From his trademark cowboy boots, to his no-holds-barred approach to business, former Fortune 100 C-Suite executive, Jeffrey Hayzlett, has been called a maverick in the world of marketing.
Jeffrey’s successful career has spanned a variety of endeavors, from joining Kodak in 2006 as Chief Marketing Officer and Vice President of the company's Graphic Communications Group, to his work as a Primetime TV and Radio host and successful author.
When asked what prompted him to write his first best-selling book “The Mirror Test: Is Your Business Really Breathing?” in 2010, he said he had often witnessed others fail and that he had suffered a few failures himself too. He decided to write a book that encourages every business professional to ask the difficult questions, understand their conditions of satisfaction and be willing to make changes in order to grow and become more successful.
Following the success of his first business book, he later penned “Running the Gauntlet: Essential Business Lessons to Lead, Drive Change, and Grow Profits” in 2012. His third book, published in 2015, is “Think Big, Act Bigger.”
The C-Suite Network
In 2013, Jeffrey became a contributing editor for Bloomberg Television and the host of C-Suite with Jeffrey Hayzlett. The show explored the inner working of successful companies and brands, focusing on their executive teams and profiling different business models and perspectives on boardroom decision-making.
Jeffrey then launched The C-Suite Network, an exclusive and trusted network of executives with titles of VP and above, with a focus on providing growth, development and networking opportunities for its members.
C-Suite Network also features C-Suite TV and C-Suite Radio, an online resource for business programming, including MYOB – Mind Your Own Business, C-Suite With Jeffrey Hayzlett and Best Seller TV.
South Dakota and Bacon
Jeffrey’s time is split between New York City and his home in South Dakota, where his cowboy side is most evident. He enjoys the physical work of maintaining the acreage. He says, “The cowboy part is really who I am, and it impacts how I operate in business and in life.”
Jeffrey also likes bacon. A lot. You’ll find it mentioned frequently in his work. After all, as he states plainly, “everything is better with bacon.”
Awards and Honors
Through the years, Jeffrey’s talents and achievements have been recognized through numerous awards. They include:
- Speaker’s Hall Of Fame
- SMEI Sales and Marketing Hall of Fame
- Ambassador of Free Enterprise Award from the Academy of Achievement
- B2B Magazine Top 10 B2B Marketer of the Year
- Inductee, BMA Hall of Fame
- BMA G.D. Crain Jr. Award for Marketing Excellence
- Frost & Sullivan Sales & Marketing Lifetime Achievement Award
- International Friend of Business, IPN
- Honorary Life Member, BAPC
- Industry Award of Distinction, NAQP
- Entrepreneur of the Year, US SBA
His Most Shared Piece of Advice
The one bit of wisdom Jeffrey has found he has imparted to most often to executives to do clearly define and understand their conditions of satisfaction. In other words, they must know what they want and how they define their own success. These conditions can change from one person to the next. Once clarity exists in this regard, then it’s easier to overcome obstacles, ignore naysayers and take action to achieve those goals. In fact, you should become relentless in that pursuit.
It’s something he wishes he could tell his 22-year-old self: “If it was in my gut, and that’s what I really thought, then I should never give that up. I should never step away from that, and I should keep striving to ask the questions in order to drive the point and to get to where I want to go, regardless of what others were telling me.”