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The CEO's journey to the top spot of Margaritaville was an education in how to keep a dedicated audience coming back for more
The first job in the hospitality sector that John Cohlan, CEO of Margaritaville Holdings, ever had was as the CEO of Margaritaville Holdings. But Cohlan's journey to the top spot of the Palm Beach, Fla.-based company prepared him for the role with plenty of training in history, law, branding and how to keep a dedicated audience coming back for more.
Cohlan studied American history at Princeton University, attended the London School of Economics, and then studied constitutional and corporate law at Georgetown Law Center. The three disciplines came together at Georgetown, he said, because a good law school teaches its students to focus on critical issues in complex material.
The education served him well at Triarc, a publicly traded holding company comprised of consumer businesses, where he was SVP of corporate finance. At the company, Cohlan learned about the power of brand identity, helping develop and maintain businesses like Arby's, Snapple and RC Cola.
While Triarc did not directly operate any of the brands it controlled, Cohlan said his time there gave him "a real understanding of what brands are about." When Triarc...