PURPOSEFUL GROWTH - THE BOOK
The pressure on leaders to create new growth has never been higher, yet many of the traditional approaches are struggling to deliver: 72% of executives can’t relate to their company’s strategy, 80% of employees are disengaged, 60% of companies struggle to innovate meaningfully, and consumers wouldn’t mind if 78% of the brands they use disappeared tomorrow. This isn’t simply a crisis of strategy, technology or efficiency. It’s a crisis of meaning.
Purposeful Growth is a new business book by Philipp Reker and Helen Trickey, making the case that one answer has been hiding in plain sight: Purpose. Not as philanthropy, CSR or a corporate statement, but as a practical tool for creating clarity in leadership, energy in culture, ambition for innovation and meaningful differentiation for brands. It draws on their work with Gap Inc., Coca-Cola, Mattel and Sephora, helping leaders turn Purpose into new opportunities for growth.
“Pivotal in energizing our culture”
RICHARD DIXON - PRESIDENT & CEO
“For leaders looking to build brands that matter”
STEVE TOTZKE - PRESIDENT & CCO
“True pioneers”
SHANNON SINUNU - DIRECTOR OF COMMUNITY INVESTMENT
MEET THE AUTHORS
Philipp Reker
Philipp’s perspective starts with the business: how leaders create clarity, meaning and focus to unlock new growth. A former VP at Mattel, he has worked with companies like Gap Inc., Sephora and Coca-Cola through pivotal moments of strategy, transformation, culture change and reinvention.
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Based in Los Angeles, Philipp has built a global career at the intersection of strategy, culture, brand and transformation. His perspective has been shaped by working across both client and consultancy environments, and by a longstanding fascination with the tension between left and right brain, art and science, big-picture ambition and disciplined execution.
As Vice President of Culture and Transformation at Mattel, Philipp led the company’s Purpose transformation journey, helping lay the foundation for Barbie’s remarkable comeback as a cultural icon.
His career has also spanned leadership roles client-side at Mercedes-Benz, Chrysler and Jeep, and agency and consultancy roles at DDB Worldwide, Siegel+Gale, and as Managing Partner at global purpose consultancy Conspiracy of Love.
Philipp works with companies including Coca-Cola, Sephora, LG, Gap Inc. and Continental to leverage Purpose as a force for business growth and transformation. With a unique mix of strategic clarity and bold imagination, he partners with corporate functions, brand teams and leaders across marketing, communications, HR, innovation, ESG and DEI to create big ideas and actionable programs that unlock new value for people, businesses and the planet.
Philipp lives in Venice Beach with his wife and two daughters.
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Purpose as a strategic business tool
Leadership and transformation
Culture, employee engagement and organizational performance
Brand and business reinvention
Gap Inc., Barbie and other transformation stories
HELEN TRICKEY
Helen brings a deeply human lens to growth: how organizations understand what people need, and create products, experiences and brands that matter. Helen connects business performance with human realities, grounded in work for some of the most meaningful brands in the world, including LEGO, Sephora and adidas.
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Having worked all over the world with mega-brands like adidas, Sephora, The Coca Cola Company, LEGO and the United Nations, Helen believes in business as the force for effective societal change. She dedicates her work to helping companies & brands find their Purpose and a clear role in society; and turning that Purpose into impactful action that has genuine (real-life!) cultural, societal & commercial value.
Helen heads up her own consultancy, Purposeful Futures, after learning her trade as Managing Partner at Global Consultancy Conspiracy of Love. There Helen headed a group of 70 consultants across 10 markets / 14 timezones, working through complicated business questions like "what is a soda brand's societal role as it relates to reducing sugar consumption, whilst also growing the business?"
Helen has also worked as a Consultant for the United Nations and led the team that created the most watched UN speech in history, leading to an updated & unprecedented change within the Paris Climate Agreement agenda.
In addition she owns and runs women's adventure festival Camp VC - giving women the freedom and safety to explore. From motorcycling, to whitewater rafting, to skateboarding.
Prior to all this she worked at Adage Agency of the Year, Anomaly for many years and went on to open Activista Los Angeles - an AdAge Purpose Led Small Agency of the Year.
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Business and brand reinvention
What the world needs
Human-centered growth
Purposeful brands and innovation
Inclusion as a growth opportunity
LEGO, adidas etc - how brands and companies create meaning
based on our work with iconic companies
in the MEDIA
STORY & INTERVIEW ANGLES
THE BIG MISUNDERSTANDING
Purpose isn't philanthropy, sustainability or social impact. It’s a growth driver.
THE WHY GAP
Why smart strategies fail to move organizations when meaning is missing.
CASE-LED CONVERSATIONS
What actually happened inside companies such as Mattel, Gap Inc. and Sephora?
BRAND
In a world of AI-driven sameness, meaning becomes the differentiator.
INNOVATION
AI can generate more ideas. It can’t tell you which problems are worth solving.
COMPANY CULTURE
You can mandate behavior, but belief has to be earned.
LEADERSHIP
Strategy tells people where to go, but only Purpose makes them want to go there.
REQUEST AN INTERVIEW
Philipp and Helen are available individually or together for podcasts, interviews, expert opinions, panels, keynotes and fireside conversations, remotely or in person. Conversations can explore:
The full Purposeful Growth argument
One Growth Driver: leadership, culture, innovation or brand
A specific company or case study
A current business, leadership or cultural tension
We’re happy to shape the discussion around what will be most useful and relevant to your audience. Request an interview here.
MEDIA RESOURCES
Everything you need to cover Purposeful Growth, Philipp Reker and Helen Trickey.
Including:
Individual headshots
Joint photos
High-res book cover and sample pages
Lifestyle / in-situ book images