With more than 15 years of experience in boutique executive search, Drew McKenzie has partnered with brand-led companies across luxury, fashion, beauty, and consumer technology to place senior leaders spanning creative, marketing, digital, and AI functions.
We spoke with Drew about building leadership teams for brand-led companies, what brought him to Kirk Palmer Associates, and how executive search is evolving throughout today’s consumer landscape.
As you step into your new role at Kirk Palmer Associates, what about the firm and the opportunity felt like the right fit?
I’ve long admired Kirk Palmer Associates from the outside. I’ve been a subscriber to the Daily News Brief for years, and Kirk’s reputation in the industry has always stood out to me. The firm has built a remarkable body of work and a level of trust with clients that’s difficult to replicate.
At this stage in my career, the opportunity to join a firm with KPA’s reputation and relationships felt like the right fit. What’s stood out most in my first few weeks is the culture – the people here are thoughtful, collaborative, and deeply invested in the work.
What does your practice look like today?
My work tends to center on companies navigating periods of growth and transformation. Sometimes that’s a global platform expanding new capabilities, and other times it’s a founder-led brand that’s building the leadership team to support its next stage.
The roles are often concentrated in areas where companies are investing most heavily – creative leadership, marketing, digital product, AI, and e-commerce. I’ve had the opportunity to work with companies ranging from Google and Amazon to consumer brands like Rare Beauty and Ralph Lauren.
What those searches have in common is the need for leaders who can operate across disciplines and help companies translate strong ideas into scalable businesses.
The companies you work with operate at the intersection of culture, technology, and consumer experience. How does that shape the way you evaluate talent?
Growing up, I was drawn to art history and creative culture – I actually studied it at NYU with the intention of becoming a fine arts curator. What appealed to me about that path was the role of the curator as a connector: someone who supports creative ideas and helps give them structure, context, and an audience.
When I found my way into executive search, I realized it drew on a lot of the same instincts. Evaluating talent isn't so different from evaluating ideas – you're asking what resonates, what feels original, and what has the potential to endure. That sensibility has always shaped how I think about organizations and the leaders they need.
The executives who tend to stand out are the ones who can see connections across the business – how product, brand, digital, and operations influence one another – and bring those pieces together in a way that moves things forward.
Given that perspective, how are leadership expectations shifting in the industries you work with?
Over the past several years, leadership roles have expanded significantly as businesses themselves have become more complex. Executives today are expected to operate with a much broader understanding of how the organization works, not just within their own discipline.
A major driver of that shift is technology. Digital infrastructure, data, and AI are now embedded in nearly every aspect of business, shaping everything from internal operations to how brands connect with consumers.
As a result, organizations are looking for leaders who can navigate that complexity while still bringing deep expertise to their role. The executives who stand out tend to combine strong functional capability with a wider understanding of how the business operates as an interconnected system.
You’ve also spent time working closely with creative agencies and studios. How has that shaped the way you work with brands and their broader creative partners?
In addition to placing talent within those organizations, I've also spent time working directly with founders and executive teams as they evaluate and select creative partners. That process means getting close to the strategy first, understanding what a brand actually needs, and then guiding them through identifying the right agencies, running RFPs, coordinating pitches, and managing the engagement once a partner is selected.
One example that comes to mind is working with a fast-growing consumer apparel brand that needed to re-platform their entire digital ecosystem. I introduced them to several digital design and development studios, and what started as an agency selection process turned into nearly a year-long relationship overseeing the build – covering both design and development.
Having visibility into both sides of that relationship – the brand and the agency ecosystem around it – gives me a much richer understanding of how companies build and sustain creative capability over time.
On What’s Next
The work that excites me most sits at the intersection of culture, creativity, and technology – companies that are genuinely pushing on what a modern brand can be. From heritage innovators like Ford, Nike, Disney, and IBM to culture-shaping brands like Airbnb, Electronic Arts, and Khaite, these are the organizations where the most interesting leadership challenges live. I'm looking forward to bringing that work to life through KPA's platform and the partnerships we'll build together.