As a Unilever intern, Obinna Keke turned a winning argument—about the importance of keeping base-price deodorants on the market—into a permanent job. Now, as head of innovation for the company’s SheaMoisture, he’s still making his mark by finding growth in other underappreciated markets.

An unusual path got him here. Keke, 38, grew up in Washington, D.C., the son of Nigerian immigrant parents. He started his career as a mergers and acquisitions accountant. Then a friend introduced him to the idea of brand management, which, despite concerns from his risk-averse parents, led him to a Duke MBA and Unilever. He aced that Unilever intern assignment because he knew from his own family’s experience that entry-price products can be seen as small luxuries.

“I found myself early in my career always trying to make sure the underserved were being served, looking at underdeveloped areas that could be growth pockets,” Keke said. “When I went into marketing, the real idea was to make products and communications work better for people who look like me, better representation of communication.”

The idea is working for Keke and Unilever. In the past year, he’s taken over the $200 million SheaMoisture hair portfolio and expanded into new categories, such as men’s products. That’s helped build SheaMoisture’s place as Unilever’s top hair-care brand on Amazon and led to a dandruff and scalp care product line for women, which is the top launch in multicultural hair care so far in 2023.

If you could have dinner with one person, alive or dead, who would it be and why?

Probably Obama. I grew up in D.C. When I was about 14 going into high school I think by that point, D.C. was the murder capital. So I didn’t grow up with a lot of examples of Black men doing amazing things. Then in 2008, Obama wins. So now I have an amazing example of a Black man who’s doing amazing things. It showed me that anything’s possible.

What are the top two social media sites you use on a regular basis?

I’m a millennial. I wish my team were here, they’re all Gen Z and we have a lot of Gen Z-millennial jokes. But I’m an Instagram person. They’re TikTok people. But for me, it’s Instagram, where I get everything—sports, new music, art, meme exchange and obviously my group of friends. And then Snapchat. I am working on fully integrating TikTok because my team has guilt-tripped me.

What’s currently on your bedside reading list?

There’s an author, his writing name is Yung Pueblo, but his actual name is Diego Perez, an Ecuadorian writer and poet. A friend gave me his book “Clarity & Connection” maybe last year. It’s more of a relationship-focused book that helps you understand blind spots and increase awareness. I fell in love with the book and bought it for a bunch of friends. He has a series of books, and this was the second book, so I went back and read the first book, which I’m reading now, called “Inward,” which is really about personal growth and self-awareness. I’m intentionally slow-walking it, because it’s so good I don’t want it to be over.

What was the last show you binge-watched?

“The Bear” on FX. Season 2, I just watched. It felt like this season was a master class on perseverance, resilience and really facing your fears to overcome past failures.

At what age do you hope to retire?

My financial model would say 65-plus. But I’m 38 now. Most of the leaders I know exit around their late 50s, which means I have 15-20 years left. But I’m Nigeran. My mom is 71 and she works by choice. She retired right at the pandemic and then went back. Even crazier, my dad is 81, also still working. I am my parents’ kid and I do get a lot of energy from purposeful work, so I think in the marketing space I’ll probably follow the same track of late 50s. But I envision in my 60s it’s going to be coaching and mentoring the next generation of leaders, and I also have a personal passion for natural [product] lines.