Early Business Leadership Training

Denise Morrison had very early business leadership training. How early? Her father who was an AT&T executive told her about the importance of profit margins when she was still in grade school.  To get a bicycle she and her three other sisters (no boys in this brood) had to do a business plan.  This upbringing resulted in all four sisters becoming business executives.

For Denise it helped her become the President and CEO of Campbell Soup Company on August 1, 2011. It was not a straight forward path as she worked for a number of companies before joining Campbell in a senior executive position. Highly competitive even as a young child Denise had always wanted to become the CEO of a company.

She certainly started off in the right foot graduating magna cum laude from Boston College with a B.S. degree in economics and psychology. Denise was likewise inducted in the Order of the Cross and Crown Honor Society for academic and extracurricular achievement.

She then started her career in sales at Proctor & Gamble in Boston, Massachusetts. Looking for new opportunities Denise moved to Pepsi-Cola then Nestle, USA in the 1980s. Always on recruiters’ lists she joined Nabisco, Inc. in 1995 as Senior Vice President. Then Denise joined Kraft Foods as Executive Vice President and General Manager for Snacks and Confections divisions.

She joined Campbell in April 2003 as President for Global Sales and Chief Customer Officer. Denise was promoted to various positions before becoming the President and CEO. Having worked for so many companies and maintaining an upward career trajectory showed her true worth. Denise also never lost focus on wanting to become a CEO.