Perspectives

Hunt Scanlon Media recently sat down with our CEO, MaryJeanne Scott, to discuss how leadership requirements in consumer and retail are shifting, Kirk Palmer Associates’ global growth strategy, private equity’s rising influence on executive talent, and the expanding role of technology and inclusion in modern search. The following is an excerpt from that conversation.

You’ve joined Kirk Palmer Associates at a pivotal time for both retail and executive search. What’s your vision for the firm’s next chapter — and how do you see KPA evolving under your leadership?

This is an exciting moment for both retail and executive search. Within Kirk Palmer Associates, we’re building on 38 years of serious legacy to open new verticals and scale year over year. At the same time, the industry is undergoing a fundamental shift. We’ve moved from being providers of talent to something more consultative—more grounded in deep industry knowledge. The focus now is on strategic partnership, expertise, and experience, not just speed and candidate volume. There’s growing demand for what we do. Executive search is even becoming a career of choice for new college graduates.

Looking ahead to 2026 and beyond, my focus is on leveraging this momentum and growing our business while staying deeply rooted in the fundamentals we’ve built over nearly four decades. We’re scaling up the trust, expertise, care, white glove service—the core elements we’re known for—while working to establish more of a voice and a presence in an industry where we have every right to say more and do more. The growth potential here is enormous. It makes me feel good about my job and excited about where we’re headed.

MJ, retail has undergone tremendous transformation in recent years. How do you see leadership needs changing across consumer and retail sectors, and what kinds of executives are in highest demand today?

Today’s leaders need to be faster and more agile. If you think about the macro environment of the last 20 years, what this generation of executives has had to navigate so far in their careers is staggering. Not to mention the ever-expanding complexity of omnichannel and meeting customers where they are. Across all functions, the most sought-after executives share common traits: they’re agile, adaptable, comfortable leading in the unknown, and they’ve reinvented themselves and their businesses multiple times over. The fundamentals haven’t changed—consumers still want the right product, at the right time, at the right price point. That’s always been true. But now they’re executing with a different toolkit, sharper insights, and the ability to pivot in real time.

Kirk Palmer Associates has long been known for deep client relationships in retail. How do you plan to build on that legacy while expanding globally?

The legacy piece is critical, especially with the kind of platform that Kirk and the partners have built over the last 38 years. Many of our clients and candidates have known this firm for years, even decades, and have an emotional connection to the brand. I’ve personally admired it for my entire career. So the strategy isn’t about transformation or growth for growth’s sake. It’s about evolving with the market and deepening key practice areas to better serve our clients. There are opportunities to serve our clients across additional functional areas. We have deep expertise in finance, supply chain and operations and human resources, for example. These areas already represent significant business for us—we want to build those out more deliberately. We are also actively hiring new partners. While maintaining the incredibly high bar for talent that KPA has set, we are looking for great practice leaders to expand our expertise in specific areas of the consumer industry we’re not known for yet– CPG, hospitality, restaurants, and multi-unit services. These adjacent categories are natural extensions of what we already do exceptionally well.

You’ve worked closely with private equity sponsors and portfolio companies. How is PE investment reshaping leadership demands in retail, and consumer sectors?

Private equity represents another significant growth area for us. The foundation is already there—KPA’s body of work with PE firms is a very considerable part of our business, and this is a passion area for me where I bring deep expertise. The PE landscape is also evolving. Private equity firms are moving from growth-at-all-costs to margin-first, operations-led, omnichannel disciplined investing. The winners in 2025–2026 will be brands that combine:

• Strong gross margins
• Strong retail relationships
• Operational sophistication
• Repeat purchase behaviors
• Real data rigor

They want proven leaders with track records of success building durable value and communicating effectively in terms of numbers and results. As the PE investment thesis increasingly centers on finding the right talent, firms are prioritizing executive recruitment in new ways. We have a lot to offer the investor community and see significant growth opportunities in this area as well.

How do you see technology, data, and diversity shaping the future of executive search — particularly in consumer-facing industries?

The most successful consumer brands today combine creativity with operational excellence, supply chain resilience, and deep customer insight. Leadership profiles have evolved accordingly, and so has the way we identify and evaluate talent. AI and technology are redefining the front end of the search process. At KPA, we’re already seeing meaningful impact from tools that enable us to map, analyze, and assess candidate pools more comprehensively and objectively. We’ve been able to invest some of the time saved into doing more of the human elements of executive search – building relationships, attending events, meeting people in person, having meaningful conversations – that can make it so rewarding. Technology has also enhanced our ability to deliver on one of our core values – inclusion – which embodies our longstanding commitment to presenting the right candidates, not just the obvious ones. Instead of relying on known networks and referrals, technology helps us surface talent that may not come from expected sources but has the right leadership profile and capability set. This is increasingly critical in consumer-facing companies where the impact of representation and diverse leadership teams is well-documented.

Anything Else?

Ultimately, the future of executive search is both high-tech and high-touch. AI can accelerate research, enrich market intelligence, and reduce bias—but the judgment, discretion, trust, and relationship stewardship that define retained search remain uniquely human. Our value will increasingly come from leveraging the core elements that make KPA distinctive: our depth of industry expertise, our approach to service and strategic partnership, our reputation and access in the candidate community, and our ability to engage executives who won’t take any other recruiters’ calls. In an environment undergoing constant reinvention, that trust is essential.