Leadership Next

Kendra Scott started her jewelry company with $500 in 2002 out of her house in Austin. Today it’s a billion-dollar jewelry brand with both mass-market and premium lines and hundreds of retail stores across the country. On this week's episode of Leadership Next, Diane Brady talks to Kendra Scott CEO Tom Nolan about the company's growth plans, his unlikely path to the CEO role, the process of taking over for a founder, and what being CEO of a female dominant company has taught him about leadership.

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Platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube have become key drivers for trends in the beauty space in recent years. The power of beauty influencers shows no sign of slowing down, according to president and CEO of Sephora North America Artemis Patrick, this week’s guest on Leadership Next. After spending the bulk of her career at the LVMH-owned company, Patrick, who became North America CEO in April, is now the first woman to lead the brand. She talks about Sephora’s push to modernize its stores, industry trends, the importance of DEI at Sephora, and how her time in foster care as a child helped her become an empathetic leader.

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If you shop on the internet, you’ve probably seen Klarna—and its buy-now, pay-later installment offers—when shopping at major retailers like Bloomingdale's, Foot Locker, or Sephora. The company’s plans allow shoppers to break up purchases into four equal payments, with no interest. Klarna CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski says installment plans fill a gap in the market, allowing customers some payment flexibility without the interest and fees found with typical credit cards.

But Klarna does much more than just installments. On this week’s episode of Leadership Next, Michal and Diane Brady talk to Siemiatkowski about Klarna’s early adoption of AI, why the company also offers credit cards, and its growth plans.

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Neil Blumenthal and Dave Gilboa started Warby Parker as a business school project in 2010. The premise was simple: shake up the old-line optical business by selling frames online, and at a lower price than traditional retail. Today, Warby Parker is one of the biggest players in optical, a robust online business leveraging e-commerce but with a growing retail footprint of some 250 stores as well.

On this episode of Leadership Next, Michal talks to Neil and Dave about Warby Parker's founding story, changing consumer behavior, and how to remain innovative as a company matures beyond startup mode.

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GE Appliances started making products for cooking and heating way back in 1907. Today, it’s one of the largest manufacturers of appliances in the U.S. On this episode of Leadership Next, Alan and Michal talk to GE Appliances president and CEO Kevin Nolan about the company’s culture of entrepreneurship, keeping up with changes in consumer behavior, and why “nugget ice” has become a game changer.

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Its origin story dates back to the birth of the United States. Today, some 240 years later, Bank of New York—the bank founded by Alexander Hamilton—is a global giant that powers large swaths of the worldwide financial system.

On this week's episode of Leadership Next, Alan talks to BNY CEO Robin Vince about cybersecurity, how to build an enduring company culture, and how a 240-year-old firm innovates for the future.

A note for listeners: This interview was recorded before BNY Mellon rebranded as BNY. 

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In 1922, 25 military veterans came together to start USAA. At the time, military families were having difficulty getting car insurance. Fast-forward to today, and USAA provides insurance and financial services to millions of veterans and their families. This clear mission, says CEO Wayne Peacock, has actually helped the 102-year-old company remain innovative.

On this episode of Leadership Next, Peacock talks to Alan and Michal about inflation’s impact on the insurance and housing sectors, hiring military veterans, and how early investments in technology gave USAA an advantage during the pandemic.

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When David Risher became CEO of Lyft in 2023, he realized the ridesharing company had a speed problem. At the time, it took Lyft cars on average four extra minutes to arrive compared to wait times for cars from Uber, its main competitor. A year later, thanks to onboarding many more drivers onto the Lyft platform, the difference is down to 10 seconds. 

On this episode of Leadership Next, Risher chats with Alan and Michal about innovation in ridesharing and Lyft's customer-centric focus, including new features designed to make women drivers and passengers feel safer when they use the platform. For Risher, transparency isn't just a buzzword: His work email is readily publicized and drivers often reach out directly with feedback. He also makes a habit of driving Lyft cars every six weeks, an opportunity to hear from customers directly as well. 

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Volvo Cars has an ambitious goal of going all electric by 2030. But, according to CEO Jim Rowan, the EV push won't be linear. Major population centers are way ahead of rural communities, both in the U.S. and globally when it comes to things like charging infrastructure, critical for the move away from gas-powered cars.

Rowan became CEO of Volvo Cars in 2022 after a long career in tech, including stints as the CEO of Dyson and COO of Blackberry. He says Volvo's market position as a premium brand gives it a distinct advantage in a crowded field. On this episode of Leadership Next, Alan and Michal talk to Rowan about innovation in automotive, China's EV-manufacturing infrastructure, and Volvo's 70-year history bringing Scandinavian design sensibility to the U.S. car market.

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None of Jackie Reses’s fintech contemporaries were surprised that she bought a bank. A former Square executive, Reses bought Lead Bank to address compliance and technology challenges facing fintechs.

She discusses with Michal how she’s turning a 95-year-old family-owned banking institution into an innovative provider of banking infrastructure for fintechs; the importance of consistent culture across NYC and Kansas City headquarters; the spirit of entrepreneurialism in her family; her experience at Square; and what she learned from Jack Dorsey.

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