Robb High – 50th Reunion Essay

Robb High

530 E 90th St

Apt 3D

New York, NY 10128

robbhigh@gmail.com

917-856-1058

Spouse(s): Carol (2013)

Child(ren): Nathalie Caroll (1972); Laura High (1988)

Grandchild(ren): Evan Caroll (2000); Emily (2002)

National Service: Marine Corps; Sgt. (1969-75)

Career: Procter & Gamble (1969-1973); Quaker Oats (1973-1977); Foote Cone & Belding (1977-1980); Young & Rubicam (1980-1993); Kirshenbaum & Bond, COO (1993-2000); Young & Rubicam, CMO (2000-2004); Robb High Consulting (2004-2018)

College: Morse

Yale was the turning point in my life.

I grew up in the “Leave It to Beaver” track home suburb of Cedar Hills outside of Portland, Oregon. I had never been east of the Cascade Mountains, let alone to the East Coast.

For me, arriving at Yale was akin to visiting Mars.

My first three months I was miserable. I really disliked my roommates. (This was attested to by a letter I wrote to my parents that my mother kept and was eventually shared with my roommates years later… and is brought up in conversation regularly to some hilarity). Things improved by Christmas, though, and somehow I managed to graduate (one regret I have is that I never worked hard enough to take advantage of what Yale offered).

In September, 1969, I was listed to be drafted, not something I was very excited about. Then, out of the blue, an alumnus who was a senior executive at Procter & Gamble, arrived at campus to interview people for brand management (I had no idea what that was). As I was head of the Yale Laundry, the career office invited me to talk with him. I explained I was to be drafted, but he said they would get me into a reserve unit (I didn’t know until I got there that it was a Marine Corps unit).

Career-wise I stayed in marketing, both on the client side (Procter & Gamble) and agency side (Young & Rubicam, FCB) until 2004 and then started my own consulting practice.

Relationship-wise Carol and I have been amazingly happy for the past 14 years. But it took two previous tries to get here. The good outcomes from those experiences are my two terrific daughters, the youngest of whom is a successful stand-up comedian in NYC.

Today we both continue our consulting, but have made travel our priority: Italy (10 times/all regions), Botswana, Normandy, Paris, UK, London, Tanzania, Turkey, Israel, Jordan, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, Netherlands, Belgium, Slovenia, Egypt, Peru and Zambia.

And those roommates that I hated so much in 1965: they became my closest friends. Sadly, one of them, Will Bogaty died in 2011. But Jimmy Schweitzer lives on—despite a questionable lifestyle—and is the “glue” that keeps our “piece” of the Class of ’69 together.