Melissa Grady Dias (Measured Wellness) | From CMO to CEO: Using AI and Human Connection to Transform Health

**Jim Stengel** (0:00)
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I have to ask you, what's the first wellness brand that made an impact on you?

**Melissa Grady Dias** (0:46)
I started going to the gym very early. And I think that not just that gym, but as I look at fitness and fitness has been important my entire life.
The thing that always sticks out in whatever piece of that is the community that's in, whatever gym it was that I've been going to, whatever competitive environment I was in, whoever the people were. It's really, and I guess just staying on theme, it's the community and the people that really make an impact in that space.

**Jim Stengel** (1:17)
Hi, I'm Jim Stengel. I've helped hundreds of major brands discover and activate their purpose.
Because when a brand's purpose is clear, compelling and authentic, profit naturally follows. Each week I welcome the CMOs, the Chief Marketing Officers of your favorite brands, to speak to how their job is so much more than marketing. These leaders share their inspiration and challenges, along with how they try to build a full, healthy and happy life in and out of the office. And it's that energy that reaches everyone they touch. And we're glad you're here to feel that energy and to learn from these remarkable leaders. So here we go.
For years on this podcast, we've explored how the role of the CMO has evolved beyond advertising and communications. And lately, we've been seeing something especially interesting, more CMOs stepping into CEO roles. Just in the last several weeks on this show, we have hosted CMO to CEO, Diana Housling of Hello Products, and Corey Marchesoto at Elf, who was recently promoted to President. That shift says something important about where the business is headed. A modern CEO increasingly needs to understand not only operations and finance, but also brand storytelling and how to navigate massive shifts in consumer behavior, culture, and technology. My guest today embodies that evolution perfectly. Melissa Grady Dias first joined us on this show in 2020 as the Global Chief Marketing Officer of Cadillac, where she helped guide one of America's most iconic brands through its transformation into the electric vehicle era. Now, in 2026, Melissa has entered a new chapter of her career as CEO of Measured Wellness, a small but ambitious company focused on preventive health care, wearable technology, AI-powered health insights, and what they call care between appointments. Melissa is a leader who thrives when she is navigating transformation, and she simply likes building things. Those are her words. At Cadillac, that meant helping consumers rethink mobility, luxury, and electrification. At Measured Wellness, it means helping people rethink health care itself, moving from reactive care to proactive wellness, from occasional doctor visits to continuous engagement, and from treating illness to creating the conditions for long-term health. So here's my conversation with a CMO turned CEO, who is looking to build a new path for all of us to feel better and live longer. Here's Melissa.
Melissa, welcome back to The CMO Podcast. You were last on this show way back in 2020 when you were still pretty new in the role at Cadillac. So besides this new job, this new CEO job at Measured Wellness, which we're going to talk a lot about, what had been the highlights of your life since we talked way back in 2020?

**Melissa Grady Dias** (3:58)
So many things. I absolutely loved my time at Cadillac. It was one of those times in my career. You can go back and look at those times when you were doing something really special.
And when we spoke, we were just launching the 21 Escalade. We hadn't launched all of our EVs. And I had a big job ahead of me. Cadillac was still second to last in the luxury category. And we moved Cadillac up. Cadillac is now top tier luxury. Sorry to them, but has been outselling Audi for about two years now.