marketing – MENTOR dna

September 14, 2022September 14, 2022

Danny Sonenshine: Wingstop and Dunkin’ Donuts

Danny is like the little brother that you always wished you had. He’s direct, doesn’t take any BS, and is known for being sent to the “Blue Chairs” at his elementary school more than anyone in the history of the school.

He met the love of his life at the University of Pennsylvania, and together, they’ve lived a life of being honest about what it really takes to be happy at work and life. He trained as a lawyer and realized day 1 at the law firm, that it wasn’t the path for him. It was five years before her finally heeded her advice and left law.

He took a huge leap of faith and went into the restaurant business. The only non-corporate experience he’d had prior to that was a summer spent in construction. That summer may very well have changed his life!

Danny was early in the Wingstop business, having gone to training at their Texas headquarters, and he learned that it’s not so easy to start a business. It takes years of dedication, focus and planning.

He and his team have now opened their 89th location on the west coast and he’s learned that understanding and appreciating the jobs your front line teams are doing is critical to running a successful business.

We have a fun chat and even dive into similarities between our moms earning their stripes and blazing trails in the corporate world during the 70s and 80s.

Thanks for tuning in to MENTOR dna!

About Danny Sonenshine

Danny is the founder and CEO of Far West Services, the developers and operators of Wingstop restaurants in California, Colorado, Nevada and Washington. Danny is also the co-founder and co-President of Prell Restaurant Group, a developer and operator of Dunkin’ Donuts in Southern California. Danny served as President of the Southern California Wingstop Advertising Association since its formation and is a member of and past President of Wingstop Restaurant’s Franchise Advisory Council.

Danny has received numerous awards and recognitions, including the 2013 Spirit of Franchising MVP Award from Multi-Unit Franchisee Magazine and OC Metro’s 40 Under 40 list for 2012. Danny has consistently been recognized by Wingstop, receiving awards for Multi-Unit Operator of the Year, Developer of the Year, Top Gun and Advertising Co-Op of the Year. Danny received Wingstop’s Lifetime Achievement Award and was elected to the Wingstop Hall of Fame in 2016.

Prior to starting Far West in 2004, Danny was an associate at Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker, LLP from 1998 to 2004, where he specialized in corporate law, including mergers and acquisitions and securities. He received his Juris Doctor degree from Loyola Law School in Los Angeles in 1998 and his B.A. in International Relations, with a minor in Psychology, from the University of Pennsylvania in 1995. He is also a graduate of the Thacher School in Ojai, California, where he served as Chair of the school in his senior year.

He has held leadership positions with several non-profit organizations. Currently, Danny serves as the Vice Chair of the Board of the Thacher School. Previously, he served on and as President of the board of Harbor Day School, a private K-8 school in Newport Beach, California. Currently, Danny and his wife Kerri co-chair the school’s building campaign. Danny is also a member of the Board of Trustees of Loyola Law School and was the Chair of Loyola’s Courtroom of the 1990s Building Campaign. He is a member of the California Coast Chapter of the Young Presidents Organization (YPO)and previously served as the President of its board. Danny served on the board of Human Options, a provider of comprehensive services to victims of domestic violence, was a founder and the first Chair of BRAVO, an Orange County Performing Arts Center support group, and Chair of the Steinberg Leadership Institute of the Long Beach/Orange County Chapter of the ADL.

Danny and his wife Kerri are the proud parents of daughters Maggie and Sarah and son Tobey. He’s a runner and enjoys collecting and drinking wine.

August 8, 2022August 8, 2022

Bill Schlough – CIO SF Giants

When I talk to people about getting their MBAs, most of their focus is around gaining new technical skills like financial modeling or something similar. I strongly believe that connecting with classmates and creating new memories with those friends is more important than learning how to be an excel jockey. Bill Schlough is a perfect example of this as we never took a class together, but share fun memories from our days playing volleyball at Wharton – hours spent on the courts and traveling up and down the New England corridor for tourneys. Bill’s held the role of Chief Information Officer for the San Francisco Giants since our graduation 25 years ago. It’s no surprise that we chat a lot about the importance sports plays in the lives of our children and communities across the US.

I incorrectly assumed that Bill, a former collegiate two-sport athlete and Olympics employee, seeks athletes in his hiring, so he fills me in on what he seeks in candidates. His hilarious story about the real life challenges Covid presented as he simultaneously navigated keeping his kindergartener on task during Zoom classes while dialing into his executive staff meetings amidst flying Nerf darts are sure to make you laugh.

I’ve had a hunch about the long-term effects of innovation with remote work. The US boasts some of the most innovative companies in the world, but my experience is that ideas occur in serendipitous moments in the break room during your afternoon chocolate break. Bill says that being back at work breathes lives back into his work day, and he supports my thesis that being in-person is critically important to keeping the flywheel of innovation spinning.

Bill’s an incredible mentor and reveals that he loves giving back and particularly expressing his gratitude with the mentors in his life. With 600+ mentees over his career, Bill demonstrates a servant’s heart and desire to help and guide others. This episode is truly inspirational as Bill is a down-to-earth executive with such rich and deep insights to share with anyone looking to break into the C-Suite. Thanks for tuning in!

About Bill Schlough

Since Bill Schlough’s arrival in 1999, the Giants have been recognized as one of the most innovative teams in sports, playing a pioneering role in the world of mobile connectivity, video, ticketing and payment systems. The Giants were the first team to provide free Wi-Fi to all fans beginning in 2004, and Oracle Park is currently the home of the third largest and first 4K-capable video boardin MLB. Schlough’s IT team has also supported the baseball operation in implementing an array of proprietary analytictools that helped the team secure three World Series titles in recent years.

In addition to his technologyleadershipresponsibilities in San Francisco, Schloughserved asInterim President and subsequently Chairman ofthe Giants’ Class-A San Jose affiliate, ultimately overseeing the team’s recent sale after a decade at the helm.

An Olympic enthusiast, Schlough assisted in crafting the technology vision and operations plans for San Francisco’s bids to host the 2012, 2016 and 2024 Olympic Games. His event experience includes assignments at the 1994 World Cup along with Olympics in Atlanta, Salt Lake, Torino, PyeongChang, and Beijing.

Previously, he worked as a consultant with Booz-Allen & Hamilton and EDS. Schlough serveson the boardof Junior Achievement of Northern California and isan avid supporter of Junior Giants, raising over $150,000 through speaking appearances and other fundraisers. Schlough was inducted into CIO.com’s CIO Hall of Fame in 2017, was named Trace3’s 2016 CIO Outlier of the Year, InformationWeek’s 2012 IT Chief of the Year, and is a Sports Business Journal“Forty Under 40” honoree.

A San Francisco native and Ironman triathlete, Schlough holds a Mechanical Engineering degree from Duke University and an MBA from the Wharton School. He resides inLos Altos with his wife, Erin, and sons, Xavier and Quinlan.

January 11, 2022February 2, 2022

Meesh Pierce – advisor, board member, podcaster

Welp, here it is. An episode where I get interviewed on my own show. Weird. Uncomfortable. Awkward. Yes, all of those things!

BUT, I was able to convince Wharton Professor Pete Fader to interview me! We chat about how I landed my first internship in the music industry, my transition into tech, and the crazy and bold things I’ve said to colleagues and bosses.

Leadership podcasts allow seasoned execs to share their stories and I hope you enjoy my journey.

About Meesh Pierce

Meesh Pierce is a former tech executive who started her career in entertainment during the heyday of grunge rock. Her early days at Disney and Sony Music introduced her to the corporate world and importance of connectedness.

She worked long hours answering phones, faxing Winnie the Pooh and Lion King toy concepts to China, and sneaking into hole-in-the-wall concerts until the wee hours. During the early internet days, Meesh bet that tech was going to materially change the entertainment world, so she headed back to Philly for her 2nd stint at Wharton.

As a freshly-minted business school grad, she stepped into product management gigs for the likes of NBC, Sony Digital Entertainment, and Ticketmaster.

A risk taker, Meesh started an early dot com custom merch company, snacki, in the late 90s. A few years later, she took an opportunity to learn commercial and residential real estate development from a seasoned investor.

She spent 15 years as a hired gun consultant stepping into difficult 1-2 year projects; those that needed someone adept at strategy, product and marketing, and comfortable navigating across divisions and up to the c-suite and board. As an independent consultant, she’s worked with Epson, Mercedes (AutoGravity), Fandango (NBC), and Amor Boutique Hotel amongst others.

Meesh now serves on boards, as advisor to several organizations, and mentor to many. She loves using her experience to make connections between people and ideas.

Meesh is equally left and right-brained. She drives an F-150 to support her furniture painting habits as there’s rarely an abandoned roadside furniture piece she doesn’t stop to investigate. She started documenting her furniture painting techniques at imeeshu.com and learned a great deal about SEO through her personal journey as a blogger.

She’s also an avid gardener and has built her own hydroponics greenhouse with a fully-functioning set-up for tomato and lettuce farming.

Meesh loves people and mentoring. She has many mentees stretching across all walks of life; from Broadway stars, to growth-minded entrepreneurs, to people in career or life transitions.

January 4, 2022February 3, 2022

Pete Fader – Wharton Marketing Professor

I’ve always had a proclivity for marketing and curiosity for patterns. When I met marketing Professor Pete Fader, I didn’t realize what a big impact he would have on my career. At 26, he was one of the youngest professors at the Wharton School, and 10 years later had become one of the school’s favorites – teaching undergrad, MBA, and pHd students.

His research first focused on consumer products, but then shifted into the music and entertainment industry where he served as an expert testifying on behalf of Napster in the late 90s.

As a professor, he engages his students to really think about customers in a way that most people don’t – NOT every customer is the same. Some are far more profitable than others. So how do you lead your organization to truly understand and focus on customer centricity? Pete collaborated with some of his pHd students to help companies do just that.

With two successful data-driven businesses under his belt and 35 years at the finest business school in the world, we have much to learn from this humble leader who likely will never forget your phone number.

If you find numbers interesting, I highly recommend checking out Pete’s super duper old school site: coolnumbers.com

About Professor Pete Fader

Peter S. Fader’s expertise centers around the analysis of behavioral data to understand and forecast customer shopping/purchasing activities.

He works with firms from a wide range of industries, such as telecommunications, financial services, gaming/entertainment, retailing, and pharmaceuticals. Managerial applications focus on topics such as customer relationship management, lifetime value of the customer, and sales forecasting for new products. Much of his research highlights the consistent (but often surprising) behavioral patterns that exist across these industries and other seemingly different domains.

In addition to his various roles and responsibilities at Wharton, Professor Fader co-founded a predictive analytics firm (Zodiac) in 2015, which was sold to Nike in 2018. He then co-founded (and continues to run) Theta Equity Partners to commercialize his more recent work on “customer-based corporate valuation.”

Fader is the author of Customer Centricity: Focus on the Right Customers for Strategic Advantage and coauthor with Sarah E. Toms of the book The Customer Centricity Playbook. He has been quoted or featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Economist, The Washington Post, and on NPR, among other media. In 2017, Professor Fader was named by Advertising Age as one of its inaugural “25 Marketing Technology Trailblazers,” and was the only academic on the list.

October 13, 2021October 14, 2021

Whitney Gomez

Whitney and I were in the same class in business school and reconnected when she and her husband moved within 3 miles of us fifteen years ago. Coincidentally, I went to college with her husband and our families have since spent much time together through sports and family fun.

Whitney has a deep passion for current affairs and international business. She’s a voracious reader and has successfully parlayed her experience at Morgan Stanley and PAAMCO into every project she touches. She’s very intentional about the projects she takes on, always stretching herself and learning something new.

She’s an inspiration to me and I really treasure her sense of confidence in everything she does. She shares her philosophy that you can have it all, just not at the same time. It’s taken me years to finally come to grips with this after a lifetime of hearing “You can be anything and have it all!!” Pragmatic thinking and careful planning have led Whitney to the successes she’s experienced in the corporate and non-profit worlds. I know that you’ll love this episode!

About Whitney Gomez

Whitney Kane Gomez has twenty years experience in investment research and fund marketing, and currently serves in both working and advisory capacities on a number of non-profit boards in education and healthcare.

Whitney was a Director in PAAMCO Prisma’s Investment Strategies Group from 2008 – 2019. As a member of the leadership team, she was involved in client service, marketing and regulatory compliance. Whitney also oversaw the firm’s analyst program, media relations and external publications efforts.

Prior to joining PAAMCO in 2008, Whitney was an Executive Director at Morgan Stanley and spent ten years as an emerging markets strategist in the Fixed Income Department in New York. She covered a number of Latin American countries and was responsible for global strategy as the head of Morgan Stanley’s Fixed Income Emerging Markets Strategy team. Whitney’s research was recognized by Institutional Investor, Euromoney and LatinFinance magazines, and has been broadly quoted in publications such as the Wall Street Journal and Financial Times.

Whitney started her career at the US Department of State in the Nuclear Risk Reduction Center and later in the Office of Newly Independent States. She undertook short-term assignments for the State Department at the American embassies in Kiev, Ukraine; Chişinău, Moldova; and Yerevan, Armenia. Whitney received the U.S. Department of State Superior Honor Award for her service.

Whitney graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Richmond with a BA in Global Studies with a concentration in International Economics. She received an MBA in Finance from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Whitney resides in Newport Beach with her husband and three children. She enjoys off-the-beaten-trail travel, reading non-fiction, and the family’s Australian Shepherd.

June 8, 2021June 8, 2021

Jed Weinstein, Founder & CEO Rise & Set

As an only child, I always yearned for a sibling. When my husband introduced me to his childhood friend, Jed Weinstein, I was immediately drawn to him. He’s one of the most kind and authentic gentlemen I’ve ever met. Truly, a mensch. And while this sounds weird because he’s younger than I am, he reminds me of my Dad – gentle, well-read, interesting, interested, creative. 🙂

I’m in Philly a few times a year for meetings so I also scoot up to NYC to see some shows and visit with friends. Jed and his wife always oblige and you’ll find me on their couch enjoying the vibrant energy of their Wall St. neighborhood.

On one visit, Jed invited me to a Hublot launch event his company, RISE & SET, was hosting in a non-descript warehouse walking distance of the High Line. Not thinking much about what I was doing or what to expect, I walked in and was immediately transported to a different world. His team had perfectly captured the brand’s uber-luxurious essence. Product was perfectly displayed for guests to try. The setting was very intimate, yet oozed grandeur. I’m not surprised that uber-luxury brands want to work with Jed’s team. He truly understands that aesthetic and what the customer wants.

Jed Weinstein hails from Newport Beach, CA. His passion for marketing was incubated at the prestigious Goizueta Business School in Atlanta, GA, where he was inducted into the Emory Sports Hall of Fame as an All-American Varsity tennis and soccer athlete.

After graduating, Jed founded his first entrepreneurial venture. Three years later, Latin America Sports Camps, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, was sold for a profit to a local marketing agency.

Upon his return to the US, Jed was recruited to work with live concert and production company SFX Entertainment, which was subsequently acquired by Clear Channel Entertainment. After years of producing a multitude of award-winning events for the likes of Coca-Cola, Schering Plough, and XM Satellite Radio, it was time. Time to take the skills learned, experience gained, and relationships made, to create something…more.

RISE & SET is that “more” – the nation’s top luxury lifestyle marketing agency, creating superlative experiences for the world’s most high-profile luxury brands and clientele.

June 1, 2021June 1, 2021

Alli Warner – CMO, Beacon Pointe Advisors

Alli was fresh out of college and interning at Beacon Pointe Advisors when I met her. I’d already had about 15 years of marketing, product and strategy under my belt and was highly-impressed by Alli’s curious nature and willingness to take the bull by the horns and get stuff done without having been asked.

As I interview more C-Suite executives, there seems to be a pattern with many of them having been leaders on their high school or collegiate teams. Alli played volleyball at USC and was also a competitive horse rider. Her collaborative approach as she’s risen the ranks make her a go-to for her colleagues across the organization.

About Alli Warner

Allison (Alli) graduated from the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California where she was captain of the Division 1, Pac-12, USC women’s volleyball team. She also received a Masters in Communication Management from the Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism at USC. Alli joined Beacon Pointe Advisors in 2010 as an intern. From intern to Chief Marketing Officer, Alli designed and built Beacon Pointe’s strategic plan for the marketing and communications department. Her responsibilities include brand management, digital marketing and social media, office acquisition brand integration, website oversight, marketing material design, presentation and content development including articles, podcasts and video formats, and market research, among other areas of focus.

Alli is very passionate about financial education. She is a founding member of the Beacon Pointe Women’s Advisory Institute and recently co-authored Your Dollars, Our Sense: A Fun and Simple Guide to Money Matters, an international best-selling book that has been ranked #1 in six different business and finance categories. She also served as a past committee member for UC Irvine’s Center for Investment & Wealth Management Financial Literacy ‘LifeVest’ Summer Residential Program for four consecutive years.

Outside of the office, Alli volunteers her time working with her family’s non-profit organization that serves the military sector, The Patriots Initiative. She also enjoys being in the outdoors horseback riding, golfing, playing sand volleyball, traveling, and spending time with her family. Alli is married and lives with her husband in San Diego, California.

May 11, 2021May 11, 2021

Dan Smith – CEO, ALT-CMO and JIMMYCASE

Dan Smith, ALT-CMO and JimmyCase on MENTOR dna

I wasn’t totally prepared for what I was about to walk into…..mission control at the Playboy Studios with hundreds of TV screens on display! But I kept my cool and kept listening to how TV production works. Those were the early days when I’d just met Dan Smith, then VP Production for Playboy. What I love about Dan is that he’s a risk-taker, open-minded, non-judgmental, and always willing to listen and provide feedback on ideas.

We’ve since collaborated on numerous projects for the Wharton Club of Southern California, where he created a highly-successful Media & Entertainment networking group, and now runs Marketing Mondays. He now helps clients with branding and digital conversion rates through his company, ALT-CMO.

Dan loves to learn and leveraged his experiences at Playboy to truly learn global commerce distribution and digital marketing. This experience has served him well in a direct-to-consumer venture to sell JIMMYCASE, a phone case wallet using just-in-time manufacturing in California that’s distributed worldwide. He tinkered in his garage for 6 months perfecting JIMMYCASE’s design and now is finalizing an innovative yet simple pour-over coffee offering.

About Dan Smith

Dan Smith started his career in the mailroom at a talent agency. From there, he worked for famed Academy-, Emmy- and Golden Globe Award-winning Edgar Scherick. It was during a meeting with Ed and famed Samuel Goldwyn where Dan got his big chance to become VP Development and Production at American Gladiators.

He then moved on to Fox Family Channel which sold to Disney/ABC. Dan transitioned from family programming to adult programming at Playboy, where he rose the ranks to General Manager, Home Entertainment. As the adult programming market was starting to wane, Dan took the opportunity to hone his skills while running the home entertainment business, learning global manufacturing, distribution, and digital marketing.

Dan has parlayed his digital marketing expertise into a very scrappy and successful phone accessories business called JIMMYCASE, is about to launch a coffee-related product and is also CEO of ALT-CMO, a marketing consultancy focused on digital marketing and branding.