MV Students Share Breakfast with Home Depot CEO

Craig Menear Chairman, CEO & President of Home Depot recently shared leadership and business ideas with Mount Vernon students over breakfast. As guests of the the Harvard Business School Club of Atlanta, members of the Upper School’s most popular club–The Business & Entrepreneurship Club — had the opportunity to learn from the home improvement expert. Menear, who took the helm of Home Depot in 2014, shared the company’s latest successes, its priorities, and its challenges during the breakfast.
Drawing on years of experience with the company (joined Home Depot  in 1997), he emphasized how they are getting back to one of their core principles: developing and cultivating a strong culture among employees and customers. After hearing many of the attendees ask the Chairman/CEO about profits, losses, and its position within the competitive marketplace, Megan Lienau (Class of 2018), Mount Vernon’s Business & Entrepreneurship Club Co-President asked one of the most insightful questions of the morning. She wanted to know with a heavy emphasis on culture within the store experience, how does Home Depot transfer that principle to the online experience? Thanking Megan for her question, Menear talked about Home Depot’s current online commerce which is 5% of the company’s sales. He stressed they are continuously working to improve the e-commerce experience, and with a focus on innovation, an interactive website with numerous DIY videos, and language reflective of the company’s culture,   (“Let’s do this”, “You can do it, we can help!”, and “More saving. More doing,”) they are making progress in staying true to the company’s ideals.
Each month students in the Upper School Business & Entrepreneurship Club get together to learn from many influential people in business, they take trips to Atlanta’s thriving corporations, and engage in Q & A sessions with professionals who share their stories of successes and challenges of starting and maintaining a business. The club was founded in 2010 by Miles Mallory (Class of 2012) and his father Tom Mallory. For more information contact the club’s co-presidents: Megan Lienau, [email protected], Ashley Springer, [email protected], and Sarah Traurig, [email protected].