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Rice joins Newell Brands as Global Head of Design. Newell Brands has recently welcomed Brian Rice as Vice President, Global Head of Design. His appointment comes as Newell continues to modernize its design function, including the development of a new Atlanta GA-based Design Center. Newell Brands has recently welcomed Brian Rice as Vice President, Global Head of Design. Based in Atlanta, Rice brings extensive experience elevating design as a strategic growth driver across world-class consumer and enterprise brands. Most recently, he served as Senior Vice President and Global Chief Brand & Design Officer at 3M, where he led corporate brand, design, and partnerships to connect purpose, innovation, and customer experience at scale. He has also held senior design leadership roles at Georgia-Pacific, Procter & Gamble, Bristol-Myers Squibb, and The Coca-Cola Company. At Newell Brands, Rice is responsible for advancing design as an integrated enterprise capability across the company's portfolio of iconic brands, including Sharpie, Rubbermaid, Coleman, Graco, and Yankee Candle. He will focus on strengthening design governance, building best-in-class capabilities, accelerating design and innovation through AI and embedding design excellence more deeply into strategy, innovation, and decision-making across the business. His appointment comes as Newell continues to modernize its design function, including the development of a new Atlanta-based Design Center. The Design Center will serve as a hub for industrial design, brand design, digital visualization, prototyping, and AI-enabled innovation. Upon joining the company, the new Global Head of Design shared a few thoughts on his role and the role of design at the company, which we have excerpted here: How would you describe the role of design at Newell Brands today - and how could it contribute to growth across the portfolio? Design already plays an important role across many of our brands, but the real opportunity is to elevate it as an integrated enterprise capability. What that means in practice is bringing design physically closer to strategy, innovation, and decision-making across the business. When design is integrated with product management, engineering, insights, and marketing from the beginning, it doesn't just make things look better, it helps teams make smarter, more seamless decisions earlier. As we evolve, design could become a multiplier for the portfolio. It can accelerate innovation pipelines, strengthen brand differentiation, and create more cohesive experiences for consumers. How is design helping accelerate innovation and smarter decision-making - particularly as AI becomes more integrated into the business? AI is becoming an incredible amplifier for design and innovation. It helps us explore more ideas, faster, and gives teams better insights earlier in the process. It's an accelerant for all of us. For example, designers can rapidly prototype concepts, visualize possibilities, and test directions before we invest significant resources. That means we can learn faster and make smarter decisions along the way. But the key thing to remember is that AI doesn't replace creativity...it amplifies it! The real value comes when talented designers combine human insight, brand understanding, and empathy with powerful new tools. If we do that well, AI allows us to spend less time on the mechanics and more time on the thinking and creating that actually drives breakthrough innovation. What is the Newell Brands Design Center in Atlanta - and what does "rebuilding" it mean in practice? The Design Center in Atlanta is really about bringing together talent, capability, and collaboration in one place. Our new Design Center will never replace the history and legacy built in previous iterations, we're simply building the next chapter. Rebuilding it means creating a modern design organization with the tools, environment, and culture that allow creative teams to do their best work. That includes expanding capabilities from industrial design and brand design to digital tools, prototyping, and advanced visualization. It's also about setting high standards and a strong creative culture. Great design organizations aren't built accidentally, they're built intentionally. That means clear expectations, strong collaboration with the business, and an environment where bold ideas are encouraged. In short, we're building a place where great designers and creators can come together and do work that truly impacts our brands. Why is Atlanta the right place to build the Newell Brands Design Center - and what makes this an exciting moment for creative talent? Atlanta is an incredibly dynamic city right now. It has a growing and thriving creative community, strong universities, and a culture that blends entrepreneurship, design, and technology. For Newell Brands, having the Design Center here also creates visibility and connection across the company. Designers are able to collaborate closely with leadership, brand teams, and innovation partners. What makes this moment exciting for creative talent is the opportunity to help shape something as it's being built. This isn't just joining a design organization it's helping define what it becomes and the creative culture we desire to grow. Those opportunities don't come around very often. 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Michael Polk transforming businesses through strategic execution. Michael Polk's career exemplifies a methodical approach to scaling large enterprises while balancing operational efficiency with strategic growth. Beginning as a first-generation American in a household that emphasized hard work and education, Polk advanced through finance and operational roles, steadily assuming responsibility for increasingly complex business units with multibillion-dollar revenues. Michael Polk, the former chief executive of Newell Brands, has shifted his professional focus from corporate stewardship to promoting a growth-minded approach to leadership and organizational change. Colleagues describe Michael Polk as a leader who prioritizes measurable outcomes. He has overseen global supply-chain optimization, implemented performance metrics across business functions, and executed targeted acquisitions to strengthen portfolio capabilities. Under his leadership, organizations achieved both margin improvement and revenue growth while maintaining a disciplined focus on working-capital management. Polk's tenure also demonstrates a commitment to talent development and corporate governance. He designed rotational programs for emerging leaders, ensuring high-potential employees gained cross-functional experience. Board service further reinforced his approach, emphasizing accountability, financial rigor, and transparent reporting to stakeholders. Beyond corporate results, Michael Polk has connected professional success to community impact. He has supported scholarship programs for first-generation college students and vocational partnerships with technical colleges, aligning philanthropic investment with workforce development. These efforts reflect a belief that sustainable business growth is intertwined with the health of the communities companies serve. Executives and observers note that Polk's combination of operational discipline, strategic foresight, and civic engagement positions him as a model of modern corporate leadership. His career offers a roadmap for executives navigating complex global markets, demonstrating that disciplined execution and long-term planning can produce measurable business outcomes and meaningful societal impact. Visit this page for additional information.

C-Suite moves at Jimmy John's, Farmer Boys. Darin Dugan has been promoted to brand president of Jimmy John's. Only the third president in the sandwich chain's history, Darin most recently served as Jimmy John's CMO for the that last six years. He takes the position held by James North, who led the brand for the last 25 years and has now been appointed as Jimmy John's global brand ambassador. "Darin has brought creativity and discipline together by modernizing campaigns, elevating the menu, and launching new, brand-defining product platforms, including wraps and toasted sandwiches. He's a passionate leader with a deep understanding of what makes this brand so special...," said Scott Murphy, Inspire Brands chief brand officer and Dunkin' brand president. Prior to Jimmy John's, Dugan served as vice president of national marketing for Sonic until the chain was acquired by Inspire in 2018. Earlier in his career he worked for Applebee's and spent more than 14 years at Kraft Foods Group. Kate Carpenter has been promoted to Jimmy John's CMO, filling the role left vacant by Dugan. Carpenter mostly recently served as vice president of integrated marketing for the brand for the past two years. Before joining Jimmy John's, Carpenter worked as brand lead at Newell Brands after serving as senior director of brand for Papa John's International. Earlier in her career she spent over a decade Coca-Cola, working on multiple brands. Jimmy John's currently operates over 2,600 locations worldwide, and while it has grown since being acquired by Inspire, the chain has been plagued by poor customers reviews, only receiving an average of 2.7 stars from close to 80,000 reviews on Yelp. Separately, regional chain Farmer Boys has tapped Mark Hardison as its new CMO. Hardison joins the chain most recently from California Fish Grill, where he also served as CMO. Before California Fish Grill he spent 20 years at El Pollo Loco, rising to the position of senior vice president of marketing. The 45-year-old QSR, which operates more than 100 locations in Arizona, California and Nevada, boasts being a farm-to-table restaurant, with fresh produce delivered to each location every morning.