Sam Mitchell has served as chief executive officer and director of Valvoline Inc. since September 2016.

Mitchell joined Valvoline, then a division of Ashland Inc., in 1997 as director of marketing for Valvoline’s brand management group. In 1999, he was named vice president of marketing, and in 2000, vice president and general manager of Valvoline’s do-it-yourself (DIY) retail business.

He became president of Valvoline and vice president of Ashland in 2002. In 2011, Mitchell was named senior vice president of Ashland, while retaining his responsibilities for Valvoline.

Prior to joining Valvoline, he held brand and category management leadership positions at The Clorox Company for eight years.

Mitchell serves on the board of trustees of Transylvania University and on the University of Kentucky Gatton College of Business Dean’s Advisory Council. From 2006 to 2012, he served on the board of the Automotive Aftermarket Suppliers Association. Mitchell is active in the community, working with Young Life, the Lexington Leadership Foundation and Habitat for Humanity.

Mitchell holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Miami University and a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Chicago. He is also a graduate of the Harvard Business School’s Advanced Management Program.

Travis Dobbins has served as senior vice president, chief technology officer for Valvoline Inc. since February 2023. In his role, he provides strategic and operational leadership for Valvoline Inc.’s IT team, which is responsible for desktop and cloud services, network, information security, retail store point-of-sale, customer experience platforms, as well as corporate applications that support finance, supply chain, HR and sales and analytics.

Dobbins joined Valvoline in 2010 where he led the technology team responsible for all Valvoline Instant Oil ChangeSM (VIOC) service centers nationwide. From there he held director and vice president roles responsible for all Valvoline retail technology platforms, business intelligence and analytics, digital products and overall end-to-end design and delivery of business platforms.

Before Valvoline Inc., he served for six years as a leader within the Ashland, Inc. technology group where he managed global business process solutions and ERP platforms.

Prior to his leadership roles at Valvoline and Ashland, he spent six years as a technology consultant at Plaut/IDS Scheer for companies including Paramount Studios and Raytheon.

Dobbins holds a bachelor’s degree in information technology from University of Louisville.

Heidi Matheys has served as senior vice president and chief commercial and transformation officer for Valvoline Inc. since March 2023. Prior to such time, she served as Valvoline chief marketing and transformation officer from October 2021 to February 2023, and as senior vice president and chief marketing officer from June 2016 to September 2021. Previously, she was senior vice president of do-it-yourself (DIY) channels, leading the Valvoline Commercial Packaged Goods (CPG) business. She joined Valvoline in 2012 as vice president of global brands.

As Chief Commercial and Transformation Officer, Matheys is currently leading innovation related to the future of mobility including understanding how consumer beliefs will impact the adoption of electric vehicles, macro-dynamics influencing the changing car parc and determining how Valvoline’s retail business should evolve to best meet future customer needs.  She also oversees B2B relationships with both fleet customers and automotive manufacturers.

Before joining Valvoline, Matheys spent more than 15 years in brand management and advertising at Johnson & Johnson, Novartis AG, Young & Rubicam and Graham Advertising.

In addition to her work at Valvoline, Matheys is passionate about helping the disadvantaged and building a strong community. She is currently on the Board of Directors for Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Bluegrass. She previously served on the Boards for both The Nest Center for Women, Children & Families and the Lexington, Kentucky Chamber of Commerce.

Matheys holds a master’s degree in business administration in finance and strategy from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Missouri School of Journalism.

Julie O’Daniel has served as chief legal officer and corporate secretary of Valvoline Inc. since September 2016 and senior vice president since January 2017. She is responsible for managing Valvoline Inc.’s legal and corporate governance matters and oversees Valvoline’s security team and environmental, health and safety group.

She served as lead commercial council for Valvoline and been part of the Valvoline leadership team since October 2012. She joined Ashland, Valvoline’s former parent company, in 2007 as senior counsel, managing complex litigation matters across Ashland’s business units.

Previously, O’Daniel was a partner at the law firm of Alston & Bird LLP in Atlanta, where she advised in the areas of securities litigation, mergers and acquisitions-related litigation, governmental investigations and other corporate matters.

O’Daniel holds a bachelor’s degree in marketing from Eastern Kentucky University and earned her J.D. from the University of Kentucky.