The Only Way to “Have it All” with Randi Zuckerberg
Do you find yourself thinking that you want to have and do it all in life: a career, relationship, kids, fitness, money, home? Randi Zuckerberg, my guest this week, certainly does it all — she’s an entrepreneur, investor, bestselling author, tech media personality, and occasional Broadway performer. Behind that impressive resumé is a woman who understands that you can do it all — but not all in one day or even one season of life. She believes you can do everything you want to do, but over a long period of time.
After Harvard rejected her for the music program, Randi set aside her love of music to pursue a degree in psychology, followed by a career in technology, which ultimately led to her role as Director of Market Development at Facebook. Years after she thought she’d left music behind, Broadway came calling, and Randi lived her dream of performing.
In this interview, Randi shares the philosophy behind “Pick Three”, and how she’s incorporated this idea when choosing what to focus on in her career. We discuss how to adopt a beginner’s mindset when trying new things, and not giving up on your dreams, even if the path to get there seems hidden.
Featured Moment
Majo: You have a women’s perspective and touch in your leadership. Particularly how you focus on the entire lifecycle of a women. Your projects are aimed at many developmental phases from young girls all the way to older women and entrepreneurs in their twenties and thirties. You’re speaking to the same woman, but actually you’re acknowledging different cycles and phases in life. Only a woman would know to do that, it’s a very feminine perspective.
Randi: I think that can be such a business strength for women — having that empathy, and softer skills around leadership and management. The same skills that enable us to relate to what other people are going through around us make women very strong leaders and entrepreneurs. Instead of thinking that you have to act more like a man, I’d like to see more women embrace their feminine side in order to be excellent leaders.
Show Notes
Growing up with a girls-can-do-anything mentality and oblivious to the glass ceiling.
Her early exposure to technology and how it impacts the work she does with girls today.
Why Randi ended up studying psychology despite her passion for music and performance.
The sobering shift from working in an ad agency with women in leadership to Silicon Valley.
The observations in Silicon Valley that made Randi aware of the glass ceiling at age 22.
Reaching out to female peers outside of the tech industry to create a network of support.
Giving her brother free digital marketing advice before being recruited by Facebook.
The dangers of online anonymity and why Randi feels so strongly about protecting kids.
How Randi’s music dream circled back to her when she got a call from a Broadway producer.
Bridging the worlds of arts, entertainment, and tech, and why it’s becoming increasingly important.
The pros and cons of having such a large spectrum of focus areas under Zuckerberg Media.
A brilliant—yet realistic—perspective on achieving a work-life balance in the long run.
References
Featured Black Female Voice
Today’s Black or Indigenous female spotlight is Kristy Tillman, Head of Global Experience Design at Slack and Founder of Tomorrow Looks Bright.
You may remember Kristy from our episode called “Leading Teams” where we talk about her advice on building and constructing teams as well as inviting yourself to the table.
Here’s what Kristy is up to now since that interview:
She launched a 3-Day Summit called Made In the Future that addresses the critical information and access gap for underrepresented emerging design talent.
She continues to fight for representation of Black women and people in the design industry here in Silicon Valley.
You can find more about Kristy’s work on Twitter @KristyT – make sure to follow her!
One Last Thing
If you preorder my book, Break the Good Girl Myth, before July 28th at goodgirlmyth.com, you will receive a bonus training (~$300 value) to help you design your creative purpose.
In the training, you'll learn:
➕ The one intention you must clarify to get clear about your creative purpose
➕ How to more easily bring shape to your creative purpose by choosing one of the four creator paths
➕ A powerful process for choosing a direction if you have a lot of interests and passions
➕ How to turn your creative dream plan into an actionable, creative dream plan