Jackson Jeyanayagam (Chipotle, Clorox, AB InBev) on How Versatility, Curiosity, & Empathy Can Make or Break a Team

How I Hire

Jackson Jeyanayagam is an accomplished executive leader whose work has spanned across many industry sectors and a wide range of organizations. He began his career on the agency side, where he worked for 15 years before pivoting into digital marketing, P&L management, and DTC growth for top brands like Chipotle, Clorox, and AB InBev. Jackson also has experience on the startup side, having served as CMO for Boxed, a DTC startup. Most recently, Jackson was responsible for founding and scaling RTD brand Hey, Hei for AB InBev, helping to incubate the brand and develop a startup mentality under AB InBev’s larger corporate umbrella.

Jackson and Roy discuss the parallels between agency work and developing a startup, the necessity for widening the hiring funnel to better include outside strategies and perspectives, and the ways in which conventional interviewing methods are keeping brands from attracting and securing top tier talent.

Highlights from our conversation include:

• Jackson’s experiences at startups vs. more established brands (2:07)
• How he builds teams when coming into new organizations (5:11)
• Jackson’s process for determining opportunities for change (and what not to mess with when starting a new role) (8:19)
• Gauging intentional and unintentional toxicity within one’s team (13:21)
• The intersection between curiosity, vulnerability, learning, and hiring (16:07)
• How Jackson is intentional about influencing and shaping culture (21:58)
• His process for making executive-level hiring decisions and who’s involved (23:18)
• Ensuring the hiring process is equitable and attractive to a diverse range of talent (24:06)
• Talent market trends Jackson’s noticed from both the candidate and hiring sides (25:26)

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