wilma hope about the next generation of leaders (23:00)

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Talent acquisition expert Heather Flynn joins Roy to discuss the ins and outs of successful recruitment strategy. Heather recently served as the SVP of Talent Acquisition for Aritzia, prior to which she led hiring efforts for other major brands like Nike and ASML. Roy and Heather dig into the essential role of talent strategy, the importance of strong employment branding and candidate engagement, the emerging application of AI in recruiting, and much more.

Highlights from our conversation include:

• How holistic talent strategy informs a successful business strategy (5:52)
• Current trends, challenges, and opportunities facing top talent acquisition leaders (7:54)
• Key elements of a successful talent acquisition strategy (9:58)
• How Heather assesses an organization’s hiring bar (13:45)
• Ways that hiring leaders can step up their game (16:11)
• Heather’s approach to helping hiring teams make the best candidate decisions (17:45)
• What growing consumer brands look for in a leader and how it’s evolved recently (20:07)
• How she approached talent strategy at Aritzia (22:14)

Visit HowIHire.com for transcripts and more on this episode.

Follow Roy Notowitz and Noto Group Executive Search on LinkedIn for updates and featured career opportunities.

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