After nearly 18 years at Pepsi, Todd Kaplan joined Kraft Heinz North America as chief marketing officer in July. He sat down with ADWEEK for video series Resume Rewind, sponsored by entertainment wiki hosting service Fandom, to discuss the early stages of his career.
His first job was at Hilton’s Waterfront Beach Resort in Huntington Beach, Calif., as a towel boy.
When Kaplan moved on to college, he wanted to get into sports marketing, so he sent out around 400 resumes and cover letters to every team, league, and agent, and ended up getting a “boatload of interviews for my internship,” eventually winding up as the Visa International account manager for Millsport, where he worked on partnerships including Disney, the National Football League, the Olympic Games, and the Rugby World Cup.
Kaplan said one of the challenges of moving up to the C-suite is that people perceive him differently, but he sees himself the same way.
“It’s actually a very hard thing as a leader, because I want to roll up my sleeves,” he told ADWEEK. “I’m a part of the team. I want to hang out with everyone. I want to be the last guy at the bar with everyone, and they want me just to go home so they can enjoy their night.”
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