Hello, friends, and welcome to another episode of How Leaders Lead with David Noback. Today, David sits down with Mark Smucker, who's the CEO and chair of the J.M. Smucker company, which is home to some of the most iconic brands like Smuckers, Fulgers, Uncrustibles, hostess, and Milkbone. In this episode, you'll learn how to build a brand that's relevant, authentic, and successful. You'll learn how to get

to the soul of your brand and communicate that soul in a way that drives customer acquisition

and growth. Enjoyed this conversation with David and Mark and I will see you at the debrief.

I hear you're quite the cook, and you love to cook. It's a hobby of yours.

And if I were to come over to your house for dinner, what would be on your menu?

Well, let me tell you, first and foremost, I got to say my wife is a better cook than I am.

Good point.

And I cook because she helped me learn to cook when we were first together.

We honeymooned in Thailand.

I've been to Thailand a couple times.

We did some cooking classes there.

So I really like to go and get all the ingredients at the local Asian markets and cook Thai food.

And then I grill and do, you know, smoke, you know,

brisket and do stuff that the guys do on the, on the outside grill, right? Right. Absolutely.

You know, that's what I do. I specialize in the grill. I'm the grill master of my house.

You know, so now, now, as I understand it, you started your career as an eighth grade science teacher.

You know, what's a story of you in the classroom that would give us a picture of your leadership style?

I really liked science, right?

And my growing up, my parents encouraged us to study something that we liked.

I really liked science.

I was majored in geology in college.

And I wanted to use my degree.

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