James “JC” Curleigh has big plans for Pelican.

The CEO of the brand of protective cases, coolers and drinkware offered in the promo industry by Top 40 supplier Logomark (asi/67866) has a track record of rebuilding heritage brands, by leaning into the elements that made them iconic and pushing them to embrace new markets and opportunities.

In this episode of Promo Insiders, Curleigh chats with ASI Media’s Theresa Hegel about his unique career path, how he’s positioning Pelican for the future and his best advice for the promotional products industry.

Curleigh started his career in London at M&M Mars in the 1990s, where he had the opportunity to connect the Snickers brand to the Olympics and take the brand global. Next, he helped shift Salomon Sports from a ski company to a mountain sports brand. From 2007 to 2012, he served as global president and CEO of KEEN Footwear before getting a call to join Levi Strauss & Co. to become brand president, with the mandate of making Levi’s relevant again – treating the heritage company as if it were a “140-year-old startup.” His next step was president and CEO of Gibson Guitars, where he took the music brand out of bankruptcy and back to its roots.

“I think it’s important that I take every role on as if I’m going to be there forever,” Curleigh says. “I don’t go in with a five-year plan or a three-year plan. … I go in, and I have a long-term vision to take a brand to where it should be and beyond – take a team to places where they never imagined.”

Blue jeans and guitars, of course, have a built-in cool factor, but Curleigh believes Pelican is just as cool. “Pelican is the gear that protects gear,” he says. “And we equip those on a mission. … Ultimately, most folks want to be on a mission, they just don’t know it.”