In this episode of Born to Lead, we caught up with Sarah Hofstetter, President and Board Member at e-commerce analytics firm Profitero.
Her leadership journey is expansive and one that she says started early — when she became a big sister at two years old. In her professional life, she’s helmed numerous executive roles and has been responsible for the growth of several companies. She spent more than a decade at digital ad agency 360i where her most recent roles were chairwoman and CEO. During her tenure, she helped grow the company from 30 people to 1,000. In her current role, she oversees the Profitero platform that helps companies like Adidas, General Mills, and L’Oréal increase online sales.
We caught up with her to learn more about her leadership journey, career mentors, women’s empowerment, and more. And just like in past episodes, we ask the question, ‘Are some people just born to lead?’
Check out some highlights below:
On Women’s Leadership
“If I see other women in positions of leadership, then I believe that that’s a place where I can be successful as well. That I think is the best thing that women can do to help other women — not to pretend to be somebody they’re not, but to be more comfortable in their own skin and embrace that opportunity and to mentor wherever and however you can.”
On Saying ‘No’
“There were certain points where we were being asked to bite off more than we could chew, and saying ‘no’ became a really important part of my job. And I did not like being the culture of ‘no’ but it also helped us force priorities of things we were going to do and things we were not going to do — people we were going to hire, people we were not going to hire, pitches we were going to pursue, and pitches we were going to respectfully decline. So I think that that played a really big role — not to mention the fact that saying no is a bit of an aphrodisiac — but it also allowed us to be more ‘choiceful’ in what, where, and how we focus.”
On Mentors
“I think men who help women are just as important, if not more important than women who help women.”
