Chewy, Inc., CEO Sumit Singh excels at analyzing myriad business strategies, and then choosing the best path forward. That’s how his South Florida-based pet supplies company went from $900 million in revenue in 2017, the year Singh joined, to $12 billion in 2024.
As the University of Miami Patti and Allan Herbert Business School recently discovered, Singh, 41, is plain-spoken, "restless" executive who abhors dress codes as much as he adores Chewy’s "pet-parent" customers.
"At some point, I might get up and take off my jacket," Singh warned after dropping by Miami Herbert for the Future of Leadership, A CEO Speaker Series, sponsored by McKinsey & Company. Singh gazed out at audience members while seated beside a small roundtable along with event moderators, Miami Herbert Dean Paul A. Pavlou and McKinsey Senior Partner Greg Kelly.
"I’m usually walking around in a T-shirt or with my sleeves rolled up," Singh continued. "It’s going to be hard to keep me in the chair this way very long."
True to his word Singh was out of his blue blazer 6 minutes and 40 seconds later, which didn’t slow the valuable business insights he eagerly shared.
A native of India who "grew up with lots of pets," Singh earned an industrial engineering degree from Punjab Technical University, then a master’s degree in operations and logistics from the University of Texas at Austin, and finally an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago.
"Once I finished my education, I started working with Dell (Technologies, Inc.) as an engineer," Singh said. "After a few years I thought, 'You know what, I should go and learn how to lead people, and get some leadership experience under my belt.'"
Singh took an entry-level operations management slot regarded as a step down from his engineering role. The move "really helped me grow as a leader early on," Singh said. He ascended into posts that enhanced his ability to manage costs, operations, and revenue generation before leaving Dell after 12 years in an "ill-defined kind of role" with Amazon.
"So, now I’m at Amazon, in a senior role and leading Amazon’s fresh and grocery business worldwide, and Chewy comes calling." After Singh canvassed mentors and friends about the Chewy offer, which paid one-third of his Amazon compensation, he kept hearing: "'I wouldn’t touch this with a 10-foot pole!'
"But something about the opportunity kept nagging at me!" Singh said. "I felt I could expand Chewy from its founding vision to become an even larger part of the pet ecosystem."
Gambling, Singh moved from Seattle to Plantation, Fla., to join Chewy, and was made Chewy’s CEO within six months.
“And now you fast-forward seven years later, we’re one of the fastest growing companies in America, one of the largest pet retailers in the country," Singh related. Chewy has been a Fortune 500 firm for the last three years, with stock that’s traded on the New York Stock Exchange.
Dean Pavlou wanted to know how Miami Herbert students and alumni can best prepare themselves to be Fortune 500 CEOs.
"Say yes, where most people say no." Singh stated emphatically. "When I was taking this Chewy job, I found out later that probably over a dozen people had been approached for this role and they said no to it. But I said yes."
Singh also challenged his Miami Herbert audience to "figure s*** out! Nobody cares about your priorities," Singh advised. "Or your commitments. You have to figure out your work priorities and your life priorities and all of that stuff yourself. And just take risks.”
