by Cheryl Hall / © 2022, The Dallas Morning News. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
If you want to see Steven Williams’ eyes light up, mention Nacho Cheese Doritos.
As CEO of PepsiCo Foods North America, the 56-year-old oversees a $21 billion portfolio of chips, dips and convenience foods.
As head of [America’s] largest snack food company, Williams is one of the highest-ranked minority executives in corporate America.
But beyond his company and the upper echelon of Dallas-Fort Worth business communities, Williams is not well known. He says he doesn’t see the value in self-aggrandizing.
In three years as CEO, Williams has guided PepsiCo Foods through the pandemic, helped assemble millions of dollars to support southern Dallas and greenlighted a half-dozen innovations that delivered a first-year return on investment of at least $100 million.
A well-rounded individual
Williams is seen internally as a people-first leader who lets employees’ imaginations run free to bring ideas to life—and sometimes a quick death—at warp speed.
He invests a billion dollars in capital every year to feed PepsiCo Foods’ innovation machine with new products, packaging and manufacturing equipment.
Marisa Perez, a senior vice president at PepsiCo Foods who searches for new avenues of growth, said Williams has an undeniable magnetic pull.
“Steven knows how to be effective no matter if he is working with the front line or executives in a board room,” Perez said. “His passion and energy are contagious. Because he cares so deeply, so does everyone around him.”
Brian Cornell, CEO of Target Corp., was at PepsiCo and got to know Williams after the company bought Quaker Oats in 2001.
“I immediately recognized Steven’s strong ability to identify goals, set a clear and focused agenda for reaching them, and—most importantly—rally and bring his teams along with him, each step of the way,” Cornell said.
“He is incredibly devoted to his family and always there for his friends—and anyone who knows Steven knows his big, signature Steven Williams smile.”
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