I spent my twenties working for people in charge (3 CEOs and a GM)—some better than others. Here are some things I learned:
- you have to lead with integrity first and foremost
- people are the foundation of a successful business
- there is often no playbook—there are many things that even the best business schools can’t prepare you for
- at the end of the day, no matter the level, everyone is just a person trying to do their best to make decisions given the information on hand
- being CEO is a lonely role
- being CEO isn’t for everyone, and not everyone with ambition should strive for the title
- surround yourself with young people with fresh ideas and older people who know how to vet them
- you don’t have to be the smartest person in the room but you can’t be the dumbest
- you will make brutal mistakes, you will disappoint and you will fail, but it’s how you handle those moments that matter most
- not letting go of control will cost you—you can’t scale a business unless you trust your employees
- hiring the right people is both art and science
- your energy affects your employees
- always be honest, even white lies are corrosive
- as soon as employees lose trust in you as a person, they lose trust in you as a leader
- ship ugly things—shoot first, aim later
- leadership at the highest levels has to be able to think about the future, customers, the org, and the bottom line at once
- a company’s success is based on the following formula: having a product people need x a strong company culture x the right people in the right roles x decision-making power x execution
- celebrate successes and directly link successes back to decisions
- raise expectations of what you and your team can accomplish
- encourage others to take initiative and bring ideas forward
- failure is a learning exercise, but only if you process that failure
- data is only half of the story
- simplify… simplify… simplify
- own diversity and inclusion, it is not someone else's job
- when someone believes in you—believe them
My background is in design and innovation. I started my career working at a luxury chocolate company, working directly with the founder/CEO to conceptualize and implement Wild Ophelia, Vosges’ more mass-market sister brand. I then moved to work internally at Slalom, a privately-owned consulting firm with almost 1B ARR, working with the GM to create and execute a leader eminence and content strategy for our Chicago Market.
I left Chicago to move to New York to work for a VC-backed healthcare startup to help build and launch an iOS app, web app, and several clinical spaces. It was here that the CEO recognized my instinct to create design goals within the context of our broader business goals. He introduced me to the concept of having a "Chief of Staff,” nascent at the time, and asked me to be his.
A year later, the startup failed, resulting in a lot of lessons learned and a desire to continue to learn about business through the Chief of Staff perspective. I accepted a role as Chief of Staff to the CEO of Getty Images, Craig Peters, after hearing his 3-year plan to return Getty Images once again to the public market.
In my 3.5 years with Getty, I helped restructure the business, set company strategy, acquire a company, and most recently, return Getty Images once again to the public market. In my 3.5 years with Craig, I learned what it means to be an excellent leader, how to evaluate the operations of a global business, and how to thoughtfully build for the future.
In retrospect, all of my roles have required me to possess a balance of commercial and creative understanding while working closely with leadership. These experiences have naturally led me to entrepreneurism, where I find myself today. More about why I left Getty to pursue social tech here.