BLACK ENTERPRISE began its inaugural Women of Power Tech virtual summit Wednesday with a lineup of dynamic leaders sharing insight and perspective about climbing to the top of the tech industry. Hosted by Ally, the two-day conference provides a rich platform with sessions, workshops, and coaching to help Black women identify new trends and opportunities and gain the tools and skills necessary to advance in tech-driven industries.
One of the keynote speakers was Netflix Global Chief Marketing Officer Bozoma Saint John, who offered a masterclass of information for women looking to power through or to pivot in tech. During a one-on-one conversation with Women of Power Chief Brand Officer Caroline V. Clarke, the marketing superstar shared the keys to her stellar career, which lies at the nexus of culture, celebrity, marketing, and tech.
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Here are three gems from the “Masterclass with Badass BOZ!” session at Women of Power Tech.
Before her appointment as the CMO of Netflix in August, Saint John spent 20 years working in the C-suite of some of the world’s leading brands and tech companies. Most recently, the 43-year-old marketing vet served as the CMO of Endeavor, the parent company of leading talent agency WME, which represents A-list stars like Oprah Winfrey and Matt Damon. Prior to Endeavor, she worked for a little under a year as the Chief Brand Officer for Uber. Saint John has also held top marketing positions at Apple Music, Beats Music, and Pepsi-Cola North America.
Despite her rockstar career, she admitted that her career transitions were difficult, but they taught her to trust her instincts.
“I would not say that transitions are ever easy,” she said, revealing that she would have preferred to work at one company long enough to retire. “But no, that is not, unfortunately, the reality for most Black women,” she continued. “I had to be able to figure out what was going to work for me, what I needed to do in order to advance and to grow because sometimes I couldn’t find those opportunities in the jobs that I was in or at the companies I was in.”
