Occasionally, I sit down with a leader who reminds us why great brands win and why others lose their way. That’s exactly what happened when Michael Mendenhall, SVP, CMO, and CCO of TriNet, joined me on my show, All Business with Jeffrey Hayzlett.
I’ve known Michael since my days at Kodak, and over the years, I’ve watched him navigate some of the world’s biggest brands, Disney, HP, IBM, places where the stakes are high, and the lessons are BIG. Now he’s helping small and midsize businesses compete at a level once reserved for industry giants. And let me tell you, the perspective he brings from both worlds is pure gold.
Know Who You Are or Risk Becoming No One
The theme that kept coming up in our conversation was simple: brands succeed when they understand their purpose. Period.
Michael talked about watching companies, big and small, get distracted by competition, trends, and shiny objects. They chase every opportunity instead of anchoring themselves in the value they were built to deliver. At Disney and Pixar, he learned firsthand that clarity of purpose isn’t optional, but essential. It’s survival.
You think you’re good at one thing, so you assume you’re good at another? That’s how companies lose millions and lose themselves.
Small Businesses: The Real Innovation Engine
TriNet’s entire mission revolves around enabling small to medium-sized businesses to thrive, and Michael brought the receipts:
- SMBs contribute 55% of U.S. GDP (source: Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy)
- They employ over 90% of the workforce (source: U.S. Chamber of Commerce)
- They generate 16x more patents than the big companies (source: Small Business Administration)
Those are staggering numbers. And yet, their stories rarely get the spotlight. That’s the shift Michael has driven at TriNet, moving from transactional HR solutions to storytelling and empowerment. Their customers’ stories are their story.
Trust Is the Real Sell
When a company hands over its people, literally its employees, to a Professional Employer Organization, that’s not a transactional choice. That’s a decision based on trust.
Michael breaks down how brands today must earn that trust: through transparency, leadership, and showing up with the right support at the right time. You can’t fake it. You can’t shortcut it. And you definitely can’t hide behind buzzwords or complexity.
Brands Have Lost the Narrative and AI Might Save It
One of the most fascinating parts of our conversation centered on storytelling. Michael believes companies have forgotten how to tell a clear narrative. And he’s right.
Today’s platforms each have their own format, tone, and expectations. You can’t simply copy-paste content anymore. And that’s where AI becomes a competitive advantage, not a threat.
AI can help you scale, personalize, reformat, and move fast. But if your brand lacks the foundational story, AI won’t fix that. It will just expose it faster.
Creativity, Risk & Reinvention
Michael shared behind-the-scenes insight into the discipline of acting, the precision of world-class entertainment production, and the relentless pursuit of excellence at places like Disney and Apple. Those lessons translate directly into business today:
- Creativity requires discipline
- Innovation requires risk
- Excellence requires intention
And if there’s one thing leaders need to embrace in this new AI era, it’s that the first movers will win. AI isn’t replacing something old; it’s creating something entirely new. The companies that embrace it will leap ahead. The ones that resist it? They’ll be left behind.
Content Is Still King but Context Rules the Kingdom
The conversation ended in a similar, and familiar, place for me: content. In a world being reshaped by AI, strategic partnerships, and authority-driven ecosystems, owning your brand story isn’t optional. It’s the differentiator.
It’s not enough to tell the world who you are, you must prove it, activate it, and deliver it in the right context, at the right time, to the right people.
Watch the full interview on our C-Suite TV platform or listen to the podcast on C-Suite Radio, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.
