Cara France & Leah Solivan: Episode 997

Transcript

[0:00:54] FG: Today’s CEO has a unique opportunity to impact lives, industries, and the world in very real ways. Yet, most have few peers to turn to for guidance and perspective. Since 1950, YPO, the Young Presidents Organization, has helped CEOs engage, learn and grow. In the book, A World of Impact, Cara France shares powerful stories from members of the YPO Golden Gate Chapter. One of YPO’s most diverse and innovative chapters, YPO Golden Gate was the first to embrace 100% mixed gender forums as the norm. With this broader perspective, its CEOs report greater insight, awareness, and empathy at work and at home, positively impacting the businesses, communities, and lives they lead. This is the Author Hour Podcast, and I’m your host, Frank Garza. Today, I’m joined by Cara France and Leah Solivan. Cara is the author of a brand-new book, A World of Impact: Stories from CEOs on How YPO Helps Them Thrive, and Leah is the founder of TaskRabbit, and her story is one of those featured in the book. Cara and Leah, welcome to the show.

[0:02:12] LS: Thanks for having us.

[0:02:12] CF: Thank you.

[0:02:13] FG: So Leah, I’d love to start with you and just hear a little bit about your background please.

[0:02:17] LS: Great. Well, I grew up on the east coast in a very tiny town and found entrepreneurship kind of unexpectedly. I ended up becoming a math computer science major in college and then worked for IBM for about eight years, and then had the idea for a company called TaskRabbit, and I launched that company back in 2008 in the Boston area, which is where I was living at the time. Then, from there, I grew the company, ended up selling the company to IKEA in 2017 and since then, I’ve now been on the investing side. So full-time focused on early-stage tech investing and helping other entrepreneurs getting their businesses up and running.

[0:03:04] FG: Well, thank you for starting TaskRabbit, they’ve helped me many times in my life.

[0:03:08] LS: That’s great to hear.

[0:03:09] FG: Cara, how about you? Could you share some about your background?

[0:03:12] CF: Absolutely. So I also grew up on the east coast in the DC area and actually came from a family of entrepreneurs, and so I remember being 17 and riding around with my best friend and we decided we were going to go get our college degree and then get our MBAs and we were going to start a company together. So ultimately, I did end up starting a company in 2003. I stared Sage Group where we provide marketing consultants and contractors to dozens and dozens of Silicon Valley’s top brands and really grew Sage into one of the largest San Francisco Bay Area, women-owned businesses, and then a decade into that journey, we created a program called Marketers That Matter, which is a private peer-to-peer community of top marketing executives and we formed a first of its kind partnership with the Wall Street Journal. I coauthored 10 different Harvard Business Review articles on leadership and staffing and marketing. Then in 2019, Sage was acquired by 24 Seven, which is a Morgan Stanley Private Equity portfolio company. I now serve as an advisor and board member and I’m also a wife and a mother. I’ve been with my wonderful husband, Scott, for over 25 years, we have beautiful 16-year-old boy-girl twins, which keeps us on our toes.

[0:04:37] FG: So in this book, you all talk about YPO quite a bit and so I wanted to spend some time giving folks an introduction to what YPO is. So Cara, could you just talk about what is YPO, a little bit of the history behind it and how the organization works?

[0:04:56] CF: Yeah, absolutely. So YPO stands for Young Presidents Organization, and it is an international organization that was founded about 70 years ago with 450 chapters around the globe. Each chapter has anywhere from 30 to more than 200 members and each member is a CEO, they’re running a company. They could be a CEO for hire, they could be an entrepreneur like more of the as in my background or they could be running a family business, and I believe the requirements now is that they’re running a company that’s at least $15 million in revenue. So the idea is to bring all of these CEOs together into chapters and then within chapters, you have these forums, which have anywhere from eight to 12 members. The idea is you meet with your forum every month, they’re self-moderated, there is a very specific structured way of sharing, exploring issues. The idea is that that’s going to lead to connection and growth for the CEOs and it really becomes a forum not only for you to be a better business leader, to be a better spouse, to be a better parent, to be a better community member. So it’s really about this idea that a peer network, a group of likeminded folks that may be facing some of the same challenges that you’re facing yet have very different perspectives on it, can really add value, especially when it comes to the many challenges and complexities of—

[0:06:40] FG: Can you talk a little bit about your journey to finding the organization and deciding to join?

[0:06:46] CF: Absolutely. So I actually have never heard of YPO and in 2011, I literally got a cold call, which is very rare because I was on a list of top women owned businesses, and really learned about this organization and you know wondered, is this something that I want to take the time to do. I’m pretty busy and there is a lot going on, what is this? And what I learned as I explored and talked to folks was that this might be a great way for me to have peers and to have other CEOs that I could talk to about the many challenges that I was facing. In my case, I was an entrepreneur running a business, I didn’t have a board, I didn’t have investors. So there was very few people I could talk to about how to grow the business when we ran into big challenges, you know, what to do. For instance, our daughter hit some health challenges when the business was demanding a tremendous amount of me and trying to balance all that at the same time. So it’s just been helpful in so many different ways.

[0:07:52] FG: Cara, can you talk about why you decided to write this book and who the target audience for the book is?

[0:08:00] CF: Yeah, absolutely. So I would say, we wrote this book for a variety of reasons. One is that, there are many female CEOs that are out there who qualify for YPO but feel like they just don’t have the time to join yet one more thing, and I would say that for those of us who are in YPO, we’ve actually found the opposite, which is that when you make the time for YPO, you actually end up saving time because you get so much wisdom and perspective and feedback. It just saves you so much time in your own evolution or in the challenges you face or in helping to get input on important decisions. I think it also helps because you often times get perspectives and can avoid, often times pretty big mistakes by learning from peers. So we’ve really wanted to encourage women to make the time that might not have the time. The second pieces that I think that you know, it’s really important no matter who you are to have a peer network and to have a private confidential setting where you can speak your truth, ask questions, learn and grow, and what we’ve also found in our chapter in particular is that having men and women in forum together and learning from each other as CEOs is incredibly valuable, and we really wanted the men that are in YPO to also see the value of a more coed form model. Because if you go back even 10 or 20 years, the organization by definition has been more males than women and as more women CEOs come up through the ranks, it’s a real opportunity to learn and grow together and then I’m going to say finally, I think there’s just value in sharing authentically our journeys as leaders and you know, at the end of the day, we’re all human and we all have our careers and we have our spouses and children and communities and hobbies and so on. So I just believe and I think we believe that sharing authentically our stories, the things that worked really well and the things that didn’t, as a leader, every day you’re getting up and trying to inspire people and encourage people and evangelize, and so if things aren’t going well, you do not get up in front of a team and say, “Things aren’t going very well.” If something’s happening personally, you don’t say like, “My life is falling apart.” I think there’s incredible value though that to see that if you peel back, if you hear the stories, there is a lot of opportunities, there’s also a lot of heartache, there’s a lot of challenges and that seeing all of that just humanizes our experiences.

[0:11:13] FG: And Leah, can you talk a little bit about how the book is organized, structured put together, because I think that’s one unique part of it.

[0:11:22] LS: Yeah. I mean, I was really compelled to participate and be involved in the book because it’s alongside 17 other incredible business leaders and CEOs that are a part of our YPO chapter. I remember back actually when I was just getting started with TaskRabbit, there was a book I read called Founders at Work. That was interviews with these really early-stage founders and companies and I remember, that really inspiring me, actually, to make the leap into entrepreneurship. So this really felt like a great opportunity for the 18 of us to share all of our different stories and paths and perspectives and my hope is that you know, it is inspiring to someone who might be thinking about starting a business or thinking about entrepreneurship, because you really do get to hear a lot of the different stories and different perspectives and different paths that these CEOs have taken.

[0:12:18] FG: So each chapter is written by a different YPO member and you have a chapter Leah in part one called “Paying it Forward”, and part of what you share in that chapter is your journey into finding YPO and getting involved. Could you share that?

[0:12:35] LS: Absolutely. I mean, I think much like Cara, I hadn’t really heard about YPO before but I was introduced to YPO by another incredible female business leader named Mary Baker, and I met her at an event and she followed up with me. She came by the TaskRabbit office to tell me about YPO and you know, kind of shared her experience and her story and so I was intrigued. I mean, at the time, Task Rabbit was in its sort of awkward teenage years. We were growing pretty fast, there were a lot of challenges and there were a lot of things that I didn’t know how to do in juggling the growth of the business and so finding this peer group, what I would call sort of my personal board of directors, was really key and really important at that moment in my current, in my life. So I think the really nice thing about YPO and Cara has mentioned this is, is it’s really not only focused on business. It really looks at the whole person and you know, you can share business challenges but you can also talk about family and children and parenting and personal growth, and I actually met my husband in YPO because he was running another business, another company. So it had such a tremendous impact on my life and my journey and it did make the TaskRabbit business better as well, just because I was a better CEO and a better operator because of the support that I have through my YPO experience.

[0:14:14] FG: Yeah, you share in the chapter a number of challenges, obstacles you went through with TaskRabbit where you leaned on your YPO family for support and guidance, and I was wondering if you could just pick one of those examples and share with us how you did utilize the YPO group to get through that challenge.

[0:14:33] LS: Yeah. I mean, one of the biggest ones I can remember is just deciding whether or not to sell the company. It was such a huge decision and we had had this great partnership that we had kicked off with IKEA, and so they were involved in this process but there were other players as well that had made bids on the company and, as a founder, for me anyway, it always felt like I wanted to build something that lived beyond me, but it was also about finding the right time to move on personally, and to be able to hand over the keys or give up your baby to someone else to take the reins and shepherd on is a big decision and a big deal. So that was definitely something that I brought to my forum and people in YPO and you know, other CEO had sold their businesses before, had sold their companies, had made this transition. So I was able to hear about their experiences and their challenges and things they looked back on and wish had gone differently or things that had gone really, really well and they would repeat again. So it’s really about having those shared experiences to be able to tap into and you know, ultimately, I did decide to sell the business to Ikea and it has been great. It has been a great outcome and it’s something that I look back on and say like, I’m not sure I could have felt as confident about that decision without this peer group involved in helping me get there.

[0:16:06] FG: So your chapter, “Paying it Forward”, what are some of the key take aways you hope people get from reading through that?

[0:16:15] LS: Yeah. I mean, I think it’s just really about, for me and my background, I didn’t grow up with a lot of business leaders around or a lot of other entrepreneurs and so I hadn’t seen a business built before, and there was a huge learning curve and so I think being able to find those mentors, find those peer groups, find that community that is really going to help you as a leader, as a business leader, really thrive and become successful and whatever way that you want to be. You know, it’s really about finding that group to plug into and to be able to tap into them as a support system.

[0:16:54] FG: So Cara, there’s all these different authors that have shared their story in this book and I was wondering if you could just give us a flavor of all the different types of folks that are represented in these chapters?

[0:17:06] CF: Absolutely Frank, that’s a great question. It was so much fun and such an honor to put together and collaborate and curate the stories of 18 extraordinary people and of their CEOs. I think really intriguing and interesting about the book is we picked 18 book folks from our chapter and there’s just an incredible plethora of folks and from a diversity standpoint, just so many different stories, so you have a lot of different companies represented. For instance, we have the CEO of Google Ventures and the former CEO of Open Table, the managing partner of McKenzie. We also have companies that you know, are in retail and healthcare and software and finance and food services. So, a huge variety of companies. You have some that are entrepreneurs, some that are CEOs for hire and some that are family businesses. We have a mix of women and men, you have people who are American, Indian, Mexican and Iranian and Chinese. Just in every way, some are introvert, some are extroverts, some have a very strong business background, others really came to it from their industry expertise and I think that’s what makes our chapter and this book so interesting, is there really is I think something for everyone and insights, and it really sheds light on I think, the value of having so many different stories and so many different experiences and what can we learn from that.

[0:18:52] FG: Well, writing a book is such a feat. So congratulations on putting this out into the world. Before we wrap up, I just like to ask each of you, is there anything else about you or the book that you want to make sure our listeners know?

[0:19:06] LS: I mean, I’ll jump in and just say, I truly believe there is an entrepreneur in every single one of us. No matter where you are, what are you doing, where you’re working or not working, I don’t think it matters. I think it’s a mindset, and so what I love about being able to share all of these different stories and perspectives is hopefully, it gives people the encouragement to kind of tap into that entrepreneurial mindset, so that they can make the most out of whatever they’re focused on or whatever they’re doing.

[0:19:43] CF: I think for me to that point, I think again, sort of to Leah’s point of everyone has an entrepreneur in them, I also think we’re all human. Each and every one of us has our careers and we’re also parents and spouses, community members. I think any time you can surround yourself with a great peer group, if done well, it can help you thrive. I think the takeaway that I’m hoping people will get from this book is, maybe it’s YPO or maybe it’s another group but the value of coming together in community and learning from each other and growing together and having somebody that is willing to be a truth-sayer, I think helps everyone thrive.

[0:20:34] FG: Cara and Leah, thank you so much, this has been a real pleasure. The book is called, A World of Impact: Stories from CEOs on How YPO Helps Them Thrive. Besides checking out the book, where can people find each of you?

[0:20:48] LS: So I could be found on Twitter @labunleashed, you can also just email me, leah@fuelcapital.com. I would love to chat with people and hear what they hear about the book.

[0:21:00] CF: I can be reached at cara@beinthequestion.com and also the book can be found, A World of Impact, at Amazon.

[0:21:14] FG: Thank you Cara and Leah.

[0:21:15] LS: Thank you Frank, this was great.

[0:21:16] CF: Thank you, Frank.

[0:21:20] FG: Thinks for joining us for this episode of Author Hour. You can find, A World of Impact, on Amazon. A transcript of this episode, as well as all of our previous episodes is available at authorhour.co. For more Author Hour, subscribe to this podcast on your favorite subscription service. Thanks for joining us, we’ll see you next time. Same place, different author.