Episode 99: Sonja Mathews (Nonprofit Exec, formerly VP roles at USAA, PepsiCo)

Authority Issues

In this episode, rachel, Kendall, and Sonja talk about:

• The fact that this podcast is not sponsored by USAA
• A journey that started with childhood on a "poser farm" in North Carolina
• Driving the tractor as a path to an enjoyment of adventure and power
• Discovering that being a defense lawyer meant you would represent a lot of guilty people
• How Kendall ruins everything
• Being the data pusher and getting hooked on her own supply
• The Stephen Covey 7 Habits seminar, aka a sausagefest
• Early interpretations of leadership as a command and control process, feedback from other managers, being curious, being willing to apologize and grow
• Kendall gets his due, FINALLY
• Learning more from mistakes than successes
• That there's a difference between listening and "waiting to speak"
• The fun of building and running her own "retail lab" aka fake grocery store theater for research
• Advocating for the strategic pre-meeting when decisions are being made
• Reasons to switch to the nonprofit world, including a cancer diagnosis
• What strong 501c3 nonprofit board leadership looks like
• That all workers deserve joy in their work
• The tragedy of over-volunteering, trying to extricate herself
• Recommendations for exploring the Olympic Peninsula
• Friends: you should make some and spend time with them :)

You can find Sonja at https://www.linkedin.com/in/sonja-mathews-63a6a02/

Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3