G. Scott Uzzell

CONVERSE CEO G. SCOTT UZZELL

STARS IN HIS OWN MOVIE BY [ Andrew J. SKERRITT ]

The CEO shares a few words of wisdom with his fellow Rattlers during a 2019 convocation G. Scott Uzzell was at the top of his game. The Converse CEO and president had just delivered a rousing ESPN-style countdown of how his alma mater prepared him to succeed. Inside the Al Lawson Jr. Multipurpose Center and Gymnasium, the packed arena was abuzz with the crowd gathered there for the 2019 Florida A&M University Homecoming Convocation.

Later, as the Marching “100” band played and alumni danced in the stands, Uzzell was mobbed by former classmates from his days as a student in the FAMU School of Business and Industry (SBI). Their picture-taking continued even as Uzzell’s hosts waited to whisk him to lunch upstairs.

“Scott shared an inspiring message that resonated with students and seasoned alumni alike during our 2019 Homecoming Convocation. He is truly a role model with whom our students relate,” said SBI Dean Shawnta Friday-Stroud, Ph.D., vice president for University Advancement, recalling the excitement of the event almost a year and a half later. “It is awesome that while Scott has ascended to the top position at Converse, he has not forgotten from whence he’s come.”

Uzzell’s bond with his alma mater, his former classmates and the next generation of Rattler entrepreneurs and business executives is integral to his success and his climb up the corporate ladder to become CEO of Converse, a global brand owned by Nike known for its iconic Chuck Taylor® sneakers.

“FAMU provided the foundation for education and connections that are everlasting,” said Uzzell. “I stay connected to my FAMU roots weekly.”

When he isn’t thinking and talking about his FAMU education, Uzzell said, he’s leveraging his FAMU network for advice and mentoring.

“I probably have 50 people within the FAMU community I stay in constant contact with through today,” said the FAMU Foundation Board member in a telephone interview from Atlanta. “Yesterday, I was on a call with a couple of those folks.”

To understand Uzzell’s ascent from SBI grad to being the CEO of a billion-dollar global corporation, one must know where he’s from, who he is and who he’s always been.

“When I think of Scott, I think of discipline, focus, compartmentalization and being real. I have never seen him not being authentic,” said Michael Bracey, a boyhood friend and fellow Rattler who is an executive with Honda America in Columbus, Ohio. “He’s real.”

Uzzell grew up in Columbia, Md., but remains emotionally tethered to his ancestral roots in Norfolk, Virginia. He’s the son, grandson and great grandson of entrepreneurs, small-business owners who made a decent living in the Navy port city.

Great-grandfather George B. “Big George” Uzzell operated a gas station and built homes for black families in Norfolk. His grandfather, George Cornelius Uzzell, owned a catering business and a cleaning business. His father, George Cornelius Uzzell Jr., a serial entrepreneur, owned a sheet-metal factory that made armaments for military contractors.

“They were volunteers in their own lives. If they didn’t like what they were doing, they could change it. If they wanted to get a raise, they could give themselves a raise by working harder,” Uzzell said of his forebears. “And frankly, I was going to follow in their footsteps. Looking back, I mean, they are amazing role models for me.”

Uzzell’s family moved to Maryland when he was about 8 years old. Even as a youngster, Uzzell was driven. Lifelong friend Bracey remembers the teenager Scott reading magazines about sales. On their way home from school, the two talked about plans for the future. In high school, the two were part of a group that started a business together.

“He’s always had a drive and a uniqueness about him,” said Bracey, who graduated from FAMU in 1990. “We were always thinking about how to make a positive impact.”

Enlightened at FAMU

Although his folks attended Norfolk State, when it was time for college, Uzzell chose the legendary FAMU, to study under the legendary SBI Dean Sybil Mobley. When Uzzell came to Tallahassee, he had modest, middle-class goals, he said. He figured one day he’d get a job and later own a 7-Eleven or a gas station, and enjoy a vacation with his wife and kids once a year. That vision was in line with what he saw in his father, grandfather and great-grandfather.

“Their view and aperture of what the world could offer was not quite as wide as the view and aperture that I’ve seen in my life, working at Coca-Cola, being the president of a venture capital company and selling a company to Coca-Cola,” said Uzzell, who is also a member of the Executive Leadership Council (ELC), a non-profit that opens channels of opportunity for the development of black executives to positively impact business and their communities.

At SBI, under Mobley, Uzzell not only earned a degree, but also confidence and a bigger perspective of what was possible.

“After going to Florida A&M, it opened my eyes to so much more the world had to offer,” he said. “That continued my learning journey for the rest of my life.”

Lifelong friend Kelly Little, who graduated from SBI in 1988, agrees.

“Scott has always been ambitious, but FAMU provided a vision for that ambition, and his hard work and tenacity made those visions reality,” said Little.

Climbing the Corporate Ladder

Following his graduation from FAMU in 1988, Uzzell started out in sales and marketing for such Fortune 500 consumer goods companies as Procter & Gamble, Coca-Cola, and Nabisco.

“Every role I’ve had ... I met people, I asked questions,” said the University of Chicago Booth School of Business MBA graduate. “I was highly curious, and it opened my view of not only what the world can offer, but [also] what I can do.”

As his corporate stature grew, Uzzell returned to Coca-Cola in 2001 to hold a number of leadership positions, including global vice president New Business Development, CEO of ZICO Beverage Co., and vice president of marketing for Venturing & Emerging Brands Group (VEB), Coca Cola’s venture capital arm.

In his role as president of VEB, he led the development of a portfolio of high-growth brands, including Honest Tea, ZICO Coconut Water, Health-Ade, Fairlife Milk and Suja Juice. At VEB, he spent hundreds of millions buying companies from entrepreneurs like his father, grandfather and great-grandfather who had tirelessly built businesses from scratch. Uzzell was still having fun at VEB when Nike offered him the job to lead Converse.

He could have played it safe. He could have stayed at Coca-Cola. Instead, he has spent the past two years leading all aspects of the business globally and has overseen the company’s successful return — after a decade-long hiatus — to the basketball category in terms of products, marketplace and sponsorships.”

“Being the son, grandson and great-grandson of small-business owners has been a blessing and an issue,” Uzzell confessed. “I’ve always had an attitude in business that if I don’t like what I’m doing, I will quit. I quit Coca Cola three times, although it doesn’t appear that way. I quit P&G twice,” he said. “I’ve never looked at a job as something I would keep doing if I don’t like it.

Such is the quintessential Uzzell. It’s what he believes, what he lives.

“I have one life. I am going to star in my own movie,” Uzzell said. “In the last 10 to 12 years of my life, I’ve been looking for movies I want to star in. I don’t want to star in other people’s movies. It’s not because I have a big ego. It’s about being at my best.”

At Converse, the FAMU alum is doing just that: Being his best.

G. Scott Uzzell

Civic and Personal

Civic Duty: Serves on the FAMU Foundation Board, Executive Leadership Council, Boston Chamber of Commerce Board, and is a trustee of the Boston One Waterfront Project.

Personal passion: sports — skiing, golf, basketball and cycling; and, spending time with his family.

Family: wife Sunda, a FAMU grad; son Tanner; and, daughter Sawyer.