Latest / Chief Officer / Mahvish Zaman, Chief Officer at Liquid I.V. : Culture Is Actually Business

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Mahvish Zaman, Chief Officer at Liquid I.V. : Culture Is Actually Business · Chief Officer

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  Hi, Mahvish. How are you? I'm doing well. How are you doing, Tiffany? Good
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  to see you. Really, really good to see you. I'm just so delighted to
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  have you on on Chief Officer and to be able to share your really inspiring
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  story with everyone because you have one of those inspiring stories that
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  I know of and of course to talk about your current Chief Officer role and
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  how you got there.
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  Yeah, I know I'm so happy that I'm being invited to share this and to
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  the degree that I can maybe share mine and then hopefully others can
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  listen in and share theirs because it's all about the stories, how we
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  got here and whatnot. So for me, I'm recently appointed as a Chief People
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  Officer at Liquid I.V., but I've had a career built in sort of HR craft, if
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  I could say it.
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  and the whole anger and the thread through my career has been aligning
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  myself to the business challenge/business problems that the business is
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  going towards next and how either they're rewriting their growth chapter or
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  they want to reignite their growth chapter in their journey and then what is
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  the ecosystem and the right conditions for work.
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  the right conditions for leadership capability, the cultural aspects, the
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  talent density that you need to kind of get to that next chapter of business
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  growth. That's sort of been the common thread of my journey and I think
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  those are the kind of challenges that I sort of get attracted to and get
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  aligned with. But I've had a pretty interesting career again, I know it's
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  cliche like nothing really
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  was sort of planned per se, you know, like oh yeah these are the, but I've
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  had a pretty interesting career in terms of the brands that I have been able
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  to be associated with. So I worked at Nike, I sort of grew up at Nike and
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  did a bunch of different kinds of jobs within my Nike tenure. But again
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  going back to that theme around transformation and some challenge and some
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  growth within the business and what is the talent ecosystem that we can
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  create around.
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  that I worked at Walmart, Sam's Club for a little bit as well. And the
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  most beautiful sort of memory from that journey is the team that I was
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  able to create for the merchandising group over there and how embedded
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  and involved on the commercial side of the business my team became and
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  still in touch with a bunch of them and take great pride in being
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  a part.
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  of that team. And then before coming to Liquid I.V. of the Ferragamo, which
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  is Italian luxury fashion house, and it was this dream of mine that one day
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  I should try working in luxury fashion and work on Fifth Avenue, New York
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  City. And so that was a lot of fun. And Ferragamo is a historic
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  heritage-based company, a beautiful brand. And I was able to play a tiny
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  part in the modernization efforts in that brand as well.
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  and get them to growth and to signal to not only the consumer that is
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  a Ferragamo product fan, but also the internal consumer, as I call
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  them, the clients that live inside Ferragamo in the organization to
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  help them and support them and remind them of the value proposition
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  of our brand and alongside the leadership and the culture work that
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  we did and some of it we--
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  partner with you on that as well. So just to kind of in that spirit of
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  transformation and and and modernization of that brand. So again, the common
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  thread has been to be able to add impact at value on the commercial side of
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  the business, but really equating that that.
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  Culture is not just a nice thing to have. Culture is actually business in
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  many ways as well. And kind of equating both of those things together has
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  been sort of the gist of my journey so far. Absolutely. You and I have been
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  collaborators, as you know, as you shared at Ferragamo and throughout your
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  journey since then.
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  we've been lucky to become friends throughout this journey and I've just
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  been so impressed all throughout this time of your ability to balance that
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  business acumen and visionary leadership on the business side with culture
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  and HR and all those aspects intersecting has been really a specialty I have
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  to admit as well. So it's really wonderful to see you now as Chief Officer
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  at
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  Liquid I.V. and to see your vision come to life here. And I was just
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  curious, you know, if you could share when and where you were when you
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  started to realize like that this chief officer role was ahead and that this
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  is something that you wanted that you could see for yourself. Were you was
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  it back at Nike, Walmart? Where was it that you started to realize that this
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  could be the top of the path for you?
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  Right. I think at Nike back in the day, as I started immersing in like this
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  HR practice, and I really understood this value acquisition equation that HR
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  can actually create for the business and really kind of thrive through the
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  common pieces that are, you know, talent capability, upscaling. And I
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  thought it's like it's the beauty of getting these things together in the
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  right balance.
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  is literally a game changer for our business. So I think back in like after
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  like four or five years at Nike, I realized this is the actual path I want
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  to continue. Again, I didn't realize it being like, okay, it's going to be a
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  Chief People Officer role or like a title that I would, but I knew that I'm
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  really hooked in creating solutions that are system-based that are
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  sort of like there's an organic element to it, but then it's also a really
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  designed element to it, how you kind of create a system. So I didn't really
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  think about like this is the role I'm going to go after, but I knew that
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  this is the practice that I want to practice with, and then this should
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  become my craft in this space. And so since then, it's just being like, you
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  know, really quantifying the personal impact I'm bringing to the teams I've
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  grown or developed.
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  or the personal impact that I'm bringing and the YouTube impact I'm bringing
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  to the business side of the house.
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  And then one thing has led to another and that growth has come from the
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  title side and from the scope size alongside, but the common belief or like
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  sort of the driving force for me at the personal level has always been like
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  stitching up these pieces, really leading with a good culture conditions
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  that are required and staying true to that over and over again. But that's
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  become my playbook that I refer to every time I've taken up a new role. - I
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  love that.
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  And along the way, was there a specific person or people or opportunity or
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  opportunities that you feel made it possible for you to represent? I think
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  for so many people, you're one of them. Like so many people have been part
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  of this journey, right? It's like, it's not a lonely journey. Like there's
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  so many folks who have helped me.
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  reframe my thinking, who have helped me rethink the topic that I thought
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  I fully understood and digested. And I think that at the core of it is
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  the curiosity. And if you are lucky enough, I guess, that you can meet
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  some people who help you stay curious and make sure that they question
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  you in a way.
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  that just makes you rethink your own thinking on some topics and it
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  makes you shift your opinions and give you additional in-depth
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  perspective on things. So I've been extremely lucky. I can name
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  a few people who have been my mentors and have been my coaches and
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  be my go-to people as I'm navigating this.
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  ever changing workforce and then just that whole definition of work
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  around us. So yes, nothing can be done without a good coach.
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  if you don't have one, go seek one. If you don't have a mentor and you are
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  inspired by someone, request them to be your mentor. I think that's the
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  number one thing is to really put yourself out there to say, I am also
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  thinking about these things. Wouldn't you be able to give me some time? And
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  more than often than not, people are really extremely happy to give you that
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  time. I think that's the generosity of humanity overall. We all, I don't
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  know if they care about what the other person is looking for.
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  and it gives you some joy and satisfaction yourself as well if you're able
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  to pay it forward.
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  Was there a particular mentor that comes to you? Yeah, I mean, I guess
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  at Nike and now she's a CHRO at Nike. Treasure has been an amazing
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  mentor of mine. Yeah, and there's also my there's a she's still at
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  Nike as well, but Susie, I hope they don't mind me naming them. But
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  Susie was one of my bosses who I learned a ton from from the actual
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  sort of like the tact of human resources and so she's been my guide and my
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  trainer in many of those and so I still text her sometimes and I tell her
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  I'm like yeah I'm still kind of like
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  I am very much all the learning I got from Susie is still very much fresh in
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  my head. So those are the things that I kind of go back to as I'm rethinking
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  a problem and it's literally like what would treasure do and what would
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  Susie do like in this situation. So I'm extremely grateful that they are
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  present for me and are available for me in that regard. I'm getting chills
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  you know obviously because it does make them so proud and yeah you're a
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  cheap pop.
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  Yeah. And so that's incredible. Who was the first person you told? Was it
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  someone within your family when you got the chief officer role? Your first
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  one? Yes, my daughter.
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  She was also my advisor on this because this role required a move from New
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  York City to Los Angeles. So this, she was also my advisor and guide and
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  also always being my cheerleader. So she was a first person. - Amazing.
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  She's the sweetest and so lovely just like you and just incredible. - And
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  what do you feel like you had to believe about yourself to say yes to this
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  title, to this position?
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  I think the belief is in one phrase, I think it's I believe in me being
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  curious. And I just believe that if you are curious and you have open
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  mindedness and your curiosity sort of like go hand in hand, so that's a
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  growth mindset component. But if you have that,
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  You can learn a new system, you can learn a new company, you can learn a new
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  culture, and you can also add to it, all of that. So it's just that learning
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  and unlearning and relearning never bothers me. Actually, that's what drives
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  me. So I think that's my belief about me. I love that. And I can attest to
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  that. Absolutely. What is a decision that you have been really the
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  proudest of?
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  that maybe you haven't been able to share as widely. What's something that
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  you feel like you've done and accomplished that you've been really proud of?
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  You know, I think Tiffany, like I've been really, whenever I feel a little
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  bit comfortable or complacent, you know, I change everything around me. So
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  whether it's like a different city, whether it's a different industry, if
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  it's a different company, it goes back to me being that lifelong learner, as
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  we say, right?
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  But I think those decisions that I've made, they're made with a lot of
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  intention. They're made with a lot of thought to say this is something that
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  I can go do next because I can learn and I can hopefully add value. And so
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  for me, all decisions, they are very scary ones because you know how they
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  say, like don't invite all the changes all at once in your life. And I keep
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  doing that. Like, you know, I'll move a city, I'll move a, you know, a
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  industry or a little company. And I've done that a couple times or three
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  times already. And it felt really daunting. And those decisions are always
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  like feel like big risks, right? But I think those are the right they have
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  been the right ones for me, because that's just my way of being that curious
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  person that I am and keep feeding my curiosity and it feeds my growth to in
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  some in more than one way. So
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  And this must be a really exciting time right now with so much
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  transformative technology happening. It's changing around us for us. I am so
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  excited about this. Like, I really feel like I was talking to someone else
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  the other day. I'm like, I feel like this is HR's moment to be the main
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  character energy. To be able to think about work and like the components of
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  work and
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  design work and design the workforce around the new work. I'm really
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  excited about all the possibilities. It's daunting in pockets, but and you
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  don't know the answers. No one really can tell us right now that we
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  figured it out.
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  but it's something really magnificent about all of us trying to figure it
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  out, I feel like. And so I'm here for that. I think it's really exciting
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  times. I think so too. It's really exciting, of course, for Mogul,
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  especially since we're at that intersection of AI and HR. And one
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  perspective that we have is that we're able to
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  really gain access to so many Chief Officers perspectives right now at scale
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  across hundreds of organizations and clients that we support.
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  the CEOs and the CHROs and what's kind of been uniformly shared with us is
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  that everyone's starting to realize it's not a tech problem, it's a
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  workforce transformation, learning, adoption, people issue. - It's a design
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  problem, right? It's a design problem. - And we do our own thing. - And
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  carry our energy, absolutely. - Yeah, yeah, yeah, I love that. - So I love
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  that the spotlight is back on the HR heads and...
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  now carrying us forward and leading the future ahead as they should be. And
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  so I'm really excited to hear you say this. My final question to you is,
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  what advice would you give to that leader who's just a step below the chief
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  officer role? What kind of advice would you share with them to have them
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  feel like they're ready or what should they do to be ready or any advice you
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  can give?
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  You know, mine is very practical, Tiffany. I feel like, you know, again,
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  like, you know, you define your own, you know, definition for growth and
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  learning. But my challenge would be to say, at least at minimum, once per
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  month, challenge a framework that you have already been operating in. It
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  could be like, I've done talent a certain way. I've done talent succession
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  planning a certain way. And really take that one topic and the framework or
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  the playbook that you're used to.
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  and just really give yourself some homework to say, if I were to deconstruct
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  this today and recreate it with the current sort of the backdrop, how would
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  I do it? I think that problem, like, you know, the challenge of yourself,
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  like not, and sort of like, you know, inviting challenge to yourself and not
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  operating just with a status quo, that piece alone gives you so much energy.
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  It's like, if I can recreate this,
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  and then I can add value and then see I can add the I think that that growth
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  and someone someone when I'm interviewing people and someone can tell me
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  that ghost story that you know I kind of like
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  Self invited myself with this challenge and I said I think I can do this
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  differently or enter this conversation differently. I think there's nothing
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  more precious than that. It doesn't have to be successful or a failure. It's
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  just like you tried and you tried to kind of problem solve in a different
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  way. I think that would be my advice to say challenge yourself to think
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  about an actual artifact that you work with in your current workflow.
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  and deconstruct it and see where it takes you. That's the perfect advice for
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  especially someone like you that loves to learn and for all the others
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  listening today that love to learn and I love that advice. Well thank you so
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  much Mahvish, so incredibly inspiring to hear your journey and thank you so
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  much for the advice and for being again an incredible Chief Officer.
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  And thank you again for joining us. Thank you so much, Tiffany. Thank you so
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  much. I really appreciated the time together.
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