The Chemical Show: Leadership Conversations on Strategy, Supply Chain, Innovation, Talent and Trends

As the industry wraps up Q3 2026 earnings season, Victoria Meyer unpacks the business realities behind the numbers and explores how supply disruptions, pricing pressures, geopolitical turbulence, and portfolio decisions are shaping the path ahead. She connects the dots between the ongoing impacts of the war in Iran, regional differences, China’s shifting role, and the tangible actions companies are taking to adjust their business models. Victoria highlights not just what’s happening, but why it matters for industry leaders focused on growth, resilience, and strategic positioning going into 2027. Topics Covered in This Episode: Pricing Power vs. Demand: Why top-line growth is being driven by higher prices, even as demand remains sluggish, with regional and market-specific variation. Geopolitics and Supply Chain Shifts: How the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, energy price volatility, and ongoing conflict in Iran have exposed vulnerabilities, raised costs, and shifted regional advantages. The China Effect: What China’s increasing domestic capacity and new policy approaches mean for global competitiveness, European market pressure, and future supply-demand balance. Strategic Portfolio Moves: The ways companies are responding through "Prune, Protect, Partner, and Pivot" from European closures and asset reviews to new combinations and business realignment. Leadership Priorities for 2027: The importance of financial flexibility, cash preservation, and strategic clarity as companies face a protracted period of uneven recovery. Killer Quote: “Competitive advantage is not permanent. It is in a state of flux. Companies' ability and willingness to change, to seek new markets, seek new business structures, rethink their positions, is critical for long-term success.” - Victoria Meyer

Leticia Gonçalves, President of Health and Biosciences at IFF, joins Victoria Meyer to share her journey from her early days as a chemical engineer in Brazil to leading global businesses at Monsanto, Bayer, ADM, and now IFF. The conversation focused on biosciences as a growth engine for IFF and the broader chemical industry, tackling complex challenges, and the importance of turning science into scalable, commercial solutions. Leticia discusses portfolio transformation at IFF, the shift toward health and biosciences, and the essential role of ecosystem partnerships. She offers practical insights on making tough strategic choices, driving innovation with purpose, and leading organizational transformation through clarity, trust, and learning agility. Victoria and Leticia discuss the following: Career journey: From chemical engineering to global biotech leadership. How a “no one thought possible” GMO project became a Harvard Business Case. Reshaping IFF: Why health and biosciences matter now. The core requirements for science commercialization: performance, cost, and sustainability. Building innovation at scale, inside and outside the company, with partners and patient capital. Culture change and leadership through transformation: making big bets, failing fast, and learning as a team. What’s next for industrial biotech and advice for rising leaders in the chemical industry. Killer Quote: “The number one trait of a good leader is learning agility… Surround yourself with good leaders, apply a humble, hungry, and curious approach to everything you do. Humble to keep learning, hungry to achieve big things, and curious to always find new opportunities.” - Leticia Gonçalves

From the Chemical Summit: three female CEOs share leadership lessons on strategy, adapting to market change, and building a culture of success in the chemical industry. Host Victoria King Meyer leads the CEO panel discussion with actionable takeaways for executives and rising leaders — practical leadership moves, adaptation tactics, and culture-building examples you can apply today. Listen for insights tailored to chemical industry leaders and business strategists.With: Victoria Meyer, Christian MacIver (Pilot Chemical), Jenn Klein (SOCMA), and Mara Gliozzi (McGean)This episode dives into how chemical industry leaders are responding to uncertainty, evolving customer expectations, and the shift from efficiency to resilience. You’ll get an inside look at leadership transitions, portfolio strategy, supply chain realities, and the practical use of AI all through the lens of real-world decisions in private and family-owned businesses. Victoria and the panelists unpack: Taking the CEO seat—unexpected lessons and the reality of “the perfect plan.” How decades-long company perspectives shape strategy and transformation. The ever-expanding list of industry challenges: regulation, supply chain, tariffs, and talent. Why customer intimacy, agility, and quick decision-making matter more than ever. The evolving role of AI in manufacturing, safety, and business improvement. Portfolio discipline: Investing for the long-term and knowing what belongs in the business. Career pivots, trajectory changers, and the value of mentors and sponsors. The underestimated power of industry “voice” and telling your story, big or small. What competitive advantage will look like for chemical companies in the coming years. Killer Quote: “To me, it’s not war. It’s actually a lot closer to love, to intimacy, because it’s about getting closer to your customers.” - Christian MacIver

Host Victoria King Meyer speaks with Pete Corle, Chief Commercial Officer at Solstice, on building customer-focused commercial strategy, resilient company culture, and applying agile planning to accelerate execution. Practical leadership insights for chemical-industry executives and commercial teams. Tactics you can apply to align teams, increase customer value, and speed decision-making. Includes: Victoria Meyer, Pete Corle, Chief Commercial Officer at Solstice Advanced Materials Recorded live at the Chemical Summit, this fireside chat explores what it takes to set a new direction for a legacy chemical business while driving real alignment and impact. Pete shares lessons from his journey at Dow and Solstice, including how to create advantage, prioritize across shifting markets, and make the voice of the customer actionable. Get a look inside Solstice’s evolution from a Honeywell spinout, their approach to innovation in regulated markets, and practical strategies for building influence and confidence through change.  Victoria and Pete cover: Turning customer focus into operational reality Lessons in commercial leadership from Dow and how they translate to Solstice How Solstice is investing for growth in nuclear, electronics, and body armor materials Why transparency, shared goals, and trust fuel high-performing teams Making big moves: Unlocking innovation, managing legacy mindsets, and navigating cultural change Killer Quote: "Before we built the playbook, we really just started to go out and solve problems. And so as we were doing that, in parallel, we were working on the strategy and taking it to build out the different pillars from a technology perspective, sales enablement, all these different pieces." - Pete Corle 

Cybersecurity, digitization, and talent took center stage on Day 2 of The Chemical Summit. Victoria Meyer recaps the most urgent issues shaping the industry, from treating cybersecurity like process safety, to harnessing AI for business value, to redefining leadership development. Hear from leaders including Bill Clark, Shelly Linkerhoff, and more. This episode breaks down key takeaways for leaders looking to strengthen their organization’s resilience, unlock new business value, and build a thriving workforce. Victoria covers: Cybersecurity is the New Process Safety: Learn why third-party vulnerabilities and supplier risks are now top concerns for the industry, and what it means for your customer relationships. Measuring Real Business Value from AI: Hear practical approaches to assessing ROI, from reducing task time and improving customer response, to optimizing the customer journey and boosting brand visibility in an AI-driven market. What Talent Wants and How Leaders Can Respond: Find out why employee wellbeing has dropped nearly 30%, and how organizations can move people from struggle to growth. Leadership is the Talent Advantage: Hear how SCT’s in-house leadership program breaks the mold, cultivating managers and fostering accountability from the plant floor to VP roles. Killer Quote: "Your biggest customers are more concerned about you than you are."  - Bill Clark