Leadership

A. Ryals McMullian

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

Ryals McMullian is chairman and chief executive officer of Flowers Foods. Elected as CEO in 2019 and chairman in 2023, Mr. McMullian drives strategies to increase shareholder value by focusing on brand growth, managing costs, expanding into product adjacencies through smart mergers and acquisitions, and developing talent and leading capabilities.

During his tenure, Mr. McMullian has led initiatives to standardize and centralize corporate processes, with a focus on organizational realignment, indirect spend, and supply-chain optimization, among others.

Prior to his current role, Mr. McMullian served as chief operating officer. Since joining the company in 2003, he has held a variety of other leadership positions including chief strategy officer, vice president of mergers and acquisitions and deputy general counsel, and vice president and associate general counsel.

Mr. McMullian holds a master’s degree in business administration, a juris doctorate, and a bachelor’s degree in finance and real estate from Florida State University. He is a member of the Georgia Bar Association, and he sits on the board of directors of the Consumer Brands Association and the board of trustees at Florida Tax Watch.

R. Steve Kinsey

Chief Financial Officer and Chief Accounting Officer

Steve Kinsey is the chief financial officer and chief accounting officer of Flowers Foods. In these roles, he guides the company’s financial strategy and oversees treasury, investor relations, accounting, tax, internal audit, risk, procurement, and information technology. Mr. Kinsey was named chief accounting officer in 2020 and has served as chief financial officer since 2007. He previously served as vice president and corporate controller, controller, and director of tax. Prior to joining Flowers in 1989, Mr. Kinsey worked for the global accounting firm Deloitte.

Mr. Kinsey holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Florida State University and is a certified public accountant. He is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Florida Institute of Certified Public Accountants. He has also served as co-chairman of the CFO committee of the Grocers Manufacturers Association.

Heeth Varnedoe

President and Chief Operating Officer

Heeth Varnedoe is president and chief operating officer of Flowers Foods. Named chief operating officer in 2022 and president in 2023, he oversees Flowers’ operations including the company’s supply chain and field sales execution.

Immediately prior to this role, Mr. Varnedoe served as chief transformation officer and was responsible for overseeing the implementation of cross-functional initiatives that advance Flowers’ long-term strategic plans.

Since joining Flowers in 1990, he has held multiple leadership positions, including senior vice president of DSD Regions/Sales, president of the bakeries in Jacksonville, Fla., and Phoenix, Ariz., and vice president of national accounts.

Mr. Varnedoe holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration and history from Presbyterian College.

Terry S. Thomas

Chief Growth Officer

Terry S. Thomas is chief growth officer of Flowers Foods. Appointed in 2023, he is responsible for leading and managing growth initiatives, product development and innovation, marketing, and customer partnerships.

Mr. Thomas has extensive experience working globally in the consumer goods industry, most recently as global chief customer officer at Unilever. Before joining Unilever, he worked at PepsiCo for 13 years, serving as vice president and general manager of various business channels, and held management positions at Coca-Cola, Clorox, and Procter & Gamble. From 2020 to 2023, Mr. Thomas served on the Flowers Foods board of directors.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Northwestern University and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

Stephanie B. Tillman

Chief Legal Counsel

Stephanie Tillman is chief legal counsel and corporate secretary of Flowers Foods. Appointed in 2020, she is responsible for the company’s legal, corporate governance, compliance, and governmental affairs. Prior to assuming her current role, Ms. Tillman served as vice president, chief compliance officer and deputy general counsel.

Since joining Flowers in 1995 as a corporate attorney, she has held additional leadership roles serving the company’s legal matters, including associate general counsel, vice president of compliance and assistant general counsel and vice president and associate general counsel.

A member of the State Bar of Georgia, Ms. Tillman earned her juris doctorate from the University of Georgia School of Law and an MBA from Thomas University. She also holds a bachelor’s degree in education from the University of Georgia.

Cindy Cox

Chief Human Resources Officer

Cindy Cox is chief human resources officer of Flowers Foods. Appointed in 2023, Cindy is responsible for driving a successful human resources organization. She supervises the key functions of talent management, talent acquisition, total rewards, learning and development, diversity, equity, and inclusion, and HR technology.

Prior to her current role, Ms. Cox most recently served as vice president of human resources for the Refrigeration segment of Carrier Corporation. During her 27-year tenure at Pratt & Whitney and Carrier Corporation, she held multiple HR roles of increasing scale and responsibility.

Cindy holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology and supervision management, and a master’s degree in human resources management from Purdue University in addition to a juris doctorate focused on employment and labor law from the University of Connecticut.

H. Mark Courtney

Chief Brand Officer

Mark Courtney is chief brand officer of Flowers Foods. Serving in this role since 2020, he leads the company’s brand organization, revenue growth management, and shopper marketing functions. He is responsible for managing the Flowers brand portfolio, which includes Nature’s Own, Dave’s Killer Bread, Canyon Bakehouse, Wonder Bread, Tastykake, and Mrs. Freshley’s.

Mr. Courtney has extensive leadership experience with Flowers Bakeries, having served as president of the fresh packaged bread business unit, senior vice president of sales and marketing, senior vice president of retail accounts, and various sales management positions since joining the company in 1983.

Mr. Courtney holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration in accounting from Valdosta State University and a bachelor’s degree in English from Mississippi College.

Tom Winters

Chief Supply Chain Officer

Tom Winters is chief supply chain officer of Flowers Foods. Named to this role in 2022, he is responsible for the company’s supply chain strategy and operations.

Mr. Winters has more than 30 years of experience leading world-class teams and delivering strong results and effective process improvements. Prior to joining Flowers, he was senior vice president of supply chain at PepsiCo, where he was responsible for the supply chain function of two of the company’s North American divisions, Beverages and Nutrition. During his 19-year career at PepsiCo, he also held several operations and production roles with responsibility for managing internal plants, warehouses, and contract manufacturers. Winters began his career at Procter and Gamble where he spent 15 years in several operational leadership roles in the U.S. and Puerto Rico.

Mr. Winters holds a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering from Virginia Tech.

David M. Roach

Chief Strategic Projects Officer

David Roach is chief strategic projects officer for Flowers Foods. Named to this newly created role in 2022, he is responsible for leading various strategic projects for the company. He most recently served as president of cake operations, responsible for driving operational efficiencies and profitability for the company’s snack business.

In his more-than-30-year career at Flowers, he has held numerous sales and leadership positions, including president of the snacking/specialty business unit, senior vice president of organics, vice president of sales and national accounts, vice president of sales and marketing, senior vice president of the Central Region, vice president of sales, and president of the Villa Rica, Ga., and Nashville, Tenn., bakeries.

Mr. Roach is an active member of the American Bakers Association where he previously served as chairman of the Executive Leadership Development Committee. He is a past board member of Quality Bakers of America and chairman of its marketing committee, as well as a past member of the Grain Foods Foundation marketing committee. Mr. Roach also served on the board of directors of Dave’s Killer Bread Second Chance Foundation. He holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration with a major in marketing from Georgia Southwestern State University.

Mark Chaffin

Chief Information Officer

Mark Chaffin is chief information officer of Flowers Foods. Named to this role in 2019, he holds responsibility for Flowers’ information technology strategy and operations.

Mr. Chaffin joined Flowers from Fortium Partners’ Southeast practice, where he was a partner focusing on IT strategy, business process improvement, technology commercialization and analytics.

Previously, Mr. Chaffin served as chief information officer for SGS & Co, a global package and brand design and marketing company, and Acosta Sales and Marketing, a company providing sales, marketing, and merchandising services to food and beverage companies. Mr. Chaffin also is founder of Florida Technology, a firm focused on business intelligence and application development. He also founded and was the North American director for the Business Intelligence Practice for Avanade, a global professional services company founded as a joint venture between Accenture and Microsoft.

Mr. Chaffin holds a bachelor’s degree in English and communications from Jacksonville University in Florida.