This is my most recent turn at Mattel. I’ve been here going on 20 years, and I’ve had a variety of roles across our global marketing organization, our entertainment organization, and corporate development, as well as working in the North America commercial marketing group. What’s been fun is watching my career grow through various touch points at Mattel. Now I oversee a robust portfolio of some of the biggest, most noticeable, most recognizable brands owned or licensed by Mattel. We spend a lot of our time partnering with the biggest entertainment brands, studios and otherwise, to create authentic product lines for fans of all ages.

It’s valuable to understand what you don’t want to do as much as start to learn where you want to spend your time, build your relationships.

Penn has a strong presence in my family. My sister went, my dad went, my uncle went. That’s where I met my wife, Amanda. I really wanted to study history because I loved it. After graduation I ended up in New York for about a year and a half, and then I found my way to Los Angeles, where I pursued a job at 20th Century Fox film studio. Eventually I found my way into an MBA information session. I didn’t really know what I wanted to do, where I wanted to go, and I was still able to find a path. As a history major, you can do so many things. Of course you can teach, of course you can go to law school, but you can do so much more as well.

Being in brand management has given me so much satisfaction and room to grow, creatively and strategically. It has been incredibly rewarding. But I didn’t know something like this was available to me when I was in college so I think part of my mission now is to make sure I can share that with students today. Amanda and I are empathetic to students trying to find their way; that’s one reason we joined the Ambassador Council.

To today’s college students I would say, try a lot of things, experiment. Often, it’s valuable to understand what you don’t want to do as much as start to learn where you want to spend your time, build your relationships. Careers are long, and what you do in your 20s may not have any impact on what you do 20, 25 years out. Finally, I’ll say relationships matter. I’m big on that. My wife and I met at Penn and the school changed our lives forever. We’re incredibly grateful for the people we met there, too. It’s been a journey, and Penn has been a constant in our lives for so long. — March 4, 2025 • As told to Michele W. Berger, Photo courtesy of Mattel