Fireside Chat, Interview
Talks at GS – Bozoma Saint John: Driving Change at Uber & Beyond
- Bozema St. John joined Uber as its first Chief Brand Officer in June 2017, following a six-month tenure as a potential hire after an eight-hour strategic dialogue with CEO Travis Kalanick, orchestrated by board member Arianna Huffington.
- St. John's decision to accept the role was driven by two primary factors: the rarity of the opportunity to reinvent a major global brand (comparable to her work rebuilding Apple Music) and the personal imperative to provide representation for women and people of color in Silicon Valley leadership.
- The company faced significant reputational headwinds at the time of her hiring, including the "Delete Uber" campaign, sexual harassment allegations, discrimination claims, internal board conflicts, and the impending departure of CEO Travis Kalanick.
- St. John emphasizes that Uber's brand strategy must bridge the gap between its product utility (transportation innovation) and its human narrative, noting that the company cannot be defined solely by its technical infrastructure.
- She advocates for integrating pop culture into the brand's identity to foster deeper emotional connections, aiming to move beyond utilitarian descriptions of service to "magical experiences" for both riders and drivers.
- To gain authentic empathy for driver challenges, St. John personally drove an Uber Pool in San Francisco for approximately three hours, discovering the intense pressure of navigation, passenger uncertainty, and the stress of real-time operational execution.
- The company's current brand pivot focuses on rebuilding trust and moving from a reputation of dysfunction to one of cultural integrity, leveraging the post-Kalanick era to address historical discrimination and sexual harassment issues.
- St. John views the 2018 cultural reckoning in corporate America as a "turning point," urging leaders to use current momentum to drive substantive change rather than performative gestures.
- She highlights the necessity of allyship within the workplace, citing her former colleague Zach Harris at Pepsi who actively championed her unconventional ideas and style, contrasting this with the frequent advice she received to "tone down" her authentic self.
- St. John describes the core trait of dynamic leaders she has worked with (including Spike Lee, Tim Cook, and Arianna Huffington) as an intense, maniacal focus on deep, lasting human connection rather than shallow networking.
- New CEO Dara Khosrowshahi adopted a listening-first approach in St. John's initial meetings, explicitly stating he wanted to hear her input before presenting his own goals, thereby empowering her to voice strategic priorities.
- St. John's three stated objectives for 2018 are:
- Uber: Cultivate a sense of pride where employees and users feel comfortable wearing Uber branding as a symbol of ownership.
- The Valley: Break the stereotypical image of Silicon Valley by increasing visible diversity and creating more success stories for underrepresented groups.
- Personal: To "continue showing up as myself bigger and badder than ever," rejecting the notion that she has reached a final destination in her career.
- She asserts that individuals who have achieved leadership success bear a responsibility to serve as reminders that systemic change is ongoing, urging against complacency and the assumption that the "journey is complete."