Vivianne Long

Vivienne Long is a former C-suite executive, enterprise operator, technology leader, and Professor of Practice who has spent more than 30 years building businesses and leading transformation at REI, Starbucks, Microsoft, Clorox, Procter & Gamble, and IBM. She most recently served as Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer of REI Co-op, where she led a 100+ person marketing organization spanning digital marketing, paid and social media, loyalty, communications, brand, and customer growth.

Before REI, Vivienne spent a decade as a Vice President at Starbucks, holding three distinct executive mandates across U.S. Retail Handcrafted Beverages, Digital Customer Experience, and Global Coffee Innovation. In her U.S. beverage role, she led a portfolio representing approximately $10 billion in annual sales and 67% of Starbucks' total revenue and profit. She also partnered deeply with technology organizations to modernize Starbucks' digital customer experience using human-centered design and agile operating models, and led global innovation pipelines and strategic partnerships.

That combination is unusual: Vivienne has operated simultaneously across P&L-scale commercial leadership, large-team management, brand, product, technology, customer experience, and innovation. Earlier in her career, she led innovation for the Glad joint venture between Clorox and Procter & Gamble and held technology product-management and marketing roles at Microsoft. Her career spans consumer products, retail, e-commerce, and technology, from product creation through enterprise-scale go-to-market.

Today, Vivienne is a Professor of Practice in Marketing and International Business at the University of Washington's Foster School of Business, where she teaches MBA students across marketing strategy, B2B marketing, entrepreneurial marketing, intrapreneurship, and new product development. She holds an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and a BA from Stanford University. She also serves as a National Board Member of NatureBridge.

At Close Cohen, Vivienne works with senior leaders facing the kinds of challenges she has personally managed at scale: stepping into greater executive scope, leading larger organizations, driving innovation inside complex companies, influencing across functions, translating technology into commercial outcomes, and positioning themselves for VP and C-suite leadership.

Vivienne's coaching philosophy:

"Senior leadership is not just about having the right strategy. It is about creating alignment, allocating resources, leading through ambiguity, and making change happen across complex organizations. I have led 100+ person teams, owned a $10B portfolio, and worked at the intersection of customer, product, technology, and innovation. In my coaching, I help leaders strengthen the way they think, communicate, and position themselves so that the scale of their leadership is visible and trusted."