Solid gold: Meet the 2025 Golden Pencil winners

“Although I liked the law, I was always jealous of the people on the other side of the table who were doing the business side,” says Medline. So, he shifted to the business side, first as corporate counsel for Pepsi, then on to Abitibi-Consolidated where he was given opportunities to run different areas of the business, including supply chain, purchasing and strategic planning. What followed was a 16-year stretch at Canadian Tire, where he rose through the ranks to become CEO. “When I left [Canadian Tire], I had to figure out, again, what I wanted to do.” Sobeys had long been on his radar. “I’d always wanted to work at Sobeys because I really liked the culture,” he says, so when the opportunity to lead the company came up, he jumped at the chance and has been at the helm since 2017.

One lesson his journey has taught him: “You don’t have to have everything figured out, all the time … work hard and put your head down and see where your career takes you.” 

Among his many achievements, Medline says he’s particularly proud of Project Sunrise, the three-year transformation initiative to turn around Empire’s business. “It was both an awesome responsibility and a thrill,” says Medline, noting the success of the project was not assured at the outset. “But pretty quickly, I thought we had a real chance to be highly successful,” he explains, noting the stakes were high—more than 120,000 team members were counting on the project to work. “We didn’t want to let them down.”

It was also a time when tough decisions had to be made, he says, acknowledging that “many great people” were let go for “the good of the whole.” Medline’s takeaway: “Treat people like adults. Don’t try to fool them with words. Tell them what’s going on, what you’re facing, what has to happen—and then treat them with unbelievable respect.”

Medline credits his father, Alan—a doctor “who has never missed a day of work”—for instilling his strong work ethic. And when asked what he attributes to his success, he notes two things: “One is that I never give up, ever. Even when the chips are against me, I just keep on going,” he says. The second is making time to talk to people, both inside and outside the company, and learning from them. He says it’s important to be humble and acknowledge you don’t know everything—there’s always much to learn.

Earlier this year, Medline announced he’ll retire from Empire next May. What will he miss? The people, the team and the frenetic pace of grocery. “There’s nothing like retail and certainly nothing like grocery retail … you never know what the next day is going to bring and I think I’ll miss that excitement.”

Shaun McKenna 

Executive Director (outgoing), The Grocery Foundation 

A graduate of Ivey Business School at Western University in London, Ont., Shaun McKenna says his “real” education came from running his own painting business while a student.

“There’s no better motivation than necessity—I needed to make the money to get back to school, otherwise I wasn’t going to be able to get back,” says McKenna. That experience, he adds, taught him responsibility and resilience at a young age.

The experience also sparked his entrepreneurial spirit. After starting his career at Coca-Cola Bottling straight out of school, six years in he was looking for a new challenge. He found it at CIM, a startup sales and marketing agency he helped build over the course of 15 years. In 2012, McKenna and his partner sold CIM to Mosaic, where he went on to lead the company’s sales business. When Mosaic was later acquired by Acosta Sales & Marketing, he became the president of the company’s Canadian business and later held an executive role on the U.S. business.

While serving as a board member of The Grocery Foundation—a non-profit organization that brings together retailers and CPG companies to combat child hunger and support youth well-being—McKenna seized the opportunity to become executive director when the role opened up in 2017. “I wanted to pursue my moral ambitions,” he says. “I wanted to give back and do something a little more rewarding.”

Under McKenna’s watch, the Foundation has achieved remarkable growth. Its Make Happy Tummies fundraising platform has expanded not only geographically—now reaching Quebec, Atlantic Canada and Western Canada, in addition to Ontario—the number of participating stores has increased from 400 to 1,700, while corporate sponsors have jumped from 14 to more than 40. “We’ve had great growth,” says McKenna. “I’m proud that we’re doing something good for kids—that I’ve played a role, have helped lead that [effort].”

Leading the Foundation, he adds, has also given him a “unique” vantage point to see the grocery industry come together—even competitors—to support a shared cause. “They realize that by working together, they can increase their impact,” he says. “I feel privileged to have the bird’s eye view of the best of the industry.”

Born and raised in Hamilton, Ont., McKenna humbly attributes his success not to “any special talents,” but to hard work.“In Hamilton, we have a term for that, you’re called a grinder—you’re willing to do whatever it takes and just grind it out.” 

As for career advice that’s stuck with him through his more than 35-year career, McKenna recalls something a professor once told his class in his final year of university: “‘It’s on you to make your job interesting and exciting, not your employer, it’s on you.’ I’ve always believed that.” 

Last month, McKenna announced that after eight years, he will be departing The Grocery Foundation next year. “I’m passionate about what we’ve built here,” he says. “It’s been a great ride.”

Gary Wade 

President and CEO, Unilever Canada and Beauty & Wellbeing, North America

Being a CPG executive isn’t all that different from training to be an Olympic athlete—both require relentless discipline, a desire for growth, unbridled ambition, the stamina to perform under pressure and the ability to work as part of a team. 

For Gary Wade, this is more than an analogy drawing parallels between two worlds that demand a lot of its players—it’s a lived experience. At the age of 22, Wade represented his home country of South Africa as part of the national kayaking team at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain.

“I had a mindset at the time, which was my whole life revolved around making that team,” Wade said during an episode of the Own Your Potential podcast in 2022. “I went to bed at nights thinking about making the team, I woke up in the morning, I was training two or three times a day. I put everything into it.” Wade has demonstrated that same level of dedication, drive and ambition throughout his decades-long career with Unilever, a company he joined right out of university, earning him an extensive list of accolades and industry awards along the way, including the 2025 Golden Pencil Award.

“I come from a competitive sport background,” said Wade. “I get energy from winning, however you define winning, but winning in results and delivering results. I wanted to have enough bandwidth or breadth in my career that allowed me to lead an organization—big organization or small organization—doesn’t really matter, doesn’t really matter the industry. I really wanted to have autonomy and be able to lead an organization.” Wade began his journey with the company in South Africa and later moved to Canada as part of what he called “a three-year plan.” More than 20 years later, Wade has held many progressive sales and marketing roles, culminating in his appointment as president of Unilever Canada in 2017. Wade was now at the helm of a very large organization.

Wade has been credited with not only achieving strong commercial results at Unilever, but also demonstrating a deep commitment to sustainability, innovation, consumer health and wellness, and equality in the workplace. He has been a champion of creating a safe, inclusive environment that embraces diversity in all its forms—including religion, sex, gender and physical ability.

“Sometime in the future, I will no longer be in this role and Unilever will have someone who is equally equipped to do the role,” said Wade. “I really want to make use of the time that I have to make change in our industry.”

In 2024, his role expanded to include CEO of Unilever’s Beauty & Wellbeing division in North America. In this dual role, Wade now leads the company’s operations across both Canada and the United States. 

Wade’s career has been defined by strategic vision, leadership and impact, and his desire to continue to grow remains strong—like that of a former athlete. “You know, there’s still many things I want to do in my professional career,” said Wade. “I might not get to those goals or ambitions … But the journey is as much part of it as the destination. Knowing that every day you’re just going to get a little bit better, try a little bit harder [and] overcome setbacks is fulfilling in itself.”