LEADING A TOP-TIER BRAND HAS TAUGHT MBOUP TO TREAT SUCCESS AS A JOURNEY , NOT A DESTINATION .
While Cheikh Mboup MBA ' 11 has accomplished a lot in his career , his life aspirations aren ’ t necessarily work-related .
As someone who left his home of Senegal to come to the U . S . at 13 , career success is certainly important . Today , he ’ s the President and Chief Operating Officer of Edible Brands , the parent company of Edible Arrangements in Atlanta . He ’ s created and sold companies and worked his way up from a grocery store manager to a district director for Winn-Dixie and BI-LO .
" But it ’ s what you do with your success that really matters ," he said .
“ I used to think there was a destination , perhaps that I could reach and feel some level of completeness , some level of fulfillment ,” Mboup said . “ I think it ’ s a journey that ’ s a compilation of several things , one of which is what footprints do you leave in this world ?
“ I think that journey , as long as you are able to breathe , and function , you ' ll continue to pursue it . How do we change the footprint of our existence , from the moment we are here to the moment we ' re no longer here is something I think about a lot .”
As a high schooler , Mboup was competing in mathematics tournaments with college students from the likes of Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University — and winning them .
And while most are learning to drive at 15 , Mboup was already in college , on his way to graduating summa cum laude from Lehigh University with a degree in finance and statistics with hopes of becoming a stock broker .
A year in the finance industry proved it wasn ’ t for him , so he entered the grocery business . That ’ s what led him to Jacksonville — landing a role as a store director at Winn-Dixie / BI-LO . He started his Master of Business Administration at Jacksonville University upon arriving in Florida .
His time at Jacksonville University proved invaluable to him , he said . It ’ s where he learned to think more strategically and ask the right questions in business settings .
“ In my day-to-day life , the things I learned at JU are such a natural thing to do ,” he said . “ It ’ s because the exercise was done in the classroom so often .”
Mboup worked his way up the ladder at Winn-Dixie , ending up as District Director . When the opportunity to work for Edible Arrangements arose in 2015 , he took the opportunity , and again made his way from Head of Operations to Vice President of Operations , Construction and Real Estate in just seven months . In that same time period , he was busy earning his doctoral degree in economics and international business from Argosy University .
Now , as President and COO of Edible Brands , Mboup oversees Edible Arrangements , its technology company Netsolace , its distribution company BerryDirect and Incredible Edibles , a CBD company .
His first months on the job were consumed by managing the COVID-19 pandemic , which certainly would pose a challenge for any incoming executive . Mboup quickly pivoted the company toward adding fresh fruit and vegetable deliveries to customers , rather than the signature fruit arrangements the company is known for . Mboup turned