WeightWatchers CEO Sima Sistani discusses the importance of community in the digital age

The WeightWatchers CEO and former tech founder on being a leader, the ongoing shift to digital engagement, how growing up as a first-generation American informed her understanding of community

“There’s a saying about luck,” Sima Sistani related to All Raise CEO Paige Hendrix Buckner and our All Raise community during a recent Power Conversation, “that luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity. I think that the same thing is true about me becoming CEO, in both cases that I’ve been CEO. I didn’t seek it out at first — I almost fell into it — but the circumstances demanded that leadership from me.”

Not just anybody would think to contact a major corporation like WeightWatchers and offer their expertise during a pandemic, but that’s exactly what Sima did. When Paige asked Sima what inspired her to set off on the path that eventually led to her current role, Sima responded: “I’m somebody who’s had success on the WeightWatchers program. I loved it. I reached out to the board at the time to see if I could be helpful in providing some learnings about building digital-first networks. And it was 2 years later that that same board reached out to me and asked if I would consider interviewing to be CEO. But it wasn’t so much inspiration, but preparation,” that ensured she’d be up to the challenge.

I’m somebody who’s had success on the WeightWatchers program. I loved it. I reached out to the board at the time to see if I could be helpful in providing some learnings about building digital-first networks.

Sima didn’t just become the CEO of WeightWatchers. She became the youngest BIPOC woman to take the lead at a publicly traded company. “My journey is not a straight line,” she told the All Raise audience.“I can make it all make sense in hindsight,” she explained, saying that if you read her bio, you’ll note that: “it’s carefully written and curated to sound like I connected all of those dots, like in one of my daughter’s coloring books. But the truth is that as I was progressing through my career, it really wasn’t that calculating or thoughtful.” Instead, she said, she built her career around an important piece of advice she received in her first job out of school, at Goldman Sachs. “I had an amazing managing director — one of the few women managing directors at Goldman — and she told me: ‘You will spend more of your time working than you will eating, sleeping, and being with your loved ones. So you better f***ing love it,’ And I’ve lived by that.” Since then, Sima added, “Every new challenge was something that had to make me excited to wake up and to win.”

You will spend more of your time working than you will eating, sleeping, and being with your loved ones. So you better f***ing love it…

But even before embarking on her career, Sima was aware of the challenges in her life, and the opportunities they presented her and her family. The first-generation Iranian-American was born in Texas and raised in Alabama in a small community of Iranian immigrants. She watched her parents work hard to learn a new language (“My mom learned English watching Sesame Street with me,” she noted) and earn a living in a country far from their own. As challenging as those early years were, they also gave Sima the opportunity to bear witness to the power of community. The other immigrant families, she said, “adopted each other as family and the support network,” calling the other adults she grew up around her “uncles and aunties.” So, from a very young age, Sima explained, “community was ingrained in me as being something powerful and special.”

This is a concept Sima has continued to adopt throughout her career, “whether it was Tumblr or the networks that I’ve built or helped catalyze, like Houseparty and Fortnite.” WeightWatchers, which has long centered on building connections to create healthy accountability, seemed like a natural extension of Sima’s belief in the power of community. “One of the things that I expressed when I was interviewing for this role, and every day when I talk to our employees, is that

my mission here is for us to build a digital blue zone,” she explained, referring to places in the world where “people achieve the most longevity, not just because of how they move or what they eat, but because their social circles keep them accountable to those healthy habits, and ultimately help them live to be centenarians. I think it’s really critical — and I’ve lived it. And I continue to build it today.”

Prior to the pandemic, Sima explained, a large proportion of WeightWatchers’ members kept connected through in-person meetings — in fact, 80% of their customer base went from being mostly analog to having to connect digitally. Her experience building communities online is what inspired WeightWatchers to invite her to interview for her role. “And,” she confessed, “I’m gonna be honest: I went into it with all kinds of imposter syndrome. I was so humbled, and I just thought, well, maybe I’ll at least get to meet Oprah out of this, because she’s on the Board of Directors of WeightWatchers.”

But that impostor syndrome quickly gave way to the realization that: “I was exactly what the company needed. The company and the program were still in the number-one seat, but they were going to be disrupted. It became clear to me that in order for WeightWatchers to continue to be number-one, they needed to put a disruptor in the seat to transform the company from analog to digital, from marketing-led to product-led.” That realization, Sima said, “Gave me the confidence to say, no, actually everything I’ve learned in digitizing social relationships and growth tech has set me up to take on this role and to help impact the global health outcomes of millions of people. So now, we’re not just going to be the leaders in weight loss, but also in health.”

It became clear to me that in order for WeightWatchers to continue to be number-one, they needed to put a disruptor in the seat to transform the company from analog to digital, from marketing-led to product-led.

Sima’s approach seems to be working. “I believe deeply in our strategy,” she explained. “I am really optimistic about it, but I’m also following our numbers and our KPIs, and I’m keeping myself honest about whether or not we need to pivot from that direction. So far our numbers are going in the right direction — year to date, we’re up about 150%. So I’m feeling really confident right now.”

And if that changes? “I do think it’s important for every leader to know whether they’re the right person for the context at the time. I’m renting this title, and there will be a better leader for this company at a different point. I’m the right leader for right now — I believe that. But I think that we all, as leaders need to be humble. We’re seeing this in politics, seeing more people overstay their welcome. Let’s all remember that, and wake up checking in with ourselves on that front.”

See our full Power Conversation with Sima Sistani here.