Sherry Phillips is breaking barriers and making history.
This month, Forbes Media announced that Phillips, the company’s chief revenue officer, will be promoted to chief executive officer, becoming the first female CEO in Forbes’ 107-year history.
After seven years as CEO, Mike Federle is stepping down at the end of the year and will continue to serve as a strategic advisor to the company’s leadership team and board.
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Phillips, 53, first joined Forbes in 1996 as the publisher of ForbesLife and has held multiple roles, including chief sales and marketing officer and chief revenue officer.
Know Your Value recently chatted with Phillips about her new role, what women leaders bring to the table, her best advice to the next generation of female leaders and more.
Below is the conversation, which has been edited for brevity and clarity.
Know Your Value: Congratulations on your new, upcoming role as CEO of Forbes Media! You will be the first female CEO in Forbes’s 107-year history. What does that honor mean to you?
Phillips: It has been such a privilege to work for the Forbes family for 28 years. It’s something I don’t take lightly. We are a brand steeped in heritage, but not a heritage brand.
So really what we’ve done over my whole 28 years with Forbes is celebrate entrepreneurial success. And with that, we all act as entrepreneurs within the company. So, there’s just plenty of room for ideas for testing and learning. And so for me, that’s what my whole career has been about — trying new and different things along the way and seeing where the brand is successful and resonates and then diving deeper into those opportunities.
Know Your Value: Do you think women bring different skills to leading companies? And if so, what can we learn from them?
Phillips: Absolutely … I have four children. And so for me, a lot of it always felt a little bit like I was always trying to take care of my people, or my family, or really focus in on culture quite a bit, which I think women are excellent at. We tend to have a really high EQ and companies that have a better culture are more profitable. I think for women that’s a huge advantage in the workforce.
Then I think we’re also really good listeners. Really for me it’s been about listening, seeing where the opportunities are, not only for the Forbes brand, but myself as well. Then those people around me, which I’ve been fortunate enough to work with — so many talented people. Some are still here at Forbes, some have moved on to other things, and then some have retired. And Forbes is always a place that I want people to feel — even if they’ve left — that they’re still part of the Forbes family.
Know Your Value: Who have been some of your mentors who have lifted you and inspired you along your career journey?
Phillips: It’s mostly been women, but I can’t leave out the good men, someone like [publishing executive and editor-in-chief] Steve Forbes who champions women every.
And the Forbes family in general, [Forbes Media’s executive Vice President] Moira Forbes is just such a dynamic inspiration and does so much in the women’s space.
And then I think for me personally, I was fortunate enough to work for some really incredible leaders, including Meredith Kopit Levien, who is CEO of the New York Times, and Jessica Sibley, who is now CEO of Time.
There are so many good women around me. I feel fortunate that they’re part of my village here.
Know Your Value: We have loved partnering with Forbes for our “50 over 50” lists and our annual 30/50 Summit. Why is it so important to you and the company to spotlight women over 50?
Phillips: I feel like [Know Your Value founder] Mika Brzezinski talks about this every day, and it’s such an important point — that you can start your career at 50. You can start at 60. You can start it at 70.
We have women on the list who are in their 80s, and I think it’s really important to acknowledge that there’s no timeline. There’s no start date. There’s no finish date, so I love that.
Know Your Value celebrates that, and obviously Forbes is along for that partnership. And then I’ve been to Abu Dhabi for the 30/50 Summit. It’s incredible to have women of different generations interacting, sharing information, sharing wisdom … This event is beyond just a summit or a conference.
A lot of the women that attend come back and they refer to it as a movement, and it really has that feeling to it, that we’re all in this together, but we all have so much to learn from one another, no matter what background you come from. And to have it in that setting is really spectacular.
Know Your Value: Explain the importance of developing allies, including men? As a chief revenue officer, you know better than anyone that the business and finance industries have long been regarded as male-dominated fields. What strategies have worked for you?
Phillips: Business and finance is in every job. It holds so much of what we do, or what we can do, in the future. So, it’s important to have allies that can help teach you that. But you don’t have to go to business school or have been a finance or economics major to understand it.
A lot of what we do is really just in practice. Whether you’re trying to figure out an EBITDA (Earnings before interest, taxes, and amortization) of a company or of your own company, you need to spend time with people that can help teach you that. And then sometimes it’s just learning through the process.
I’ve had allies who have both been men and women. I’m fortunate to have had great relationships, including with Randall Lane, chief content officer of Forbes and co-creator of the 30/50 Summit alongside Mika. Also with our CEOs, including Mike Federle, who is leaving us at the end of the year. He really helped to ingrain the parts of the business that I should be looking at.
And then our CFO [Michael York]. It’s really important to have a great alliance with the CFO of your company and to really understand that side of the business and where the opportunities are and where the shortcomings are as well.
Know Your Value: What advice would you offer to inspire the next generation of female leaders?
Phillips: The advice is pretty similar to what I would give anyone. Ask a lot of questions, learn a lot, really go into places that you wouldn’t think you would normally go into to ask questions, whether it’s finance or creating a relationship with your CFO, or creating a relationship with your editor-in-chief or chief content officer.
There’s lots of opportunities, especially if you build a good rapport. And they may not be immediate, but eventually they’ll be like, “Oh, I trust that person,” or “She was interested in something I was interested in, so let’s go build something together.” Or “Let’s go test or try something together.” So, I think as much as you can internally build allies (and the same is true for external allies) and building that trust and faith … is really important.
Also, I’ve been here [at Forbes] for 28 years, [and I’ve learned] not everything has to be a rush. Everyone feels like in this day and age, you need that immediate gratification. But if you play the long game and think about things from a long-term point of view … then I think you’ll make more educated decisions. “Is this going to be best for the brand?” or “Is this going to be best for me?” or “Is this profitable?” … versus “I need an answer by the end of the day,” or “I need an answer by end of week,” because nobody wants to make a quick decision.
Know Your Value staff