Episode 125 with Guest Carla Vernon

As President of the General Mills Natural & Organic Operating Unit, Carla leads both financial, strategic and environmental stewardship strategy for Natural and Organic brands in General Mills. The portfolio includes Annie’s, Cascadian Farm, Muir Glen, EPIC, and Immaculate Baking. As a member of the North American Leadership team, Carla also provides long-term vision and strategic leadership to drive double-digit growth and environmental sustainability for the entire $1B General Mills portfolio of Natural and Organic foods. Prior to this role, Carla led the business strategy for a $1.5 Billion portfolio of snack brands including Nature Valley and Larabar. While in Snacks, Carla continued her track record of business turnarounds and growth acceleration by driving unprecedented results on Larabar, quadrupling growth from +16% to +70% in six months. She also restored growth to the $1 Billion Nature Valley brand (the world’s top selling granola bar brand) resulting in the highest level of unit sales in the brand’s history. Carla’s General Mills career has also included leadership on the Yogurt and Cereal Businesses, as well a role on the Corporate Strategy and Mergers and Acquisition team.  Outside of General Mills, Carla recently served on the national Board of Directors for the Make-a-Wish Foundation and the Advisory Board for the Wisconsin School of Business’s Center for Brand and Product Management. Carla loves to coach people reach their goals on the Whole 30 food program. And she is also an active volunteer at her church and her children’s school. Prior to joining General Mills, Carla worked for U.S. Senator Carol Moseley-Braun and The Nature Conservancy. Carla received her BA in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from Princeton University and an MBA from the University of Texas, Austin (as a Consortium Fellow). And she is a member of CAA Amplify Class of 2017 and is a Henry Crown Fellows at the Aspen Institute. Carla can be found on social media at: @CarlaInspired on twitter, Instagram, Snapchat Carla’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carlainspired/