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Scrubbing In with Becca Tilley & Tanya Rad

Audacity and Action with Bozoma Saint John PART 1

·42 min·4 clips
Bozoma Saint John, former CMO of Netflix and Uber, joins to discuss her journey and modern woman energy.
In this episode of Scrubbing In, hosts Becca Tilley and Tanya Rad welcome guest Bozoma Saint John, known for her roles as CMO at companies like Netflix and Uber. The conversation begins with Bozoma's introduction as an embodiment of modern woman energy. She recounts her early career, starting with a temp job at Spike Lee's ad agency where she boldly critiqued his script, leading to her entry into marketing. Bozoma attributes her audacity to her upbringing, sharing stories of moving from Ghana to Colorado and confronting stereotypes about Africa. She explains her marketing perspective, viewing everything through that lens. Bozoma details how she proactively reached out to Uber during its public relations crisis, resulting in an eight-hour lunch with CEO Travis Kalanick and a job offer, despite advice against it. She discusses the challenges at Uber, including rebuilding trust and navigating corporate dynamics after Kalanick's firing. Bozoma emphasizes trusting her gut in career decisions, such as leaving Apple Music for Uber and later leaving Netflix to write her memoir. She reveals how she joined The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills after Bravo reached out, aiming to change the show's representation and bring her corporate experience. Bozoma talks about her role on the new show On Brand with Jimmy Fallon, which came about after his wife saw her on Housewives. Throughout, she stresses not seeking others' opinions and relying on intuition. The episode ends with a teaser for part two of the interview.

As heard by us

A warm, candid career-pivot episode built around an eight-hour lunch, a risky Uber move, and St. John's trust in instinct.

Bozema St. John gives the episode its best shape when she treats ambition as something more complicated than a clean upward climb. Her move from Apple to Uber lands as the central story, not because it is framed as a simple leap of faith, but because nearly everyone around her…

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Why you'd press play

Press play if you want a career pivot story with an eight-hour lunch hiding inside it.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →
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