Sarah Broderick, Our New CFO, on Joining Known, Life-long Learning… and Chili Peppers
Today we announced our new CFO, Sarah Broderick, who joined Known just two weeks ago. I had a chance to sit and chat with her about her leadership approach, why she chose Known, and so much more…
JK: First things, first — welcome to Known!
SB: Thank you! I am absolutely psyched to become a part of this story and am so eager to dig in.
JK: You’ve led finance and operations for some huge brands and businesses, from NBCU to ViceMedia to WME. You could work anywhere. Why here?
SB: The simple answer is, this is what I want to do! I think we get so caught up in what the linear progression of our careers is supposed to be, we sometimes create misconceptions that define what “advancement” or “success” is. I had the fortune of taking a couple years to start my own business. I think without that creative space, I probably would have continued to climb through this path. Luckily, though, I was able in this period to really establish a clear view on what constitutes my own definition of success, and how I could build a clearly defined “portfolio” approach to where and how I spend my time and what I crave professionally.
“The pandemic gave us all space to reevaluate our priorities. And as a result of all of that, my priorities became clear.”
I wanted to spend time with business models that are data driven, profitable and rooted in a creative environment. To ensure I can bring myself to a place where I can really see the impact of my prior experience manifest itself in a company that has a good pulse on where media, advertising and entertainment are going. I also wanted to make sure I would be able to maintain the space to continue to focus on issues and organizations that I care about, including The FEAT and where I serve on boards; and I wanted to be part of an organization that sees the value my multi-dimensional experiences bring to the company.
“I wanted to be part of an organization that sees the value my multi-dimensional experiences bring to the company.”
So first, and foremost, from a business perspective, I 100% believe in the underlying business model and the unique offering Known provides its clients and I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t think that this model is the future of marketing. It is no secret for those who know me professionally that I believe data powers the mind and creative genius powers our emotions. But each on its own falls flat in this industry, and soon will not be monetizable. Alternatively, when you can efficiently combine the data and creativity you create incredibly differentiated influence. And if you can attract the smartest people and generate a culture that feeds off that energy and influence, you really have something.
I believe in this business, I love the culture and people.
JK: What did you take away from your other roles? Any particular lessons or experiences that guide you as a leader today?
SB: My leadership journey began really early. I played softball at the University of Connecticut and captained many teams throughout my early life, so my leadership approach is probably rooted in an athletic mentality; as in “don’t be the victim,” “you own your decisions,” and you are better off surrounding yourself with people who are better than you. That mentality has served me well. If anything, some of my professional experiences have taught me that ego can be bad. Someone else’s home run doesn’t directly cause you to strike out when you are on the same team. Life and career are not zero-sum games, and you have to be willing to embrace the fact that your role as a leader is not in itself about you.
I have been fortunate in that early in my career I benefited from places like Deloitte, GE, NBCUniversal & Comcast where leadership training is a part of the constitution of the company, and I do not take that formal training and experience for granted. For example, leading SEC reporting and the Accounting operations across 100 countries at GE taught me the power and value of communication, specifically on how information rises through the organization and how it filters down. That experience shaped my views that a company’s organizational structure is the bedrock for being able to grow and scale and if not managed appropriately, it can be devastating. Also, I would say that in companies like these, mistakes can move global markets, and my experience in roles of that magnitude was incredibly valuable in shaping perspective on what constitutes “complex.”
On the flip side, it was not until I joined founder-led, growth companies like Endeavor and VICE Media, that I really honed in on what I consider a critical characteristic of a leader, which is this ability to recognize the difference between a situation and a crisis, and specifically how impactful issues that may seem to be small on the surface can be on a growing organization. I think it is natural to focus our critique of great leaders on how they managed through challenging times or the size of their organizations. But growth is really, really hard, and bearing those burdens on behalf of an organization so that the employees don’t have to, is something I really learned through my roles in these companies.
I guess, finally, and maybe this is more generic than specifically tied to an experience, but I think you must be a life-long learner to be a great leader. And you must be willing to gain that knowledge from places other than just those that determine your bonus. Your knowledge comes from so many places and your willingness to listen and absorb from those who work for you and around you and have opinions that are different than yours shapes good outcomes. Leaders are naturally very curious humans, and that inherent curiosity in a good leader naturally drives them to influence others and surround themselves with diverse viewpoints and backgrounds.
“You must be a life-long learner to be a great leader.”
JK: How should non-finance people think about the role of finance in an organization like Known?
SB: First, I think there is a tendency to view support functions like finance as “cost centers,” or as necessary administrative infrastructure. But at a company like Known, we aren’t selling soap (no intended offense to soap sellers). Our people are both our revenue source and our largest cost. And therefore, we must have not just “an understanding” but a better understanding than our competition in terms of which types of projects make money, what practices have potential for growth, and where our people spend their time in order to allocate resources and capital strategically to fuel the growth of the business. Our growth is dependent on a strong finance function that is fully integrated with the businesses and its contribution is valuable to what we offer our clients. Because as Known “knows” more than anyone, data is a superpower, and financial data can be just as powerful as any other data.
Second, I would say that gone are the days where HR, Legal, Finance and businesses are siloed. Getting good financial information does not start and end with finance, and financial data is largely determined by business inputs. In order to create that competitive advantage of knowing the economics of everything Known does, the process starts from the beginning, including everything from how employees are hired and engaged and compensated to how we interact with customers. We have to be focused on the whole process; from the point we acquire a customer, to project set up, to tracking progress, to billing and collecting — all the inputs are important. The business handoffs that may seem ‘administrative’ or ‘unnecessary detail’ through that process are what create good information. Getting it right, stops inefficient use of time on all fronts and allow us to direct that human capital time and energy to our clients. When you can nail the infrastructure, you have set yourself up for scale and growth.
JK: You clearly spend a lot of time thinking about the way women engage in a modernized workplace. You founded THE FEAT and have a book coming out. Can you tell us about that?
SB: Oh, where to begin. I am very passionate about this topic and could talk about it for days. As COO of VICE, I spent a considerable amount of time from 2017 and 2018 leading through the #MeToo movement. That experience also coincided with a 15-month period in which I had my two daughters. I was commuting over 5 hours a day to Brooklyn, and literally had not unpacked my stroller. And so, when I decided to leave the Company at the end of 2018, I figured I would take a few months off to re-set and jump right back into a similar professional cadence.
But these experiences coincided with an unexpected revelation, which was that as I spent more time in Connecticut, I became overwhelmed by the amount of highly educated, experienced professional women who were not working. And their reasons had nothing to do with all the focus that Companies were putting on #MeToo-related topics. Rather, the issues that kicked these women out of the prime of their careers were overwhelming operational, structural and practical.
I set out to find a solution to capture this workforce, and I really wanted to seek a way to normalize and de-stigmatize independent or non-traditional workforces to overcome the “resume-gap” that often plagues professional women. I became passionate during this process and developed the view that not only was much of the DE&I spend in corporate America completely ineffective, but all of the focus was limited to initiatives inside their own organizations. Yet no one was focused on the impact on advancing women outside their organizations, which if you do the math, is most senior women since they have already left their companies.
And to give a little fodder to our own data-driven “Knowners,” I became even more convinced that if companies like Known can pinpoint what type of coffee I drink at 11:12 am every morning, or what kind of news I like to read at lunch, or even the photographic angle in an ad I’m likely to click on, than we must have a better way to capture the data related to the indirect impact companies have on the advancement of women outside of their organizations.
So, I did what every highly motivated individual with creative whitespace for the first time in their adult life would do… I formed The FEAT, I wrote a book: called No Small FEAT: Work, Women and the Hidden Workforce, which lays out all the operational obstacles standing in the way of Senior — level advancement. And to complete the trifecta, I wrote a children’s illustrated series, called Tiny FEATs that is a set of 6 books, all told from the vantage point of Mama’s three children as they explore the various leadership positions of their friends’ mamas. I was packaging the books for a publisher (with the bar for success being merely that maybe my mom and her book club might buy them), when we approached the Spring of 2020.
When the Pandemic hit in March 2020, it took us all surprise. In my case, in one week, and in the subsequent months that followed, all the things I had written about in my 200-page missive suddenly seemed possible. People were working from home, dogs were barking in the background, you know the drill. So, I resurfaced the book last fall and re-wrote it with an eye toward why this past year’s disruption despite all the tragedy and devastation, has unlocked the potential to accelerate the advancement of women by 100 years. It has effectively given rise to the normalization of a non-traditional workforce that will inevitably be a critical component of modern companies.
The FEAT has an online platform called The FEAT Collective, and the books are getting bundled up again for the publisher and are expected to be published this fall, which is exciting.
To bring this back to my role at Known, I am genuinely excited and optimistic about the future for men and women at work, and I am grateful for the opportunity to help shape that future in a company like Known that is so centered around values and culture. This modern workforce consists of men and women who bring the value of multi-layered experiences to their jobs. While the pandemic unintentionally forced us to change the way we look at work, I truly think that will create a more innovative, creative and diverse workforce overall.
“I am grateful for the opportunity to help shape that future in a company that is so centered around values and culture.”
JK: Green, red or Christmas? You’re from New Mexico so I assume you have an answer.
SB: No question, Christmas. It wasn’t until I moved to the northeast for college that I realized the general population outside of New Mexico doesn’t actually have to make that difficult choice on a regular basis.
JK: Finally — assuming the Known baristas will be back in business one of these days, what’s your go-to order?
SB: Ah, an easier question. Pre-11am, a well-crafted cappuccino and after that a double espresso Macchiato. Slight nuance, but I can’t shake my 2 years living in Milan and the “post-11am-no-cappuccino rule.”
