WEBVTT - Laura Modi: Bobbie’s Founder on Revolutionizing Baby Formula 0:00:00.960 --> 0:00:04.560 Hey, she Pivots listeners at Emily. Before we hop into 0:00:04.559 --> 0:00:09.800 today's episode, I have some very exciting news. She Pivots 0:00:09.840 --> 0:00:14.640 has been nominated for not one, but two Webvy Awards. 0:00:14.800 --> 0:00:16.840 These are a huge deal in. 0:00:16.800 --> 0:00:20.600 The podcast world and the best part the winners are 0:00:20.600 --> 0:00:21.680 decided by you. 0:00:22.560 --> 0:00:24.480 That means we need you to help us win. 0:00:24.680 --> 0:00:28.360 And we're up against some pretty big names, just some 0:00:28.640 --> 0:00:33.159 little old guys named John Stewart and Anderson Cooper, and 0:00:33.400 --> 0:00:36.360 I think I could retire early if we beat them, so. 0:00:36.400 --> 0:00:39.480 Every vote counts. 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I'm beyond grateful for 0:01:09.680 --> 0:01:11.880 this honor and hope we can show the world just 0:01:12.000 --> 0:01:15.640 how powerful these stories can be. It's all for now, 0:01:15.840 --> 0:01:17.880 go Vote. 0:01:19.720 --> 0:01:22.040 Welcome back to she Pivots. I'm Laura Modi. 0:01:32.480 --> 0:01:36.000 Welcome back to she Pivots, the podcast where we talk 0:01:36.080 --> 0:01:38.640 with women who dare to pivot out of one career 0:01:39.000 --> 0:01:43.280 and into something new and explore how their personal lives 0:01:43.360 --> 0:01:52.960 impact these decisions. I'm your host Emily Tisch Sussman. Today 0:01:52.960 --> 0:01:56.080 we're sitting down with Laura Mody, the CEO and co 0:01:56.160 --> 0:01:59.720 founder of Bobbie, a woman who not only transformed her 0:01:59.720 --> 0:02:04.160 own struggle into a groundbreaking business, but is actively working 0:02:04.200 --> 0:02:08.280 to shift an entire conversation, one that so many women 0:02:08.320 --> 0:02:11.000 have felt deeply, but often in silence. 0:02:11.720 --> 0:02:12.639 Laura was just. 0:02:12.800 --> 0:02:17.160 Like so many new moms, eager, exhausted, and determined to 0:02:17.200 --> 0:02:21.560 do everything quote right, and for so many, the right 0:02:21.680 --> 0:02:26.760 way is often presented as one thing breastfeeding. Bobby is 0:02:26.800 --> 0:02:29.800 a company that's redefining what it means to feed our babies. 0:02:30.480 --> 0:02:34.040 It is the first FDA approved organic baby formula that 0:02:34.120 --> 0:02:36.880 is a go to choice for millions of parents. 0:02:37.200 --> 0:02:39.279 But before Laura built Bobby. 0:02:39.000 --> 0:02:41.760 Into a household name in infant formula, she had a 0:02:41.840 --> 0:02:45.640 decade long career in tech, from Google to Airbnb. 0:02:46.160 --> 0:02:49.840 Laura left behind her successful career to solve for a 0:02:49.960 --> 0:02:54.760 problem that she herself experienced, and admittedly I did too. 0:02:55.880 --> 0:03:00.359 In fact, this conversation was deeply personal for me. As 0:03:00.400 --> 0:03:03.160 a mother of three, I also struggled with breastfeeding my 0:03:03.200 --> 0:03:06.440 first child and was met with an overwhelming sense of 0:03:06.480 --> 0:03:10.000 guilt and self doubt. Society had conditioned me to believe 0:03:10.040 --> 0:03:13.920 that anything less than exclusively breastfeeding was a failure, and 0:03:13.960 --> 0:03:17.840 I internalized that pressure. I remember feeling like I had to. 0:03:17.919 --> 0:03:20.920 Justify my choice to use formula, as if I was 0:03:21.000 --> 0:03:22.040 letting my baby down. 0:03:22.840 --> 0:03:24.239 It took time and. 0:03:24.160 --> 0:03:26.920 My experience with my other children to fully embrace that 0:03:27.000 --> 0:03:29.480 feeding my baby in a way that worked for both 0:03:29.520 --> 0:03:32.840 of us was not only okay, but the best decision 0:03:32.919 --> 0:03:36.080 for my mental health. That's why Laura's work with Bobby 0:03:36.160 --> 0:03:39.400 is so inspiring. She didn't just want to create a 0:03:39.440 --> 0:03:44.000 better formula, She wanted to create a better conversation, one 0:03:44.000 --> 0:03:46.760 where moms could make the best choice for their families, 0:03:46.800 --> 0:03:50.880 without guilt, without judgment, and with full confidence that their 0:03:50.920 --> 0:03:54.760 babies were getting the nutrition they needed. Laura is considered 0:03:54.880 --> 0:03:57.960 one of the leaders of our time. In fact, Time 0:03:58.040 --> 0:04:01.400 magazine honored her as Woman of the Year. She is 0:04:01.440 --> 0:04:03.760 a force to be reckoned with, and in this episode, 0:04:03.800 --> 0:04:06.240 we're going to talk about how she left behind her 0:04:06.320 --> 0:04:10.280 career at Airbnb and turned her personal struggle into purpose 0:04:10.480 --> 0:04:14.840 by founding Bobby. Laura's story is the perfect example of 0:04:14.880 --> 0:04:17.320 how our most personal moments. 0:04:17.360 --> 0:04:21.159 Lead to monumental pivots that can not only change our lives, 0:04:21.160 --> 0:04:24.200 but thousands of others. Let's jump right in. 0:04:28.680 --> 0:04:31.760 I am Laura Mody, I am the CEO of Bobby 0:04:32.000 --> 0:04:34.360 and I'm Organic infant formula. 0:04:34.680 --> 0:04:37.479 You are from Ireland, I am What was it like 0:04:37.560 --> 0:04:39.680 to grow up? How many siblings do you have? 0:04:40.080 --> 0:04:43.719 Was it city country? It tell us about it. It 0:04:43.760 --> 0:04:46.640 was deep country from the west of Ireland, a little 0:04:46.640 --> 0:04:50.880 town called Westport in Mayo. I am the eldest of five, 0:04:51.480 --> 0:04:55.479 which actually is a relatively small family. My dad is 0:04:55.520 --> 0:04:58.800 one of thirteen, so even within the area there'd be 0:04:58.800 --> 0:05:01.680 a lot of kids, a lot of cousins. Grew up 0:05:01.760 --> 0:05:06.480 with forty eight first cousins around the area. It was 0:05:07.080 --> 0:05:11.000 a quintessential Ireland upbringing. And are you the oldest of 0:05:11.080 --> 0:05:14.120 all of the children? Oh so well, out of all 0:05:14.160 --> 0:05:16.560 the cousins, I would be higher up. I think I'm 0:05:16.560 --> 0:05:19.280 like eight of the forty eight, But I am the fifth, 0:05:19.360 --> 0:05:21.479 I'm the eldest of the five kids at home, and 0:05:21.520 --> 0:05:24.000 then you also need to be the role model child 0:05:24.080 --> 0:05:27.000 as well, right, you know it's the eldest you are 0:05:27.040 --> 0:05:31.280 in many ways. The experiment for is the school going 0:05:31.360 --> 0:05:35.000 to work? You know, whatever trial and error the parents 0:05:35.040 --> 0:05:37.440 wanted to have, like it was on you. Yeah, and 0:05:37.560 --> 0:05:39.719 if it worked, then the rest followed. So like I 0:05:39.800 --> 0:05:42.719 was the first to go to boarding school and it worked, 0:05:43.120 --> 0:05:45.440 so all the other four after me followed. 0:05:46.120 --> 0:05:49.120 So your family had a business, your father was an entrepreneur. 0:05:50.080 --> 0:05:52.560 Were you always involved in it was entrepreneurship kind of 0:05:52.760 --> 0:05:55.000 in the in the blood of the family, like in 0:05:55.000 --> 0:05:57.359 the family culture. Yeah, it's funny. 0:05:57.400 --> 0:06:00.400 You never grow up thinking this is in the blood ever, 0:06:00.720 --> 0:06:03.279 you know, like you're just at the dinner table and 0:06:03.320 --> 0:06:08.720 you're always having conversations whether it's about risk or decision 0:06:08.839 --> 0:06:12.920 making or to be honest, you're just consuming through osmosis 0:06:13.320 --> 0:06:15.920 the ups and downs of what he's going through. So 0:06:16.279 --> 0:06:19.320 at the time you never know it until you reach 0:06:19.320 --> 0:06:21.680 a certain age and then you go, that's what that 0:06:21.839 --> 0:06:26.360 was about, and you know it's just part of your 0:06:26.400 --> 0:06:28.600 every day and you don't, like I said, you really 0:06:28.680 --> 0:06:31.000 don't realize the benefits of it until you're in it yourself. 0:06:31.520 --> 0:06:33.279 Was it truly a family business? Like? 0:06:33.320 --> 0:06:36.000 Were his siblings involved? Was your mom involved? The kids 0:06:36.000 --> 0:06:36.640 get involved? 0:06:37.120 --> 0:06:40.120 It was a family business with regards to him and 0:06:40.160 --> 0:06:44.599 his two brothers, so there was thirteen kids. It was 0:06:44.720 --> 0:06:48.720 third generation, so it's been passed on and it's obviously 0:06:48.800 --> 0:06:52.880 evolved through multiple ways through every generation being passed down. 0:06:53.400 --> 0:06:56.760 And now I want to say there is six of 0:06:57.240 --> 0:06:59.520 between the cousins and my siblings who are now back 0:06:59.520 --> 0:07:00.920 in the business involved as well. 0:07:01.480 --> 0:07:05.640 Wow, did you have a vision of what it would 0:07:05.680 --> 0:07:07.839 be like to be a grown up? Like did you 0:07:07.880 --> 0:07:10.080 think that you would grow up and be in the 0:07:10.120 --> 0:07:12.840 business or do the opposite, like, did you have a 0:07:12.920 --> 0:07:14.120 vision of what you thought it would be like? 0:07:14.480 --> 0:07:16.000 God, do we ever have a vision of what we're 0:07:16.080 --> 0:07:21.640 like as a grown up? I know, and no, I 0:07:21.640 --> 0:07:25.000 don't think I ever had a vision of being in 0:07:25.040 --> 0:07:27.280 the business. I think there was always just an assumption 0:07:27.440 --> 0:07:31.080 that one day you will come back, and I never 0:07:31.120 --> 0:07:35.520 thought otherwise until I left the country and it was 0:07:35.640 --> 0:07:37.920 a few years after leaving Arland and I thought, I 0:07:37.960 --> 0:07:40.200 don't know if I'm ever going to return. Wow. 0:07:40.520 --> 0:07:44.120 Yeah, what about it made you think that you wouldn't return. 0:07:44.040 --> 0:07:48.480 You know. I think it was the first moment of 0:07:48.800 --> 0:07:51.920 also just realizing I also can choose my own path 0:07:51.960 --> 0:07:55.160 and forge my own way. And I was making decisions 0:07:55.200 --> 0:07:58.280 and joining companies and doing things that were probably so 0:07:58.480 --> 0:08:02.239 distant from the family business. You know. The family business 0:08:02.280 --> 0:08:06.480 makes construction, clothing, ppe clothing, really sexy stuff, you know, 0:08:06.640 --> 0:08:10.200 like hard hats and I've vins jackets, but very different 0:08:10.200 --> 0:08:13.360 from the technology world that I had entered in Silicon Valley. 0:08:13.440 --> 0:08:16.320 So I just grew further and further from I think 0:08:16.480 --> 0:08:21.680 the core job itself, and I just loved the adrenaline 0:08:21.800 --> 0:08:26.520 of starting new things and trying new things and disrupting, 0:08:27.000 --> 0:08:28.840 you know, And then obviously evolved to a place where 0:08:28.840 --> 0:08:31.080 I had children and they were American. 0:08:31.320 --> 0:08:35.840 Right, So when you took the first job outside of 0:08:35.880 --> 0:08:38.880 the family business, was the first job Google, that's like 0:08:39.080 --> 0:08:42.160 quite a first job. That's a big deal. 0:08:42.760 --> 0:08:45.760 The first job was Google, And you're right, it was 0:08:45.800 --> 0:08:49.520 a big job. I remember applying for it out in California. 0:08:49.559 --> 0:08:51.120 I felt like such a dream. 0:08:51.400 --> 0:08:54.040 But Ireland's a big tech hub, right, Yeah, Ireland's a 0:08:54.040 --> 0:08:58.320 big tech tech cup and they have a big Google 0:08:58.320 --> 0:09:01.240 office there in Dublin too, just getting built out at 0:09:01.240 --> 0:09:01.560 the time. 0:09:02.080 --> 0:09:06.079 And yeah, I applied for a job out in America. 0:09:06.240 --> 0:09:10.200 It felt dreamy and you didn't think twice really about it. 0:09:10.320 --> 0:09:12.400 You do it, you go through the interview process. I 0:09:12.400 --> 0:09:15.720 actually decided not to tell my parents I was applying 0:09:15.720 --> 0:09:17.680 for it, because you know, you just don't know where 0:09:17.679 --> 0:09:19.920 it's going to go. Go through the interview process. Anyway, 0:09:19.960 --> 0:09:22.520 I get the job, and I'll never forget going out 0:09:22.559 --> 0:09:24.640 for dinner at my parents in Dublin and my dad 0:09:24.760 --> 0:09:26.600 just putting pressure on me, say I'm like, you know, 0:09:26.800 --> 0:09:29.720 college is coming to you know, you got to figure 0:09:29.720 --> 0:09:31.679 out what you're going to be doing. And I remember 0:09:31.800 --> 0:09:33.920 saying like, okay, how am I going to break the 0:09:34.000 --> 0:09:37.680 news like I am going to move to America. And 0:09:38.559 --> 0:09:39.920 I don't know how I said it. I think I 0:09:39.960 --> 0:09:43.439 casually said, you know, you guys should come out for Christmas, 0:09:44.040 --> 0:09:47.760 come visit me out a in America. And he just 0:09:47.800 --> 0:09:49.760 turned to me and he's like, sorry, what are you saying? 0:09:50.320 --> 0:09:54.760 And yeah, I got the job out in California and 0:09:55.520 --> 0:09:58.040 moved out there pretty promptly, And in my mind I 0:09:58.120 --> 0:10:00.199 kept thinking, I will go for a year, I'll go 0:10:00.280 --> 0:10:01.360 for a year or two, get. 0:10:01.200 --> 0:10:04.640 Some experience, and I'll come back. And that was it. 0:10:07.520 --> 0:10:11.480 Soon Laura was on a plane all the way to California. 0:10:11.600 --> 0:10:13.640 I want you to put yourself back in the mid 0:10:13.679 --> 0:10:17.319 two thousands, while most companies still had their fax number 0:10:17.400 --> 0:10:19.719 on their business cards and we were just beginning to 0:10:19.800 --> 0:10:24.200 use tech, Google was making waves. They are in offices, 0:10:24.320 --> 0:10:28.640 ping pong tables, flexible hours, They were changing the game, 0:10:28.720 --> 0:10:30.720 and Laura was at the heart of it. 0:10:31.840 --> 0:10:34.559 I mean it was electric. It was, you know, landing 0:10:34.559 --> 0:10:37.760 a dream job. You I mean, they had a rule 0:10:37.880 --> 0:10:40.800 internally where you get to spend like eighty percent on 0:10:40.840 --> 0:10:43.760 your core job and then twenty percent really ideating and 0:10:43.840 --> 0:10:46.959 working in other functions or working on these side projects. 0:10:47.120 --> 0:10:50.040 They allowed you to be an entrepreneur within the business 0:10:50.920 --> 0:10:54.480 and obviously a lot of different perks and benefits that 0:10:54.559 --> 0:10:57.480 were incredible at the time back in Silicon Valley. I mean, 0:10:57.520 --> 0:10:59.600 the whole thing was really just a dream. It was 0:10:59.640 --> 0:11:02.400 phenomen and I was there for four years. I learned 0:11:02.440 --> 0:11:06.200 a lot. I was with exceptionally brilliant people. I mean truly, 0:11:06.280 --> 0:11:08.600 and I say this all the time, like I pinched 0:11:08.640 --> 0:11:12.240 myself every day. It was I am so lucky to 0:11:12.280 --> 0:11:14.960 be here. How did I get here? You're constantly trying 0:11:15.000 --> 0:11:18.520 to prove your value, But I never took it for granted. 0:11:18.679 --> 0:11:20.600 It was an exceptional experience. 0:11:21.120 --> 0:11:23.400 So what were some of the entrepreneurial things you did 0:11:23.640 --> 0:11:24.480 when you were at Google? 0:11:25.160 --> 0:11:27.040 I mean there was you know, there was like side 0:11:27.080 --> 0:11:31.319 projects that would come in from actually universities or even 0:11:31.559 --> 0:11:34.800 small government type stuff, and it was like ideating on 0:11:35.000 --> 0:11:39.079 new ways of driving efficiencies or new processes. I mean 0:11:39.400 --> 0:11:41.320 there wasn't It wasn't like coming up with any like 0:11:41.400 --> 0:11:43.520 radically new business in the company. It was just being 0:11:43.520 --> 0:11:46.800 able to work on something different or even campaigns on 0:11:46.840 --> 0:11:49.120 how to be able to promote something. But I was 0:11:49.160 --> 0:11:52.040 still relatively junior, so I was more plugged into other 0:11:52.120 --> 0:11:53.280 people's areas. 0:11:53.320 --> 0:11:55.680 Yeah, but it was great. Yeah, but that's super interesting, 0:11:56.160 --> 0:11:57.959 and I feel I can give you a little bit 0:11:58.000 --> 0:12:02.200 of a taste of different fields, like a different field 0:12:02.320 --> 0:12:04.960 or a different function. Yeah, because what department were you 0:12:05.040 --> 0:12:07.439 actually working in? So I worked on the Google Finance 0:12:07.520 --> 0:12:14.160 product so op slash product management, and it was I mean, 0:12:15.240 --> 0:12:17.400 I don't know how much how many times I've shared 0:12:17.440 --> 0:12:21.160 this or not, but I would stare at financial information 0:12:21.200 --> 0:12:22.840 every day essentially the stock. 0:12:22.520 --> 0:12:25.800 Market, and over time, after staring at it for so long, 0:12:26.080 --> 0:12:30.720 I became quite tapped into what was doing well, why 0:12:30.800 --> 0:12:34.600 things were doing well. I found myself day trading, which 0:12:35.920 --> 0:12:39.120 also advice for no one to ever do unless you 0:12:39.240 --> 0:12:41.720 really really get to like focus on this and you 0:12:41.760 --> 0:12:45.679 are trained enough on it. But I actually became almost 0:12:45.720 --> 0:12:50.559 like addicted to the stock market, like in the job, 0:12:50.800 --> 0:12:54.640 and it was if I felt like entering an old 0:12:54.640 --> 0:12:59.440 boys club learning about the lingo of the stock market 0:13:00.240 --> 0:13:04.400 to watch trades, and I found myself like deep in 0:13:04.440 --> 0:13:08.320 these like subreddits of the world, no like truly, And 0:13:09.160 --> 0:13:13.080 I also I think gained a major appreciation for just 0:13:13.160 --> 0:13:18.200 investing as well, and the fact that women overall have 0:13:18.320 --> 0:13:22.040 been left out of this world. And like I said, 0:13:22.040 --> 0:13:24.439 in Old Boys Club, it has become this thing we're 0:13:24.480 --> 0:13:27.400 just like men in general knew and understood it a 0:13:27.440 --> 0:13:29.360 lot more. But the closer I got to the nucleus 0:13:29.400 --> 0:13:31.920 of it, I realized it's actually not that complicated. It 0:13:32.080 --> 0:13:37.079 just had become this world where men have predominantly spent 0:13:37.200 --> 0:13:41.439 their time understanding and investing and playing in the stock 0:13:41.480 --> 0:13:45.400 market and women hadn't. And it's not about understanding it. 0:13:45.400 --> 0:13:48.000 It was more about just like your innate ability to 0:13:48.080 --> 0:13:50.840 understand what you think might do well, how you gain 0:13:50.880 --> 0:13:54.240 that research and understanding. Anyway, women are amazing. 0:13:53.840 --> 0:13:58.079 At We're going to take a short break and when 0:13:58.080 --> 0:14:01.400 we come back, Laura tells us about her first mini 0:14:01.440 --> 0:14:04.240 pivot out of the comfort of Google and into the 0:14:04.360 --> 0:14:17.160 unknown of a very famous startup. When I talk to 0:14:17.240 --> 0:14:19.760 women who want to make a pivot, there is often 0:14:19.800 --> 0:14:22.200 a hesitation of leaving a comfortable job. 0:14:23.320 --> 0:14:26.120 So how did you end up? Were you ready? I mean, 0:14:26.120 --> 0:14:28.440 you loved the experience of Google so much. Were you 0:14:28.560 --> 0:14:31.200 ready to move on? How did the next opportunity come 0:14:31.280 --> 0:14:31.360 up 0:14:31.480 --> 0:14:32.120 Were you looking? 0:14:32.600 --> 0:14:34.960 Oh, this is a fun story. Speaking of the stock market, 0:14:35.040 --> 0:14:36.880 I a lot of my team was here in New 0:14:36.920 --> 0:14:38.800 York and I was out in the Berry. So the 0:14:38.880 --> 0:14:42.040 engineering team was here and I would come out every 0:14:42.120 --> 0:14:45.120 so often and we would do a lot of plugins 0:14:45.120 --> 0:14:48.400 with the New York Stock Exchange or the NASDAC, and 0:14:49.000 --> 0:14:51.440 I was out for some work trip. I don't know 0:14:51.480 --> 0:14:53.200 what was going on in the city at the time, 0:14:53.280 --> 0:14:56.960 but it was very hard to book hotels, and you know, 0:14:57.080 --> 0:14:59.920 for everything that Google offered, you know, there was still 0:15:00.080 --> 0:15:02.800 a travel limit to how which you could book? And 0:15:02.920 --> 0:15:04.960 I'll never forget someone turning to me and they said, well, 0:15:04.960 --> 0:15:06.560 if you can't find a hotel, why don't you just 0:15:06.560 --> 0:15:09.960 book an airbed and breakfast. It's like, what the hell 0:15:10.080 --> 0:15:15.640 is an arabed breakfast? And I looked it up and 0:15:15.680 --> 0:15:19.480 I was floored. I mean floored. I remember that feeling 0:15:19.520 --> 0:15:21.960 of being like, who the hell came up with this concept? 0:15:22.360 --> 0:15:24.320 Are you telling me I can stay in like a 0:15:24.480 --> 0:15:29.200 real apartment, like someone's home in the middle of New 0:15:29.280 --> 0:15:32.080 York City? And I did. I booked a two bed 0:15:32.120 --> 0:15:35.040 apartment in Soho where I was like working here for 0:15:35.080 --> 0:15:37.240 the week. I was typically staying at like I don't know, 0:15:37.320 --> 0:15:40.440 the Hilton, and you're going through a typical work experience, 0:15:40.680 --> 0:15:42.640 you know, going back to your hotel late at night 0:15:42.720 --> 0:15:44.880 and then into the office in the morning. Anyway, I 0:15:44.880 --> 0:15:47.520 called my friends back in Dublin. I was like, guys, 0:15:47.760 --> 0:15:52.840 I have an apartment in New York City for a week. Anyway, 0:15:52.880 --> 0:15:55.880 they were on the first flight out and they met 0:15:55.920 --> 0:15:58.560 me at the apartment and I did my work thing, 0:15:58.640 --> 0:16:00.560 going in out of the office every day, and we 0:16:00.560 --> 0:16:02.040 would come home in the evening and we would like 0:16:02.080 --> 0:16:04.800 cook food and we would live in New York City 0:16:04.840 --> 0:16:07.760 life and at the kid you not. At the end 0:16:07.840 --> 0:16:09.440 of that trip, I remember being like, I have to 0:16:09.440 --> 0:16:12.480 work for this company, and that feeling of just knowing 0:16:12.640 --> 0:16:15.200 you know what you want, or you have that light 0:16:15.320 --> 0:16:18.560 or trigger inside you that says, this is going to 0:16:18.560 --> 0:16:18.880 be big. 0:16:18.920 --> 0:16:20.200 This is going to be huge. I need to be 0:16:20.240 --> 0:16:22.240 part of whatever this is. Yeah, what was it about 0:16:22.280 --> 0:16:23.760 it that made you say I have to work with 0:16:23.800 --> 0:16:27.960 this company? Okay, going back to be Irisha. Just the 0:16:27.960 --> 0:16:31.120 hospitality of it all. I mean, the fact that you 0:16:31.160 --> 0:16:32.280 could truly. 0:16:32.000 --> 0:16:37.480 Just live in someone else's home and community and removing 0:16:37.520 --> 0:16:41.160 that like stranger feeling. It's just the idea that you 0:16:41.160 --> 0:16:44.320 could bring community together in a close way like that 0:16:44.480 --> 0:16:47.480 and stay in a stranger's bed. That idea just blew 0:16:47.560 --> 0:16:49.600 my mind. And you know, growing up in a country 0:16:49.600 --> 0:16:55.119 where hospitality is its currency, be in bees and community 0:16:55.160 --> 0:16:57.680 and family, people don't like call to say they're showing up. 0:16:57.720 --> 0:16:59.800 They just show up. They knock on your door. The 0:17:00.080 --> 0:17:02.920 US walk in that is. That's how I grew up 0:17:02.960 --> 0:17:05.520 and I found you know, in many ways, I think 0:17:05.560 --> 0:17:10.919 Airbnb pushing on this kind of next wave of belonging 0:17:10.960 --> 0:17:13.280 in community in a texture of in way the whole 0:17:13.320 --> 0:17:16.320 thing was just phenomenal. And then I also, to be honest, 0:17:16.320 --> 0:17:19.159 I think the investor in me was also going, hold on, 0:17:19.200 --> 0:17:21.840 hospitality is a huge business, and they are like truly 0:17:21.880 --> 0:17:24.560 disrupting it from the ground up in a really unique way. 0:17:25.040 --> 0:17:27.359 And remember this was also at a time where on 0:17:27.400 --> 0:17:30.239 the back of two thousand and seven two thousand and 0:17:30.240 --> 0:17:33.800 eight crisis, you're looking at this going, actually, people can 0:17:33.920 --> 0:17:36.200 earn a living on this, like this makes a lot 0:17:36.240 --> 0:17:39.360 of sense. So the investor in me was quickly doing 0:17:39.840 --> 0:17:44.440 the calculation to realize this could be massive if done right, 0:17:44.960 --> 0:17:47.280 and I want to be part of that. I'll never 0:17:47.359 --> 0:17:50.959 forget though, going through the interview process and you know, 0:17:51.000 --> 0:17:53.120 deciding I'm going to leave Google and go join this 0:17:53.720 --> 0:17:55.879 and I say Airben and Breakfast because it was called 0:17:55.920 --> 0:17:57.879 Airben and Breakfast at the time, and they were popping 0:17:57.960 --> 0:18:00.320 up in the news here and there for like, you know, 0:18:00.640 --> 0:18:02.680 there was a few things going wrong in the company. 0:18:02.760 --> 0:18:07.639 And anyway, I'll never forget calling home and telling my 0:18:07.720 --> 0:18:10.000 dad that I'm going to leave Google join this company, 0:18:10.560 --> 0:18:12.520 and the response he was like, hold on a second, 0:18:13.080 --> 0:18:16.960 you're telling me that you were going to leave Google. 0:18:17.880 --> 0:18:21.040 And you're going to start at B and B. It's like, nope, 0:18:21.119 --> 0:18:23.280 that's not what I'm doing. It's like it sounds like 0:18:23.320 --> 0:18:26.680 you are like nope, but I remember having to explain 0:18:26.720 --> 0:18:30.040 the concept over and over and they just they couldn't 0:18:30.080 --> 0:18:32.960 get their head around. It just didn't make sense. And 0:18:33.440 --> 0:18:34.880 you know, there was a lot of are you sure 0:18:34.920 --> 0:18:37.240 this is crazy? But ultimately it got to like I 0:18:37.320 --> 0:18:39.680 trust you if this makes sense, like you know, good luck, 0:18:39.720 --> 0:18:42.240 good riddance, let's see how it goes, and very irish 0:18:42.320 --> 0:18:46.480 like yep, sure, not quite sure, but okay, I'm behind you. 0:18:47.080 --> 0:18:50.800 And it wasn't that long after where all of a sudden, 0:18:50.840 --> 0:18:53.840 Airbnb was in every country, every town, every village, all 0:18:53.880 --> 0:18:57.320 across the world. And then you know, the parents' script 0:18:57.359 --> 0:18:59.960 flipped from you know, she's lost her mind leaving good 0:19:00.000 --> 0:19:03.680 Google too she knew, yeah, yeah, she all made sense. 0:19:03.760 --> 0:19:05.960 And when you had this revelation like this is the 0:19:06.000 --> 0:19:08.200 company that I want to be involved with, how did 0:19:08.240 --> 0:19:11.840 you literally take the step. I think that many of 0:19:11.920 --> 0:19:13.560 us have had the feeling of, oh, I wish I 0:19:13.560 --> 0:19:15.679 could be involved in this, but we don't often know 0:19:15.760 --> 0:19:18.120 how to actually take the step to find them. Did 0:19:18.119 --> 0:19:21.480 you just like look online for their job openings, Like 0:19:21.520 --> 0:19:23.679 how did you actually connect with them? That's exactly it 0:19:24.440 --> 0:19:26.040 found found a job opening. 0:19:26.240 --> 0:19:29.919 Also, remember thinking there wasn't really an appropriate job that 0:19:30.000 --> 0:19:32.960 really quite made sense. So I just applied to any 0:19:33.000 --> 0:19:35.040 and I remember reaching out and they pulled me in 0:19:35.040 --> 0:19:37.320 for an interview. And even during the interview process, there 0:19:37.320 --> 0:19:39.640 were people in the interview process who were like, are 0:19:39.680 --> 0:19:42.199 you sure you want to leave Google for this? I 0:19:42.240 --> 0:19:45.439 was like, well, I'm not quite sure. Now didn't make 0:19:45.440 --> 0:19:49.040 you question it a little bit, but I needed something new, 0:19:49.080 --> 0:19:50.679 and I think that was always in me. There was 0:19:50.760 --> 0:19:54.280 that desire or spark for for always wanting to do 0:19:54.359 --> 0:19:57.280 something new. Yeah, I really wanted to be there. I 0:19:57.320 --> 0:19:59.800 really believed in the concept. So no, I just I 0:20:00.000 --> 0:20:04.359 reached out for some random role and then it just 0:20:04.400 --> 0:20:08.760 turned into one interview after another, and I think I've 0:20:08.760 --> 0:20:10.800 reached out to also one of the founders on Twitter. 0:20:11.280 --> 0:20:12.800 I was like, I applied for a job. I really 0:20:12.880 --> 0:20:16.919 want this, Yeah, And it was pretty swift. 0:20:17.000 --> 0:20:19.199 Actually, I did have a question about the role that 0:20:19.240 --> 0:20:22.879 you went into because it wasn't like an exact next 0:20:22.920 --> 0:20:26.040 step from the role that you had at Google. 0:20:26.600 --> 0:20:30.440 I mean, Airbnb was a genius at hiring. Now in hindsight, 0:20:30.840 --> 0:20:34.800 they looked for people who had deep, deep passion to 0:20:34.520 --> 0:20:37.240 want to be there and people that they knew were 0:20:37.680 --> 0:20:41.639 smart enough and hungry enough and a depth obviously, you know, 0:20:41.720 --> 0:20:44.640 I mean early on, I sho'll say like, generalists make 0:20:44.680 --> 0:20:47.480 the world go around, and for an early small company, 0:20:47.520 --> 0:20:51.280 they do because there wasn't a month or a quarter 0:20:51.400 --> 0:20:54.919 where every single person wasn't wearing multiple hats, and you 0:20:55.000 --> 0:20:58.800 had to because so fast, you know. So I joined 0:20:59.000 --> 0:21:02.280 technically in the world of operations, but over the course 0:21:02.320 --> 0:21:05.640 of maybe the first year, I was leading growing and 0:21:05.800 --> 0:21:10.760 scaling customer service operations, to growing call centers, to going 0:21:10.800 --> 0:21:14.520 back to Europe and opening up offices, to trying to 0:21:14.640 --> 0:21:19.760 reduce our contact rate from you know, bookings versus customer 0:21:19.800 --> 0:21:24.520 service tickets. You are thrown into whatever the business needs. 0:21:24.800 --> 0:21:28.919 And besides of some very few specialized roles, most people 0:21:28.920 --> 0:21:33.080 were generalists. Again, now running and on my own business, 0:21:33.080 --> 0:21:35.040 I can see that I can see that need. It's 0:21:35.119 --> 0:21:38.000