From chemical engineering to consumer products, Lorraine Chow Hansen’s career has spanned industries.

You have a unique career path — you hold a degree in chemical engineering from Princeton University, an MBA from Harvard, you worked for several years marketing consumer packaged goods at Kraft and PepsiCo and you are currently Consumer Banking's Chief Marketing Officer. What has been the guiding force through your roles?

Being in a leadership role that can best help consumers, build brands, drive business results and develop teams.

I'm a big believer in 'you do what you love.' If you do what you love, you bring passion to it and work isn't work. As a third-generation chemical engineer, it's no small thing to say, 'this isn't it for me' and go into marketing, but I knew it's what I had a passion for.

I also am an end-back person. As far out as you can go, think about your end goal, and work back. As a chemical engineer out of college, I fell in love with marketing during a rotational program at a chemical company, and I knew that consumer products brand management was a great training ground for both marketing and general management. When I got into consumer products, I had a goal of being a brand manager so that I could have P&L responsibility for the cross-functional team leading a product such as Capri Sun. As I led one product, then a category, I knew I wanted to lead a division such as beverages or coffee and my goal became being a divisional president. When I joined PepsiCo to pursue global marketing, I knew I wanted to be President of Global Snacks, because I felt this would be an amazing opportunity to build a global strategy, advance global brands and thread the needle between the best of global and local in terms of execution. I never thought I'd leave consumer products, but once I joined JPMorgan Chase, there was a whole new set of mini end goals towards helping consumers, building brands, driving results and developing teams as part of the Card Executive Team and now the Consumer Bank Leadership Team.

What ultimately brought you to JPMorgan Chase?

I believe in 'A rising tide lifts all boats' and I gravitate toward growing categories or markets, because that means there is opportunity — both personally and professionally. I also like being a market leader because there's both greater leverage and responsibility to protect, innovate and develop the category.

Consumer financial services is an exciting, growing category in the U.S., and JPMorgan Chase leads many categories such as Card and Retail Banking. A dear friend who used to work at the firm introduced me to Eileen Serra, who was the CEO of Card at the time. Eileen and I both worked at the same company (General Foods, which became part of Kraft Foods) and she and Gordon Smith, the former CEO of Consumer & Community Banking (CCB), had structured Card similarly to consumer products brand and general management. She and Jen Roberts gave me the trust and confidence to move into a new, growing category.

It's come full circle, because my current bosses are my two first amazing bosses here at JPMorgan Chase — Jen Roberts, the Consumer Banking CEO, and Jenn Piepszak, co-CEO of CCB, who gave me the opportunity to serve on the Card Executive team.

How has marketing evolved over the last few years, especially since COVID?

COVID reminded us of what we should have been doing all along. It's not just about acquiring customers; it's about sustaining and retaining customers. During the first six months of the pandemic, we knew we had to communicate our digital capabilities and what we were doing to keep our customers safe. It was a good and necessary reminder that it's not just about being the best bank to open an account with, it's like a marriage — in good times and in bad — we're here for you. We established a muscle in a time of crisis, and we've been leveraging it since for ongoing engagement.

Think of how many consumer behaviors changed during COVID and continue to change. If you're passionate about consumers and marketing, it's an incredible experience. Direct mail and streaming during COVID became more incremental channels because people were reading mail and viewing favorite shows since they were home. Mobile and digital adoption also accelerated out of necessity, and it's not shifting back.

The other communication we realized was critical was to our own employees on the frontline. During COVID, it was a whole new level of communication about keeping them safe and sharing new things with our customers. Our employee channel became a really powerful avenue for us.

The cool thing about communicating through COVID was that we knew there would be another opportunity or 'at bat' almost every day. The environment was changing so often that we had numerous chances to improve our consumer and employee communications every day, whereas traditional marketing is usually more episodic.

How has the increased awareness around diversity initiatives impact marketing?

Marketing isn't a standalone thing — we follow the objectives of the business. Many years ago, we declared this aspiration to be the bank for all. We wanted to attract people who didn't bank in the traditional banking system, as well as tweens, college students and so on — and with that strategic shift, the marketing followed. In addition to our efforts for affluent customers with Chase Private Client and our mass efforts with Total Checking, we have efforts for lower mass with Secure Banking, tweens with First Banking, and high school and college students. We've evolved from a two-pronged approach to helping many different consumer segments.

With our creative, we've always led the way in showcasing diversity and I'm really proud of that. We've showcased diversity in our creative for years, even before our strategic intent to be the bank for all. For Chase, there hasn't been a big shift because we've always been reflecting the diversity of the U.S. If anything, the pandemic reminded us that we have to represent all views and all people — not just ones that we personally believe or are from certain regions such as cities.

You're active in our firm's diverse communities — what are they and what do they mean to you?

As I reflect on my career, I have chosen and been fortunate to work at institutions that embrace ethnic and gender diversity. Because of that, I take for granted how fortunate we are. Many don't have that same situation. With the Card team in Wilmington, Del., they asked me to be the co-executive sponsor of the local AsPIRE chapter and Card representative of CCB's DE&I team, and I went all in. And then, they asked me to be co-chair of CCB's DE&I team. Recently, I was asked to be the co-executive sponsor for the Asian Executive Forum which represents Asian Managing Directors across the firm. It's a new opportunity for me and I'm really excited to see where we can take the Forum as we begin anew post-pandemic.

How do you find time to pursue new passions — as a mother of three and an executive, you have a lot on your plate.

I've been blessed to work with a lot of leaders (mostly female) who are fortunate to balance work and families. One of them said, "You can have it all, but not at the same time." So, to be honest, until my youngest went to college this past year, my passions have been my family and my work. When you think about leading a business and running a home, it's hard to do more than that. Wonderfully, my life has been my family, my friends and my work, and everything else is related to this.

But, focusing on what I love has led to mini passions. We travel, sail and ski as a family. Because my husband and I wanted our kids to attend church, I taught Sunday School, became a lector (which helped me feel more comfortable with my public speaking at work) and led our church's stewardship campaigns. Through our kids' school and their extracurricular activities, I've become a passionate sailing, soccer, voice and even horse mom (who is allergic to horses!). In so doing, I learned about these activities, met dedicated coaches/teachers/kids, traveled nationally and internationally and made great friends with other families on the same journey.

Now I have new mini passions, like re-decorating our home now that we don't have little kids running about, enjoying weekend visits with my oldest daughter and visiting my two college kids to watch their sailing regattas or a cappella performances.