Jean-Marie Shields is a brand builder and a brand lover. She’s led a powerhouse career taking her from Nike to Starbucks and then Lululemon, but most importantly, she’s also a mom. And, as a single mom, she believes kids are smart and they want to be a part of their parent’s job, too.
“When I helped reposition the Starbucks brand and we updated the identity and we enrolled 5,000-6,000 people across the company into the new brand and experience as it had evolved, I actually had a conversation with my son. I said, “Hey, during the next 7 weeks Mom is going to be really busy. That means we’re not going to see each other as much as we were before, but right around the corner is going to be really different. Here’s what Mom is working on.”
But, before she was a mom, Jean-Marie was born and raised in Sweden. She came to the United States as an exchange student, and then she married and had a family. Early on in her career she worked mostly in creative roles — starting her path at Nike in a creative position. After a few years, she moved to oversight of product, before eventually moving into more brand-centered roles. She spent 13 years at Nike, including 8 years in the company’s European office and 5 in its global headquarters. After her tenure there, she spent 8 years at Starbucks helping to reposition its brand. She then went on to help Lululemon after the brand’s unfortunate see-through yoga pants incident.
Now, Jean-Marie is Seattle-based and is applying her 20+ years in building lifestyle brands to launch dusk, her company where she does mindful branding for companies and homes. Homes, you ask? Yes. Her approach to the energy of a space helps individuals focus more on the present. And with presence comes a life more fully lived, and that outcome is a more joyous life, she says.
In episode 51 of I Want Her Job: The Podcast, Host Polina Selyutin and Founder Brianne Perleberg talk to Jean-Marie about the important role curiosity plays in creativity, calming a creative mind and what it was like to work with some of the most influential business minds of our time at Nike and Starbucks.
