Dan O’Leary of J.M. Smucker on Shaping a Career out of Left Hand Turns

Early in his career, Dan O’Leary realized that “If you don’t find some different paths, you’re not going to stand out at all.” Even though he has worked at a series of CPG and food companies, he has made a point of raising his hand for the complicated and unpopular opportunities. These choices gave him the opportunity to stretch, feel uncomfortable, and thus differentiate himself. 

A role at Mizkan, followed by taking a role with Hostess gave Dan the opportunity to lean into his passion for building. Whether it be building brands, building teams, or building strategy, Dan considers himself a builder first. 

One key to building brands is increasing household penetration and Dan learned to have a maniacal focus on customer acquisition during his time at Digitas. He shares a story about taking a whole new approach to increase usage for Philadelphia Cream Cheese. He took the lead from the consumer and embraced learnings about how they were using the product to create a new marketing strategy.

As a leader, Dan prioritizes communication. Even when he thinks he’s communicating too much, he has often realized he could do a little more. Now at J.M. Smucker, Dan sends a weekly email to keep the team informed about progress, united around goals, and clear about their next steps and objectives. 

Mentorship both from his leaders and from his team has been key to helping Dan grow as a leader. One mentor, Jill Baskin, former CMO of Hershey’s, helped him realize that there are “a lot of times when good can be good enough and a lot of times when great is not good enough and you have to strive for excellent.” Another mentor was someone who reports to Dan and whose example of balancing parenthood and career helped Dan think about how to make the right trade-offs when he became a father.

Key Takeaways:

• Take opportunities to differentiate yourself and your resume
• Listen to and learn from your consumer about how they use your product
• Model balance to help your team make the right trade offs for themselves

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