The Power of Intentionality

Camille Hymes (00:00)
I have this personal mission statement

to live in peace and bliss and to help others succeed beyond what they ever imagined.

with this power pause, I’ve realized that there’s a lot of opportunities that are coming my way.

but what’s most important are my no’s.

this might be a great opportunity, but this doesn’t really match my purpose.

So it’s been an incredible opportunity to be still and pay attention.

Kevin Rice (00:20)
Yeah.

Kevin Rice (00:39)
Welcome back to CEOs and ABCs. Our guest today is Camille Hymes. Camille is the former chief operating officer at smoothie King, and she’s held executive roles at Starbucks, Jack in the box and Exxon Mobil. In this episode, we talk about how her

personal mission statement has guided her in her career. How organizing her own personal board of advisors gave her the support she needed to navigate the tension between ambition and presence as a mother. Camille also shares her experience with facing the moments that force you to slow down, kind of rethink everything and redefine what success actually means. Today, she’s in a power pause and purposefully choosing where she wants to show up next. This is a conversation about leadership,

presence and being intentional both at work and at home.

Kevin Rice (01:24)
Camille, thank you so much for joining me today.

Camille Hymes (01:26)
it is my absolute privilege and honor to be here with you today. I love everything that you do and your podcasts are absolutely remarkable. Thank you for having me.

Kevin Rice (01:35)
Thank you so much.

appreciate that. Yeah, it sounds like we have had a number of guests that have also been in kind of your inner circle and world for a long time.

Camille Hymes (01:45)
Absolutely, the one that comes to mind is Adam Brotman. So that was really special. And I just admire him so much as a leader.

Kevin Rice (01:53)
Adam was amazing. Shout out to Adam. So you are in a interesting place in your life, in your career. You recently wrapped up your role as the chief operating officer at Smoothie King. And I was snooping on your LinkedIn and realizing this is the first time you have taken a pause between positions really in your entire career.

So what does life look like right now? How are you spending your time? what’s alive in you and lighting you up these days?

Camille Hymes (02:21)
Well, I have to say that the sabbatical has been better for me than I could have ever imagined. I’m about halfway through, so my goal was to take about six months off before considering doing anything differently. to your point, I started my career directly out of college when ExxonMobil recruited me to be on their executive programming. And so…

They planned my career from the time that they hired me all the way through to retirement. And I really enjoyed that aspect, but I traveled and I relocated eight times in 16 years. So beyond just working for a lengthy period of time, was relocating, reinventing and re-imagining not only my professional life, but also my family life, moving them around.

And so when I finally settled in San Diego with Jack in the Box, I was able to raise my family, grow roots, develop friendships, blossom as a leader. That was incredible. But I immediately then transitioned to Starbucks and worked there for almost a decade. And then with Smoothie King, that was about a little over two and a half years. And I really got to the point where

I knew there was an intersection between my career and what was happening with my family. I have three beautiful children. Two of them have returned home, and they’re about to go back out again for university for advanced degrees. And this was a perfect opportunity for me to be wholly present with my family and enjoy maybe some of the time that I missed when I was cultivating my career. it’s been

amazing and incredible and they’ll be out again on their own in August and September. So it’s been absolutely delightful.

Kevin Rice (04:19)
That’s amazing that you have that time to just kind of reconnect with them before you’re again, an empty nester. have you been able to do any reflection during this time? Cause you for me, the power pause I took was really transformative and how I changed, my direction or the way I was carrying myself. And I’m curious, are you learning anything about yourself?

during this kind of quieter time that maybe you couldn’t hear before?

Camille Hymes (04:45)
Wow, what an amazing question. I would say that ⁓ I’ve had a lot of time to reflect on the areas that bring me joy, personally and professionally, as well as where I’ve made errors or mistakes. And so through this, what you coin as the power pause, it’s been about going back to what my purpose is in life.

How do I honor the time that I have here on earth, not only for my family, for my faith, but in my career?

I have this personal mission statement that I ⁓ developed when I was at Starbucks. And my personal mission statement is to live in peace and bliss and to help others succeed beyond what they ever imagined.

And so I wake up every morning

with that reflection and intention.

And with this power pause, I’ve realized that there’s a lot of opportunities that are coming my way. There’s a lot of things that I can do, but what’s most important are my no’s. Like, where do I say, this might be a great opportunity, but this doesn’t really match my purpose. And so for me, saying no sometimes is really hard because the opportunities are abundant and wonderful.

But if it doesn’t align with what I’d like to do to make a meaningful difference on this planet, then it’s easier for me to say no. And I’m realizing that now because I have way more opportunities to say this isn’t really the right path right now for me or ever. So it’s been an incredible opportunity to be still and pay attention.

Kevin Rice (06:32)
Yeah.

Camille Hymes (06:38)
Yes.

Kevin Rice (06:39)
That’s great. I wonder because I think a mission statement like that, it was so much purpose and alignment with kind of who you are, gives you clarity on what you want to say yeses and nos to. But you’ve had such an amazing career and you have, I’m sure so many opportunities coming your way. When you were younger in your career, would you have been able to say no?

to opportunities that maybe didn’t feel in alignment. knowing what you know now, would you have taken the position with Exxon Mobil or Jack in the Box? because right now you have that freedom, right? Like you’ve built an incredible career and I’m sure people are knocking on your doors. But when you’re younger in your career, it’s probably more difficult to ⁓ say no, this doesn’t feel in alignment when you’re like, I need to take the next step.

Camille Hymes (07:30)
Yeah. Great question. I would say that I intentionally live with no regrets. So there have been times where I may have questioned how long I’ve stayed, but gathering and garnering all of the incredible lessons along the way has brought me to where I am today. So I would say unequivocally that I have no regrets and

Kevin Rice (07:52)
Mm.

Camille Hymes (07:58)
it’s helped me to find my mission statement and be very intentional each and every day. When I was at Starbucks, I knew that I wasn’t the leader that I needed to be. So instead of changing companies or brands, I decided to change myself. And that’s when I enrolled into executive coaching because I needed to level up for my team. And ⁓ through that,

Kevin Rice (08:12)
Mmm.

Hmm.

Camille Hymes (08:25)
understanding my mission statement, like I wanted to help people to succeed beyond what they ever imagined, but I wasn’t equipped. So through that intentional practice, I made decisions to level up, but not necessarily level out of a particular space or brand, if that makes sense.

Kevin Rice (08:30)
you

Yeah.

Hmm.

Yeah.

Yeah. Cause if you moved on, it’s still you, right? Like you’re going to find yourself in the same position somewhere else. And I’m a huge proponent of executive coaching. had three executive coaches in my career. cause we started our company straight out of college. Jesse and I, my co-founder had no corporate experience, no business experience, our first coach.

I think we were his easiest client ever because he was teaching us how to do one-on-ones, team meetings, look at weekly financial dashboards that were as simple as you could imagine. And that’s what we needed at the time was just the basics of managing a five person company. And then my second executive coach, she was more of an industry specialist. So she knew the agency consulting space.

Camille Hymes (09:26)
Thanks.

Kevin Rice (09:34)
And she just knew the ins and outs and the nuances of how to carry yourself when you’re competing against the larger organizations. And then my last executive coach was a Tony Robbins kind of guy. Just amazing. But what he really helped me see was my real purpose. And I was, I was building this company to eventually exit.

but kind of midway through that was starting to feel a little hollow and it wasn’t getting me out of bed every day in the way that I wanted to. And so he helped me kind of really discover what fueled me underneath the eventual exit. And for me, that was, the connection that I wanted to experience with my coworkers and clients. And it really came back to how I could contribute.

And coming back to you, I know that’s really important to your mission statement because your mission statement, if you wouldn’t mind just saying it one more time for the audience, because I think it’s really powerful, really centers on how you’re able to help other people and be of service.

Camille Hymes (10:22)
Yeah.

Yes, my mission statement is to live in peace and bliss and to help others succeed beyond what they ever imagined. That is it. And it defines my yeses and nos. And so it’s not necessarily just individually, but it’s also as a collective, as a community. So what I’ve learned in many of the companies that I’ve had the privilege and honor of working for, I’ve had remarkable leaders.

like people who are part of what you would call your board of directors, where they may not be technically your supervisor, but they may be your champion, they may be someone that you could call to just bounce an idea off of, or if I call when I really need guidance. And so to be available and open to so many remarkable people at every level has been something that I like to pay forward.

from the people that have supported me in my journey. When I was working with Starbucks, Howard Schultz used to use this term, umbutu. And umbutu is an African word that means I am because of you. And when I learned how a true leader embodies that sentiment,

It is so easy to be of service to others and also recognize how your purpose comes to life through supporting others. Or the blessings that come through being in the presence of really remarkable leaders and staying connected with them. I have so many leaders that I feel umbutu, and I want to pay that forward.

Kevin Rice (12:32)
Well, let’s go back a little bit earlier, kind of to the beginning of your career when maybe some of this clarity didn’t quite exist. ⁓ So you mentioned you started at Exxon Mobil. How did those early years kind of form the professional or even just the woman that you are today?

Camille Hymes (12:39)
Yes.

I would say that ExxonMobil experience taught me the technical skills to understand what it means to lead a business at scale, to authentically connect with people. I worked with a lot of franchisees who, they put in their 401ks to open up a gas station.

⁓ And so to really understand what was most important to them, how I could be of service to them, and then how we come together to really sort of differentiate ourselves from the other brands. So the early lessons at ExxonMobil were really about understanding individual journeys and how I may support them. In my very younger years, was not a dynamic opportunity, it was more like sort of laying the groundwork.

but I didn’t truly understand what it meant to be of service until I transitioned out of that and into Jack in the Box, just recognizing again, working with franchisees, how important it was for us to deliver a great programming platform for them to deliver consistently to their guests or customers. So I would say over time,

It took me a while to arrive to where I am today, but what I understand the through line to be, whether it’s gas and oil or hamburgers and french fries or those delicious macchiatos and now matcha or smoothies, it’s really about the people. And so I would say, I’ve said this before, I’m a slow learner. It took me a minute to understand.

that you could transition between industries, especially in operations, if you know what’s most important. ⁓ And I would say I got my master’s class at Starbucks for sure, because that was just the ethos of the company. It was people companies serving coffee. But what I would say is really deeply understanding what matters to people and getting really close to how I can show up as a leader to support their.

aspirations, endeavors, growth, development whatever it is, showing up uniquely for that person or as a collective.

Kevin Rice (15:15)
Yeah. And while you were at Exxon Mobil, I think that’s, if I look at your children’s ages and the tenure of your career there, did you become a mom while you were at Exxon Mobil? Is that when you started building your family?

Camille Hymes (15:29)
Yeah,

I absolutely did. And I would say that because I was in the sort of in the trenches, really learning, traveling a lot, developing, there were times where I wasn’t always present and just recognizing that I was fortifying sort of our future as a family financially or professionally. I didn’t I wasn’t always there. So I had to figure out

how to be supportive of my family without my presence for a period of time. And so we, know, people call it the board of directors, your cheerleaders, your champions. Number one, my husband, of course, in June will be 30 years together. Thank you. He is my rock and really has helped with the balance between what I’m doing professionally and my family.

Kevin Rice (16:15)
Congratulations.

Camille Hymes (16:25)
Others, my mother, his mother, we had everyone, my cousins. I mean, you know how they say it takes a village? I have no shame in recognizing that I can’t do it all myself, whether I’m married or if I were single or had a partner. You just can’t do it all. ⁓ Sometimes you fall, you have to forgive yourself. But over time, you realize that you’re surrounded by this village that if you leverage

appropriately and thoughtfully. It really works for the family and that’s I’ve had the great fortune of having a really good board of directors.

Kevin Rice (17:04)
That’s amazing. Yeah. I mean, it certainly does take a village. I rely heavily on my, my parents, my partner, my friends. I think they certainly helped me like when I just need help, can you help pick up the kids or something? But it’s also a lot more of just the like emotional support that sometimes I really need when things are tough. ⁓ so I like that cause it’s a great, know, you, you already mentioned your personal mission statement and now board of directors and

Camille Hymes (17:18)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Kevin Rice (17:30)
That was how I figured out how to be a better parent was when I realized I need to leverage what I’ve invested the last 15 years of my life doing, which was becoming a better business professional and leader and figure out how I can tie that back to my family. And that’s when it started to click for me, because I put together core values. I put together a mission statement. know, I do like not quite one-on-ones, but we do a lot of rituals and routines and check-ins that were really inspired from my business career.

And it’s just fun, looking at all the things I learned about leadership and how it translate to my family. that’s how I figured it out.

Camille Hymes (18:07)
Absolutely, and you know what’s even more interesting about what you’ve said is that you take all of those lessons It’s purpose-driven and then you also want to equip your children as they develop in pro to have that those same values those same intentional practices or what you called rituals that’s really important because they are watching when you think they’re not you know, they really are

Kevin Rice (18:23)
Mm-hmm.

Yes, as

your employees are.

Camille Hymes (18:33)
100 % and then just being very intentional about the conversations, like what’s happening in my professional life and how that translates to cycles and phases in their life and how to sort of either overcome or take advantage of what is happening in this moment.

Kevin Rice (18:54)
Yeah.

Was there a moment where you realized you weren’t as present as you wanted to be? Like last time we spoke, you mentioned kind of feeling like you were sleepwalking as a parent. And I, I described it previously as being in robot mode and I was totally disconnected from myself and my kids, but I was incredibly productive and I would be doing things like reading bedtime stories, but I’d be rehearsing like my next sales presentation.

Camille Hymes (19:05)
Mm-hmm.

Kevin Rice (19:23)
I’m curious, like, did you have a moment or was it a collection of moments? when did you realize, okay, I need to make a change here?

Camille Hymes (19:28)
Wow. I’ve never really shared this publicly, but I will share with a very specific intention that others may be going through something similar. But after our second child, we actually had another daughter and ⁓ she passed away at five months. ⁓ She had a crib death. And that unfortunately was my wake up call

to recognize how precious and short life was. And we were going through a transition. were relocating from Southern California to Virginia or Maryland, wherever we were going at the time. And so everything was up in the air. And the loss of a child, you can’t put into words the trauma that it can cause, but not only that,

the, it forces you to recognize how limited your time is with your children, regardless of the age. And so I remember very specifically noticing even in the morning of the death of my daughter, that I wasn’t present. I was mourning and then returning to work. And so over time I had to develop practices.

to make sure that I was holy and completely present. so it is a terribly tragic story, but many people go through this type of tragedy and hopefully it doesn’t take that. But to find moments where you can be present, like once you walk through the threshold, intentionally sitting with your child, staying present for a few moments, letting them know that you’re there, those are like tactics, but they work.

because then they can see that you’re holy and fully present with them.

Kevin Rice (21:29)
Yeah. I appreciate you sharing that story. I think that’s every parent. It’s certainly my my worst nightmare is losing a child. how did you cope with that? did you process it? Did you grieve or did you do what I did when I was going through my most difficult time was I just shut it down and I disconnected from it. And later that materialized in ways that, you know, were negative. Um, how did you get through? What was I’m sure.

the most challenging period of your life.

Camille Hymes (21:58)
Yeah, I will say that I did all of the things that you just described, you know, the mourning, the shutting down. ⁓ But I had such a circle of people that surrounded me, both in my professional life and then also, personally, that helped to guide me through it, that were present with me. I think that’s what helped me to become a better leader as well.

is because you never know what someone is going through until you sit in the space with them. So everyone has a unique journey. Their highs and lows, the tragedies. When you are able to sit and be present with them, which I watched people do for me, I knew that I need to be more mindful.

of what people are going through and share those experiences. And I have in the past where people needed further healing from events like I just described with the loss of my daughter, Chelsea.

Kevin Rice (23:07)
Yeah.

When you did make that decision to leave ExxonMobil after 15, 16 years, what was it that influenced your decision? had you come up with your personal mission statement? Were you thinking about alignment of where your career would eventually go? Cause they had mapped it all out for you and did it align with that mission statement?

Camille Hymes (23:45)
So I would say that it was more towards looking at the landscape of ExxonMobil at the time, where I didn’t really, after 16 years and all the relocations and all the personal things that were happening, I didn’t really see myself in the executive role, right? Like I did not see myself as chief operating officer for Exxon or chief CEO.

I noticed that over at Jack in the Box, there was more diversity. There was more opportunity to grow into a C-suite position. I took note of my odds of continuing to grow at the rate in which I desired. I spent a lot of time investing in my development. I wanted to see sort of the benefits of growing into.

an executive role. And so for Jack in the Box, it did that for me. That was my first role as a vice president and senior leader. At the time, ⁓ Leonard, Lenny, was the chief executive officer. And so I saw a lot of potential with that brand and where they were going.

Kevin Rice (25:03)
Yeah, no, amazing organization. actually was fortunate to work with them before, Bounteous was acquired and we launched really like their digital capabilities. So was a awesome team to work with. And plus you got to move to San Diego, which I would argue is like the best place in the world to raise a family.

Camille Hymes (25:12)
Yeah.

of bonus and my kids are slowly making their way back to Southern California one child at a time so my oldest is there in Los Angeles area and then my daughter is moving back for grad school so we’ve got one more that’s committed to go and then we’ll have all three ⁓ in Southern California area

Kevin Rice (25:28)
Yeah.

Yeah.

What I gathered when you left Exxon Mobil, you weren’t quite just pursuing a title. It seemed like it really aligned with your mission to be of service. so I’m curious, when did leadership stop being just about achievement and start becoming more about your responsibility to others? Did anything happen to cement that notion or reinforce the mission statement for you?

Camille Hymes (26:06)
I would say I became really wholly disciplined and focused on elevating my leadership when I transitioned over to Starbucks. So it wasn’t that I didn’t have a, there wasn’t a great culture at Jack in the Box, but it was in the ethos of Starbucks to be of service to people. It was in the daily rituals. It was in

Kevin Rice (26:29)
Mm-hmm.

Camille Hymes (26:32)
being present and slowing down. I’d never worked for a company where you have to start by drinking coffee and then learning about someone’s life and journey before you even started the meeting. I couldn’t understand that coming from ExxonMobil and Jack in the Box. so over time, these little signals of…

and practice of becoming really present with the person that you’re in front of helped me to understand that I need to refine who I am as a leader and define who I am as a leader. So I had great leaders at Starbucks, really remarkable people. They all taught me very different dimensions to leadership. They were not all the same. They were very, very different. But I took from them

Kevin Rice (27:00)
Mm.

Camille Hymes (27:24)
their high points and what was most important to them in demonstrating really great leadership. And I think that’s where I was exposed to just a massive amount of remarkable people. And again, it’s that umbutu sort of feeling that because of those leaders that I had the privilege of being with, who made me who I am today.

Kevin Rice (27:36)
Yeah.

Sure. Yeah. I mean, you got to work with Howard Schultz. I’m sure he was an amazing, leader and mentor to work with. How did you manage to stay connected with your family while you were at Starbucks? Just given that you were in a very prominent position. I’m sure there was a lot of travel and it’s like one of the largest restaurant chains in the world. did you have specific rituals or routines that helped you stay connected now that you had like made the conscious decision that I want to be more intentional?

Camille Hymes (28:12)
Absolutely, I would say there, let’s say three things. First is making sure that I was connecting with them if I was traveling at night to say good night, to say the prayer, to make sure that there was a rhythm and a cadence to my presence even though it was virtual. I would also say that I very intentional about the weekends. Even though we’re a seven day a week business, the weekends were pretty much

more solid and taking time with the family. And so my kids would joke to say, I would take them in the car and say, I only want to go one place. But then I would have them out for the entire day. We would catch up on everything. So even today, my children as adults say, don’t get in the car with mom, or you’re going to be in there all day. But then they end up doing it and loving it and joking about it. So I would say the second ritual is making sure that I had a captive audience

Kevin Rice (28:59)
You

Camille Hymes (29:07)
for some time so that I could reconnect. And I would say the last thing is that I’m never done. So recognizing that I’m not always gonna get it right, having those conversations of when things didn’t go well or maybe I wasn’t present and what I can do today, the history is gone. But to this point, I’m honest about it, call right now to be here.

Kevin Rice (29:28)
See you.

Camille Hymes (29:32)
for my family in a really interesting time where I get to reconnect with them as adults. So that’s been a privilege and just recognizing those moments is really special.

Kevin Rice (29:44)
I’m sure. Did you have similar or different like rituals and routines in your career that helped you establish better relationships or connection with your colleagues, coworkers, or like even direct reports?

Camille Hymes (29:57)
Absolutely. So do you remember when I shared that, you you start every meeting with sort of a coffee tasting and then you really have a moment to connect? I learned that there. And I brought that over to, you know, my other role at Smoothie King as their COO, where there were, there’s a point in time where it’s all about just getting a deeper level of understanding of who I’m working with.

what’s important to them. And so almost every meeting without being formal was just a connect in. We used to host meetings every week. They probably still do. And before I arrived, it was getting right into the work and it was all very transactional. And over time, we would begin our Monday morning calls with what was very personal and intentional about what matters to people outside of work.

And that really caught on. People really appreciated the humanity that comes with working as a leader and at every level. So I would say that’s where I learned the most about leadership is just really tapping into humanity.

Kevin Rice (31:01)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah, I mean, that was something that I feel like I really didn’t embrace in the earlier years of my career, probably mostly through till, I don’t know if I ever really did. I mean, I certainly had good relationships with a lot of people, but I was always like, okay, let’s start the meeting. Let’s get to work. We’ve got an agenda. Let’s go. And even in car rides, like if we’d go travel, cause in the early days we couldn’t afford to fly. So we drive from here. I remember we, I did a day trip.

from San Luis Obispo to San Diego in one day. They’re meetings back. And during that whole time, all I wanted to talk about was the business, And like people would bring up personal topics and I just tried to redirect them back to like, no, let’s use this time to get work done. Like I was just so driven to ⁓ perform and achieve. ⁓

Camille Hymes (32:06)
Yeah.

Kevin Rice (32:07)
that we missed a lot. And I’m curious what you think organizations benefit from by bringing that personal human element to the culture. why is that beneficial for an organization versus the way that I was doing it at the beginning, like just trying to be so on task.

Camille Hymes (32:25)
Yeah, so I would say that Barbara Perry is a cultural anthropologist and she just wrote a book. I hope you have a chance to interview her. She is remarkable. And she just wrote a book called Hope at Work. And so this is really about like when you’re navigating through like seismic change or making adjustments in organization, how you tap into every individual

understanding what matters so that you can galvanize everyone together to move in a particular direction. Not to manipulate, but to authentically understand and meet people exactly where they are. And then creating the spirit of humanity, of hope, of opportunity to do something bigger and better than yourself. And so I would say that’s the most.

It seems like it would be the most obvious is to tap into individuals to authentically, that’s the key, connect with them to understand what matters. And then from that, it’s reciprocated. And in operations, it’s critical because you can’t pour from an empty cup. You can’t ask someone to care about the guests if you don’t care about them. And that doesn’t happen through a playbook. It doesn’t happen through

⁓ standard operating procedures. It literally is time and attention to people who are delivering a great experience for others because that’s the role in operations. But you have to do that with authenticity and integrity.

Kevin Rice (34:09)
Yeah, I just hear so much of the kind of ethos of hospitality and everything you just described. It’s funny because I just reflect back on, who I was as a leader, probably through the first half of my career. And I would have challenged you and I would have said, well, is this going to increase increase employee productivity? Is this going to increase employee retention? And that’s all I would have cared about is like, is this going to hit the metrics? Is this going to move the needle?

Camille Hymes (34:18)
Mm.

Right.

Kevin Rice (34:38)
But as I matured through my career, I just realized like there’s so much more value of having a culture where people feel connected and inspired. And there’s some things that you just can’t measure on the corporate scoreboard.

Camille Hymes (34:51)
Totally, but what I will say the secret is if you do it authentically and well it does so there is There’s tangible evidence to the fact that when you intentionally invest in your people You intentionally spend time the metrics change. I was able to do that actually at smoothie king in our corporate locations. We saw our turnover drastically drop because

Kevin Rice (34:57)
Yeah.

Camille Hymes (35:17)
we were showing up very differently for the team members there. Yeah, I would say that it’s an and and not an or for sure.

Kevin Rice (35:22)
Mmm.

Sure, sure. I agree. mean, think safety is something that certainly, shows up by creating a place where people can be creative and they can come up with new ideas without fear of judgment. ⁓ So there’s, yeah, there’s a lot of those aspects of like psychological safety that kind of tie in and interpersonal connections that you’re right, do ultimately make it onto the corporate scoreboard.

Camille Hymes (35:54)
They do.

Kevin Rice (35:55)
⁓

So how did you decide to leave Starbucks? Because I look at your resume, the accomplishments, you’re at the leading restaurant brand in the world. Everybody’s looking up to Starbucks. I for me being in the digital consulting space, Starbucks, maybe Domino’s, those were kind of like the pioneers that really inspired me and our leadership to actually change our corporate direction because

We were a generalist consulting firm. worked in all kinds of industries, B2B, healthcare. Our first restaurant client was actually Jamba Juice. So we launched their mobile ordering and loyalty application in 2016, 2015. And at the time we were looking at Starbucks, we were looking at Domino’s and we were like, okay, this has to be where the restaurant industry goes. Like this is…

Camille Hymes (36:32)
Ha!

Okay.

Kevin Rice (36:51)
this is something that other chains can’t ignore. mean, Jack in the box didn’t have digital at that time. None of the big chains, Burger King, McDonald’s didn’t even really have anything going in digital, but we were like, okay, the trend is there. It has to go in this direction. And we made a big bet and we kind of shuttered some pretty significant brands in our portfolio so that we could focus on the restaurant industry. And I’m curious for you being at such a

culturally relevant, growing, inspiring brand. how did you make the decision to leave?

Camille Hymes (37:24)
It wasn’t an easy one. Well, maybe it was. I would say that I spent six and a half years in retail operations in the mid-Atlantic region. And it was an incredible opportunity to grow the business with new stores, same store sales, impact the guest experience very differently.

grow leaders. I think that’s the thing that I’m most proud of. And when I started, we were at 500 stores, about 800 million in sales, and then we transitioned to 800 stores and 1.3 billion. It was amazing. But the development of the leaders, those leaders that have either stayed with Starbucks or have transitioned onto these really epic roles with these really cool brands is what I’m most proud of. And those that were in

maybe right at the storefront and are now in leadership roles. Those were their aspirations. And to do that at scale goes back to my purpose. And then I transitioned out of that role and into public affairs, which is really an awesome opportunity to see how things work behind the scenes ⁓ and to really understand like, what is our narrative? How do we reconnect with our ethos and how do we show up authentically,

globally. And that was an awesome experience, but I missed field operations. I missed being able to impact people’s lives to support them. And so I transitioned out of the public affairs role. Howard had sort of exited the company, so things were changing from a leadership at the top. ⁓ I went through some really incredible experiences with him in traveling across the country to really deeply understand what

Kevin Rice (38:52)
Hmm.

Thank

Camille Hymes (39:17)
to what they call employees or partners. That was a master’s class, like you wouldn’t believe. And I learned what I needed to, but I wasn’t back out in the field with full teams, leading, stewarding P &Ls, achieving results, enhancing shareholders’ profitability, enhancing the businesses’ profitability. All those things I think is my sweet spot, and I missed it dearly.

The other thing I would mention, and when we started this conversation, I talked about leaving Exxon Mobil and wanting to be in the executive suite because there are not a lot of African-American females that are in the C-suite. mean, disproportionately less. And I remember being at Starbucks and one of the baristas came up to me and she just wanted to meet, and I say this with all the humility in the world. She said, I’ve never met

Kevin Rice (39:45)
Mmm.

Thank

Camille Hymes (40:14)
anyone that looks like me, and she looked like me, that is in a position like you. And so now that I see you, I know it’s possible. And that…

Kevin Rice (40:23)
Mmm.

Camille Hymes (40:25)
was one of those moments where you realize that even your presence and showing up and doing your very best to become a humble and committed leader goes beyond just the P &L. And so when I received the phone call from Smoothie King, I told Juan Kim, I told him in the interview, this is why I want to come. ⁓ Not only to re-,

Kevin Rice (40:43)
Hmm.

Yeah.

Camille Hymes (40:55)
reengage in field operations, franchisees at Smoothie King are just absolutely amazing. So are the team members. But I also needed to do this to break a ceiling and to show others what’s possible. And that was really important for me to do.

Kevin Rice (41:12)
Yeah, that’s really like powerful. Like I could feel it when you’re telling the story of like, mean, some like chills coming through and it’s very inspiring for I’m sure many, many people. I just thought you went to Smoothie King because you saw his undercover boss episode and thought he was hilarious.

Camille Hymes (41:24)
Thank you.

He

is hilarious. I did see his underco- and the smoothies are very good there. I have to say, organic vegetables, real fruit, the whole thing, which a lot of people don’t know. ⁓ But I know the team is there to make sure that people understand how differentiated the product is. I’m still a raving fan of Juan and the executive team and the smoothies there. We are a smoothie family now. Healthy. Yeah.

Kevin Rice (41:36)
They are. They are.

Yeah, yeah,

that’s great. What are some of the things you’ve learned over this tremendous career about yourself as a leader? if you were to kind of look inward and say, okay, these are my strengths as a leader. And what are some of the things you still get tripped up on today?

Camille Hymes (42:12)
I don’t, I never liked that question because you have to answer the second part of it which creates the ability.

Kevin Rice (42:18)
But you can’t do it in a way that like,

yeah, you can’t do it in a way that, you know, you say it’s one thing, but it’s really like your strength undercover. You’re like, I worked too hard to accomplish the company’s mission. That’s my fault.

Camille Hymes (42:28)
Totally.

That’s right, that’s right. I went totally, I totally get it. ⁓ You said three things, two things or one thing? Anything, okay. I have to tell you, I was on an interview the other day and somebody said, tell me the top 10 things you’re bad at. I said, Ted, really you want? That was a stretch. Okay, so I would say that… ⁓

Kevin Rice (42:36)
This isn’t an interview.

Anything. One, two, or three, your call.

Ted?

Camille Hymes (43:00)
From a leadership perspective, I understand what it takes to authentically and deeply connect with people to bring out the best in ⁓ them. There’s something about my leadership where I can point to very specific examples or ongoing sort of ⁓ spaces where I’ve been able to cultivate really great teams to deliver. ⁓

on results, achieve results. ⁓ I would also say that I have a fundamental and deep understanding of franchisees, what is most important to them, how to make sure that there’s a bridge between the franchisor and the franchisee in order to get things done in a way that’s productive. ⁓ So, and achieve results. There’s a three line here in achieving results. ⁓ And then I would say that

I can work among the most intelligent, remarkable people and bring ideas and thoughts together to fruition. So I am not the smartest person in the room ever, but I know how to bring people together in order to accomplish a common goal where people are thriving. So that’s what I would say are my strengths. I would say my weaknesses.

⁓ is that sometimes I move too fast ⁓ and I don’t always bring people along or really navigate through very complex situations where I haven’t read the room. I like for people to tell me directly like what’s this is what’s happening and if I don’t understand the undercurrent, I miss it sometimes. So.

Kevin Rice (44:51)
and

Camille Hymes (44:52)
⁓ That is one that I am currently working on, is really understanding how to navigate really difficult situations. There have been some that have been very public, where I’ve been able to navigate not only myself, my team, the organization through really complex things. And I’ve done that on intuition and crisis, like in a crisis mode, but sometimes when it’s a little more subtle, I’m not so great at doing that.

Kevin Rice (45:21)
Yeah. Since you shared, I’ll share. think one of my kind of things I still get tripped up on is like bringing people along, whether it’s in a business professional setting or my children. I can often connect some dots pretty quickly and then say, okay, this is where we’re going to go. And then forget that like, they weren’t in my head. They weren’t following the thought process that got me there. And, ⁓ if you don’t bring the team along.

It will, kind of rob everyone of the alignment that should be created. Now I did that a lot in my, my career and I got better at it over time. My, my executive coach used to beat me over the head, making sure that I was better at bringing team members along and change management. But what’s interesting is like where that shows up at home is because I would come home and I’d still have my like president leadership hat on and I.

Camille Hymes (46:06)
Mm-hmm.

Hmm.

Kevin Rice (46:17)
come to my kids and be like, this is what we’re doing today. And I wouldn’t bring them along or this is what we’re gonna eat. And they would be like, I don’t wanna do that, why? And I fell into the trap of saying, because I said so, because I’m dad and because I said so. it was something where I had to reflect and be like, I would never say that to an employee. I would never.

Camille Hymes (46:44)
Right.

Kevin Rice (46:44)
ever in my wildest dreams, tell an employee if they questioned the direction we were going because I said so. Then I had to really reflect and say, why wouldn’t I treat my children with the same respect? so I think it’s probably been at least three years or four years since I’ve said those words to my kids.

Camille Hymes (47:05)
Yeah, it’s so true because you do not only the organization or your team that you have to bring along, but your kids too. One of the things that I learned, I think that helped me to become a better leader is recognizing even when I think there’s something that’s right, the person actually has the answer and it’s my job to get it out of them, like to help them through understanding that they have the answer. And maybe if the answer is wrong,

then it’s okay if they fall, it’s okay if they fall down, but you’re there to pick them back up. And so that has been my practice with my kids. My husband sometimes says, don’t use that Georgetown executive coaching on me. So he recognizes it, but my children don’t, so it’s working pretty well.

Kevin Rice (47:50)
That’s great.

That’s great. Well, that kind of brings us to where we’re where you are today. In this power pause, I imagine using your personal mission statement to really guide you and figure out what’s next. So how are you feeling most called to serve in your kind of next chapter?

Camille Hymes (48:11)
Hmm, I think that’s TBD, Kevin. That is TBD. What I’m doing right now is really honoring the space that I have been afforded and enjoying this moment, like really being present with my kids. Well, now they’re adult. I can’t say that anymore. My adult.

Kevin Rice (48:31)
They’re

gonna always be your kids.

Camille Hymes (48:34)
Yeah, and so

I’m open to really exploring whether or not I want to go into business for myself and really be intentional and meaningful about the time that I am here on this planet to do really good things for community and people. So that’s one of the avenues that I’m exploring. And then the other is if it fits within the bullseye of making a

really good impact on the community, I’m all the way in. So I’m just looking for that opportunity to present.

Kevin Rice (49:07)
Amazing. Well,

I’m sure any organization would be, they would be fortunate to have you. So thank you so much. Last thing and then we’ll wrap up is I know you’re also involved in a number of nonprofits. Could you share a little bit about the nonprofit organizations that you support?

Camille Hymes (49:23)
wow, absolutely. I have the privilege and honor of serving on the board for reading as fundamental and then also blessings in a backpack. I’m actually on their fundraising committee. So our goal is, I can’t really say what our goal is, but we’re very close to getting there. It’s in the millions. So if anything inspires you about children’s literacy,

look up reading is fundamental. So I’ve been a board member and then also part of the chair for their committee for a long time. And blessings in a backpack is really helping children to have nutrition when they are not at school. So this is packing their backpacks for the weekend so that they have healthy and nutritious meals. And I can’t think anything more important than to support our babies as they grow so that they can be

know, instrumental in our community and our country, but we have to set them up for success and literacy and nutrition are just very fundamental.

Kevin Rice (50:29)
There’s so many families rely on school lunch programs and then it comes to after school and weekends and summers when things get really challenging. ⁓ well, I would love to add some information in the show notes and a link to donate and I’d be happy to donate and support myself.

Camille Hymes (50:38)
Yeah.

Thank you. That means so much. It has been an absolute privilege and honor to be with you today and share this space with you. I just very much appreciate all that you do for the community. Like you are making a difference in the lives of others through these conversations. And I hope today there was a connection with someone that needed to hear what we had to say today. So thank you so much.

Kevin Rice (51:12)
That’s what I think is just as long as, you know, it helps one person, then it’s worth it.

Kevin Rice (51:16)
Camille, thank you so much for joining me today. This has been an amazing conversation and I just truly appreciate your vulnerability and honesty.

Kevin Rice (51:25)
You’re incredibly inspirational. and I just, enjoy the conversation.

Camille Hymes (51:28)
Thank you so much, Kevin.