Dan Gao
5.0
(2)
Global Leadership Coach | Former VP at Nestlé & Perrigo
Studied at London Business School
Worked at Nestlé
Available Tuesday at 2:00 PM UTC
Questions? Start chatting with this coach before you get started.
Dan's Coaching Offerings
Custom hourly · $50/hr
Get help with Emotional Intelligence, Problem Solving, and .
Dan’s Leadership Coaching Qualifications
Experience level: Vice President
10+ people coached for Leadership Coaching
I bring over twenty years of experience leading teams and organizations through growth, change, and complexity. I’ve lived and worked across Asia, Europe, and the US, and held senior leadership roles in very different environments: a global company like Nestlé, a strongly US-grounded public company like Perrigo, and a fast-growing, founder-led private business. I’ve led large, diverse teams, navigated high-stakes moments, and made decisions where clarity, trust, and alignment truly mattered. My leadership coaching is grounded in real experience, not theory. I help leaders slow down their thinking, gain perspective, and lead with confidence and integrity during moments of pressure or transition. Clients work with me when they want to become more effective, more grounded leaders while staying true to their values.
Dan can help with:
Emotional Intelligence
Problem Solving
Change Management
Coaching and Mentoring
About Dan
I’m a global business leader who didn’t just travel the world; I built businesses in it. I’ve lived and worked across Asia, Europe, and the US, across a global company like Nestlé, a deeply US-grounded public business like Perrigo, and a fast-growing, founder-led private company. That range gave me strong judgment and a practical understanding of how careers and organizations really work. Clients come to me when they want clarity. Often they’re capable professionals or senior leaders navigating change — stepping into bigger roles, rethinking career direction, leading transformation, or feeling stuck in complexity. Many don’t need more advice. They need space to think clearly, cut through noise, and make confident decisions they can stand behind. My style is grounded, direct, and human. I don’t coach from theory or templates. I work from lived experience, honest conversation, and a deep belief in teamwork, transparency, and trust. If you’re looking for a coach who understands real business pressure, cultural nuance, and career decisions that actually matter, we’ll likely work well together.
Why do I coach?
I coach because I’ve seen how quickly capable leaders lose clarity when the stakes get high. Throughout my career, I’ve worked in complex, fast-changing environments where decisions had real consequences. In those moments, what helped me most wasn’t more advice or frameworks, but having thoughtful mentors and coaches who could help me slow down, see the situation clearly, and choose deliberately. That experience shaped how I coach today. I aim to be a thinking partner — someone who creates space for reflection, challenges assumptions when needed, and supports leaders in making decisions with confidence and ownership.
Work Experience
Vice President of Business Development
TSI Group
August 2025 - Present
Leading global commercialization and expansion of Tailored Script, a personalized nutrition platform in the consumer health and supplement space. - Own the commercial and partnership model for scaling personalized nutrition globally across B2B and B2B2C models - Platform commercialization: designing and executing go-to-market strategy and translating individualized formulations into scalable commercial models - Global market expansion: driving growth across regions with different regulatory, quality, and operational frameworks - Strategic partnerships: building B2B and ecosystem partnerships across digital health, diagnostics, and supplements - Cross-functional execution: orchestrating innovation, operations, quality, regulatory, and commercial teams from pilots to repeatable execution - Scale readiness: identifying and addressing friction points across supply chain capacity, partner enablement, and customer experience
Chief Growth Officer
TSI Group
July 2024 - August 2025
Appointed to lead enterprise growth and transformation during a critical phase of the company’s evolution. Focused on clarifying strategic direction, aligning the organization around shared priorities, and building the operating backbone required for sustainable scale. Key impact: – Strategic clarity: Helped articulate the company’s long-term growth ambition and translated it into a clear strategic direction and growth logic, creating alignment and confidence at the leadership level. – ONE TSI operating model: Led organization-wide efforts to break down product-line silos and enable more integrated, enterprise-level execution across functions and regions. – Execution discipline: Strengthened commercial and operating rigor by simplifying processes, improving cross-functional coordination, and reinforcing customer-centric decision-making. – Scale enablement: Built the organizational and commercial foundations that enabled the next phase of growth, including global platform commercialization. Growth Management, Business Transformation and +3 skills
Vice President, Strategy and Transformation
Perrigo
January 2023 - September 2023
Led the successful divestiture and full integration of the $200M Good Start infant formula business from Nestlé into Perrigo. - Delivered a seamless post-acquisition integration, ensuring business continuity and culture alignment. - Held full P&L ownership and managed a 26-member cross-functional team across sales, marketing, and operations. - Revitalized the brand portfolio and optimized pricing and channel strategy to expand market share in the premium formula. - Strengthened Perrigo’s presence in infant nutrition, bridging innovation with consumer trust. Business Integration, P&L Management and +6 skills
Vice President, Strategy and Transformation
Nestlé
March 2020 - January 2023
Accountable for ~$500M business, including premium infant formula, WIC channel, and nutritional-supplements category; managed a team of 60–100 and a ~$30M marketing budget. - Led crisis response during the 2022 U.S. infant‐formula shortage: launched 4 new products in 6 weeks, generating incremental ~$35M sales and boosting market share by ~80%. - Executed the divestiture of the Gerber Good Start business valued at ~$170M, as a core team member. - Pioneered digital health-professional engagement model (HCP), optimizing a $7M budget to maintain recommendation levels and improve ROI. - Introduced the NAN brand targeting the Hispanic market segment, generating +$5M incremental revenue. P&L Management, Crisis Management and +7 skills
Marketing Director - Gerber Infant Formula
Nestlé
May 2019 - February 2020
P&L responsibility for Gerber Non-WIC infant formula brands. Managed Consumer Marketing and Medical Marketing team of 5 and a marketing budget of $35M. - Revamped Gerber infant formula brand, developed new brand essence and portfolio strategy; launched new packaging design across WIC and Non-WIC portfolios, enhancing brand perception and market presence. - Leveraged CRM to aggressively recruit 26K new users, achieving an ROI of 4.5 and a $50 average cost of new user acquisition. - Implemented targeted marketing initiatives on Amazon, including search optimization, short video content creation, and enhancing ratings and reviews. These efforts resulted in a remarkable 20% increase in sales, demonstrating the effective utilization of digital platforms. - Launched A2 infant formula in the USA; created a premium segment for Gerber infant formula. Inspirational Leader , Media Planning and +4 skills
Strategy and Transformation Lead
Nestlé
April 2009 - May 2019
Global role based at headquarters, leading the $2 B NAN brand across 50 + markets. Directed global strategy, innovation, and communication execution through regional and market teams worldwide. Highlights - Achieved fastest growth among Nestlé billion-dollar brands. - Partnered with regional CEOs and marketing leaders to align global strategy with local execution. - Launched the first NAN global campaign – winner of Nestlé’s Cannes Award for Best Launch. - Established the Global Brand Council (3 regions, 10 countries, 3 agencies) to accelerate alignment and rollout. Global Strategy, Branding and +6 skills
Head of Marketing and Business Development
Nestlé
January 2016 - July 2017
Key leader in the turnaround of a $400M regulated nutrition business. Highlights - Delivered full business turnaround within six months. - Relaunched the entire portfolio with new brand positioning and integrated communications. - Won Nestlé Nutrition CEO Award for transformational results. Turnaround Strategy, Market Leadership and +3 skills
Education
Peking University
Bachelor of Science (BS), International Economics
London Business School
Executive Leadership Program
2012 - 2012
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