Interview: 5
Alex Birchmeier's path to becoming Conagra Brands' Senior Director of Media Services didn't start in a marketing classroom — it started on the front end of a Meijer grocery store, where he spent two and a half years bagging groceries and managing a team twice his age before a chance connection led him to Starcom and an unplanned career in media. That grocery-floor perspective still shapes how he thinks about marketing today: less about chasing what's trendy, more about genuinely understanding the customer standing at the shelf.
In this conversation, Alex opens up about trusting his gut over logic, the book that made him feel less alone, why he thinks everyone should try improv, and the inner voice he's still learning to quiet even as he shows up as his most authentic self at work.
When faced with a big decision, do you rely more on logic, intuition, or something else entirely?
I’m a big gut believer. Whatever my gut is telling me right away, I listen to that first. Then logic comes behind it. There’s a first inclination — what you feel when you hear or see something — and I always honor that.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?
Don’t focus so much on what you’re doing, because no one else is focused on what you’re doing — they’re focused on themselves. That was incredibly freeing for me. It means you can just show up as your authentic self without obsessing over your mannerisms or how you sound. You can focus on the conversation, the dialogue, being present.
There was also something I heard about turning off your self-view on Zoom calls — that 20% of your brain’s bandwidth goes to staring at yourself. Once I heard that, I stopped. Whether I’m in a virtual meeting or in person, I’m focused on them, not myself. And I think it comes across — you’re more engaged, you’re actually listening.
What’s the most unusual job or task you’ve ever had?
I’m going back to my Meijer days on this one. I was cleaning toilets, getting carts, bagging groceries — you name it. Grocery stores are open 24/7, and you see a lot of just… how life is lived. There was no task beneath me. What do we need to do to get the job done and make sure the customer experience is great? That was my whole job. It was unglamorous, and I appreciate every bit of it.
Is there something unconventional or unexpected you want to achieve in your life?
I don’t really have a list for this one. I just want to live my life, and if the unexpected and unintentional moments happen, great. That’s what life is — unexpected twists. I’ll embrace those when they come.
Who or what inspires your ambition?
I feel like a lot of people answer this with a person — a teacher or a mentor from their past. That wasn’t the case for me. My drive comes from myself. I played tennis my whole life, and that’s an individual sport. You’re on the court alone figuring things out, trying to outthink the person on the other side. Every match is different. So for me, it’s always been about pushing myself.
That said, the community around you matters. I have a great partner, great friends. The people who surround you are helpful. But ultimately, you’re the one making the choice to show up.
If you had the chance to mentor your younger self, what advice would you give?
Just… don’t care so much. Which is so much easier said than done. If I told my younger self that, he would have said, “Shut up — I need to look good for school, the kids need to like me.” That’s just where you are. But there’s an emotional intelligence and maturity that develops over time, and eventually you stop worrying about that stuff. I think I had to live through it to actually understand what it meant.
What’s one experience you think everyone should try?
An improv class, stand-up, a play, a musical performance. Something where you’re up there in front of people. Because then you become a little more compassionate toward everyone who does it. It’s so easy to watch someone perform and think, “Ugh, why are they nervous, why do they sound like that?” But if you’ve never been up there, you have no idea what it takes. The nerves, the courage. I want everyone to have that experience at least once.
The second is retail, waiting tables — any service industry role. There’s not enough empathy for people in those jobs. And how you treat them says way more about you than it does about them.
If you were a kitchen appliance, what would you be and why?
A blender. It makes a smattering of stuff — soups, cold drinks, a margarita. It’s versatile, it’s useful in a lot of different situations. And honestly, a blender has a really nice tone to it. Kind of like my voice. LOL
Is there a book, movie, or song that changed the way you see the world?
The book is The Velvet Rage. It’s about the inner conflict and shame of growing up gay, especially across generations where that wasn’t easy. It was the first book I read where I thought, “are they reading out of my own journal?” Every thought, every emotion, every feeling I’d had was in there. And I realized I wasn’t alone. That was huge for me.
The song is “Walking on Broken Glass” by Annie Lennox. I’ve loved it since first grade. I’m not sure I fully know what it means, but there’s something about her voice, her androgyny, her energy — it just resonated with me deeply.
Is there a fear that holds you back from achieving your ambitions?
There’s always an inner saboteur — that inner child who likes to show up at inconvenient moments. And social media makes it worse sometimes, that feeling of missing out or not being good enough. But professionally, the thing that lingers is: what if I show up as my fully authentic self, and that’s not good enough? What if it becomes a detriment to my career? That’s something I don’t think I’ll ever fully silence. I just try to quiet it.
That said, marketing has been good from that standpoint. We’re in an industry that’s very accepting. I’m grateful for that.
