Rosalind Brewer’s Life and Career in Business

Ranked on Forbes’ list of “100 Most Powerful Women in the World,” Rosalind “Roz” Brewer became the chief executive officer of Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) in 2021 after leading several other major companies. Born in Detroit as the youngest of five children, Roz, along with her siblings, was the first generation in her family to attend college. She enjoyed science and math, which led her to study chemistry at Spelman College before moving into business.

After working her way up various corporations, she held leadership positions at Kimberly-Clark Corporation, Walmart, and other companies; she was also group president and chief operating officer at Starbucks and CEO of Sam’s Club. As CEO of WBA, she is, as of 2022, one of only two Black women to lead Fortune 500 companies. She is the first Black female CEO of the company and one of the world’s most influential business leaders.

A leading figure in corporate America and the health care sector, Walgreens CEO Roz Brewer has had many phases in her professional career. Learn more about her trajectory with these five fast facts:

1. 1. She studied science before transitioning to business. A decorated academic, Roz studied chemistry as an undergraduate at Spelman College in Atlanta before graduating from the Director’s College at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, Stanford Law School, and the Advanced Management Program at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
2. 2. She had a steady rise to leadership roles. Roz always stood out as a hard worker and indispensable mind, allowing her to climb the corporate ladder quickly. She was a regional vice president at Walmart in 2006 before ascending to various executive roles for the company, including executive vice president for the eastern business roles.
3. 3. She shattered glass ceilings. Roz became the first Black woman to lead a Walmart division and the first to be COO and group president of Starbucks.
4. 4. She has served on many a board of directors. Roz has served on the board of directors for Amazon, Lockheed Martin, and Molson Coors Brewing Company. She is Spelman College’s Board of Trustees chair.
5. 5. She prioritizes diversity in the workplace. Roz instated racial bias training at Starbucks and has spoken on news programs about her experiences as a Black woman in white male-dominated industries.

The new CEO of Walgreens has decades of leadership experience. You can expect these five highlights and more from her class on driving innovation with integrity, available exclusively on MasterClass:

1. 1. Know which big idea to follow. So much of leading a company involves thinking of solutions and deciding which is the most viable one to pursue. “I have five big innovation moments in front of me, but which one of these makes most sense for this company?” Roz asks. When it comes to implementing a new strategy, she says, consider “where you are uniquely capable of outperforming the industry in this area.”
2. 2. Innovate without surrendering your core values. “When you combine a long line with a commuter walking a couple blocks out of their way to grab a drink, it can add up to fifteen to twenty minutes for a customer who just wants a quick coffee,” Roz says of the core dilemma she faced at Starbucks. “That will turn off the customer, and it will eat into sales. While I thought we could solve that with technology, I was really concerned about the potential loss of the human connection, a core of the Starbucks culture.” Roz goes on to explain her process of bringing customization into the digital age in a way that served baristas and customers alike. “From that, the Starbucks app was born,” she adds.
3. 3. Listen and feel. Business is much more than analytics, numbers, and dollar signs. “When I walk into a retail store and I say ‘hello’ to someone and they respond with a ‘hello,’ that sounds like a really even exchange. But if they say ‘hello’ and they look down at their feet, that means they’re not proud of the building that they’re standing in,” Roz says. If this happens in one of Roz’s stores, she sees “opportunities: when you listen well and not go in with a reprimand mind and think what’s going wrong or what are you doing wrong, Mr. Store, or Mrs. Store manager, you can talk to those individuals. . . . That is a golden moment to connect and make something better for them.”
4. 4. Question the status quo. Having worked as a scientist, Roz understands the importance of prodding at methods that may seem outdated; to showcase this, she recalls an incident from her childhood. After learning long division from her older siblings, she grew confused with how a teacher explained it at school. “She gives us this long way to do it. I’m just sitting there getting frustrated by the minute. I grabbed the chalk and went up to the board, and started showing the rest of the class how to take the shortcuts. And they were like, ‘Oh.’ This class was all excited,” Roz recalls. “I actually got expelled from school and my dad had to come get me. . . . I'm thinking I'm going to get a spanking when I get home, but my dad was super excited that I took over the classroom. It was my dad endorsing me.”
5. 5. Set clear goals, so you know how to measure their success. “In my first 100 days at Walgreens, I put together a team that could help execute my vision for the future of the company—a vision that combined health care, digital transformation, and growth,” Roz says of how she stepped into a new role and defined her purpose. “And the purpose was to grow our customer base and impact the community in a positive way.”

For more perspectives on business leadership and innovation, consider watching the following classes:

1. 1. Indra Nooyi on leading with purpose: Indra Nooyi, the former CEO of PepsiCo, worked at the company for a dozen years until she got the top job. Watch Indra’s class to learn her approach to leadership, crisis management, strategic thinking, and creating buy-in.
2. 2. Howard Schultz on business leadership: Howard Schultz didn’t have an MBA or an Ivy League degree, but he had a dream of building an enduring company. In Howard’s class , the Starbucks CEO shares lessons from nearly forty years of leading one of the world’s top brands, including how to face self-doubt when starting your journey as an entrepreneur.
3. 3. Richard Branson on disruptive leadership: Richard Branson is an entrepreneur, adventurer, and leader working to address global human rights issues. Watch Richard’s class to learn about bringing out the best in others, hiring the right people, business innovation, and global citizenship.

To climb the corporate ladder, you must first learn the fundamentals of leadership and innovation. Discover Rosalind’s approach to change management and agile teams, plus learn how to lead through crisis when you sign up for the MasterClass Annual Membership.