Todd Putman has moved from managing malls to a top job at a chain you can find in many of them.

His career path started at the marketing department of Procter & Gamble after his college years. Later, he held senior executive positions at the Walt Disney Co. and Coca-Cola Co. He was most recently a mall manager for Westfield Group. Putman recently joined frozen yogurt chain Pinkberry as vice president of marketing.

“I am responsible for everything, from understanding who the Pinkberry customer is to designing and marketing strategies and concepts that let the company grow strong,” Putman said. “My job is to expand the brand as we look at different shops around the country and the world.”

There is no usual day for Putman, for whom business trips east are common. He spends most of his time in various stores in California and New York state to observe the customer experience and come up with ways to improve it.

When he’s at the L.A. headquarters, he meets with the company’s executive team to review their visions and concepts, and to make sure they are all moving in the same direction.

Putman said his current job is comparable to his previous position as mall manager for Westfield.

“I spent a lot of time doing something very similar, looking at the retail environment to figure out how to market individual malls to optimize the customer experience,” he said.

He noted that his previous experience in the retail industry prepared him for the challenges of working for a food-service company. “They both need a lot of customer interaction” from store employees, Putman said.

Another plus for Putman is the product itself. The executive says that on some days he has had as many as five servings of frozen yogurt.

Putman lives in Sherman Oaks with his wife, Rachel, and two daughters, Bailey and Nella. He likes to spend his free time with his children.