Kenny Mitchell’s journey, from Ivy League point guard to Global CMO of Levi Strauss & Co., has been shaped by two forces that quietly determine influence: building quality relationships and knowing where and how work truly moves forward inside organizations.
He hasn’t had a résumé in nearly two decades, not out of bravado but because every major move in his career emerged from people who had seen his work up close. As he puts it, success shows up when there are “folks talking about you in rooms you’re not in.” The lesson is simple but hard-earned: deliver impact, treat people well, and depth will outrun breadth every time.
But relationships alone aren’t enough. Kenny learned early that influence accelerates when you understand an organization’s center of gravity—the function where decisions truly get made. Every company has a hidden physics. At PepsiCo, Mitchell recognized the power source was Marketing. At McDonald’s, Operations ruled the rhythm. At Snap, Product shaped the future. At Levi’s, it’s a three-part harmony of Product, Commercial and Marketing.
“Understanding the center of gravity in an organization is critical. You need to know where decisions actually get made.”
Strive for depth over breadth. Kenny isn’t a collector of business cards; he’s a cultivator of honest alliances. A single meaningful relationship, one person who knows your character and work inside-out, is more valuable than a roomful of quick hellos. “The moves I’ve had the good fortune to experience in my career have been based on the relationships and the work that I've done with people, and depth has been much more important than breadth.”
Find your advocates and “truth-tellers.” Leadership can be lonely, especially at the executive level. Kenny finds grounding in trusted partners, like his Chief Digital and Technology Officer counterpart at Levi’s, with whom he trades unfiltered counsel and reality checks. “Find a homie who can be a truth teller for you and give you feedback. Become mutual advocates, but also sounding boards for each other in terms of how you’re showing up.”
Embrace your outsider’s lens. Sports, CPG, QSR, tech, retail. The list looks eclectic from the outside, but for Kenny, the movement between worlds sharpened his ability to read between the lines of how organizations actually operate. It allows him to connect dots others might not even see. “The benefits of working across industries have far outweighed what you might think are some of the challenges, because you can connect dots in ways that just other people can't.”
Face internal battles head on. The highest walls, he admits, were internal. Imposter syndrome crept in, especially in rooms where expectations towered. Naming it openly became its own form of disarmament, a reminder that self-doubt is common but rarely accurate.
Kenny’s journey underscores that great leaders understand more than their craft. They understand people, influence, and the unspoken dynamics behind the scenes—and they stay anchored by the “homies” who keep them grounded at the highest altitude.
Kenny Mitchell is the Global Chief Marketing Officer at Levi Strauss & Co. His cross-industry path includes executive leadership roles at Snap Inc., McDonald’s, Gatorade, grounded in a lifelong commitment to culture, storytelling, and building teams capable of meaningful brand impact. He is also a professor in the Virtuosi LEAP Essentials program, where he shares hard-earned leadership lessons with experienced and rising marketing leaders.