Ken Hall
Former Executive for PetSmart, Bain, & Exxon, Current Director of MBA program at SUU
October 2, 2018
11:30 - 12:20 PM
BUS 126
Ken Hall is an experienced senior executive with a wide range of leadership positions in multiple industries. He currently is a Board Member at Whitebridge Pet Brands, a portfolio company of Frontenac, a Chicago-based private equity firm. Ken is also the MBA Program Director and an Adjunct Professor of Management in the Dixie L. Leavitt School of Business at Southern Utah University in Cedar City, Utah.
Ken spent over a decade in senior leadership positions at PetSmart including Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, Senior Vice President Merchandising, and Senior Vice President Business Development and Strategic Planning. During his time at PetSmart, Ken was instrumental in developing and implementing a corporate turnaround strategy that would transition PetSmart from a warehouse culture (PETsMART) to a customer-centric culture focused on the Total Lifetime Care of Pets (PetSmart). These turnaround efforts, combined with s complete rebranding of the company (moving from Mart to Smart), resulted in the stock price increasing from $3 per share to over $40 per share. Stores grew from 500 to 1200 with revenues increasing from $2.2 billion to $5.7 billion and net income increasing from annual losses of $30 million to profits of $240 million (4.2% of revenue).
Prior to PetSmart, he worked with Bain & Company, where he developed business and customer loyalty strategies and programs for major retail, automotive and financial services companies. He began his career with Exxon Company, where he held a variety of operations and financial roles.
Ken has also had significant volunteer experience, including serving as the Retail Board Chair for the Brigham Young University Marketing Program Advisory Board, a Retail Board Member for the Pet Industry Joint Advisory Committee (PIJAC), and as a member of the Finance and Audit Committee for the PetSmart Charities Board of Directors. Most recently, Ken served in a three-year volunteer assignment as the President of the California San Fernando Mission of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Ken graduated from Brigham Young University in 1992 with a B.S. in Chemical Engineering and obtained an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School in 1999.
Ken and his wife Dianna have four children and they currently live in St. George, Utah.