Will Schafer's guest appearances

Will Schafer

Food Marketing Nerds Restaurant and CPG Marketing Podcast

Real Famous

Sustainable Ambition

Dorie Clark

Kara Goldin

Ann Handley

Hannah Crum

Charlene Li

Jenny Blake

Tammy Gooler Loeb

Rory Sutherland

Tom Goodwin

Stefan Sagmeister

Rohit Bhargava

Bridget Jones

Rob Schwartz

Jim Lamancusa

Mitch Joel

OwlTail

It was so wonderful to be in conversation with Will Schafer, VP of International Marketing at Beyond Meat, where he's been for 7 years through the company’s early growth and IPO. While you might assume in seeing Will’s current title that his career had a straight line, it’s instead been a journey mixed with corporate stints, sabbaticals, business school, consulting, and intentionally putting himself on a path that aligned with his values and would give his work meaning.There are a lot of nuggets of wisdom in Will’s journey, including accepting the messiness of career paths, embracing a growth mindset, and proactively managing the jumping from lily pad to lily pad to get you where you want to be. I also love the final quote he mentions from Martin Luther King Jr.: “You don't have to see the full staircase, just take the first step.” It’s a great reminder from Will: change only happens step by step.Thanks so much for being on, Will, and being open with your journey. It’s an inspiration!Resources Mentioned•	Beyond Meat: https://www.beyondmeat.com/ •	Kengos, a plant-based shoe company that Will has invested in: https://kengos.com/ •	Book, “Do What You Are”: https://www.amazon.com/Do-What-You-Are-Personality/dp/031623673X •	Carol Dweck and Growth Mindset: https://profiles.stanford.edu/carol-dweckThanks for Listening!If you liked this episode, please rate, review, and share the episode. Thank you so much!Get show notes for this episode at https://sustainableambition.com/podcast I’d love to hear what’s on your mind! Take the Sustainable Ambition Listener Survey: http://bit.ly/sapodcast-survey Submit a question or comment for future episodes at podcast@SustainableAmbition.com Get my curated bi-weekly Sustainable Ambition Forum newsletter. Sign up https://sustainableambition.com/subscribe

It was so wonderful to be in conversation with Will Schafer, VP of International Marketing at Beyond Meat, where he's been for 7 years through the company’s early growth and IPO. While you might assume in seeing Will’s current title that his career had a straight line, it’s instead been a journey mixed with corporate stints, sabbaticals, business school, consulting, and intentionally putting himself on a path that aligned with his values and would give his work meaning.There are a lot of nuggets of wisdom in Will’s journey, including accepting the messiness of career paths, embracing a growth mindset, and proactively managing the jumping from lily pad to lily pad to get you where you want to be. I also love the final quote he mentions from Martin Luther King Jr.: “You don't have to see the full staircase, just take the first step.” It’s a great reminder from Will: change only happens step by step.Thanks so much for being on, Will, and being open with your journey. It’s an inspiration!Resources Mentioned•	Beyond Meat: <a href="https://www.beyondmeat.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.beyondmeat.com/</a> •	Kengos, a plant-based shoe company that Will has invested in: <a href="https://kengos.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://kengos.com/</a> •	Book, “Do What You Are”: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Do-What-You-Are-Personality/dp/031623673X" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.amazon.com/Do-What-You-Are-Personality/dp/031623673X</a> •	Carol Dweck and Growth Mindset: <a href="https://profiles.stanford.edu/carol-dweck" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://profiles.stanford.edu/carol-dweck</a>Thanks for Listening!If you liked this episode, please rate, review, and share the episode. Thank you so much!Get show notes for this episode at <a href="https://sustainableambition.com/podcast" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://sustainableambition.com/podcast</a> I’d love to hear what’s on your mind! Take the Sustainable Ambition Listener Survey: <a href="http://bit.ly/sapodcast-survey" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://bit.ly/sapodcast-survey</a> Submit a question or comment for future episodes at podcast@SustainableAmbition.com Get my curated bi-weekly Sustainable Ambition Forum newsletter. Sign up <a href="https://sustainableambition.com/subscribe" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://sustainableambition.com/subscribe</a>

36. On Embracing the Messiness & Success of Career Journeys with Will Schafer

Is it possible to change the way people think about a food they’ve loved their entire lives? Today’s guest will tell you that it isn’t easy, but with a great product, and outstanding marketing, it is possible. Will Schafer is the Director of Marketing at Beyond Meat, a company that has been changing the game around plant based protein. And it’s not just vegetarians and vegans, carnivores are embracing their products and for good reason, because they taste exactly like actual meat. In our interview Will talks about how Beyond Meat has been successful in pushed back against conventional norms, especially with their newest product, the Beyond Burger. Even though Beyond Meat has created its own category, the marketing and social media strategies we discuss can be super effective for any food or beverage company launching a new product. In this episode, we talk about: How to introduce a product to a demographic outside your core customers Why social media is so effective for revolutionary food brands How to create demand before your products even launch And a ton more…

FMN 011: Going Beyond Traditional Food Marketing with Will Schafer

This is a conversation with Will Schafer, the Director of Marketing at Beyond Meat. They are easily one of the most innovative food producers around today with backers including Biz Stone and Bill Gates. We talked about what he learned from working in CPG, how he got to Beyond Meat, and how they got the new plant-based Beyond Burger into the meat section at Whole Foods.

S1E6 with Will Schafer