Jimmy Franklin (BSBA '20) tunes out fear and turns up success

Jimmy Franklin rarely lets the voice of fear get the last word. 

A rising brand manager and emerging singer-songwriter, he sees anxiety and doubt as motivation for learning — about his career, his music and himself. 

“It’s easy to be scared and discouraged, but you have to push through because it is the only way you’re going to build your skills. There is never a scenario where you just pick something up and it’s easy,” said Franklin (BSBA ’20).

Whether marketing skin care products, Tequila or music, Franklin has learned to go for it and not look back.

“The heart-racing happens, but I’m going to sign up anyway,” he said. “In the end, I know I will be happy I did.”

At 28, Franklin exudes happiness.

In the five years since graduation, he has worked on major brands at Unilever and Suntory Global Spirits, landed on Out Magazine’s Out100 list, mingled with celebrities in Los Angeles at the 36^th Annual GLAAD Media Awards and produced an album of original songs.

“I feel like I have had the opportunity to prove the fear voice wrong a lot, which has been fun,” he said.

After earning his marketing degree at the height of the COVID pandemic, Franklin moved to Minneapolis and worked remotely as a sales analyst for Unilever, examining the company’s sales of specialty bath products, lotions, baby care and other skin care products. The company eventually promoted him to associate brand manager and relocated him to New York City, where he supported brands like Pond’s, Simple, St. Ives and Vaseline.

Two years later, a recruiter for Suntory Global Spirits invited him to make a move from lotion to spirits. 

“I went from associate brand manager on skin care to associate brand manager for Jim Beam,” he said. A year and a half later, Suntory named him associate brand manager for Hornitos Tequila.

The move to the spirits industry felt like a full-circle moment for Franklin. He always had an interest in bartending, even earning a certificate in mixology as part of a 21^st birthday present from his parents.

While a formal bartending gig never panned out, the training did. Suntory liked his enthusiasm and interest in the spirits industry, and Franklin continued to apply his education and life experiences to ignite potential career opportunities.

“If you’re building a narrative about your life, and you’re finding meaning in all these disparate stories and moments, it makes interviewing and the vetting of opportunities so much clearer,” he said.

Becoming a storyteller

Building narratives — storytelling — is at the heart of everything Franklin does and loves. Personal and professional stories define his work, his songwriting and his life in New York.

“Marketing is storytelling. That’s why I wanted to study it,” he said. “I wanted to understand people and tell stories.”

As Hornitos’ associate brand manager, he often travels to distilleries to learn about the product and its makers. He watches and listens to the master distillers who craft the liquor profile. He leans into the product’s history and connection to culture.

“The spirits industry is competitive, but there is so much romance in the history of all the brands,” he said. 

As a Fisher student, Franklin got a taste of marketing for major brands during internships with Ben & Jerry’s and Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company. He also worked on projects for Smucker’s as part of his Marketing Projects class and for Bob Evans through the National Center for the Middle Market. Those experiences heightened his interest in marketing and his desire to work with a tangible product. 

At first, it was skin care.

“I could go to any store within a mile radius and find my product; Unilever brands are everywhere,” he said. “That kind of tangibility is interesting to me.”

While Unilever marketing focused on the individual, the spirits industry offered Franklin a different kind of tangibility.

“In my roles at Unilever, I focused on personal care moments, whereas at Suntory my focus is on social moments,” he said. “The spirits industry is marketing the way products facilitate interactions between people and connect them to experiences. You go to a Broadway show and there’s the bar; you go to a concert and there’s the bar; you go to dinner, and someone brings a bottle of wine.”

At Suntory, Franklin is both Hornitos’ storyteller and decision maker, weighing in on brand strategy, campaign development and brand partnerships. Most notably, he coordinates Hornitos’ partnership with GLAAD, a nonprofit advocacy organization that monitors LGBTQ+ representation in the media. 

Hornitos is the official sponsor of GLAAD’s annual media awards that honor TV shows, movies, video games, music and journalism that fairly and accurately reflect the LGBTQ+ community. Franklin has coordinated Hornitos’ presence at three awards ceremonies. In addition, he oversees Hornitos’ Pride365 initiative that supports Pride celebrations and other LGBTQ+ events throughout the year, including this summer’s World Pride Music Festival in Washington, D.C. 

As the only LGBTQ+ person on his four-member brand team, Franklin said he was uniquely positioned to lead Hornitos’ budget and branding for LGBTQ+ programming. That vision and his role as co-leader for Suntory’s LGBTQ+ employee impact group, PRISM, ultimately earned him a place on Out Magazine’s 2024 list of most impactful and influential LGBTQ+ people.

“I bring my full self to my work because I know it’s best for the brand, the broader LGBTQ+ community and because I joined a team and company who made it safe for me to do so,” he said.

Not long ago he thought his sexual orientation would be a career breaker. He even declined a friend’s invitation to join Out in Business, a student organization at Ohio State. It wasn’t until he saw an announcement for an LGBTQ+ business resource group at Unilever that he realized he could live — and work — as an out gay man. Then he found himself representing Hornitos at the GLAAD media awards seated beside celebrities including Sharon Stone, Dylan Efron, Lil Nas X and Cynthia Erivo. 

“Just a handful of years ago I thought being out would mess up my career, and now I’m in a magazine celebrating how I brought this together,” he said.

Building relationships between major brands and nonprofit organizations is something Franklin hopes to continue to do. It’s what led to his minor in nonprofit management, a career goal that took shape during an internship in sales with Ben & Jerry’s. As a student intern, he also volunteered to review grant applications for the Ben & Jerry’s Foundation, which supports social and environmental justice programs.

“Nonprofits need brand sponsors and funding,” he said. “I always thought it would be amazing if I could be in the driver’s seat of a brand budget and manage the partnerships the brand has with nonprofit organizations. I loved it at Ben & Jerry’s, and now in my current role I get to manage a relationship with GLAAD. It’s exactly what I wanted to do, but I didn’t know anyone really doing it.”

Pursuing creative interests

Franklin also wants to continue writing songs. He released “Cherry Wine” for National Coming Out Day last fall and “Brick Wall” in May on Spotify, and he looks forward to releasing the rest of his album in the coming months.  

He contemplated a major in vocal performance and a minor in creative writing before deciding on business. In the end, marketing provided him with a clearer path to career stability, connecting with others and storytelling.

He returns to Fisher periodically to talk about his career journey and experiences with the freshman business honors class. He likes to remind them that success is not linear and that they are strong enough to pivot. He also stresses the importance of becoming involved with student organizations. His own experiences as a peer advisor and student leader with Delta Sigma Pi (DSP) and Phi Gamma Delta (FIJI) ultimately led to his internships and first job.

“I channel different elements of my work with DSP and FIJI in my job today,” he said, adding that coordinating multiple programs and people proved to be good training for his current role as an associate brand manager.

That age-old question, “Where do you see yourself in five or 10 years?” is not one Franklin likes to answer. He’d rather continue to learn from his experiences and see where they take him. 

“I sought stability first, and now I can pursue my creative interests,” he said. 

He hired musicians and producers to collaborate on his songs and secured a recording studio to bring it all together. 

“I would certainly pursue music if it took off, but I think marketing is always going to be a part of that. Music is marketing; it is brand management. All these skills I am learning transfer to an edge in the music industry,” he said. 

His creative outlet is just that for right now. His career remains central to the personal narrative he continues to build.

“I will always stay on a team where I am learning and valued,” he said.

Ultimately, he is more afraid of not trying than he is of failure.

“So much of life is missed by letting the potential negatives prevent you from putting yourself out there,” he said. 

“Success is figuring out how to listen to those different parts of you. Coming out taught me to listen to myself. That’s how I approach business. My fear voice is wrong every time.”