Sometimes You Have to Go With Your Gut

You’ve worked at some impressive places. Prior to GoDaddy, you were at McKesson. Before that, you were with a very well-known national corporate law firm of Morrison and Foerster. Were there bumps along the road, though, as you worked your way up the career ladder? And how did you build or maintain resilience through those experiences?

efinitely some bumps along the road, absolutely. And I also think about my reasons for going someplace weren’t ultimately the reasons that kept me there. And so I think what I learned pretty early on is that life is unpredictable, careers are unpredictable. It’s not a linear path, and sometimes you just have to go with your gut.
So, I started at Morrison and Foerster, which was just an incredible experience because they have a very strong Japan practice. And I thought that’s what I would do. I ended up never spending time in the Tokyo office. I sat next to a very senior partner when I was there for a summer associate role summer, and he kind of took me under his wing and he said, “I’m negotiating this big merger. Why don’t you come with me and sit with me and just learn?” But I realized having a good mentor was actually more important to me than the substantive work at that stage of my career.

That was a great lesson. Let’s expand on that, because you went to Morrison and Foerster, thinking that you would be like a big part of the Japan practice, that’s what you were going to do, this amazing mentor came along. How did that change your perspective on things and the possibilities for yourself?

So, I shifted rather than thinking, oh, I have a background in Japan, I’d like to work on Japanese matters, to looking for the people that I wanted to learn from. Sometimes an opportunity comes by and you just have to jump at it.
So when I switched practice groups, I went from Los Angeles to New York. It was a normal Thursday and a partner came by my office and said, “We just added to the New York practice. They need some help. Would you be willing to go and help them?” And I said, “Sure.” And then he said, “Would you be willing to go on Monday?” It was a Thursday. I said, “Sure.” And then I got a call about the role at McKesson, and I hadn’t really thought about going into a corporation and actually didn’t know that much about healthcare, to be honest.
But I met the chief legal officer and just completely fell in love with her and the team. And again, I thought having leaders that I can learn from is actually more important to me than the substantive area. So I said, “Okay, I’ll go.” And I thought I’ll stay maybe three years, and I ended up staying 13.