Hillary Frei is an American marketing executive who has led some of the country’s most iconic and enduring consumer brands including Cheerios, FAO Schwarz and Wetzel’s Pretzels. Trained in finance with a passion for brand building, Hillary is a full stack marketer with an outstanding track record of revenue growth.
Hillary grew up in Las Vegas, Nevada and spent her childhood in the ballet studio, eventually becoming a professional dancer in her teens and early twenties.
She attended Georgetown University, where she graduated with an honors degree in Finance. During her time at Georgetown, she chaired the Annual Parents Weekend, interned for Merrill Lynch, and studied abroad at Georgetown’s international finance program at Oxford University.
Hillary began her career on Wall Street as an investment banking analyst at Ryan, Beck & Company, which was acquired by Stifel Financial Corp. After three years in New York, she matriculated to the MBA program at the University of Texas at Austin.
Hillary began her marketing career at consumer-packaged goods giant General Mills in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where she worked for six year and managed several brands, including Honey Nut Cheerios, Cinnamon Toast Cereal, Chex Mix, and Progresso Soup. Hillary distinguished herself in her first year at General Mills, winning the Cereal Division’s Innovation Award. In her second year, she received the Meals Division’s Award for Financial Performance. In her final role at General Mills, she worked on a two-person team making M&A recommendations to the CEO and his senior leadership team.
Hillary returned to her hometown of Las Vegas, Nevada to marry her husband and take the role of Vice President of Marketing at Pediped Footwear, the country’s second-largest children’s shoe company. In that role, she led marketing, e-commerce, and retail operations for the company. Hillary consistently delivered double-digit annual growth during her five-year tenure.
Hillary was recruited to be the Chief Marketing Officer at Big Chill Appliances, the country’s first digitally native appliance company. Hillary grew sales over 25% annually and forged partnerships with the interior design elite including Nate Berkus, Leanne Ford and Grace Mitchell. Hillary was promoted to President of Big Chill in 2020.
In 2022, Hillary became the General Manager of FAO Schwarz where she ran FAO.com. Hillary grew revenue over 40% in that role, expanded operating income and improved all site KPIs.
Hillary was then appointed to be the Chief Marketing Officer of Wetzel’s Pretzel where she oversaw marketing, advertising and development advertising for the 450-store restaurant chain.
Hillary current serves as the Chief Marketing Office of Handel’s Ice Cream where she leads consumer marketing for the 80-year-old legacy brand.
Hillary is married to Jon, a 25-year veteran and retired Fire Chief with the Clark County Fire Department. She has two sons Charlie (age 10 – soccer fanatic) and Henry (age 13 – Naval and aviation fanatic). She serves on committees to support the Nevada Discovery Children’s Museum and Georgetown Alumni Association. She is obsessed with football, a cult-ish exercise program called “The Class”, Taylor Swift and her husband’s excellent cooking.
