IAM1564 – CEO and Co-founder Creates a Community to Improve the Workplace for Women
Special Throwback Episode - Podcast Interview with Georgene Huang
Georgene Huang is obsessed with improving the workplace for women. She’s the CEO and Co-founder of Fairygodboss, the largest career community for women to discover the hard-to-find intel on work-life balance, salary, maternity leave policies, and how companies treat women. Previously she ran the enterprise business at Dow Jones and was a Managing Director at Bloomberg Ventures. She is a graduate of Cornell and Stanford Universities.
- CEO Story: Georgene had a rough day at her previous large company and she was pregnant during that time, sadly they were laid off including her boss. As she was looking for a job in the marketplace and looking for jobs that balance life and work, Fairygodboss was born which was really meant for women looking for maternity leave and it treats women.
- Business Service: Community of women looking for jobs or not looking for jobs.
- Secret Sauce: Having real authenticity. Authentic conversation.
- CEO Hack: Being critical of how I spend my time and energy.
- CEO Nugget: Having conversations with other founders who have done it before me.
- CEO Defined: Getting the best out of your team.
Facebook: Fairygodboss
Twitter: fairygodboss
Instagram: fairygodboss
Pinterest: fairygodboss
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Transcription
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00:31 – Intro
Do you want to learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales, and grow your business from successful entrepreneurs, startups, and CEOs without listening to a long, long, long interview? If so, you've come to the right place. Gresham Harkness values your time and is ready to share with you precisely the information you're in search of. This is the I AM CEO Podcast.
56.70 – Gresham Harkless
Hello, this is Gresh from the I AM CEO podcast and I have a very special guest on the show today Georgene Huang, a Fairy God boss. Georgene, it's awesome to have you on the show.
01:05 – Georgene Huang
It's great to be with you.
01:06 – Gresham Harkless
I appreciate you for taking some time out what I wanted to do was read a little bit more about Georgene so you can hear about all the awesome things that she's doing. Jorjean is obsessed with improving the workplace for women. She's the CEO and co-founder of Fairy God Boss, the largest career community for women to discover the hard-to-find intel on work-life balance, salary, maternity leave policies, and how companies treat women. Previously she ran the enterprise business at Dow Jones and was a managing director at Bloomberg Ventures. She's a graduate of Cornell and Stanford Universities. Georgene, are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO community?
[restrict paid=”true”]
01:41 – Georgene Huang
Yes, I am.
01:42 – Gresham Harkless
Awesome. So the first question I had was just to hear a little bit more about your CEO story and what led you to start your business.
01:48 – Georgene Huang
Well, Gresham, about three and a half years ago I was running a big business unit. One day, I like to say I had a bad day at work. So Harry Godw, my boss was born out of an experience I had while job searching. I was pregnant two months and not showing and I happened to be laid off during a management shakeup. So my boss was fired and this had nothing to do with my pregnancy. But it put me in a really awkward situation.
As you can imagine, I was going on the job market wanting to find out things about companies, maternity leave policies, and whether they were executive women in management positions. I just didn't feel like I could talk about any of these things. So Fairy Godboss is really a place meant to help women who are struggling with getting insight and intel about what it's really like to work somewhere from other women directly.
02:34 – Gresham Harkless
Awesome. Well, obviously sorry to hear that you had to go through all of that, but I always say sometimes it's darkest before dawn. So sometimes those bad things happen, but good things come about from them. It seems like through your process, looking for all those kinds of nuances for a job and all those kinds of criteria that you were taking into account, you couldn't find it, so you decided to create it in true entrepreneurial form.
02:55 – Georgene Huang
That's right. I think having that experience was my aha moment. Women do really experience career decisions and issues differently at different points in their lives.
03:04 – Gresham Harkless
That makes perfect sense. I wanted to drill down a little bit deeper to hear a little bit more about what you can do on Fairy God Boss, what kind of information you have there, and a little bit more about how it's serving the clients.
03:15 – Georgene Huang
Sure. So we're free for women and what women do on our site. A long time ago, all we had was just a job. So we ask women in our community 15 different questions, ranging from their salary range, their title, their department, whether they think women and men are treated equally at their companies, do they take maternity leave, and how flexible is their company. These questions really are the ones that women in our community want to hear about.
So you used to only be able to do that, but since we have grown, we now reach over two and a half million women a month on the site. Women are really having conversations with each other, and it's not always about their specific job, but it might be something like, should I change my last name? I've been using it professionally and am about to get married. Or it might be about something in the political and news sphere.
There was an active conversation about the Bret Kavanaugh hearings, for example, when that was going on. So these conversations have become sort of the lifeblood of the community and are helping us become a weekly and daily habit for women, even when they're not looking for jobs.
04:17 – Gresham Harkless
That makes perfect sense. It's funny, like, a lot of times we solve one problem and then all of a sudden all these other kinds of. I guess I shouldn't say problems, but things you can help support end up coming about.
04:28 – Georgene Huang
Yeah, and I would say that we're the largest career community, and so jobs are always going to be at the forefront of what we do. But there's so much that happens between versus job search, which typically now happens every two, two and half years.
04:40 – Gresham Harkless
That makes perfect sense. Now I wanted to ask you for what I call your secret sauce and this could be what you feel kind of distinguishes you or what your organization kind of sets you apart.
04:49 – Georgene Huang
Well, I would say that if you think about the career communities out there, LinkedIn probably comes to mind. LinkedIn is essentially doing a great company, but it's putting your face next to your resume, which means that while it's great to research who people are and understand who you're connected to, what it's really bad at doing is helping you have authentic conversations around things that you might feel less than you're supposed to be the best version of yourself.
So the way we bring companies and jobs to light is by going into the really personal stuff that you wouldn't necessarily put right next to your resume and fix so stuff about how you manage your day in terms of work-life balance, how you rose up through the ranks on a more storytelling basis. These are the things that I think attract women to the site. Also, help us convince employers we're a B2B enterprise sales revenue model. It helps convince our customers to partner with us because it's hard to find a place to tell your story through these personal needs.
05:53 – Gresham Harkless
That makes perfect sense. Awesome. Now, I wanted to switch gears a little bit and ask you for what I call a CEO hack. This might be an app, a book, or a habit that you have, but it's something that makes you more effective and efficient as a business owner.
06:05 – Georgene Huang
Well, we are a venture-funded startup and that means that we're growing and changing very rapidly. So for me to constantly get better means that whatever got me here probably means it's not gonna be enough to get me to the next milestone. That's really hard to do. I often have to force myself to stop and be really critical about how I'm spending my time, and my energy.
06:27 – Gresham Harkless
Yeah, that makes perfect sense. I'll oftentimes just say wherever your next step is, you have to give up your previous step or your future business where you end up growing your business to, you have to give up some of the things. So it kind of sounds like you go through that exact same process when you're thinking about growing your business.
06:41 – Georgene Huang
Yeah, I'd say every six months I consider myself having a new job because the company is so different from what it was six months earlier.
06:47 – Gresham Harkless
Awesome. Now I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO nugget. This is a word of wisdom or piece of advice or something you can tell your younger business self.
06:56 – Georgene Huang
I would say that the most helpful people in my journey as a CEO are other founders and CEOs who've done it before me and are a little bit ahead of the curve. So I don't mean somebody who may be 20 years ahead, but literally a year or year and a half ahead of where my business is. Those are the people and conversations that have been most eye-opening and helpful.
07:17 – Gresham Harkless
Awesome. That makes perfect sense. I always say success leaves clues. So a lot of times you can pay attention to those people who have done what you're hoping to do and have accomplished that and you can learn a lot from them and you can implement it into your overall activities and your business.
07:32 – Georgene Huang
Right.
07:33 – Gresham Harkless
Now I wanted to ask you my absolute favorite question, which is the definition of what it means to be a CEO and we're hoping to have different quote-unquote CEOs on the show. So, Georgina, I wanted to ask you, what does being a CEO mean to you?
07:43 – Georgene Huang
It means first and foremost being aware of how to get the best out of my people. No person, especially a CEO, can do it all. Therefore, it's about leveraging the people that you collected around you, and your team, and making sure that you're giving them what they need to be successful.
08:03 – Gresham Harkless
Awesome. Well, I truly appreciate you for taking some time out of your schedule, Jordana. What I wanted to do was pass you the mic, so to speak, just to see if there's anything additional you want to let our readers and our listeners and then of course, how to find out more about Fairy God Boss and get in touch with you.
08:17 – Georgene Huang
I would just say that our social mission is to improve the workplace for women. We do that with every single woman that joins our community. So anyone who wants to partner because they have women in their lives or women in their organizations, like customer base, or user base, should reach out. Easy to find on the Internet with a unique name.
08:36 – Gresham Harkless
There you go. Yeah and just in case it's a little bit too difficult, we'll have all the links in the show notes just so they can follow up with you. Awesome. But I appreciate you again. I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the today.
08:46 – Outro
Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO Podcast powered by Blue 16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co I AM CEO is not just a phrase, it's a community. Be sure to follow us on social media and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes Google Play and everywhere you listen to podcasts, SUBSCRIBE, and leave us a five-star rating grab CEO gear at www.ceogear.co. This has been the I AM CEO Podcast with Gresham Harkless. Thank you for listening.
00:31 - Intro
Do you want to learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales, and grow your business from successful entrepreneurs, startups, and CEOs without listening to a long, long, long interview? If so, you've come to the right place. Gresham Harkness values your time and is ready to share with you precisely the information you're in search of. This is the I AM CEO Podcast.
56.70 - Gresham Harkless
Hello, this is Gresh from the I AM CEO podcast and I have a very special guest on the show today Georgene Huang, a Fairy God boss. Georgene, it's awesome to have you on the show.
01:05 - Georgene Huang
It's great to be with you.
01:06 - Gresham Harkless
I appreciate you for taking some time out what I wanted to do was read a little bit more about Georgene so you can hear about all the awesome things that she's doing. Jorjean is obsessed with improving the workplace for women. She's the CEO and co-founder of Fairy God Boss, the largest career community for women to discover the hard-to-find intel on work-life balance, salary, maternity leave policies, and how companies treat women. Previously she ran the enterprise business at Dow Jones and was a managing director at Bloomberg Ventures. She's a graduate of Cornell and Stanford Universities. Georgene, are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO community?
[restrict paid="true"]
01:41 - Georgene Huang
Yes, I am.
01:42 - Gresham Harkless
Awesome. So the first question I had was just to hear a little bit more about your CEO story and what led you to start your business.
01:48 - Georgene Huang
Well, Gresham, about three and a half years ago I was running a big business unit. One day, I like to say I had a bad day at work. So Harry Godw, my boss was born out of an experience I had while job searching. I was pregnant two months and not showing and I happened to be laid off during a management shakeup. So my boss was fired and this had nothing to do with my pregnancy. But it put me in a really awkward situation.
As you can imagine, I was going on the job market wanting to find out things about companies, maternity leave policies, and whether they were executive women in management positions. I just didn't feel like I could talk about any of these things. So Fairy Godboss is really a place meant to help women who are struggling with getting insight and intel about what it's really like to work somewhere from other women directly.
02:34 - Gresham Harkless
Awesome. Well, obviously sorry to hear that you had to go through all of that, but I always say sometimes it's darkest before dawn. So sometimes those bad things happen, but good things come about from them. It seems like through your process, looking for all those kinds of nuances for a job and all those kinds of criteria that you were taking into account, you couldn't find it, so you decided to create it in true entrepreneurial form.
02:55 - Georgene Huang
That's right. I think having that experience was my aha moment. Women do really experience career decisions and issues differently at different points in their lives.
03:04 - Gresham Harkless
That makes perfect sense. I wanted to drill down a little bit deeper to hear a little bit more about what you can do on Fairy God Boss, what kind of information you have there, and a little bit more about how it's serving the clients.
03:15 - Georgene Huang
Sure. So we're free for women and what women do on our site. A long time ago, all we had was just a job. So we ask women in our community 15 different questions, ranging from their salary range, their title, their department, whether they think women and men are treated equally at their companies, do they take maternity leave, and how flexible is their company. These questions really are the ones that women in our community want to hear about.
So you used to only be able to do that, but since we have grown, we now reach over two and a half million women a month on the site. Women are really having conversations with each other, and it's not always about their specific job, but it might be something like, should I change my last name? I've been using it professionally and am about to get married. Or it might be about something in the political and news sphere.
There was an active conversation about the Bret Kavanaugh hearings, for example, when that was going on. So these conversations have become sort of the lifeblood of the community and are helping us become a weekly and daily habit for women, even when they're not looking for jobs.
04:17 - Gresham Harkless
That makes perfect sense. It's funny, like, a lot of times we solve one problem and then all of a sudden all these other kinds of. I guess I shouldn't say problems, but things you can help support end up coming about.
04:28 - Georgene Huang
Yeah, and I would say that we're the largest career community, and so jobs are always going to be at the forefront of what we do. But there's so much that happens between versus job search, which typically now happens every two, two and half years.
04:40 - Gresham Harkless
That makes perfect sense. Now I wanted to ask you for what I call your secret sauce and this could be what you feel kind of distinguishes you or what your organization kind of sets you apart.
04:49 - Georgene Huang
Well, I would say that if you think about the career communities out there, LinkedIn probably comes to mind. LinkedIn is essentially doing a great company, but it's putting your face next to your resume, which means that while it's great to research who people are and understand who you're connected to, what it's really bad at doing is helping you have authentic conversations around things that you might feel less than you're supposed to be the best version of yourself.
So the way we bring companies and jobs to light is by going into the really personal stuff that you wouldn't necessarily put right next to your resume and fix so stuff about how you manage your day in terms of work-life balance, how you rose up through the ranks on a more storytelling basis. These are the things that I think attract women to the site. Also, help us convince employers we're a B2B enterprise sales revenue model. It helps convince our customers to partner with us because it's hard to find a place to tell your story through these personal needs.
05:53 - Gresham Harkless
That makes perfect sense. Awesome. Now, I wanted to switch gears a little bit and ask you for what I call a CEO hack. This might be an app, a book, or a habit that you have, but it's something that makes you more effective and efficient as a business owner.
06:05 - Georgene Huang
Well, we are a venture-funded startup and that means that we're growing and changing very rapidly. So for me to constantly get better means that whatever got me here probably means it's not gonna be enough to get me to the next milestone. That's really hard to do. I often have to force myself to stop and be really critical about how I'm spending my time, and my energy.
06:27 - Gresham Harkless
Yeah, that makes perfect sense. I'll oftentimes just say wherever your next step is, you have to give up your previous step or your future business where you end up growing your business to, you have to give up some of the things. So it kind of sounds like you go through that exact same process when you're thinking about growing your business.
06:41 - Georgene Huang
Yeah, I'd say every six months I consider myself having a new job because the company is so different from what it was six months earlier.
06:47 - Gresham Harkless
Awesome. Now I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO nugget. This is a word of wisdom or piece of advice or something you can tell your younger business self.
06:56 - Georgene Huang
I would say that the most helpful people in my journey as a CEO are other founders and CEOs who've done it before me and are a little bit ahead of the curve. So I don't mean somebody who may be 20 years ahead, but literally a year or year and a half ahead of where my business is. Those are the people and conversations that have been most eye-opening and helpful.
07:17 - Gresham Harkless
Awesome. That makes perfect sense. I always say success leaves clues. So a lot of times you can pay attention to those people who have done what you're hoping to do and have accomplished that and you can learn a lot from them and you can implement it into your overall activities and your business.
07:32 - Georgene Huang
Right.
07:33 - Gresham Harkless
Now I wanted to ask you my absolute favorite question, which is the definition of what it means to be a CEO and we're hoping to have different quote-unquote CEOs on the show. So, Georgina, I wanted to ask you, what does being a CEO mean to you?
07:43 - Georgene Huang
It means first and foremost being aware of how to get the best out of my people. No person, especially a CEO, can do it all. Therefore, it's about leveraging the people that you collected around you, and your team, and making sure that you're giving them what they need to be successful.
08:03 - Gresham Harkless
Awesome. Well, I truly appreciate you for taking some time out of your schedule, Jordana. What I wanted to do was pass you the mic, so to speak, just to see if there's anything additional you want to let our readers and our listeners and then of course, how to find out more about Fairy God Boss and get in touch with you.
08:17 - Georgene Huang
I would just say that our social mission is to improve the workplace for women. We do that with every single woman that joins our community. So anyone who wants to partner because they have women in their lives or women in their organizations, like customer base, or user base, should reach out. Easy to find on the Internet with a unique name.
08:36 - Gresham Harkless
There you go. Yeah and just in case it's a little bit too difficult, we'll have all the links in the show notes just so they can follow up with you. Awesome. But I appreciate you again. I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the today.
08:46 - Outro
Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO Podcast powered by Blue 16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co I AM CEO is not just a phrase, it's a community. Be sure to follow us on social media and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes Google Play and everywhere you listen to podcasts, SUBSCRIBE, and leave us a five-star rating grab CEO gear at www.ceogear.co. This has been the I AM CEO Podcast with Gresham Harkless. Thank you for listening.
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