Breakthrough Builders

Hey, it’s Jesse. Thanks for tuning into Season 3 of Breakthrough Builders!In case you didn’t notice, we’ve made a few changes to the experience of the show - you’ve probably taken note of some new intro and outro music. That’s just one of the many cool things that’s happened because of our partnership with StudioPod Media in San Francisco. They’ve joined up with the team here at Breakthrough Builders to do editing, production, and music. Thanks to TJ, Julian, Katie, and Deanna for partnering up with me and Todd to make the show happen.So, we’re now 5 episodes into our 8-episode Season 3. Before we round the bend into the final lap of Season 3 conversations, I wanted to take a minute to tell you about and hype up our next 3 Guests!Our guest on May 26 will be Jeetu Patel, who runs the Security and Collaboration businesses at Cisco. He’s got an incredible story about emigrating to the US from India, remaining at one company for 17 years, then going on to product and strategy leadership roles at EMC, Box, and Cisco. He’s a great leader and an even better human being, he’s accomplished, he’s humble, he’s reflective, and he’s got an incredibly human story to tell.We’re off the week of the Memorial Day Holiday in the US. Then, on June 9th, you’ll hear my conversation with Lakshmi Shenoy, the CEO of Embarc Collective, a Tampa-Florida based organization founded in 2018 at the nexus of technology, innovation, and entrepreneurship. Lakshmi moved to Tampa from Chicago, where she led strategy at innovation incubator 1871, after meeting and being persuaded by the vision of Jeff Vinink for the future growth of Tampa. Lakshmi talked to me about how she brings together creative energy from her days at Leo Burnett, brand acumen from her time at P&G, Time, and Prophet Brand Strategy, and the startup gusto she honed working with the community at 1871. And she explained how exciting it is to be a CEO and an entrepreneur for and with entrepreneurs in a region that’s experiencing the early waves of transformative growth.And, for our last episode of Season 3, on June 16th, I talk to Alex Hood, the Chief Product Officer at team-based work management platform Asana. We haven’t recorded that conversation yet but Alex is someone I’ve known for a while and you can trust me that it’ll be a great one. Alex has been a product person his entire career - at Nasdaq, Intuit, TubeMogul, and now Asana - and if there’s anybody who can tell the story of what it’s like to build and thrive in a career in product management, it’s Alex.Keep sharing your input on the show, your reactions to the episodes, and of course, any suggestions for Guests you want to hear on the show! Contact us through our website, over at breakthrough-builders.com, that’s breakthrough-hyphen-builders-dot-com.Again, thanks so much for taking the time to follow or subscribe to the show, and if you’re on Apple Podcasts, to leave a rating and a review. If you’ve already done it, thank you! And if you like the show, please, tell your friends!Looking forward to having you again next week, on Breakthrough Builders. 

Natalie Sunderland believes the primary job of a marketer is to create growth. It’s a simple but powerful conviction that’s helped her land and thrive in high-impact roles throughout her career at some of the largest, most venerable brands in the Financial Services industry. In her talk with Jesse, Natalie describes her lifelong journey as a marketer that began with producing public television programs in her native Ontario. She describes the experience of leading legendary product teams at American Express, the challenges of re-building Citigroup’s brand after the Great Recession, and the strenuous and unexpected role of leading Castlight Health to its IPO in 2014. Ultimately, she leaves us with a look at the changing role of the CMO as businesses continue to build and re-center their brands around consumer experiences.Guest BioNatalie Sunderland is the global CMO of Addepar, a leading fintech platform for wealth management. She is a noted enterprise SaaS marketer with a track record of building iconic brands, creating new categories and accelerating growth. Prior to joining Addepar, she served as Vice President of Marketing at A.I. leader Qventus as well as Castlight Health, leading both companies through periods of hyper-growth. Prior to that, she held leadership roles at American Express, Citigroup, and Ameriprise Financial. Natalie is from Canada and holds a degree from Queen’s University.Helpful LinksAddepar’s websiteNatalie’s appearance on Fintech Impact podcastNatalie on LinkedIn

In today’s upended world of work, some questions have moved to the forefront: Just what does the future hold? And how can People Leaders responsibly embrace change to move past old obstacles, inequities and biases? Few are better prepared to answer these questions than Stacia Garr of RedThread Research. Stacia’s commitment to uncovering truth and turning data into compelling stories about employee experience has made her a trusted advisor to executives from many of the world’s leading brands.In her talk with Jesse, Stacia shares how her love of history turned into a mission to better peoples’ lives at work. She discusses some of her most compelling and unexpected research findings gained over the past decade. She identifies the opportunities that ultimately led her to pursue a path of entrepreneurship, and she leaves us with a look at the new workplace: where it should go, where it shouldn’t, and why moving work forward should be everyone’s concern. Guest BioStacia Garr is a researcher and thought leader on talent management, leadership, D&I, people analytics, and HR technology. A frequent speaker and writer, her work has been featured in Fortune, Forbes, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal as well as in numerous HR trade publications.Stacia co-founded RedThread Research in 2018 after leading talent and workforce research for eight years at Bersin by Deloitte. Before Bersin, Stacia spent nearly five years conducting research and creating learning content for the Corporate Leadership Council, part of CEB/Gartner.Helpful Linksredthreadresearch.comRedThread Research’s podcast: Workplace StoriesForbes article: A Mere 12% of Companies Are Truly InclusiveStacia on LinkedIn and TwitterQualtrics’ Future of Work 2021 StudyAdvertiser ContentDesign a workplace that works better for everyone on Qualtrics XM. Visit:www.qualtrics.com/future

Rick Evans and his team at New York-Presbyterian Hospital were at the American epicenter of the COVID-19 crisis in early 2020. They had an incredibly harrowing year. And though their community endured a profound sense of loss, New York-Presbyterian was both a beacon of hope and a pragmatic system of action that helped save lives and make the moves that led a path forward in the pandemic.In this episode of Breakthrough Builders, Rick speaks with Susan Haufe, Chief Industry Advisor for Healthcare at Qualtrics. Rick offers an insider’s look at the battle to stem the first surge of COVID-19 in the U.S., and shares deeply personal reflections about the far deeper and older scourge of systemic racism in America. Rick and Susan combine to leave us with a vision of the future of patient experience, issuing a call to action to the industry to join them in continuing to repair broken experiences that have persisted in healthcare for too long. GUEST BIOSRick Evans Rick Evans, MA, is Senior Vice President & Chief Experience Officer for NewYork-Presbyterian. In this role, he is responsible for overseeing NewYork-Presbyterian’s efforts to enhance the patient and family experience across the continuum of care, and developing and implementing a comprehensive strategy to increase patient satisfaction across the enterprise. Previously, he served as the Chief Experience Officer for Massachusetts General Hospital and its physician organization for four years, overseeing the patient experience along with physician leadership programs, visitor education programs, and the referral management office.Susan Haufe (Guest Host)With 20 years of experience combining the tools, discipline, expertise, and passion to design and drive a customer-centric culture, Susan Haufe is known for organizational transformation built on brand promise, purpose, and values. She currently serves as the Chief Industry Advisor for Healthcare at Qualtrics. Prior to joining Qualtrics, Susan served as the inaugural Chief Experience Officer for Yale New Haven Health, developing the vision and roadmap to support the execution of critical initiatives, including centralizing patient experience functions across the health system.Helpful Links Article from Becker’s Hospital Review:  Leading Through a Spring Like No OtherJoin us in supporting Patient Experience WeekRick’s story also featured at Qualtrics’ 2021 WorkDifferent.comNY Presbyterian Hospital’s website

Nicole Bernard Dawes has long held the conviction that, when done right, healthier food can be everyone’s first choice, not an alternative choice. But as she followed in the footsteps of her parents, who were both food entrepreneurs, she learned that grocery aisles weren’t going to change for the better unless she committed herself and her career entirely to the cause.In her talk with Jesse, Nicole describes her lifelong journey that began with a food retreat and her role greeting customers at her mother’s natural food store. You’ll hear about her first venture into entrepreneurship as a 12-year-old chef and marketer, and what she learned working for her father’s company, Cape Cod Chips. And you’ll hear how Nicole founded Late July Snacks, stewarded it through a recession and family tragedy, and found the courage to take bold but well-understood risks in the name of good health - helping to spark an organic revolution Nicole would remain at the forefront of for years to follow. Guest BioNicole Bernard Dawes is a pioneering business owner whose lifelong dedication to transforming the food industry led her to create delicious, organic options like her co-founding Late July Snacks in 2003, one of the country’s most successful organic snack brands, and most recently Nixie Sparkling Water in 2019. Nicole has been named Food & Wine and Fortune Magazine’s ‘Most Innovative Women in Food and Drink’ and Forbes Magazine’s ‘Top Five Women Breaking Barriers in Food and Beverage.’Helpful LinksDrinknixie.comNicole’s appearance on the LA Woman podcastForbes article, “How The Founder Of Late July Includes Generation Z In The Snack Business.” Feature in Inc., series How I Did It Nicole on LinkedIn and  Twitter

Ximena Vengoechea has a knack for writing the right thing at the right moment. From her first article that became an editor’s pick on Medium to her widely heralded Life Audit, Ximena’s ability to provide creative solutions to the hard problems of everyday living has earned her a devoted following. Her new book Listen Like You Mean It: Reclaiming the Lost Art of True Connection couldn’t be more timely in a world where being in the physical presence of others feels like the exception rather than the norm.In her talk with Jesse, Ximena describes how she learned to harmonize her work as a user researcher with her writing. She describes how she created the Life Audit exercise, a unique blend of design thinking and introspection that has helped people all over the world manage their goals and aspirations in an extraordinarily organized way. And she shares insights from her new book about the importance of peer mentorship and the tactics we have to employ now if we want to listen well and build strong relationships with others.Guest BioXimena Vengoechea is a user researcher, writer, and illustrator whose work on personal and professional development has been published in Inc., The Washington Post, Newsweek, and Huffington Post. She is the author of the recently published book, Listen Like You Mean it: Reclaiming the Lost Art of True Connection.She is a contributor at Fast Company and The Muse, and writes Letters from Ximena, a newsletter on tech, culture, career, and creativity. She is best known for her project The Life Audit. An experienced manager, mentor, and researcher in the tech industry, she previously worked at Pinterest, LinkedIn, and Twitter.Helpful LinksListen Like You Mean It Ximena’s websiteThe Life AuditXimena on Twitter and LinkedIn

Hey Everybody. It’s Jesse.So, we’re here at the end of Season Two of Breakthrough Builders, and, if you’re anything like me, you’ve learned some incredibly helpful things about how to go build teams, products, brands, cultures, and experiences. And you might’ve also picked up some great perspective on how to build, and continue to shape, that all-important asset - YOU.We started the season hearing from Climate CEO Mike Stern about how to build products and transform companies and categories in the agriculture sector. Andrea Robb talked to us about the importance of Belonging and how to cultivate it, and Kellie McElhaney shared some candid and powerful reflections on blending inspiration and agitation to help people grow and change.Bill Carr taught us how Amazon works backwards to stay agile and innovative, and Kim Scott offered her guidance on how to bring Radical Candor and Justice to the workplace.Gurdeep Pall of Microsoft regaled us with his stories from the invention of VPN and other core communication technologies, and Charlene Li taught us how to embrace and benefit from disruption. Steve Schwartz, founder of Art of Tea, talked about how to blend innovation with tradition, and Sheila Vashee closed Season Two by sharing wisdom earned at Dropbox and Opendoor on what it takes to drive growth at scale in Software.Thanks to all of our Guests here on Breakthrough Builders for inspiring us with your stories and sharing your practical wisdom. And thanks to each one of YOU for listening to the show. I appreciate you.On April 7th, our first show of Season Three will drop. In Season Three, we’ll introduce you to the Founder and CEO of two incredible food and beverage companies. We’ll talk to Chief Marketing Officers, Heads of Product, and Chief Technology Officers from cloud infrastructure, fintech, and software businesses. We’ll host Diversity & Inclusion leaders, influential authors, HR and Talent experts, brave entrepreneurs with animated side hustles, and other amazing, accomplished people who truly are Breakthrough Builders.If you’re not yet subscribed to the show, please do subscribe. And please, tell your friends.If you’re a listener on Apple Podcasts, please rate the show and write a review. It really does help other people find the show.As always, if you’ve got suggestions for Guests, or if you have any feedback on the show, send me a note on the Contact page at breakthrough builders.com, that’s breakthrough hyphen builders dot com. I so look forward to hearing from you, and I can’t wait to have you join us for Season Three - of Breakthrough Builders.     

It’s hard to imagine that there was a time when the word “cloud” was eschewed in technology, but for Sheila Vashee, it was an imperative in the early days of Dropbox. Instead of droning on the next tech buzzword, Sheila helped Dropbox stay relentlessly focused on customer love, making sure people understood the concrete benefits of the technologies Dropbox was developing to make their lives easier and help them work more productively. In her talk with Jesse, Sheila shares what drove her interest in technology, how her early experiences at well-established brands prepared her to guide Dropbox through its leap from consumer brand to enterprise platform, and what compelled her to join Opendoor at a time when Dropbox was hitting its stride as a public company. Sheila also draws on her knowledge of today’s technology landscape as an investor at Basis Set Ventures to offer a glimpse of what the future might hold for workplaces in every industry.Guest BioSheila Vashee is a Partner at Basis Set Ventures, an early stage venture fund focused on investing in the future of work. Previously, she was the VP of Growth at Opendoor, where she oversaw the marketing, partnerships, and product teams responsible for growth across the buyer and seller marketplace. Sheila took Opendoor from 4 to 21 markets and billions in GMV in a few years. Prior to that, she was the second marketing hire at Dropbox, where she launched every major product, including Dropbox Business, and helped 12x the Dropbox user base to 600m users and >1Bn in revenue.Helpful LinksSheila’s podcast: Hypergrowth: The Early YearsForbes article on Sheila joining BSV Basis Set VenturesSheila on LinkedIn and Twitter

When Steve Schwartz founded Art of Tea, it was with the belief that there was an opportunity to make people’s lives better through tea. His authentic yet innovative blends and passion for teaching ultimately gave rise to a highly successful B2B business through partnerships with leading restaurateurs, chefs, and hospitality brands - which grew into a D2C brand in the wake of the pandemic. In his talk with Jesse, Steve describes his journey from inquisitive student to master tea blender to business founder. Follow him from the Ayurvedic Institute in New Mexico, where he studied plant alchemy, to tea-growing fields in Asia, where he first began to “believe in the leaf,” to make-or-break business meetings with some of the country’s most well-known chefs and restaurants.Finally, learn how Art of Tea has adapted during the pandemic to help consumers continue to enjoy a delicious, time-honored ritual that gives at least a little control back to us in these turbulent times.Guest BioSteve Schwartz is a Master Tea Blender and the Founder of Art of Tea, a hand-crafted tea purveyor based in Los Angeles. At Art of Tea, Steve applies his background in ayurveda to the creation of award-winning blends that showcase his passion for the alchemy of combining herbs and botanicals.Steve’s drive and passion for expanding people’s knowledge of the history of tea has cultivated relationships with brands, acclaimed chefs and restaurants such as Google, Vera Wang, #Slack, The Peninsula Hotels, Huntington Gardens, Wolfgang Puck, Adam Perry Lang, Rustic Canyon Group, Craft Los Angeles and more.Helpful LinksThe Art of Tea websiteSpotlight on Art of Tea in the Los Angeles Times in 2014Q&A with Steve in Forbes in 2020Steve’s Teacher: Dr. Vasant Lad Steve on Linkedin

Disruption and change have been with us forever. But disruption and change at work, in business, in organizations—somehow it seems harder. It's unpredictable, it's uncertain, and it's stressful. And we often back away from it as a result.In her conversation with Jesse, Charlene Li reflects on a career spent empowering everyone—from frontline workers to CEOs—to embrace and move forward in the face of disruptive change. She discusses her experience growing up in Michigan as a woman of color, and how it led her to embrace her own disruptive nature. She describes the structural attributes and convictions that allowed organizations like Adobe, Amazon, and Southern New Hampshire University to see the needs of their future customers - and overcome deeply entrenched barriers and elements of the status quo to serve them. And she offers a poignant look at why organizations in every industry must embrace Diversity and Inclusion now if they are to reach their potential for growth and impact.  Guest BioFor the past two decades, Charlene Li has been helping people see the future. She’s the New York Times bestselling author of six books, including her newest release,The Disruption Mindset: Why Some Businesses Transform While Others Fail, and Open Leadership, as well as co-author of the critically-acclaimed book, Groundswell. She founded and ran Altimeter Group, a disruptive industry analyst firm, and has been a respected advisor to Fortune 500 companies.Named one of the Top 50 Leadership Innovators by Inc., and one of the most creative people in business by Fast Company, Charlene has appeared at events ranging from TED and the World Business Forum to SxSW. She has appeared on 60 Minutes and PBS NewsHour, and is frequently quoted by The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, USA Today, and The Associated Press.Helpful LinksCharlene named to the list of the 100 B2B Thought Leaders and Influencers You Should Follow in 2021Website for Altimeter @ Prophet, the analyst firm studying digital disruption founded by Charlene.Charlene's Book The Disruption Mindset on AmazonCharlene’s websiteCharlene on Twitter