Actor and producer Zac Efron is thought for his work on tv and in movie, however as of July of this yr, he has added one other title to his résumé: member of a board of administrators.
The Emmy Award winner joined the board of administrators for Kodiak, a meals firm recognized for its breakfast merchandise like flapjack and waffle combine. It’s Efron’s first time serving on a board of administrators, however he’s no stranger to the corporate. In an interview with Fortune, Efron says that he’s a longtime fan of the model, and he personally aligns with the model’s give attention to well being, wellness, and philanthropy. He can even function Kodiak’s chief model officer.
To Efron, the partnership feels “tremendous natural,” however for many who view him as a Hollywood heartthrob in films like Baywatch and The Best Showman, drawing a straight line is probably not that apparent. What precisely does a Hollywood movie star provide to a Utah-based shopper packaged items model—or any model past the leisure enterprise?
“There isn’t any inherent upside or draw back to the movie star angle past clickbait, which may very well be nice or terrible,” says Matt Fullbrook, a governance professional and host of the One Minute Governance podcast. “The actual profit comes if the movie star can also be a fantastic director, and involves the boardroom with a deep understanding of the group and real curiosity about its future.”
Efron says that good companies attempt to “get into the minds of customers” in a lot the identical means that he approaches performing: entering into the thoughts of the particular person he’s portraying. It’s all a type of storytelling.
For the reason that golden age of Hollywood, large names have been tapped by corporations to serve on their board of administrators, bringing their perspective to the boardroom. Cary Grant was famously a director for Fabergé, a collectibles firm recognized for its bedazzled enamel eggs, and Joan Crawford was a director for Pepsi-Cola. Grace Kelly served on the board of Twentieth Century–Fox. Extra lately, actor turned investor Ashton Kutcher has served on the boards of varied tech and media corporations, together with Vox Media, as has Priyanka Chopra Jonas, who simply final yr added a diabetes nonprofit board to her résumé.
The technique of including a star to the board extends past cinema stars. Professional athletes from Michael Jordan to Shaquille O’Neal to Dwyane Wade have parlayed their on-court savviness to board seats at corporations starting from Oakley sun shades (Jordan) to Pizza Hut (O’Neal) to Jeeter, a hashish firm (Wade). Musicians, social media influencers, and media personalities all discover their technique to the boardroom.
Celebrities, clearly, include their notable names to attract consideration to an organization, however that alone doesn’t warrant a seat on most boards of administrators. Fullbrook defined that if an organization is “window-dressing” with a celeb solely for advertising functions, beware. However most corporations are in search of a spread of views to deal with challenges related to progress, and a star may very well be the proper particular person for the decision-making job.
“Stacking the board solely with trade specialists is vastly overrated,” Fullbrook says. “One high-impact good thing about a star is entry to folks, corporations, and funding which may not in any other case be obtainable to the group.”
Manish Chandra, founder and chief govt officer of Poshmark, recruited Serena Williams for his board of administrators in 2019 for greater than her tennis-driven star energy. For him, Williams personified his buyer: She is an athlete, entrepreneur, and mom like lots of the thousands and thousands of entrepreneurs who maintain established companies on Poshmark.
“She leads with love,” he says, “and is at all times breaking new floor and doing what hasn’t been achieved earlier than. She at all times brings an distinctive perspective on the way to finest empower our neighborhood of entrepreneurs.”
It’s simple to see why an organization would need to harness the cachet and connections of a star title, however Fullbrook admits that the motivation for the movie star is usually much less clear. Engaged on a board of administrators is time-consuming work, with a major quantity of accountability and legal responsibility, he says. It takes focus to synthesize huge quantities of knowledge and make sound strategic selections. Whereas these are paid positions, the cash celebrities would make from a board seat is way lower than what they earn from blockbusters and promoting campaigns. As he notes, “It’s removed from the sexiest job on this planet.”
For some celebrities, it’s about diversification and evolution. Jessica Alba famously transitioned from performing to run her natural-goods–targeted Trustworthy Firm after turning into a father or mother, and in June, joined Yahoo’s board of administrators. Right now, she is extra doubtless cited because the founding father of a $550 million shopper packaged items firm than for Darkish Angel. Singer Ciara has been accelerating her work as an investor, and serves on the board of particular goal acquisition firm Vivid Lights Acquisition.
For others, it’s about championing causes. Actress Emma Watson is an activist for sustainable trend. When she joined the board of administrators for Kering, which owns Gucci, Brioni, and Alexander McQueen, amongst others, she additionally took on the position of chair of the corporate’s sustainability committee. Efron hosted and produced All the way down to Earth With Zac Efron, a documentary collection highlighting sustainable agricultural processes all over the world. Becoming a member of Kodiak is an extension of that exploration of his personal values.
Although movie star appointments to a board make information headlines, the precise share of integrated corporations with a notable persona as an adviser stays extraordinarily small. It needs to be a partnership that works in favor of each events to even get off the bottom.
“Each director is a steward of the group and accountable for his or her selections,” Fullbrook says. “That comes first, regardless of what number of TikTok followers you could have.”
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