He spent 32 years learning Nike, then four years away from it. Now Elliott Hill is testing how much a company can recover by remembering the people who made it matter.

Before the corner office came a failed broadcasting plan, a grocery aisle, and one stranger who noticed the care he took with a shelf. The lesson still shapes how Taco Bell's CEO thinks about culture, curiosity, and the useful limits of expertise.

The Jordan Brand CMO has spent two decades learning how Nike moves. Her current brief is trickier: carry an icon's history forward without trapping it in amber.
Nicole Hubbard Graham is Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer of Nike, Inc., leading global brand storytelling across Nike, Jordan and Converse. A Nike veteran of roughly 18 years who rose from director of women's marketing to VP of global categories and consumer direct brand marketing, she left in 2021 to co-found the creative agency Adopt, then returned as CMO in January 2024. She is the architect of Nike's marketing reset, championing an 'athletes over algorithms' philosophy that produced the 2024 Paris Olympics comeback push and the 2025 Super Bowl 'So Win' brand anthem, Nike's first Super Bowl ad in 27 years.
Vanessa Wallace is the Chief Marketing Officer of GLD, the Miami-based lifestyle jewelry brand known for its ties to sport, music and street culture. A former CMO of Savage X Fenty and a 19-year Nike veteran who led Jordan Brand marketing in North America, Wallace built a career on storytelling, cultural relevance and championing overlooked communities. She joined GLD's board in August 2025 and stepped into the CMO seat in early 2026.