Her Story
About Caitlin
Caitlin Allen is a seasoned marketing and business executive with deep expertise in brand management, strategy, innovation, sales, and consumer analytics. As Vice President and General Manager for Quilted Northern® and ARIA® Bath Tissue at Georgia-Pacific LLC, she leads brand building, commercial strategy, and innovation for one of the most established paper goods brands in the industry. In this role, she oversees advertising and marketing efforts, including initiatives such as the Quilted Queens campaign, while also partnering closely with retail sales teams to ensure strong in-store visibility across major accounts including Walmart, Sam’s Club, and Target. Her leadership reflects a strong ability to connect consumer insight with business execution, driving both brand growth and long-term value creation.
Throughout her career, Caitlin Allen has been driven by a passion for understanding consumers and what they are truly looking for, with a focus on uniquely tailoring products and experiences to meet their evolving needs. She has managed multiple major consumer brands at Georgia-Pacific, including Dixie®, Angel Soft®, Quilted Northern®, and Brawny®, building a broad and well-rounded perspective across the consumer packaged goods portfolio. Since relocating to Atlanta to join Georgia-Pacific, she has held progressive leadership roles across marketing and brand management, consistently delivering growth through a blend of analytical thinking, creativity, and cross-functional collaboration. She is especially fascinated by consumer behavior and the way insights translate into meaningful product innovation and brand value.
Beyond her professional accomplishments, Caitlin Allen is a graduate of the Emory University - Goizueta Business School Executive MBA program and the University of Richmond. She is passionate about family life, enjoying time with her family and spending time at their lake house, where she recharges outside of work. She also enjoys playing tennis, which reflects her appreciation for balance, focus, and an active lifestyle. As a leader and working mother, she brings authenticity, curiosity, and purpose to her work, combining professional excellence with a grounded, people-centered approach to leadership.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Caitlin
01What do you attribute your success to?
I would say not myself, that's for sure. I mean, I would say just some really good supervisors that I've had over the years that have challenged me and pushed me, taught me a lot. And then just a really solid foundation growing up, kind of seeing what it was like to have two working parents in the home and to still be able to have a great family environment. I think that set me up for a much better future than some others have. The second you make it about yourself and your own success, it probably starts to take a different turn.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
When you're young, you always feel like you have to have everything completely planned out. There's so much pressure when you're in college to know what you want to do and to start planning your journey. Early on, someone told me to try not to stress too much about what happens down the road, but just evaluate each opportunity and be willing to say yes where you think it aligns with your desires and what you want to spend your time doing. I think that's really played out well for me, because you get too fixated on what is your passion or what is your end goal, and you kind of miss the whole point of just enjoying what you do. It's one decision at a time that kind of leads you to the next, and to not be too stressed or anxious about what happens 10 years from now, and just be where you are, be present where you are.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
My advice would be to get to know your consumer really well, and keep that as at the forefront of everything that you do. I think when we understand our consumers' motivations, what's important to her, what the barriers are for her, what's difficult for her, how can we as a brand and as a company help make life easier for her, or in the case of Quilted Northern, make life a little bit more comfortable with something as easy to buy as toilet paper, then we can really create a lot of value. The second you lose that guiding light of who it's actually for, it's less impactful. So that's what my advice would be, is get to know your consumer and what motivates her, and then let that guide you.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
I think there's just a lot of different brands to choose from, and so we have to break through in a way that encourages our consumer or the person who's looking for a high-quality product to try us. There's just a lot on consumers' minds these days. They're juggling a lot of different things, and they don't really want to think about their toilet paper purchase. It's on autopilot, they just need it and they just want to buy it. They don't want to spend very much time thinking about it. So that's probably the biggest challenge, is how do you break through that really just busy environment in order to help her to realize that there is something better for her. It starts with driving awareness through larger funnel marketing initiatives like TV campaigns and digital advertisements, making sure you're clear on what your brand stands for and that it resonates in your marketing. Then it's also making sure you have the right message and that you're influencing that shopping journey at the right time, because it doesn't matter if she's coming across your brand when she doesn't need toilet paper. Your packaging plays a role in that, your advertising and marketing plays a role in that, and then also just our commercial sales initiatives, making sure that the product is on-shelf, that it's visible, that it's available to her when she wants to buy it and where she wants to buy it.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
My Christian values are extremely important to me. We're heavily involved in our church, and I would say with that comes a high level of integrity and really just a desire to help others, to kind of serve others. At work, that kind takes its place as inspiring others to grow and realize their own full potential. I think that also has positive impacts on the business, because the most important part of my job is not the product itself. It's the people, and it's helping people realize their full potential, which in turn leads to better business results when you have a strong team that enjoys what they're doing and is fulfilled by it.
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