Steven S Reinemund

Steve Reinemund's father emigrated from Germany to escape the Nazi takeover in the late 1930s. He settled in the United States and joined the U.S. Army as a private during World War II. He served both in the Pacific and in Europe and was a captain by the end of the war. He married Dora Kramer, and the couple moved to Queens, New York, where Steve was born in 1948. His father worked as a brew master; when Steve was five, the family moved to California for his father's promotion to management. Unfortunately, a year later, Steve's father suddenly passed away.

Steve's mother, who was 29 and had never had a paying job, moved with her three young children to Florida, where they lived with her parents throughout Steve's elementary school years. She got a job as an assistant in a one-doctor medical practice. The family struggled financially, but Steve's mother protected her children from the full brunt of the pressure she was under to provide for them. 'My mother instilled in all of us an amazing, positive sense of life through her strong faith in God and through her sheer persistence,' says Steve. 'There were times when our electricity was cut off until my mother could pay the bill, or when our washing machine was broken and we had to use the laundromat rather than hire a repairman. But through all our difficulties, my mother never let us feel disadvantaged. She is the biggest hero in my life. Through all our challenges, I never knew her to be discouraged or down. She was always positive and supportive of her children.'

A member of the Reinemund family's church congregation sensed their financial struggle; he offered Steve, then a fifth grader, a janitorial job at his interior design studio. 'I would go over there after school and work for a couple of hours every day,' says Steve. 'The following year, I added to my income with a paper route. When I was 15, I got a job with a moving company for a few years, and then I got a job with my high school delivering textbooks. I made enough money to cover my own expenses, which helped my mother.'

Steve's mother always encouraged him to seek mentors. He enjoyed school and was a high achiever. His second-grade teacher, who was just starting her career when Steve was her student, became a lifelong friend. In junior high school, he had a close relationship with his counselor and the school principal. When they were asked to open a new high school, Steve went with them and served as president of the student council until his graduation.

Steve knew from an early age that he would go to college. He particularly wanted to attend a military academy. He wrote away for school catalogs from West Point and the Naval Academy when he was in elementary school. From that point on, he geared his academics, sports, and leadership roles for academy acceptance.

Steve's forethought and careful preparation reaped great rewards. Not only was he accepted to West Point and the Naval Academy, he was also offered full scholarships to Harvard and Princeton. He chose the Naval Academy.

During his senior year in Annapolis, Steve served as a company commander. 'It was from this experience,' he says, 'that I realized I wanted my future job to be one where I could assemble a team of people to take on a difficult or even impossible task and then find a solution to win as a team. Fortunately, I've been able to do that in different ways throughout my life.'

Steve graduated with a bachelor of science degree in 1970 and served with the U.S. Marine Corps for five years, including White House duty during the Nixon and Ford administrations. In 1975, he joined IBM as a salesman for a year before returning to school at the University of Virginia to pursue an MBA.

After completing his MBA in 1978, Steve joined Marriott because he wanted to be a part of their new program for young managers'training them from the ground up with a focus on operations. He began the program as an hourly worker in a Roy Rogers restaurant, then was an assistant manager, manager, district manager, and regional manager. 'That was a great experience,' says Steve. 'Those were real growing years for me. I learned what motivated the frontline and came to see that those associates are actually what make the business successful'or not. It was a valuable experience.'

In 1981, Steve became vice president of operations for Roy Rogers and shortly thereafter became CEO of the division. In 1984, he left Marriott and joined PepsiCo as senior vice president of U.S. operations for Pizza Hut. Two years later, he was named president and CEO of Pizza Hut.

In 1992, Steve moved to PepsiCo's Frito-Lay division, serving as president and CEO for seven years before being promoted to the position of PepsiCo president and COO in 1999. In 2001, he was named chairman and CEO of PepsiCo.

Steve loved leading PepsiCo and had a successful six-year run, as revenue increased 30 percent, income rose 70 percent, and market cap exceeded $100 billion. But it was a struggle for his family. In the end, Steve felt he had to choose the health and happiness of his family over his career. 'That was a tough decision for me,' says Steve. 'The job was exciting and challenging, but it was also time consuming, and I knew my life/work balance wasn't what I wanted it to be. I realized that the most important thing in my life was my family, and so I retired.'

Steve moved his family back to Dallas. Then, in 2008, he was offered the position of dean of the business school at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. 'Accepting that job was one of the best decisions we've ever made,' he says. 'My six years at Wake Forest were terrific for me and for my family.' During his tenure, Steve combined the undergraduate and graduate business schools and raised $75 million to pay for a new business school building. He retired in 2014.

When asked about his career success, Steve likes to quote his mentor Bill Marriott, who said, 'Success is never final.' Steve keeps an index card in his pocket that states his purpose, and he reviews the card every day. In essence, it says seek God's direction, have the discipline to follow it, and live a life of integrity. His primary focus is on his family and leveling the playing field for others.

Steve has four traits of a leader that he feels are important: character, competence, commitment, and compassion. 'When I address young people, I challenge them to find answers to these questions: What is really important to you' What is the purpose of your life' Are you pursuing excellence in all areas of your life' I encourage them to find mentors who will be a positive force in their lives and challenge them on their journey. One more thing: if you take a job to get to the next job, you're going to be unhappy and everyone around you is going to be unhappy. My advice is to be in a job you enjoy with a company you respect.'

Honored to become a Member of the Horatio Alger Association, Steve says, 'The more I've learned about the organization, the more honored I become. The Association is making an impact in the best way possible by supporting the educational goals of our young people. I'm looking forward to being a part of that team effort.'