The One Decision That Changed Everything: Paige Arnof-Fenn Of Mavens & Moguls On How a Single Choice Redefined My Leadership Journey
An Interview With Cynthia Corsetti
Transformational leaders get additional training and education if/when they need it. I know having an MBA helped smooth my career transition and gave me credibility as an entrepreneur. I am so much happier in a career that allows me to use both sides of my brain, explore a more creative path and use my business acumen in all sizes and types of businesses from the very largest public companies to venture-backed startups and now running my own firm. If you are not excited by your job, I am a big fan of finding ways to bridge to another track by leveraging transferable skills.
As a part of this series, we are interviewing interviewing Paige Arnof-Fenn.
Paige is the founder & CEO of global branding and digital marketing firm Mavens & Moguls based in Cambridge, MA. Her clients include Microsoft, Virgin, venture-backed startups as well as non profit organizations. She graduated from Stanford University and Harvard Business School. She serves on several Boards, is a popular speaker and columnist who has written for Entrepreneur and Forbes.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series. Before we dive into our discussion, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you share with us the backstory about what brought you to your specific career path?
I did not plan on starting a company. I always wanted to go work for a global business and be a Fortune 500 CEO. When I was a student I looked at leaders like Meg Whitman & Ursula Burns as my role models. I started Mavens & Moguls after beginning my career on Wall Street in the 80s and having a successful career in Corporate America at companies like Procter & Gamble and Coca-Cola and then working at 3 different startups as the head of marketing. All 3 startups had positive exits. I took the leap right after 9/11 when the company I worked for cut their marketing. I had nothing to lose. Running a global marketing business provides me a platform to do work I truly enjoy with and for people I respect. It has been a journey to get here but I am lucky to have found it. I love the autonomy, flexibility and the fact that I know every day the impact that I have on my business. When I worked at big companies I always felt the ball would roll with or without me, that if I got hit by a bus someone new would be in my office right away. Now my DNA is in everything we do and I can trace every decision and sale to something I did or a decision I made and that is incredibly gratifying and fulfilling. Like most entrepreneurs, I am working harder and longer than ever and I have never been happier. Working for yourself and building a business you started in incredibly rewarding and gratifying. It has been a lot of fun, I joke that I am the accidental entrepreneur. I knew I had made it as an entrepreneur when Harvard wrote 2 case studies on my business a few years after I started it, we were very early to pioneer sharing resources on the marketing front (before my company it was really only done with HR, legal and accounting/finance).
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career?
I started my career in finance on Wall Street in the 80s. I realized early on it was not a good fit so I wanted to switch career tracks. Being a Financial Analyst in investment banking paid well but the hours and lifestyle did not leave time for anything else and I really did not enjoy the work even though I was always good with numbers and strong analytically. I wanted to find work that was a better balance between my left and right brain. A friend at the bank helped me realize my skills and strengths could be put to better use. We worked in different groups but often grabbed lunch or hung out together on weekends. After our 2 year commitments were done we traveled together to Spain & Portugal before going off to business school.
One day on a beach in the Algarve we discussed what we wanted to do after grad school and she said she loved finance and would stay in the field after her MBA. I had really disliked my job and knew I wanted to do something else but had no idea what that would be, all I had ever wanted to do was finance and banking so I was stuck. She prodded and said there HAD to be parts of my job over the past 2 years I had enjoyed and finally I said yes there were in fact 3 things I liked about it — running ads in the WSJ & NYT when deals closed, planning the closing dinners to celebrate the end of a successful transaction & choosing the “deal toys” to commemorate the event. She blurted out “Paige I have no idea why you always thought you were a finance person, every single thing you liked about the job is marketing NOT finance! You liked advertising, event planning & promotions. You are a marketing person! That is what you should be doing!” She was right. I got the top grade in my first year required marketing course for my MBA and a great summer internship that lead to a full time offer in marketing post graduation. I have never looked back. Being comfortable using data is a big competitive advantage in marketing too. She & I are still friends and I am forever grateful to her for setting me on such a fulfilling career path. I have no idea how long it would have taken me to figure it out without her brilliant insight when we were 23. She saved me a lot of career angst for sure!
On Wall Street I learned to jump in and roll up my sleeves, come in early and stay late. I worked really hard and built a great reputation for having a strong work ethic and being fun and easy to work with. This is great for entrepreneurship too! In my experience when you are curious and ask a lot of questions people appreciate working with smart people who enjoy learning. Pay your dues, get great experience learning from smart people in well run organizations who train and develop your skills so you will be prepared and set yourself up for success. Great opportunities tend to follow great teams and talent so I have found when you learn from the best doors open and interesting ideas/options appear. You have to keep your antenna up! Entrepreneurs have to be driven, focused, intensely curious and always be looking for the next way to make something better, be a good listener, show respect for great ideas, and be a strong communicator. With these traits and a strong work ethic you will be a success.
What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?
Our name really sets us apart it think. For my company when I started the firm I jokingly referred to the women as the Marketing Mavens & the guys as the Marketing Moguls & for short I called them Mavens & Moguls as a working name but never expected it would stick. I did research over e-mail with prospective clients, referrers, media, etc & tested ~100 names. Mavens & Moguls was one choice on the list & to my great delight & surprise it came out as a clear winner. It has helped us be memorable and stand out from the pack. Because I have a hyphenated last name half the battle is for clients to be able to find you when they need your help. I have had clients tell me they could not remember anything other than my first name & one word of my company so they googled Paige & Mavens and we popped right up. I was at an event one day and a venture capitalist started waving in my direction and shouted “hi Maven!” across the crowd, everyone looked my way and we ended up getting introduced to a portfolio company that hired us! Names contribute to your brand and in our case I think it has been a major plus. Maven is Yiddish for expert and a Mogul is someone of rank, power or distinction in a specified area. I like the alliteration and I think it sets us apart from other consulting firms. It shows a little personality & attitude and implies we do not take ourselves too seriously. Would you rather hire “Strategic Marketing Solutions” or Mavens & Moguls? We are the “not your father’s Oldsmobile” of marketing firms. If nothing else our name is a great conversation starter and getting into a conversation is all it takes to open a door.
You are a successful business leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?
Resilience is so important, having the mental toughness and the ability to bounce back from adversity or the inevitable setbacks. Covid has definitely made me/my business more resilient. There have been so many times in my career where things did not go as I had hoped/planned but with each setback, I learned important lessons which made me more resilient and able to bounce back stronger/mentally tougher/try again. Getting a bad grade on a quiz as a student made me work harder for the midterm and final so I could end the term strong, not getting into the Ivy League college in the early round lead me to a place that was a perfect fit for me academically where I met lifelong friends including my husband. When doors shut find the open ones to see where they lead.
Other traits I rely on are persistence, determination, and the ability to focus, which are all really important to succeed. I also recommend having a strong moral compass — you cannot compromise on ethics and values, being smart/technically competent and working hard to earn the respect of the team. It’s a bonus to have a great sense humor and be fun to work with!
Ok, thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the primary focus of our interview. What was the pivotal decision that transformed your approach to leadership, and what prompted you to make it?
After 3 years in brand management in a Fortune 500 company I decided to jump off the “fast track” and quit which made my bosses and parents concerned. I knew I was burning out and needed a change so took the summer off, traveled, took some classes and rebooted my career on a totally different path. I was told I’d regret it and was making a big career mistake but I trusted my gut and it really paid off. I went from middle management to leader and have never looked back. In the next job after that one 3 years later I even helped my former boss’ boss get a senior job which was under mine. In retrospect everyone could see what a great decision it had been. That was 1994 and I have been a C-level leader ever since.
How did this single choice impact your personal growth and your view on what it means to lead?
I learned to trust my gut instincts and stick to my core values so that defining success became intensely personal. Instead of looking at leadership in terms of finish lines — numbers, job titles, houses or cars, or a level of public profile — I factor in things like whether I get to do work that at least sometimes lets me feel like I made a genuine difference in the lives of other people. Success to me is about working with people I respect and admire for people I want to help succeed. To me, growth for growth’s sake is meaningless, but profitable growth with interesting clients solving important problems is what keeps me engaged and excited. It’s about the ability to spend time with people I love and care about. Creating an environment where your employees and customers feel valued and appreciated makes me feel proud that I have built a successful business.
What were some of the immediate and long-term effects of this decision on your team or organization?
I think I started attracting colleagues and clients more aligned with my values as a result. When everyone brings their very best to all interactions that is when magic occurs and flow becomes the norm. It’s hard to compete with organizations that always operate in their zone of excellence. When you know your strengths and sweet spot and can target the right audience for the right reason everybody wins.
How did you handle any uncertainty or doubt while making this critical choice?
In my experience the best leaders get comfortable being uncomfortable. You rarely have all the info you want to make decisions. Leadership is scary but you can’t wait for the perfect time to act; you just have to course correct as you get more feedback along the way. Learn to get comfortable making decisions without perfect information. Leaders never give up on what they believe, goals and vision can become reality when you pursue them with intention and courage. When you learn from every setback you make better mistakes over time, and in my experience that is where you learn the most! You learn to do by doing. Course correct and pivot along the way, it makes for a fulfilling career.
What lessons did you learn from this decision that you continue to apply in your leadership today?
You learn a lot more from tough leadership situations than easy ones, when things work well you never really know why, but in my experience when a situation blows up and you take the time to do a post mortem you can clearly see in retrospect where things broke down or which assumptions were incorrect and that is knowledge you will never forget again. Wisdom that comes from age and experience is gold. That is also where you make lifelong connections from being in the trenches together.
What are your “Five Things You Need to be a Transformational Leader”?
1 . Having a growth mindset and being able to adapt to change is critical to stay nimble today, which is core to survival/success. Transformational leaders can never stop learning/experimenting, must always stay focused on the future and see opportunities ahead by embracing a culture of learning/growth. It takes effort and a commitment to excellence for people to continually learn/grow especially now in a hybrid/remote environment. I do not think there is one silver bullet strategy to keep your skills sharp and fresh, I recommend using a combination of reading and learning online and off, attending conferences and talks, networking, newsletters from influencers, TED talks, podcasts, finding mentors and listening to all feedback good and bad. To stay relevant and keep growing I try to prioritize professional development to keep skills fresh and stay on top of new trends and technologies.
2 . The key to survival for transformational leaders in these unprecedented and uncertain times is about staying agile. The world was forced to pause and hit the reset button during the pandemic while the pace of life and business changed. How we both live and work is different now so it is a great time to apply the project management principles of Agile to all parts of our lives focusing on iterative incremental changes, open communication and feedback, staying flexible, sharing learnings across our networks and recognizing that small wins are still wins. This has become the new normal to survive post pandemic. We have all come to value and appreciate individuals and interactions over process and tools, collaboration more than negotiations, and responding to change over following a plan. Pivoting to online meetings, webinars, events, etc. is a smart and productive way companies like mine can continue to have conversations that educate and inform, build relationships and move forward during this uncertain period.
3 . Transformational leaders get additional training and education if/when they need it. I know having an MBA helped smooth my career transition and gave me credibility as an entrepreneur. I am so much happier in a career that allows me to use both sides of my brain, explore a more creative path and use my business acumen in all sizes and types of businesses from the very largest public companies to venture-backed startups and now running my own firm. If you are not excited by your job, I am a big fan of finding ways to bridge to another track by leveraging transferable skills.
4. In retrospect transformational leaders may look back at what you thought was a bad situation and realize it was a blessing in disguise. Whether you were passed up for the promotion, did not get the job offer or missed the deadline for the launch you learn that as Winston Churchill said failure is not fatal and being resilient and getting back up and trying again is really what matters in life. One leader who was tough on me early in my career became a champion and advocate years later. Great leaders taught me that we tend to think of failure as a bad thing, but it is not. Failure means you are trying new things, big things. Failure is part of the process getting to success. The goal is to fail quickly and cheaply but just never fail the same way twice.
5 . For best results find a mentor, I have had great mentors and champions throughout my career. In my corporate life I had bosses, senior women or alums from my alma maters who took me under their wings to help me grow and show me the ropes Mentors come and go as your career evolves. Different people can play important roles in your journey at different stages. They can share their experience and perspective. Expectations have to be managed, for me I had mentors who I counted on for tough love and others to help me expand my thinking or role in the community. Mentors have different strengths and connections that can help. I think everyone can benefit from strong mentoring. The world is always changing and we can all learn new things along the way. Transformation cannot happen in a vacuum. Surround yourself with smart people you trust to help you get there faster and smoother and make the most impact.
Were there any unexpected challenges or rewards that emerged from this choice?
As a transformational leader there are many ups and downs but most would agree that the excitement and joy of bringing your vision and ideas to life is incredibly fulfilling and dealing with the bumps in the road is just part of the adventure. To stay motivated during the rough times I try to maintain perspective by taking good care of myself, getting exercise, seeing friends and family and reminding myself that I can always go back to work for others but when I open the file with all the notes and kudos I have gotten from customers and colleagues with praise and encouragement along with sincere thanks for helping them or making a difference through my business it is just the kick in the pants I need to keep going. Start a file with cards, notes, e-mails, etc. and dust it off when you are stuck so that you can be reminded of not just who you are and what you do but why you do it. That always works for me!
How has this decision influenced the advice or guidance you offer to emerging leaders?
Learn from everyone. When I look back over my career and think about the great leaders I worked with the common denominator was that they were all very smart, not threatened by talent & energy, had paid their dues so earned the respect of their peers and managers, and they acknowledged their teams for their efforts. The best leaders motivate through their words and actions so the team puts the organization’s needs ahead of their own. They are consistent so that the correct actions and behavior is rewarded, upholding the mission and vision of their organizations, delivering on the commitments they make. By doing this they inspire their teams to achieve goals together beyond what they could have accomplished alone. They acknowledge their teams for their efforts and always treat them with dignity and respect. Emulate the best and learn lessons from every type/style to find what’s authentic and effective for you.
You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)
I would love to inspire a movement of kindness/generosity and find ways to incorporate the lessons of gratitude, simplicity, friendship and love into the new normal so we do not forget what we learned in the pandemic over past few years.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
www.MavensAndMoguls.com and https://www.linkedin.com/in/paigearnoffenn
Thank you for the time you spent sharing these fantastic insights. We wish you only continued success in your great work!
Thanks so much it’s been my pleasure! Stay well.
About the Interviewer: Cynthia Corsetti is an esteemed executive coach with over two decades in corporate leadership and 11 years in executive coaching. Author of the upcoming book, “Dark Drivers,” she guides high-performing professionals and Fortune 500 firms to recognize and manage underlying influences affecting their leadership. Beyond individual coaching, Cynthia offers a 6-month executive transition program and partners with organizations to nurture the next wave of leadership excellence.
