Summary:

Michael Mapes is the current Chief Executive Officer at Exal Corporation, the global leader in premium aluminum packaging. Before Exal, Michael climbed the ranks of Greif, the global leader in industrial packaging, along with spending sometime as a consultant at McKinsey and Company. Academically, he’s spent time at some of the top schools in the world: Northwestern University, Harvard Business School, and London Business School. Most of all though, Michael is one of the most humble and down-to-earth people that you’ll ever meet – He credits all of his success to his work ethic, claiming to have never been the smartest person in the room growing up, and believes that anyone can achieve anything that they want if work hard enough. In this episode, he takes us through his childhood, his academic career, his path climbing the professional ranks, his time thus far at Exal, and all that him and his team at Exal have planned for the future!

Mile Markers:

(00:00:00) Michael Mapes
(00:00:30) We’d be ever grateful if you’d subscribe to Conquering Columbus!
(00:00:55) AWH
(00:01:20) The SunDown Group
(00:01:42) Facilities Management eXpress (FMX)
(00:02:20) Conquering Columbus Intro
(00:03:15) Introduction to Mr. Michael Mapes, CEO of the Exal Corporation
(00:04:15) A typical day in the life of Michael Mapes
(00:04:50) Operations internationally versus domestically
(00:07:45) Michael’s childhood: born and raised in Dublin, Ohio
(00:11:40) Everything that I’ve done throughout my career, I’ve just had to work really, really hard
(00:13:00) Landing a job in investment banking while still in college
(00:14:15) Working for McKinsey
(00:16:30) Early in your career, I’d encourage you to “fail” as much as possible
(00:19:00) Climbing the ranks of Greif, a global leader in industrial packaging
(00:26:30) Harvard Business School versus London Business School
(00:28:00) The biggest takeaways
(00:29:45) Michael met his wife at a whopping 8-years old. They waited until college to get married.
(00:30:00) Michael’s family
(00:33:00) The Exal Corporation, the global Leader in premium aluminum packaging
(00:35:30) The keys to leading a successful business like Exal
(00:43:20) Public vs private company, and the key reason Michael chose to work for Exal
(00:45:30) Why stay headquartered in Youngstown, Ohio?
(00:47:15) Michael’s goals for the future
(00:50:30) Live Uncomfortably
(00:52:30) Final words
(00:53:10) If you like the episode, share it and subscribe to Conquering Columbus!
(00:53:35) AWH
(00:54:00) The SunDown Group
(00:54:22) Facilities Management eXpress (FMX)
(00:54:52) Conquering Columbus Outro

Links:

Michael Mapes
Exal Corporation
The Growth Cube
Facilities Management eXpress (FMX)
The SunDown Group
AWH[subscribe]