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Nate Challen shared thisSometimes the trouble is self-inflicted. Sometimes you inherit it from the people that came before. Sometimes it just find you. Today's environment is more fraught with trouble then ever, making marketing harder than ever. You can complain that it's not fair. It isn't. But that doesn't change anything. And while the trouble your brand gets into isn't always predictable, what is predictable is that it will happen at somepoint. And you should be READY! In this weekend's Brandistry Buzz, I talk about Target, Callaway, Kenvue, Cracker Barrel, and KFC and what lessons can be learned about trouble and how to prepare for it. Read the full article 👇
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Nate Challen shared thisRemember playing telephone as a kid? One sentence goes in. Something unrecognizable comes out the other end. That's roughly what happens to a brand definition on its way from the people who own it to the people who represent it. Creators, agencies, social managers, partners. Every handoff thins it out a little. How do your values travel down an org chart and into the partners you work with? Answering that question has become essential in today's marketing environment. Callaway Golf and Target are two big brands found that out the hard way in the last week. This weekend's Brandistry Buzz gets into how brand management is changing, why the same misstep costs two companies very different amounts, and why the reserve you build beforehand usually matters more than the apology you write after. Subscribe now so you don't miss out -> https://lnkd.in/gJRjUiXy Also available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube under Brandistry Buzz.
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Nate Challen shared thisEva and I like to watch the YouTube reels of ads from the 60s, 70s, and 80s which would never be happen today. At least that's what I thought. The biggest themes of these cringe reels tend to be overt sexism and underlying racism. Sound familiar? The legitimate difference of today is that the pace of content that many brands are striving to put out creates way more opportunities for seemingly obvious missteps like these to happen. It is a real challenge though to "share the pen" with creators or even empower social media managers to work at the speed of culture while trying to retain rigid brand filters. What I come back to is the importance of clearly and well communicated values within the organization and a tight definition of the brand that survives the "telephone game" as it moves from the brand owners to the brand representatives. Target has been inviting this sort of scrutiny for a while now from it's sharp pivot from embracing minority business owners and shoppers to exiting DEI initiatives. This isn't the first time their cultural understanding card has been checked in the last 2 years. Callaway may be more likely to shake this off quickly through the quick apologies they and Good Good made.
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Nate Challen shared thisDolly Parton has been one of my heroes for a while. And this week the world lost a truly remarkable person. Not just a talented singer, though she was that. Dolly was a rebel, a philanthropist, an entrepreneur, an advocate, and so much more. I posted this about a year ago while I was still finding my own way on LinkedIn. My lesson from Dolly then and still… Success isn't just about talent - it's about intentionally developing and deploying your unique gifts. Identify your core strengths. So build ventures aligned with your values. And create opportunities that play to your advantages while benefiting others. R.I.P. Dolly Parton
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Nate Challen shared thisDolly Parton has been one of my heroes for a while. And today the world lost a truly remarkable person. Not just a talented singer, though she was that. Dolly was a rebel, a philanthropist, a entrepreneur, a advocate, and so much more. I posted this about a year ago while I was still finding my own way on LinkedIn. My lesson from Dolly then and still… Success isn't just about talent - it's about intentionally developing and deploying your unique gifts. Identify your core strengths. So build ventures aligned with your values. And create opportunities that play to your advantages while benefiting others. R.I.P. Dolly Parton
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Nate Challen shared thisFired up to be working with Aakash patel and the WonderPop team and a great group of mentors this Fall and kicking it all off in Austin with the SKU crew next week!
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Nate Challen shared thisFriday, Eva Challen started school again. For the 19th time. Anyone who knows Eva knows she's awesome in many ways and yet for most of our adult life she chose to forego a "career" so she could manage our home, shepherd our four kids, and support my career. Along the way she filled in financially with jobs that wrapped around those priorities: executive assistant, piano teacher, daycare provider, school bookstore manager, and eventually substitute teacher. She also did a lot of volunteering at our kids' schools and with the groups they were involved with (Girl Scouts, lacrosse, etc.). Eva has always bristled at the idea of being a student. And yet she's been a college student for more years than anyone in our immediate family. Her education journey is not standard. She started a semester late because a move before senior year of high school delayed her applications. She left after a year to marry me, joining me in Baltimore and becoming the provider while I finished my degree. She went back to finish her bachelor's with a 6-month-old. She wanted to quit after one semester, and I talked her out of it - though she'd say I refused to let her quit. She graduated with a BS in Marriage, Family, and Human Development six months pregnant with our second child. When she was done, she swore she would never go back! And she didn't, for 19 years. As our kids began moving out, we started talking about her next chapter. She'd enjoyed substitute teaching in Chattanooga. She'd been the PTO president at four different schools. She'd worked with children and youth at school. So she did what she said she'd never do and began an online master's degree program while we were in Montreal, focused on Special Education. She graduated in 2022, and when we returned to the US in 2023 she began substitute teaching again in New Jersey, plus in-home therapy with special needs children. She kept substituting in Massachusetts and California, and this summer added camp counselor to her list of jobs. When I left Doctor's Best at the end of February, Eva had moved to California to join me the week before. Last week she wrote about my resilience - but a big part of my resilience comes from her. She spent the following month scouring Indeed postings to find ways she could offset the loss, and when she came back with ideas that took her away from teaching, it pained me. For the first time in our marriage, she'd started down a real career path. It wasn't just something to do or a way to make ends meet - it gave her joy and purpose, even on the days she came home exhausted. So we pivoted. We agreed to establish the mindset that we'd make our way in California for the foreseeable future, and that we would not just follow my job wherever it led like we had the last 20 years. And she decided to go back to school here - the thing she said she'd never do again, again - to earn her teaching certificate in California. And that's just one of the things that make Eva so awesome!
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Nate Challen shared thisThis pizza isn’t lacking pepperoni, but it still has a problem. Nike didn't lose its conviction. It had too much of it, pointed at the wrong thing. Nike spent four years pulling its products off shelves it had owned for decades, but customers didn't follow. The belief behind it was strong. The math seemed sound. And it was a massive failure. This week's Brandistry Buzz: the four Pioneering Principles, the four ways they go out of balance, and the day Rick Ely told me my own model was missing something. Over pizza with well balanced pepperoni. Read the full Brandistry Buzz 👇
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Nate Challen liked thisNate Challen liked thisTomorrow! See you soon Apollo High School! I love setting freshmen up for success in their new schools. When everything feels new it can feel like things are out of control. Tomorrow I’ll teach them how to take back control in One Second of Strength. We’ll also dive into the enemy of action AKA distraction that will keep kids stuck and how social media targets youth and exactly what to do about it. Next Youth Speaking Events Tomorrow: School Assembly - St. Cloud, Minnesota Next up: Youth Conference - Calgary, Alberta Canada After that: your youth event or school! Booking info: https://lnkd.in/gVNstt9K #youthspeaker #schoolassemblyspeaker #youthleadership
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Nate Challen liked thisNate Challen liked thisCPG Founder Spotlight: Lori Levine (Scott's Protein Balls) I'll be honest. The name gave me pause at first. But when Lori reached out and told me the story behind it, I was immediately glad I took the call. In 2017, Lori was diagnosed with breast cancer. During treatment her nutritionist advised her to avoid conventional protein bars because of the artificial ingredients. The problem was she could not find a clean, great tasting alternative. Her husband Scott started making protein balls for her in their kitchen. Clean ingredients, no processed junk, just something real and nourishing. She fell in love with them. So did everyone around her. Scott never set out to build a brand. He set out to take care of his wife. That is where this started. Lori runs the business now and the traction speaks for itself. Scott's Protein Balls has grown 7x in 2026 and expanded into 600+ retail locations including significant growth in Target. The product is 100% plant-based, gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free, low sugar, and made with clean natural ingredients. I went to Target and tried them myself. Clean, quality taste. Fun flavors that actually deliver. Every purchase supports the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. That is not a marketing line. It is the reason this brand exists. Worth watching. And worth trying. Website: scottsproteinballs .com Capital: currently raising I routinely have the privilege of knowing CPG entrepreneurs and will continue to highlight these incredible founders on this platform. So show them some love!
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Nate Challen reacted on thisY’all, I’m saving this one for the days I feel like quitting. I’m excited about what I’m building, and so grateful for people like the incredible Katelin Wheeler cheering me on along the way. #projectcheers #startuplifeNate Challen reacted on thisIt is no secret that love a coffee chat with a brand new connection or an old friend. But a coffee chat with a brilliant marketer, friend, mentor, founder, mom, and one of the most Likeable Badasses I know really tops the charts. I'm a bit late here but I kicked off my birthday weekend (last month) over coffee with THE Grayson Leverenz. Grayson is one of the most intentional people I know. The way she navigates life's big and small choices is so inspiring to me. Grayson launched her go-to-market consultancy, Groove GTM at the end of 2024. And she's bringing a women's health product to market in Q4. I peppered her with questions about her product, target market, early decisions, the strategic partnerships that helped her find the right manufacturer, etc. etc. etc. Shortly after I was chatting with a colleague, bragging about Grayson's ability to do the next right thing. To build so carefully but waste 0 time. I'm really blown away that she's navigating a new industry with the classic Grayson calm, cool, collectiveness. I can't wait to share more about her latest venture when the time is right. Grayson, #projectcheers to you! For being authentic and brilliant. Thanks for a coffee date that became a real source of energy for me in the days that followed. It's because of founders like you that I have fun searching for problems to solve and thinking through how they might come together...even if most don't make it out of my iPhone notes 😅 P.S. We're overdue for a group coffee/hang with Nicole Haight, Juee Tendulkar, and Laura Zabinski...
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Nate Challen liked thisNate Challen liked thisSport has become far more than competition and entertainment. Major events, global leagues and new investment are transforming cities, economies and communities - while sport is becoming an increasingly strategic industry and arena for geopolitical influence. At DLD Sports in Valencia, I will moderate the panel “The Power of Sport: People, Places, Power” - a conversation about what is transforming the sports business, how major events can create lasting value, and what happens when influence, investment, trust and legitimacy increasingly collide. I will be joined by three outstanding perspectives: Eike Doerte Bürgel, Allianz, bringing the view from one of the world’s largest corporate partners of the Olympic and Paralympic movements - and years of experience around major events, partnerships and legacy. Florian Kurz, ESB Marketing Netzwerk, with decades of experience across the sports ecosystem - from Olympic bids and major events to brands, media and the transformation of the sports business. And Anahita Thoms, Baker McKenzie, who will add the geopolitical and governance perspective: global investment, state power, compliance and the increasingly important distinction between what is legally possible and what is considered legitimate. We will talk about what is transforming the sports business, what makes major events create lasting value, why governments and investors are putting more capital into sport - and, ultimately, who benefits from the growing power of sport. For me, there is an important trust dimension to all of this. In an increasingly fragmented world, sport remains one of the rare platforms that can connect people, businesses, cities and communities around a shared experience. Can it continue to be that bridge? Looking forward to exploring this in Valencia. Thank you to DLD Conference, Steffi Czerny, Alessia Sinzger and Christian Teichmann for bringing this conversation together. #DLDSports #DLD #SportsBusiness #Leadership #Transformation #Geopolitics #Trust Edelman Deutschland
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Nate Challen reacted on thisNate Challen reacted on thisBurger King spent the delivery-app era doing the least fashionable thing in the industry. It put money into buildings. While the category argued about apps, delivery fees, and value menus, Burger King committed up to $700 million to physically rebuild its US restaurants. US same-store sales accelerated as the work landed, up 5.8% in the first quarter of 2026 and 8.5% in the second, its strongest domestic comp in three years and well ahead of the rest of the burger segment. That was enough to retake the number two spot in American burgers, a position the chain had lost six years earlier. The turnaround gets read as a marketing win, because the revamped Whopper and the ad spend came first, in 2024. But advertising only buys the first visit back. Whether there is a second one depends on the actual restaurant. About $194 million of the budget has gone into kitchens, equipment, dining rooms, and drive-thrus, and that is what changes how a location runs once the lunch rush hits. A rebuilt kitchen line holds speed and temperature under a rush. A reset drive-thru moves more cars and gets more orders right. Those are operating numbers, and they repeat across thousands of restaurants in a way an ad campaign never does. Rivals that spent the same years pouring money into apps and promotions while their dining rooms aged lost ground over the same stretch, on the same customers and the same costs. One side rebuilt the place the food comes out of. The other kept paying for the message around it. The highest-return money in a restaurant network is usually the least exciting to spend. Not an app. The building the customer sits in, and the kitchen behind it.
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Nate Challen liked thisNate Challen liked thisTime flies when you’re having fun! After nearly two years at Roche Deutschland , it’s time for me to say goodbye. I’m incredibly thankful for the opportunity to lead Communications for People & Culture, work on so many interesting projects, navigate challenging topics, and, importantly, have a lot of fun along the way! I’m especially grateful for the chance to step in for Hannah Cook during her maternity leave. It was a great opportunity, and I learned a lot from the experience. But as is so often the case, it’s the people who make the biggest difference. The colleagues, conversations, collaborations, laughs, and moments along the way are what I’ll remember most. Thank you to everyone who made this time so special. Too many to mention everyone but a special shoutout to Dr. Virginia Bastian for giving me the opportunity to join such a fantastic team and company and to my team Natalie Barendt and Helan Jawadzibari as well as Nadine Hentz. Now, I’m taking a little break, and looking forward to what comes next. I’m excited to explore a new challenge and see where the next chapter takes me. 🚀 Thank you, Roche, and thank you to all the amazing people I had the pleasure of working with. Until next time! 💙
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Nate Challen liked thisNate Challen liked thisLoisa grew from a bedroom side hustle to 5,000+ retail doors. Here's what Scott Hattis says nobody prepares Founders for. One of my favorite moments from our webinar with Scott Hattis, CEO of Loisa, came before we even started talking about trade spend. Scott shared the journey from launching Loisa as a side hustle in 2018 to building a brand now carried by retailers like Whole Foods, Target, Kroger, Publix, Wegmans, and thousands of additional stores. But then he said something every growing CPG founder should hear. With every new retailer... With every new distributor… The business gets exponentially more complex. More deductions. More portals. More trade spend. More moving pieces competing for your attention. Growth creates opportunity, but it also creates operational debt if your systems don't evolve with it. That's exactly why we wanted Scott on this webinar. Not because he's obsessed with deduction management. Quite the opposite. As he put it, his focus is building products people love and growing the business, not spending his days chasing retailer deductions. That's why having the right systems and partners matters as brands scale. This clip is the first of several takeaways from our conversation with Scott and Zoe Dawson from Glimpse, where we unpacked what really happens behind the scenes as CPG brands grow into retail. What's the one system you wish you had implemented earlier in your growth journey? __ Hi, I’m Pedro, CEO of Cultivar. We help CPG Founders feel confident about their finances by managing accounting, inventory, trade spend, and bev alc compliance so you can focus on growing the brand.
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Nate Challen liked thisNate Challen liked thisAI will be used more and more to make work. But that work will only be great if humans apply the illogical, fantastical, messy, maddening art of birthing stuff that has never been birthed before. AI will enable this creativity, but it will not replace human conception.Sticks in a Bundle Are Strongest: The Case for Integrated ProductionSticks in a Bundle Are Strongest: The Case for Integrated Production
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Alumni Council - Alumni / Student Engagement Co-chair
UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School
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Executive Forum
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Executive Forum is a highly engaged community of executives from leading corporations who share a passion for "what's next" to drive the business growth of tomorrow. Since its formation in 1995, the Executive Forum has grown to over 400 members who are the top-most leaders at market moving companies, run portfolios for the most innovative PE firms and serve as directors on boards — public, private and non-profit. Admission to the Executive Forum is based upon a rigorous nomination and review…
Executive Forum is a highly engaged community of executives from leading corporations who share a passion for "what's next" to drive the business growth of tomorrow. Since its formation in 1995, the Executive Forum has grown to over 400 members who are the top-most leaders at market moving companies, run portfolios for the most innovative PE firms and serve as directors on boards — public, private and non-profit. Admission to the Executive Forum is based upon a rigorous nomination and review process. By design, approximately half the EF members are President/CEOs, and the others are at the COO, CFO, CMO, CIO and VP levels.
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Signal Mountain Lacrosse
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Led broadest youth lacrosse club in Tennessee - encompassing 150 players on 6 teams for boys and girls from 2nd to 12th grade.
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Christian Roeschmann, MSc, MBA
As #ExpoWest follow‑ups turn into quoting conversations, this snapshot helps position value with an economic narrative. 𝗥𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗲 𝗖𝗢𝗚𝗦 𝗶𝗻 𝗡𝘂𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗲𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗗𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 — 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗴𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗣&𝗟 Most companies try to fix COGS 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 launch — when the formula is locked, the process is fixed, and the margin is already leaking. The reality: COGS is 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗱𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗱𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗱𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘂𝗳𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴. If you want a stronger P&L, focus on the cost levers early — formulation choices, process scalability, sourcing strategy, and SKU discipline. Everything else is firefighting. 𝗧𝗼𝗽 𝗱𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗖𝗢𝗚𝗦: 1️⃣𝗖𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗔𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗙𝗼𝗿𝗺𝘂𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 — Ingredient choices define 60–80% of COGS before scale‑up even starts. 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁: Your formula is your cost structure. Build cost into the design from day one. 2️⃣𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗦𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 & 𝗬𝗶𝗲𝗹𝗱 — Flow, compressibility, blend behavior, and scrap determine whether your cost model survives commercialization. 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁: Fewer changeovers, higher throughput, and lower labor cost per unit. Scalable processes = predictable COGS, 3️⃣𝗦𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝘆 — Cost per active mg, MOQs, dual sourcing, and right‑sized specs stabilize margin. 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁: You stabilize COGS and reduce exposure to supply chain shocks. Smart sourcing stabilizes the P&L. 4️⃣𝗦𝗞𝗨 & 𝗣𝗮𝗰𝗸𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗦𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 — Standardization reduces changeovers, labor hours, and waste. 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁: Less complexity = lower labor, fewer changeovers, less waste. 5️⃣𝗖𝗿𝗼𝘀𝘀 𝗙𝘂𝗻𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗔𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 — When R&D, Ops, Marketing, and Sales optimize for different goals, margin erodes. 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁: When teams align around the P&L, products launch profitably and stay profitable. 𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝗖𝗢𝗚𝗦 𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗹𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗶𝗻, 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗴𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗣&𝗟, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗱𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗘𝗕𝗜𝗧𝗗𝗔 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘀. #NutraceuticalDevelopment #FormulationScience #SupplyChainStrategy #CPGInnovation #ManufacturingExcellence
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Joseph Tarnowski
CPG Founders: Buy this book! Part of a series of three books in the $100M Series by Alex Hormozi, founder of Acquisition.com, it will give you some great foundational principles on how to find and target the right audience, and how to develop the right products for them. Alex has a straightforward, insightful and no B.S. way of explaining things, and the cool thing is that you can also find this book for free on his podcast, The Game. The other two books are $100M Leads: How to Get Strangers to Want to Buy Your Stuff, and $100M Money Models: How to Make More Money, which made the Guinness World Record for most book sales in a single day. Alex is also the Co-Founder of Skool, a platform that helps entrepreneurs scale their businesses. I'll link to the book in the comments below! #founder #entrepreneur #ecrmrangeme
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Drew F.
KEURIG DR. PEPPER FORMALIZES JDE PEET’S $18B TAKEOVER Keurig Dr Pepper Inc. has launched all-cash $37.85/share offer to acquire JDE Peet's for $18B. Peet’s recorded $10.5B in TTM sales, valuing the deal at $1.7x sales and 11.6x EBITDA. The takeover was announced last August. After completing the deal, Keurig Dr Pepper plans to separate into 2 independent U.S.-listed companies: a global one and one focused on North-America. Recent comparable transactions in the food and beverage industry include: - PAI Partners' $17.6B buyout of Haagen-Dazs maker Froneri at 3x sales - Ferrero's acquisition of WK Kellogg Co for $3.1B at 1.19x sales and 20x ebitda - Mars' acquisition of Kellanova for $36B at 2.77x sales and 18x ebitda
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