Melanie Huet ’03S (MBA) Shares Insights with Simon Community
Recently the Simon community along with prospective MBA students enjoyed a Fireside Chat with Melanie Huet ’03S (MBA) focused on AI transformation and innovation and insights from her career.
Melanie Huet is President, Home & Commercial – Home at Newell Brands, directing the Kitchen and Home Fragrance businesses, including iconic brands such as Crock-Pot®, Oster®, and Yankee Candle®. Prior to this role, Melanie was the Chief Marketing Officer, leading global Brand Management, Innovation, Insights and Design. Melanie guided Newell’s transformation into a global consumer-led organization. She advanced Newell’s commercial and marketing capabilities by pioneering the use of AI to increase speed to insight and market and significantly ramp up productivity.
In total, Melanie has over 25 years of experience in commercial leadership roles at public and private equity-backed organizations such as Unilever, Kimberly-Clark, and KraftHeinz, where she delivered turnarounds of several iconic brands.
In early November, Melanie returned to the University of Rochester campus for a keynote conversation as part of Simon Community Weekend. She shared her insights on how Simon prepared her for her current role and discussed how AI is transforming industries. She likened generative AI to the rise of the internet and digital age in terms of its impact on business and everyday life. In fact, in her estimation, its impact will be bigger.
Generative AI is driving business transformation. Therefore, Melanie recommended that attendees learn how to use it and adapt now. She encouraged them to explore the technology, understand its strengths and limitations, and integrate it into both their professional and personal lives. Her advice emphasized not just knowing how to use AI, but also how to discuss it, incorporate it into your stories, and leverage it as a powerful tool.
Reflecting on her experience at Simon, Melanie was grateful for how her MBA prepared her to enter the marketing/brand management space. In particular, she credited the quantitative focus for helping her feel comfortable managing finance-related aspects of her current role, which she considered a gap before coming to Simon.
Melanie also offered encouragement and advice to the room on how to navigate uncertainty in the job market. Amid widespread industry layoffs she stressed the importance of knowing how to tell your story and staying focused on what you’re great at, the outcomes you’ve delivered, and where you add value as you’re looking for your next role.
We are deeply grateful to Melanie for sharing not only her time with us but also her talents and wisdom gained from her decades of leadership. It was an inspiring afternoon for the Simon community, including the prospective MBA students who visited campus that weekend. We look forward to the next time she comes “back home” to Rochester!
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