Sometimes Ralph Scozzafava almost doesn’t want to believe that he has been in the business world for 30 years. “It does make me feel a bit old at times,” he admits. Nonetheless, he says, he is more proud of his accomplishments than he is worried about his age. At just 55, Ralph Scozzafava has already served a successful five-year term as CEO of a multinational furniture giant. He has held positions of prominence in household-name companies like Wrigley’s, Campbell’s Soup, and Johnson & Johnson, and been on the board of directors for any number of prominent charitable foundations including Keep America Beautiful and the St. Louis YMCA. So, yes, it is no surprise that Ralph Scozzafava is looking forward, not backward, as this milestone arrives.

It has been a steady climb since Ralph Scozzafava’s first job out of college in 1982 with a sales territory in his native New England. Ralph Scozzafava stayed at the job for a of couple years, until he was promoted to management status at the company. After that, he decided to test the corporate waters and took a job at the Clorox Company as a regional manager there. Even in the earliest years, Ralph Scozzafava displayed the kind of charisma and leadership ability that would come to be his hallmarks later in his professional life. After another promotion, Ralph Scozzafava left Clorox to head to Campbell Soup Co. back in New Jersey, where he worked his way up through the years until becoming the Vice President of the Grocery Teams.

At this point Ralph Scozzafava’s career arc begins to accelerate: after several fruitful years with the Wrigley Company out of Chicago, Ralph Scozzafava’s name came up as a candidate to helm the struggling Furniture Brands International in St. Louis. He accepted the position, and during his tenure there has turned the entire company around, restructuring, refocusing, and rebranding the company to get it in great shape for the future.

“Yeah, I’m pretty proud of what I’ve been able to experience in my career and have had the good fortune to work for and with some fantastic people,” says Ralph Scozzafava modestly. “I think I’ve learned a tremendous amount from them and have been able to do quite a bit because of it.”