Since joining McKinsey in 2004, Kristi has gained a wide breadth of experience and is now a senior partner with McKinsey’s Chicago office. Kristi often helps organizations in North America, Europe, Asia, and Latin America develop a five- to ten-year strategy for growth and performance after a pivotal event, such as a major challenge or an industry disruption.
She has expertise and experience in numerous consumer-facing categories, including beauty, food and beverages, specialty retail, restaurants and quick-service restaurants, and apparel.
Kristi heads McKinsey’s work in the beauty sector, where she advises consumer-facing organizations on topics such as industry disruption, long-range strategy, growth, M&A, transformation, cost improvement, and redesigning organizational and operating models. She also led McKinsey’s global consumer organization work for many years and previously headed the consumer M&A sector as well. She has steered dozens of operating-model transformations at large and multinational organizations, North American companies, and small to mid-sized businesses.
Examples of Kristi’s project work include the following:
- leading a holistic transformation for a large specialty retail organization, inclusive of a new growth strategy, digital capabilities, organization and operating models, and significant cost take out to establish sustained growth
- leading the integration of two global beauty companies, including standing up a new organizational and operating model, ensuring critical day-one readiness, and capturing value across commercial and IT workstreams
- leading the long-term growth strategy for a high-performing specialty beauty retailer, including identifying new growth spaces, omnichannel strategy, and an operating model and set of capabilities
- leading a five-year strategy effort for a midsized baked goods company with a focus on succeeding in a post-pandemic world
- heading the operating-model redesign of a large consumer-goods company, including creating a new strategy, assessing growth capability, and establishing end-to-end accountability and ownership for all business segments
- leading the organic M&A strategy for a global food company with a focus on strengthening core capabilities and growth pockets, as well as setting up a new organizational structure and operating model
- leading the integration of two consumer-health groups
- leading a large SG&A effort to create the right structure, scale, and efficiency for a quick-service restaurant group, including building out new capabilities in data and analytics
Kristi frequently writes on topics related to beauty, consumer goods, M&A, and organization and operating models. She has hosted multiple large webinars and is often selected to serve as a keynote speaker at marquee industry events.
Prior to joining McKinsey, Kristi worked at the intersection of business and technology at Deloitte.
Outside of work, Kristi enjoys outdoor water and snow sports with her two sons and is an avid Notre Dame football fan. She currently serves on the council of advisors for the Executives’ Club of Chicago as well as the Chicago Zoological Society for the Brookfield Zoo.