The founder of multiple breakout companies and the strategist behind a number of innovative brands, Craig Dubitsky ’83 has been named by The Internationalist as one of the 100 Most Inspirational Marketers in the World. How did this brilliant brander, creative copywriter, and masterful marketer get his start? At Dwight-Englewood of course! While Craig says that he had too many influential teachers to count, he distinctly remembers a final exam for which former English teacher and department head Sam Bacon asked his class to synthesize an entire novel down to a single sentence. That one exercise, Craig believes, has helped him more with branding and copywriting than just about anything.
Craig’s career began after graduating with a degree in economics from the University of Rochester, where he—not incidentally—founded a chapter of the Association of Collegiate Entrepreneurs. Although his first job was as the London Metals Exchange specialist at Citigroup, he had greater, more creative aspirations than trading base metals and base metals derivatives.
In 2006, Craig co-founded Eos, a women’s personal care brand known best for its lip balm. He also served as senior vice president of venture development at Simon Property Group, leading the initial investment in Method Products, a manufacturer of biodegradable natural cleaning supplies, which was named the 16th Most Innovative Company in the World by Fast Company in 2008. In addition, Craig served as strategic advisor to Seventh Generation, Boots, and various other private equity funds.
In 2009, Craig founded Hello Products, the world’s first “naturally friendly” oral care brand, which has become the fastest-growing oral care brand in the US. Hello was named by Inc magazine as one of the Best Places to Work and placed on the magazine’s Most Audacious list as “One of the 25 Companies Changing the World.” Craig himself was named to the Advertising Age Creativity 50, that publication’s annual list of the most influential and innovative thinkers and doers. Craig is also an inductee in the Collegiate Entrepreneurs Organization Hall of Fame, an Entrepreneur in Residence at Babson, and serves as Advisory Council member at the Ain Center for Entrepreneurship at the Simon School of Business at the University of Rochester.
After Hello was acquired by Colgate-Palmolive Co. in early 2020, Craig stayed on to run and lead the brand as the founder and chief creative officer with his entire team. He is genuinely thrilled not only for his company but the partnership because it will open possibilities that he and his colleagues could only imagine beforehand. Craig is also serving as Colgate’s chief innovation strategist. He says that this combination of roles and responsibilities is a dream come true.
Craig shared his insights and career experiences with the Class of 2020 during Senior Selectives at the Virtual D-E Horizons 5th Annual Power Breakfast at the end of May—perhaps inspiring a D-E student’s career trajectory, just as he himself had the seed planted in a D-E classroom.
