Episode 6: Setting the tone for the team with Sue Thaden
Sue Thaden is CEO of not one, but TWO successful businesses. At age 30, Sue founded Client Resources Inc., an IT Staffing and Solutions firm based in Omaha, Nebraska.
In 2015, Sue broke into the sports business as CEO of her second venture, From Now On, with the FanX app, a one-stop-shop mobile communications platform that now serves over 125 college athletic departments, high schools and championship events nationwide.
In this episode, Sue discusses her approach to leadership… the importance of infusing culture into business… her Get it Great motto… and the way to stay high value to clients by taking a team-first, service-driven approach. Being the generous leader that she is, Sue offers her advice to women who dream of being CEO of their own business someday.
Always have a focus.
“We’re all juggling a lot and the more we recognize that in each other, the more we can support each other and grow. The word focus is a sticky on my monitor because we should just pick a few things and be razor tight, crush it, kick it all the way through.”
Sue’s advice is to always stay focused. At work, her main focal points are partnerships and sales. Sue takes pride in showing up as her best self each day for her team and her clients.
With a background in sales, Sue understands the importance of building a constant pipeline. At the time of this interview, From Now On has over 125 schools on the FanX platform, and with both partnerships and sales in a steady climb, Sue wants to work on adding new roles to the team as she builds new opportunities for her current employees.
Do things with service in mind.
When going over her internal onboarding processes, Sue’s philosophy is to be of service to each other and to clients and customers. It starts with hiring the candidates who are hungry, humble, and smart. Once a new employee is brought on, they go through a variety of training exercises that set them up for success.
Sue trains her team to be conscious of how they show up to clients, their own personal development, and their intentions. To maintain and nurture their relationships with each other, Sue hosts get togethers every Thursday for her team.
“We’ll spend time with our kids playing catch or sitting on the couch watching a movie and all of a sudden, it’s like pack your backpack, where’s your shoes. But you need to go play catch a little bit because that relationship grows, stretches and conversations go to a different place…I guess we play together a little bit and try to have celebrations as we can.”
A positive mindset and confidence are key to success.
Sue starts and ends each day with 20 different things she is grateful for; it helps wire her brain to stay positive throughout the day. It is important that she shows up as her best self for her team, always making them proud of her actions.
Be fast to raise your hand.
As previously echoed by women in her position, Sue says to speak up. Be fast to raise your hand and own your part. Sue also urges women to be careful and conscious of who we surround ourselves with. With the C-Suite being predominantly men, Sue advises that we find the male advocates who are eager to help us win.
Seeking one-on-one time with the board of directors is a great place to find allies and be seen. Women should also not be afraid to go for positions that could be a stretch for them. This is an area where we can take the lead from men, who aren’t shy about going after a role where they may not check all the boxes.
All in all, Sue urges women to build strong relationships, demonstrate their skills, and always speak up.
WINS?
Number one being part of your group is fantastic. We're really trying to get our brand out, our name out, and our exciting story out for CRI. I love to meet people that are steps ahead of us that are generous to share: Here's what we did, don't do that and here's what we did that worked. So continuing to develop our contacts with people that can teach us things and hopefully as a payback, we bring them energy and ideas as well.
Thank you Sue for sharing your story with us.
This interview was powered by WINS, our exclusive media membership for women in sports and entertainment. Learn more about the membership.
Deja Wiggins is the Sales Coordinator for Ticket Operations at Madison Square Garden Sports.