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In this episode of The Eric Ries Show, I'm joined by Maria Colacurcio, Co-Founder and CEO of Syndio, a workplace equity analytics platform. Syndio helps companies close pay gaps and build high-trust organizations. Maria has had a long career in leadership, previously co-founding Smartsheet and serving as a senior leader at Starbucks, where she focused on global communications and social impact.In our conversation, we discuss how to scale with integrity, navigate the complexities of equity, and lead with both data and principle. We cover: • The surprising insight that 1 in 5 pay remediations at Syndio benefit white men• The distinction between expanding opportunity and enforcing quotas• Why taking bias out of promotions makes companies stronger• The role curiosity and passion played in opening doors for Maria• Why “the reservoir of trust” is both the right thing to do and a smart business strategy• Syndio's commitment to transparency through annual pay gap and equity disclosures• Why strategy and culture need to change as you scale• And much more!—Brought to you by:• Vanta – Automate compliance, manage risk, and prove trust—continuously. Save $1,000 today.• Wilson Sonsini – Wilson Sonsini is the innovation economy's law firm. Learn more.• Gusto – Gusto is an easy payroll and benefits software built for small businesses. Get 3 months free.—Where to find Maria Colacurcio: • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mcolacurcio/• X: https://x.com/mcolacurcio—Where to find Eric:• Newsletter:https://ericries.carrd.co/ • Podcast:https://ericriesshow.com/ • YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/@theericriesshow —In This Episode We Cover:(00:00) Intro(02:19) The executive order against DEI: what's changed, what hasn't, what remains uncertain(07:20) The benefits and limitations of DEI programs(08:37) What is opportunity equity (10:20) How biases in performance reviews advance incompetent people(11:22) Syndio's comp consistency analytics solution for pay consistency and pay equity (13:18) The importance of pay being tied to the company's stated values(18:47) Why some CEOs are eager to abandon DEI (21:46) How to tell if a company is serious about fair treatment(25:00) Maria's path to becoming the CEO of Syndio(32:09) Tech for solving a problem vs. for the sake of tech(35:12) Maria's experience becoming a founder at Smartsheet and Syndio(38:22) The reservoir of trust and other learnings from Maria's time at Starbucks(40:10) How Maria's curiosity led to meeting Zev and founding Syndio (49:25) Syndio's pivot and why Maria hired a lawyer to lead sales(52:15) An explanation of how Syndio's software works (54:46) Syndio's AI chatbot, Syndi(55:22) The current state of Syndio (57:02) How Syndio maintains alignment with its core values(1:02:14) Lightning round—You can find the transcript and references at https://www.ericriesshow.com/—Production and marketing byhttps://penname.co/.Eric may be an investor in the companies discussed.
What challenges do leaders face in fostering a culture of collaboration and accountability in today's diverse workplace? In this episode, Lindsay Pedersen sits down with Maria Colacurcio, CEO of Syndio, to delve into the evolving dynamics of leadership and workplace culture. They explore Maria's insights on creating equitable workplaces and the vital role of transparency in leadership. They discuss the power of vulnerability in leadership, particularly in the context of admitting failures. Maria encourages us to view mistakes not as failures but as essential opportunities for growth and development. Equity in the Workplace: Maria shares her passion for promoting equity and inclusion within organizations. She emphasizes that true equity goes beyond mere policy changes; it requires a cultural shift where everyone feels valued and heard. The Role of Data in Leadership: They discuss the significance of using data to inform decisions and drive accountability. Maria highlights how metrics can illuminate gaps in equity and help leaders create more inclusive environments. Building Trust Through Transparency: Maria underscores the importance of transparency in leadership, stating that leaders must be open about their challenges and decision-making processes. This openness fosters trust and encourages employees to engage authentically. Embracing Vulnerability: Maria speaks about the power of vulnerability in leadership. By admitting to failures and conducting postmortems, leaders can demonstrate that setbacks are part of the journey. Leadership as a Journey: Lindsay and Maria reflect on how leadership is not a destination but an ongoing journey of growth and adaptation. They discuss the need for leaders to be lifelong learners who embrace change and seek feedback. Resources: Maria Colacurcio on LinkedIn I Syndio Lindsay Pedersen - Contact me to tell me who you'd like to hear as a guest! Chuck Klosterman - ‘'But What If We're Wrong?: Thinking about the Present as If It Were the Past'' - Buy Here
In this episode of the Chad and Cheese podcast, Chad and Cheese chat with Maria Colacurcio, CEO at Syndio, Alim Dhanji, CHRO, TD SYNNEX, and Ana White, EVP and Chief People Officer at Lumen to discuss the critical issues surrounding workplace equity, the importance of data-driven approaches, and the impact of recent legal changes on DEI initiatives. The conversation highlights the need for transparency, the role of AI in reducing bias, and real stories of how pay equity adjustments have positively affected employees' lives. Achieving equity is an ongoing journey that requires commitment from leadership and a culture of inclusion. ENJOY!
In this episode of the Chad and Cheese podcast, Chad and Cheese chat with Maria Colacurcio, CEO at Syndio, Alim Dhanji, CHRO, TD SYNNEX, and Ana White, EVP and Chief People Officer at Lumen to discuss the critical issues surrounding workplace equity, the importance of data-driven approaches, and the impact of recent legal changes on DEI initiatives. The conversation highlights the need for transparency, the role of AI in reducing bias, and real stories of how pay equity adjustments have positively affected employees' lives. Achieving equity is an ongoing journey that requires commitment from leadership and a culture of inclusion. ENJOY!
In this episode of the Chad and Cheese podcast, Chad and Cheese chat with Maria Colacurcio, CEO at Syndio, Alim Dhanji, CHRO, TD SYNNEX, and Ana White, EVP and Chief People Officer at Lumen to discuss the critical issues surrounding workplace equity, the importance of data-driven approaches, and the impact of recent legal changes on DEI initiatives. The conversation highlights the need for transparency, the role of AI in reducing bias, and real stories of how pay equity adjustments have positively affected employees' lives. Achieving equity is an ongoing journey that requires commitment from leadership and a culture of inclusion. ENJOY!
Top Stories:1. Zillow CEO steps downPSBJ article2. Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines merger makes progressSeattle Times article3. Understanding pay equity through dataBloomberg article4. Companies removing DE&I teams including MicrosoftFormidable articleAbout guest Maria Colacurcio - CEO, Syndio:Maria has been the CEO of Syndio, a pay equity software as a service company, for almost 6 years. She was a co-founder of Smartsheet, she worked in leadership roles at Starbucks corporate and Microsoft. Maria is a serial entrepreneur and a mother of 7 kids! Host Rachel Horgan:Rachel is an independent event producer, emcee and entrepreneur. She worked for the Business Journal for 5 years as their Director of Events interviewing business leaders on stage before launching the weekly podcast. She earned her communication degree from the University of San Diego. Contact:Email: info@theweeklyseattle.comInstagram: @theweeklyseattleWebsite: www.theweeklyseattle.com
The Shred is a weekly roundup of who's raised funds, who's been acquired and who's on the move in the world of recruitment. The Shred is brought to you today by Jobcase.
It seems impossible to say "diversity" these days without igniting a firestorm. It speaks to the challenge humans have separating who we are from what we were taught. Beyond it being simply the right thing to do, there's empirical data that proves companies committed to diversity and equality consistently show a more profitable bottom line.We sit down with Zev Eigen, MIT graduate and the co-founder and chief data scientist at Syndio who's made it his life's work to balance the hiring and pay scales at companies as he shares what makes his work fulfilling and his vision for how AI will shape the future of human employment.
In this episode, our Chief People Officer, Barbara Matthews, is joined by the CEO of Syndio, Maria Colacurcio. Maria talks in depth about what equity means to her and the challenges she's seen in her career, including the dangers of burnout when working from home and the double standards of expectations regarding workplace flexibility for men and women.
Europe has been a leader when it comes to passing laws that protect individual privacy and support pay equity for years, and a new law taking hold will require a large number of companies to publish salary ranges just a few short years from now. It's all pretty detailed - and probably pretty confusing to a lot of Americans - which is why we invited Maria Colacurcio, CEO at Syndio and Anita Lettink, future or work speaker & HR tech advisor, to the podcast. We have so many questions, and it's a good thing they have all the answers. If you're doing business in Europe, it's a must-listen. And if you're in North America, it could be a crystal ball into the future. https://synd.io/blog/eu-pay-transparency-cheat-sheet/
Europe has been a leader when it comes to passing laws that protect individual privacy and support pay equity for years, and a new law taking hold will require a large number of companies to publish salary ranges just a few short years from now. It's all pretty detailed - and probably pretty confusing to a lot of Americans - which is why we invited Maria Colacurcio, CEO at Syndio and Anita Lettink, future or work speaker & HR tech advisor, to the podcast. We have so many questions, and it's a good thing they have all the answers. If you're doing business in Europe, it's a must-listen. And if you're in North America, it could be a crystal ball into the future. https://synd.io/blog/eu-pay-transparency-cheat-sheet/
Europe has been a leader when it comes to passing laws that protect individual privacy and support pay equity for years, and a new law taking hold will require a large number of companies to publish salary ranges just a few short years from now. It's all pretty detailed - and probably pretty confusing to a lot of Americans - which is why we invited Maria Colacurcio, CEO at Syndio and Anita Lettink, future or work speaker & HR tech advisor, to the podcast. We have so many questions, and it's a good thing they have all the answers. If you're doing business in Europe, it's a must-listen. And if you're in North America, it could be a crystal ball into the future. https://synd.io/blog/eu-pay-transparency-cheat-sheet/
Get 50 Free Lessons From 50 Top Entrepreneurs From Season 1: https://www.ehandbook.com/subscribeEach week, we interview real experts about topics you need to know about.Today is with Maria Colacurcio, the CEO of Syndio, the home of workplace equity who have raised over $80m. We're covering How To Make Your Workplace Equitable Using Data.Our Website: https://www.ehandbook.comMaria: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mcolacurcioSyndio: https://synd.io/
In a world where artistry, academia, and entrepreneurship intertwine, Zev Eigen, the visionary founder of Syndio, embarked on a journey that would redefine workplace equity. His venture has raised funding from top-tier investors like Voyager Capital, Bessemer Venture Partners, Penny Jar Capital, and Anita Lynch.
On this episode of the Scale Up Valley Podcast, Mike Dias speaks with Maria Colacurcio, CEO at Syndio. Key Takeaways: Creating the home of workplace equity The duty of the CEO of empowering the CHRO to become the CHFO (Chief Human Financial Officer) A hyper-focus to build customer devotion; the new ingredient to scale How to bring people from diverse backgrounds to your board Managing innovation without losing focus
Maria is the CEO of Syndio, a business leading the way in fair pay. Syndio is the only SaaS solution that offers companies a way to find pay issues based on race or gender (or any other category), fix those issues and stay in compliance over time. Although still an early stage startup, Syndio already has over 20 corporate customers including Match Group and Slack. Syndio is a distributed company with employees in New York, California and Washington. If you haven't yet had the chance, make sure to register for our 2024 Real Leaders Impact Awards. Our Impact Award winners gain access to a values aligned community, credibility through Real Leaders, and access to our network of Impact capital sources. To Register for the 2024 Awards, click the link below. 2024 Real Leaders Impact Awards Application Also, check out Outsource Access for all of your Virtual Staffing Needs. At an affordable rate you can outsource the work you need to get done at an extremely affordable rate. You can find more info about them here using this link. https://outsourceaccess.com/
This week in HRTech: Syndio expands product suite to address pay gaps; Karat acquires Triplebyte assessments and team.
This week in HRTech: Syndio expands product suite to address pay gaps; Karat acquires Triplebyte assessments and team.
Syndio works with the NYSE and its listed companies to place true value on the “S” of ESG with technology and services that help companies measure, achieve, and sustain workplace equity. In this episode, Syndio CEO Maria Colacurcio explains how her company practices what it preaches by publicly releasing pay equity and medium pay gap reports every six months. She shares how transparency and data are key to pay equity, what employers should be considering around representation amid economic uncertainty, and the lessons from her own career journey that led to her current role. Inside the ICE House: https://www.theice.com/insights/conversations/inside-the-ice-house
Host Umair Javed, CEO tkxel, chats with Rob Platzer, CTO, Syndio. Rob being a CTO multiple times, says the differences between a service and a product company have a big impact on the role of the CTO. According to Rob, creating diverse culture empowers people, organisations have to build trust through honest interaction and give their people the liberty to take innovative decisions. This makes people closest to business impact and tends to build successful relationships with them. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/bettertech/message
Hear how to build workplaces where everyone is valued This podcast interview is exceptional. Just listen to Maria Colacurcio tell you about her journey and think about your own. Her career has spanned many different industries, propelling her to leadership positions in innovative companies. Our conversation took us through those profound experiences and unexpected moments that can transform our lives in new ways. Others often accelerated her career, seeing her talent and advocating for her. She speaks about learning on the job and being excited when new career opportunities opened up for her. She also provides wisdom to other women and men trying to build more diverse, equitable and inclusive organizations, and how women are changing our society, a step and then a leap at a time. Enjoy. Watch and listen to our conversation here Maria's mantra: "When preparation meets opportunity" Today, Maria is CEO of Syndio, a SAS startup helping companies worldwide create an equitable workplace for all employees, regardless of gender, race or ethnicity. Before Syndio, she co-founded Smartsheet.com, which went public in 2018. She then spent three years at Starbucks, one of the first Fortune 50 companies to go public with pay equity results. As a CEO, she is walking the walk on eradicating workplace inequities, serving on the board of the nonprofit Fair Pay Workplace and having been named one of the 100 most exceptional entrepreneurs by Goldman Sachs Builders + Innovators Summit for two consecutive years. While her professional career has been exceptional, I was particularly impressed with how Maria wove into our conversation that she is the mother of seven children, gets up before 5am, works for an hour, and then works out. After listening to our interview, let us know how you are growing in your own personal and professional life and who is helping you along the way: Info@simonassociates.net. To connect with Maria, you can find her on LinkedIn and Twitter. Is DEI really possible in today's woprkplaces? Yes! Check out these 3 podcasts Maureen Berkner Boyt—Diversity and Inclusion: Let's Go Beyond Hoping and Make Inclusion Really Happen Rohini Anand—Can Businesses Create Cultures Based On True Diversity, Equity and Inclusion? Kim Graham Lee—How To Build A Culture Where Men And Women Truly Support Each Other Additional resources for you My two award-winning books: Rethink: Smashing The Myths of Women in Businessand On the Brink: A Fresh Lens to Take Your Business to New Heights Our website: Simon Associates Management Consultants Read the transcript of our podcast here Andi Simon: Welcome to On the Brink With Andi Simon. Hi, I'm Andi Simon. I'm your host and your guide. And as we come together for all of our podcasts, I want to celebrate my audience because we're in the top 5% of global podcasts. And I thank you for your support for sharing and collaborating with us on great ideas. My job is to help you do something that's very painful: to see, feel and think in new ways so that you can soar. And I love to bring you my guests because they're going to give you some insights about their own journey, and about how you can get some key takeaways on how you can build your own career, your business or wherever you're doing. So today, I have Maria Colacurcio. And Maria is smiling at me because I'm so delighted to have her here. We're in the process of writing our next book, Women Mean Business. Maria has a whole chapter in it. And in sharing her wisdom, I was just absolutely impressed with who this woman is, what she has done and why she's a wonderful person for you to know more about. Let me tell you about her bio. She's passionate about helping companies build equitable workplaces, where every worker is valued for who they are and their contributions that sort of sets the stage for what she's doing today. And she'll tell you more about it. And Maria is CEO of Syndio, a growth startup, it's really on its way. She helps companies around the world create equitable workplaces, for all employees, regardless of gender, race, or ethnicity. My clients tell me how difficult it is to know whether or not they're paid the same salaries for the same job depending on who the people are, and whether or not they're really doing it intentionally or by chance. Well, give the data to Syndio and next thing you know, you have a really good database, and you know what's going on. Prior to Syndio, Maria co-founded smartsheet.com and went public in 2018. She spent three years at Starbucks. But she started her career working on congressional campaigns and has a long history of mission-driven work, and a compassionate and competitive attitude to spur change. She's smiling. Sometimes when you hear yourself coming back and you go, oh, who is that? And is that really me? She serves on the board of the nonprofit Fair Pay Workplace, and has been named one of the 100 most exceptional entrepreneurs by Goldman Sachs' Builders and Innovators Summit for two consecutive years. She went to Whitworth University where she studied history, political science, and minored in music and studied vocal opera. Isn't that a beautiful Renaissance woman we have? Maria, thank you for joining me today. I truly appreciate it. Now, your turn to tell the audience who is Maria, what's your journey been like? I can read a bio, but you make it come alive. And it's so rich. Please, who's Maria? Maria Colacurcio: Yeah, thank you so much for having me today. It's just a delight to be here. And I've had such a great time collaborating with you on the book. And I'm so looking forward to seeing the 99 other women who are profiled in that. So I am sort of, as you stated, I think I have a very nonlinear path in many, many ways in my life and career. And I think it all culminates in this idea and experience around how do you think about a growth mindset as it actually unfolds in front of you? And for me, when I think about being a history major, going to a very liberal arts-oriented college, being a first generation college grad. I grew up in a very strong Italian American family. My dad and my Italian uncles all served in different branches of the military, none had ever gone to college. So it was really important to my parents that the four of us kids go get an education. And they made that very, very clear to us. So I think being a first gen college grad, it sets you up for your career in a way that you don't even really know what to expect because you haven't had a model to follow in terms of looking at a parental set that sort of did college and then did their entry level internship. You don't really know what to do. So I think as I sort of took the twists and turns of a very nonlinear path, one of the things that it really made clear to me is, I want to be that mentor for other folks that may not have a model to follow in terms of what are the right moves to make. How do you look at a door that may open just a crack and have the courage and confidence to kick it open and go pursue something that might not be the exact sort of choice that most people would make in that situation? So I think to sum it up, non-traditional start in terms of where I ended up as the CEO of a SAS software company. But I also think that's exactly what women need. Women need to have role models who have come from different and diverse backgrounds and are forging ahead and not necessarily looking like CEOs typically look. And so that's something I'm really, really passionate about. Andi Simon: As I'm listening to you, I'm smiling as you're smiling because the absence of role models. So I had a program at Washington University to help women entrepreneurs, and they all said, We need some role models. If you can't see it, you can't be it. And you somehow managed to move your way through things trusting in yourself, not necessarily with a mentor. Were there others who were giving you guidance, or there's some interesting stories you might share about how you began to migrate through? You had different career points, not all leading to something, but all leading somewhere? It was very interesting listening to your bio. Maria Colacurcio: Thank you. I think I owe a lot to other folks, other people who were generous with their time and their experience. And one of the reasons that I am so active in the words that I choose when I talk about our accomplices. So some people use the word allies, but in my career, in my life, the folks that have been in the ring with me fighting for things like equality for folks in the workplace, whether it's gender, race, ethnicity, looking across intersections, the folks that have been in the ring with me, they're accomplices, they're in the fight, back-to-back, holding swords, forging our way ahead. And I certainly personally had that experience. I had a lot of white men in power, who made it a point, for whatever reason, typically a personal case, whether it was something they had experienced or seen a loved one experience, where they had decided they were going to be an accomplice in this fight. And because of that, they took it upon themselves to really put the time in. I had several folks at Starbucks who really mentored me and helped me understand a couple of new areas around pay equity, what was the legislation, what was the process with external counsel, what was the math, all of these things that are the underpinnings to what I do today that I would have had no idea had they not taken the time. And the second example, I think, was when I was hired at Syndio, the CEO, I was hired by people who took a chance on me. I had never been a CEO. I had co-founded a startup that was very successful, but I co-founded it from the seat of marketing and communications. I never led anything as that person in the seat of CEO. So they had to take a chance. They had to say, "We're going to take a chance on this person. And if she doesn't have everything we need, we're going to figure out how to support her." Now, the flip side of that is, I have so much privilege because I'm a white woman. And so if you think about the leg up that I had, it's now incumbent upon me to make sure I'm taking that privilege and bestowing it and helping others make sure that they have those growth opportunities that I had. Andi Simon: I love your story, because you're right, we have an obligation to lift up and to share. But also there is to your point, there's no straight line. And it's not as if there's a ladder we're climbing. We're sort of exploring, and people see something and pluck us up and put us into roles. You know, this imposter syndrome stuff is so interesting. I've always been an imposter. You know, I was SVP of one bank, and EVP of another bank. They all thought I knew more than I knew. I never knew what I didn't know. But in fact, it was okay, we were bold and courageous. And there were always accomplices who wanted to help us move somewhere and they weren't afraid or worried either. As you're doing this, are there some really important lessons that you've learned about how to find the right ones because I had some bad ones along the way. And I never like to share them too often because I want them to go away. But I also know, being an anthropologist, that change is painful. The guys aren't all sitting there saying, "Oh, please come in and take my job. I know you can do a better job than I can do. But why can't I do that job or I don't know, maybe you can't do a better job than me." So the complexity of this means that we need to stand out in some fashion. And as you're helping others move up, they need a great story to tell so that they can pass through this. Your thoughts? Maria Colacurcio: Yeah, I think that's exactly right. I think you've got to take chances when you get them because then again, as you're walking down sort of the corridor of your life's experience as it relates to your career specifically, you'll walk by doors that are open just a crack. And I think our natural response, particularly as women, is to say, Well, I have no business trying to peek into that door that's open just a crack, that's for someone else. That's for someone with more experience, better skills, but more confidence. And I think when you have someone sort of on the other side holding it open for you saying, "Just give it a shot. I've got your back if things go sideways," that's the confidence you need to walk through. And I had that at Starbucks. There was a woman who really took it upon herself to guide me. And I had been in marketing and communications my entire career, and a role opened in finance, working on a team doing enterprise operational planning for the CFO and doing deep finance, work that I had never done before. I was terrified. I was a history major, I was a writer, I was a marketing and communications person, but this woman said, "You gotta do it and here's why: because you're an entrepreneur and if you want to continue fostering leadership and capabilities that will help you run a fortune 500 company someday, you have to understand GAAP and non GAAP, you have to understand these financial terms" that at the time seemed absolutely terrifying to me. But knowing that I had her there, her name was Carrie, and knowing she had my back, it gave me the confidence I needed to sort of walk through the door. And those are the moments I think that are really turning points in a person's career when they're willing to make that nonlinear pivot because they know they have somebody behind them. Andi Simon: You know, we tend to think of our own stories as we share this story. So my story begins to come through because I was a tenured anthropology faculty member, and my husband introduced me to Citibank. And they said, Why don't you come and be a consultant? And I said, Sure, why not? And I had no idea whether it could lead somewhere or not. But what was interesting, being a woman, as you're describing it, is that it was okay to take a step in a new direction, without any linearity to it. But once we got going with it, you say, I can do that. And then where does that take you? But you've been in different kinds of companies. Is your journey different with them? You know, somebody saw you and said, Why don't you try this? Or you went public? And so you can move on to something else? You know, how did you move from one stage to the next? Maria Colacurcio: Yeah, so early in my career when I was in Washington, D.C., working at the Smithsonian, at the National Museum of American History, and then went on to work at a firm that supported nonprofits through nonprofit management, it was as random as meeting a woman. And this is what really happened. I met a woman at a dinner party who said, "You need to be in tech, my company's hiring right now. You would be so great." I was like "Tech? I know nothing about tech. I'm a history major. I've been on congressional campaigns. I work at a history museum." And she said, "Come interview for my company, we're hiring someone in marketing, your background would be perfect. We need a great communicator, communication skills are a big need right now." She really got it, she really got that concept of skills over experience. So I was like, What the heck sounds interesting. The tech boom was going strong. And so I flew to San Francisco, and I interviewed for this startup company. And it was a really technical startup, it was an Israeli-based startup. All the folks that work there were former Israeli military, because they're all encouraged and actually, they must serve. And so it was quite technical. But what I realized was, I had this incredible chance. I took the leap, got the job, and moved cross country. And I found that I really loved applying my communication skills to translating these deep technical concepts into things that could help the sales team go out and sell them. And it became this realization for me that's continued, which is, someone might not have the experience, they may not have the matchy matchy experience of 10 years as a B2B professional and enterprise, you know, SAS, sales, marketing, whatever. But they might have the skills to really get it done. And I think that translates to the work that I've done with veterans moving into the corporate environment from former active duty and applying those skills as operational pieces of expertise. I worked with this incredible woman named Kelly McCoy who was one of the first female colonels in Afghanistan and Iraq. And she taught me so much about this because she was so brilliant. And the way she translated that experience to running operations at Starbucks was incredible. I think you can extend it to moms who have spent a couple of years out of the workforce caring for young children. What are the skills they're gaining that you can apply back to work? Do they have to go back in their career five, six years? Or can you actually give them credit for some of the things they're doing? And I think that started very early when I realized through experience, that wow, I do have something to offer here. I can make this work. Andi Simon: Now you have seven children. Maria Colacurcio: I do! Andi Simon: And you got funding in the middle of being 8 months pregnant with your seventh. I don't think there's a way here to push past the stereotypes in such a way that our listeners can begin to understand that yes, you can carve for yourself your own personal story that others immediately grab hold of you, and your point about serendipity should not be underestimated. You were at a dinner party, you were talking to someone, you weren't selling yourself, but she pulled from what your story was immediately and said you'd be perfect. And then you get into tech, and you're not quite sure what you're doing, but you have the skills and the comfort to translate the tech into understandable communication. And then as we move along, and I do think that having seven children, or two or three, teaches us a whole lot about navigating complicated worlds, because nothing is simple at all, the personalities aren't that different than the ones you're going to run in a company. But as you're looking at it, then it leaves you with the sense of, Of course I can. And now it's at Syndio, you're growing something that is so needed in such an innovative way. Are there some key insights from this, this company in particular, because it's intended to do exactly what you want passionately to do, which is create the equality, power and position for women and men so that we don't have this kind of battleground going on. Maria Colacurcio: Yeah, thank you. Yes, exactly. Syndio is our workplace equity analytics platform. So what we do is, we help Fortune 2000 companies analyze and resolve pay and opportunity gaps that are because of something like gender, race or ethnicity. So we're really looking at how you provide workplace equity. How do you make sure that you're letting data guide the discretion that's inherent to decision-making to get the bias out? There's so much discretion in decisions of compensation and decisions of promotion. Who gets promoted in decisions around who gets that promotable project. And if you let data guide those decisions so that you have a roadmap, you have guidance in terms of what's the right pay range for this person. They may be a great negotiator, but what's the right pay range for them that looks beyond that to see what do other folks make in this same role that are from different genders, different diverse backgrounds, whether that be race, ethnicity, whatever, but really letting data be your guide to ensure that you're providing workplace equity and that workplace equity is really embedded into how the company does business. I think what's exciting right now is that the companies that are doing this, and have been doing this, are actually performing better and are more durable because of it. So this isn't just nice to have when times are good. This is something that needs to be sustained. And I think we're seeing pay transparency legislation accelerate across the country. We're seeing global compliance explode in Western Europe. We're seeing median and mean pay gaps really rise to the top in terms of shareholder proposals and what the activists are talking about, in requiring public companies to do race and gender audits. And I think we're going to see more and more of that. So we really help companies be ready and to use data to guide that discretion, as folks make decisions. Andi Simon: I'm curious about "who I am, and how we do things." Changing culture is a painful process. Humans believe whatever they're doing is true. And I preach that the only truth is no truth. And so when you give them data, and there's some great articles, they've been republished recently about why humans don't read the data or the facts and actually believe them, they believe their own shared mythology about what it is. But, you're watching them actually take the data and turn them into reality. So they begin to believe that in fact, there is a better way to define the job, promoting the job and get the biases out and look at what's factual. What I'm curious about is, what are people actually doing to do that? Hiring new people, training them but beginning to build? Because so often they get the data and do nothing with it. Maria Colacurcio: I think we have a couple of things going for us. Number one, when you have to communicate to your people what you're doing to commit to things like pay equity, which has become table stakes, companies must ensure they are not paying unfairly or that there are parent pay disparities because of something like gender or race. And when you get into this situation where you have to communicate that to your people, you have pay ranges that are now public. You have to communicate to your people, why they're paid what they're paid, because the first question, when someone sees a role that's the same as theirs posted in terms of a company's now hiring, and they've got to publicly post that pay range. The first thing folks look at is, what's the job title and what's the top of the range? And so the next question is going to be, why am I paid what I'm paid? So when companies are forced into a position where they have to communicate with their people, the data all of a sudden becomes not so much a negative but a positive because now it helps you explain, it's this huge benefit around pay explainability. You've got to be able to explain why people are paid what they're paid while they're in the area of the range that they are and the more companies have to explain. Mean and median are another thing. Median reflects representation. So why are some people up at the top? Why are some people in the middle, where some folks are at the bottom, and when you have to explain that, the data all of a sudden becomes to unlock it and it becomes the context. It becomes the story, the narrative as to why these things are happening. And it's the authentic truth. So that's where we've seen an incredible amount of momentum as companies have had to go explain these things. They now have these data visualizations to rely on. Andi Simon: Don't you love it? You know, I can only say that quietly, because I hope they love it as much as I love hearing about it because transformation is so hard. Data can be so transformational if you believe it and you use it, and if others are asking for it and make sense out of it. So I think it's really propelled the moment that is really propelling us to the next stage. And if businesses can do so better, and retain people better, and grow them better with the data, that bias can really get diminished. It never goes away, but at least it can become far less powerful. Wow, exciting! You know, I could talk to you all afternoon and this is really a wonderful time, but I also know that my listeners like about a half hour together. As we're going to wrap up, are there two or three things that you think are takeaways? Things you can do? Some of them are serendipities right in front of you, but for you some things that you'd like them to be able to actually maybe do when they leave. Maria Colacurcio: Yeah, I think one quote that sticks with me and I don't even know who said it, but it's: You get lucky when preparation meets opportunity. It's something that I try to live by because I'm a preparer and I work really hard. And I prepare for everything in my life, from the personal side with the kiddos and my husband and putting time and effort into my relationships. And also saying no to a lot of things that go against the goals that I have. A lot of people ask me all the time, like, how do you do it all? I have the same amount of time as everyone else but there's a lot of things that I say no to in order to have time for the things that I really care about. And are those decisions difficult sometimes? But when you're really clear about what you're trying to prepare for, and what your targets are, that sets you in a position to have that luck when your preparation does meet opportunity. So I think that's number one. I think number two: thinking about skills over experience and thinking about how you communicate your skills. So going back to communications and the power of communications, when you think about your skills as a whole, not necessarily your experience, but how do you talk about your trajectory and your nonlinear journey? And can you talk about yourself in a way that's more wholly encompassing of who you are as a person versus what you do right now? Or maybe what your last career choice was? I think that can be incredibly beneficial. And for companies, I think just understanding this moment of transparency, if you can look at it as an opportunity. Right now there's a tidal wave coming in terms of transparency around workplace equity. Instead of waiting and being a laggard, taking this opportunity to be one of the first to dive into the center of the tidal wave to figure out: How do I embed this into the core of my company and take advantage of some first mover opportunities here. I think companies are going to see a huge leg up as it relates to employee loyalty and retention and keeping those high performers that you want to keep, even in times of incredible volatility. Andi Simon: And they are very volatile. I think McKinsey's latest research on women in the workplace 2022 said: There's a great breakup happening. Women are leaving, they're frustrated for all the things that could help them turn around, and they're not getting the pay equity they're looking for. They don't see upward mobility. They don't have the sponsorship or the mentorship and they are just saying, "I've had enough. I'm going to find another path. Let me open up entrepreneurial opportunities for myself or new types of businesses emerging." But, remember that women represent 60% of the kids in college. They graduate, they've got lots of talent, and they are tremendously capable of doing many things, including raising seven children at the same time you're CEO of a company. And if nothing else, Maria is a wonderful role model for how you can do all the things that matter, including saying no when you don't think it fits into what's important to you. This has just been terrific. Let me wrap up for our listeners and our viewers. Thank you so much for coming. Keep sending me those emails. I love to share with you. And at the end of the day, whether it's collaboration, or they're allies with you in some fashion, but they're all trying to help us move in a new direction. That puts all of us on the climb of trying to figure out how to do this right and how to do it even better. And I'm always delighted to share with you our my two books, On the Brink: A Fresh Lens to Take Your Business to New Heights and Rethink: Smashing The Myths of Women in Business, and my third book is coming out and I can't tell you a lot about it yet, but it'll be coming out in September of 2023. Maria has a chapter in it that you are going to love to read. It's just a great time to celebrate 100 amazing, trailblazing women who mean business, and they really do. Thank you for coming today. Maria, thank you again. It's been a pleasure. Bye bye now. Have a great day. Bye Bye.v
Host Umair Javed, CEO #Tkxel, chats with Rob Platzer, CTO, Syndio - building expert-backed technology that helps companies measure, achieve, and sustain workplace equity. Rob being a CTO multiple times, says the differences between a service and a product company have a big impact on the role of the CTO. According to Rob, creating diverse culture empowers people, organisations have to build trust through honest interaction and give their people the liberty to take innovative decisions. This makes people closest to business impact and tends to build successful relationships with them. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/bettertech/message
Think empowering organizations to solve the gender and racial pay gap, cutting costly unwanted attrition, reducing bias in employment decisions, and improving true engagement and collaboration was something you couldn't quantify? Think again. That's why Chad & Cheese grabbed Syndio's CEO and Chief Data Scientist, Zev Eigen, while at UNLEASH in Paris to dive into the topic of pay transparency. The technology around the issue being developed is fascinating, making this a must-listen. ICYMI listen to our Pay with Equity episode with Maria Colacurcio.
In this episode of CHATTIN CYBER, Marc Schein interviews Maria Colacurcio, CEO, Syndio, bringing pay equity in workplaces worldwide. Maria talks about switching from her liberal arts background to enter the tech space and eventually finding her purpose in leading the movement for pay equity in companies. A history and political science student, Maria's entry into tech happened by chance when she met a woman at a dinner party at the height of the tech boom, who suggested she move from nonprofits to tech, and even got her a referral to a marketing role at her company. Maria grabbed the opportunity and worked in the marketing division for the National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian and has over time, switched jobs and moved to technological roles at companies. At a point while she worked at Starbucks, the company was hyping about their pay equity announcement. Considering such things weren't mainstream conversation back then, it meant a lot. While exploring more about it during that time, Maria got to know the Head of the Global Employment Law at Starbucks very well, and learned the way that a typical traditional pay equity analysis is done – it wasn't good. She realized that not only was the system backward-looking and cumbersome, it also didn't reveal anything about the behaviors or practices that drive the pay gap in the first place. Desiring to make it better, Maria tried to infuse software innovation with proactive research to bridge the pay gap in organizations. She shares that this research has taught her the importance of starting pay in bridging pay gaps – you've to make sure it's done right to avoid pay disparities in the chain of employment roles. Maria also talks about the rising awareness around ESG commitments, including the perspective of institutional investors from the ESG lens and how they're trying hard to figure out what it means to have social ESG commitments as a company that has workplace equity embedded in the human capital. Another thing she talks about is how shareholder proposals requiring companies to disclose adjusted and unadjusted pay gaps have been featured in proxy season since 2015. As per statistics, 7 of the Fortune 100 companies face these pay gap disclosure proxies. And at 2 of these companies, it has succeeded. She also discusses pay transparency legislations that are forcing companies to post a good faith range for any new job position to avoid pay disparities. There are two sides to pay equity – equal pay for equal work and the median pay gap. Our litigation is largely centered around the first and there's a lot of legal risk to that. Companies also need to focus on the median pay gap, which is a reflection of opportunity – it's the averages. In California's SB 1162 – the legislation that just passed the California State Senate, it's not just about pay transparency on job ranges. It also includes disclosure of your median pay gap to the state and public reporting of your W2 earnings by EEO category. Companies need to do a full-body scan to adapt their practices to bridging the pay gap. Towards the end of the conversation, Maria also shares actionable ways to implement equal pay opportunities at workplaces. Tune in to this episode to hear all about it! Highlights: “It was this crack in the door, which has been a real consistent theme in my career, seeing sort of a door cracked open, and then just being curious, having that intellectual curiosity to say, I wonder what wonder that leads, and then kicking it open.”“The Head of Global Employment Law at Starbucks, and I started talking about, ‘Is there a way to infuse innovation in software to make this something that is more proactive to make this something that looks at for example, starting pay is the biggest factor in any pay equity analysis?'. So how do you look at starting pay, make sure at that moment in the employee lifecycle that you're getting it right so that you're not having this consistent and...
Think empowering organizations to solve the gender and racial pay gap, cutting costly unwanted attrition, reducing bias in employment decisions, and improving true engagement and collaboration was something you couldn't quantify? Think again. That's why Chad & Cheese grabbed Syndio's CEO and Chief Data Scientist, Zev Eigen, while at UNLEASH in Paris to dive into the topic of pay transparency. The technology around the issue being developed is fascinating, making this a must-listen. ICYMI listen to our Pay with Equity episode with Maria Colacurcio.
The theme for December on Winning the Challenger Sale is a recap of the best insights from 2022. WTCS host, Jen Allen, speaks with Andee Harris, CEO of Challenger, to explore the major themes that have disrupted the status quo of selling this year.
The theme for December on Winning the Challenger Sale is a recap of the best insights from 2022. WTCS host, Jen Allen, speaks with Andee Harris, CEO of Challenger, to explore the major themes that have disrupted the status quo of selling this year.
WorldatWork is about to publish findings showing that employers continue to struggle with communicating internally and externally about their pay equity efforts. Nancy Romanyshyn, Director Pay Strategy and Partner Success with Syndio, joins us for a lively, informative discussion on what employers need to understand – and do – to better communicate their pay equity efforts. We also discuss the shock and awe that greeted her provocative presentation at WorldatWork's Rewards '22 Conference!
The Shift: Finding Equity at Work is a brand new podcast presented by Syndio and co-hosted by Maria Colacurcio and Sean Mendy (Concrete Rose Capital). In it, we explore new realities happening across America's workplace and how industry leaders are rising to the challenge of building an equitable workplace to unlock opportunities for all their employees. Episode recordings typically take 30 mins.
Spencer speaks with Maria Colacurcio, the CEO of Syndio Solutions on this episode of Office Hours. Syndio is a software startup helping companies around the world create an equitable workplace for all employees, regardless of gender, race or ethnicity. Syndio's workplace equity platform helps companies close pay and opportunity gaps, mitigate legal risk and turn diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) goals into tangible results. Prior to joining Syndio, Colacurcio co-founded Smartsheet.com, which went public in 2018, and spent three years at Starbucks, one of the first Fortune 50 companies to make their pay equity results public. Colacurcio serves on the board of the nonprofit Fair Pay Workplace and has been named one of the 100 most intriguing entrepreneurs by Goldman Sachs' Builders and Innovators Summit. As a CEO and a mom of seven, Colacurcio is walking the walk on eradicating workplace inequities; she was able to raise a $17.1 million Series B investment in January 2021 while eight months pregnant.
Welcome to season 2, episode 34 of the Today is the Day Changemakers Podcast. In this episode I am joined by my special guest co-host Scott Chesney, Scott is known as the Commander in Change. He is a world-renowned motivational speaker and Life Coach. Together, we interview Nancy Romanyshyn. Nancy is the Director of Pay Strategy & Partner Success at Syndio. Nancy and Scott have been friends for quite some time and that is definitely apparent as we get into the interview. We talk about the importance of finding your sphere of influence that not only becomes your cheerleader, but also will call you out when needed. The art of listening comes up as so many times we are trapped within our own thoughts and what we want to say. We learn best when we are practicing active listening. Nancy talks about being in self-evaluation mode as she was not feeling 100% fulfilled in her long-standing career and felt the need for a change. That change came by her taking a leap of faith to an organization that crafted a position just for her. Listen in to hear how this all came about. Working at Syndio is not just a career change for Nancy. The work she is doing, the people she is working with, and the way she shines when she talks about it showcases that is is a calling for her. We talk about her role at Syndio and how she is helping companies embed workplace equity into their core business so they can achieve enduring success. Terms like pay equity and opportunity equity are just a few that are discussed.We come to a point in the interview where you can truly see how fun the friendship is between Nancy and Scott. They have a little feud about.... Oreos. Are they black or brown? Inquiring minds want to know. Nancy and Scott are counting on our audience to help with this answer. Please share your thoughts either as a comment on the Today is the Day Changemakers YouTube Channel or email jodi@todayisthedayliveit.com. Let's have some fun with this! Listen in to hear the footprint that Nancy is creating now that she wants to leave behind. I pose the same question to Scott. Next week my guest is H.G. Chissell, Founder & Ceo, Advanced Energy Group. AEG is a competitive stakeholder mobilization platform for leaders and organizations committed to systemic change on climate, health and equity at the city and regional level. We talk about H.G.'s career evolution and so much more. Please subscribe, like, share, review and download this podcast!YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChTpwqeDDJ9wUfg43eiBC1AStream: https://todayisthedaychangemakers.buzzsprout.com/Today Is the DayWebsite: https://todayisthedayliveit.comFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/todayistheday/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/todayisthedayThe Applaud Our Kids FoundationWebsite: www.applaudourkids.orgFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/applaudourkidsInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/applaudourkidsTo sign-up for our mailing list, schedule a conversation with Jodi or ask a Changemaker a question: jodi@todayisthedayliveit.comHave a great week everyone!Jodi
Welcome to season 2, episode 33 of the Today is the Day Changemakers Podcast. This week my guest is Holly Fulger. Holly is an actress, writer, producer and founder, True Beauty Discovery.She began her acting career at the Great Lakes Shakespeare Festival, where she interned with Tom Hanks, with whom she has remained close friends. She moved to Los Angeles after living in Chicago for some time to work on television and film, Holly is best known for her roles in the Disney Channel Original Movie series, Zenon, Girl of the 21st Century, as Aunt Judy, and as Holly in the sitcom, Ellen. Being in the spotlight, Holly has experienced the good, the bad, and the misguided aspects of beauty in our culture. Unfortunately, as a young girl she dealt with bullying and shares more about her experience in this episode. Through wearing thick rimmed glasses, she watched as the world did not seem so kind during some of her teen years. Holly shares here that acting allowed her to express and access parts of herself that she couldn't do in the real world. Listen in to hear what she would tell that little girl now. She has written numerous articles on beauty and an article she wrote for iCNN caught the attention of a CNN producer who interviewed Holly and seven other women on their perception of beauty. She says that the most interesting part of this was listening to other women's stories and hearing how difficult it was for women to really say what is beautiful about themselves. So began her exploration into true beauty, creating the web series, Speaking of Beauty, and then The Hollywood Beauty Detective. In 2019, she founded the nonprofit, True Beauty Discovery. The mission is about empowering girls and women to understand that it is their individuality that makes them beautiful and powerful. Listen in to hear the incredible footprint that Holly would like to leave behind. On the next episode I am joined by one of my recurring co-hosts, Scott Chesney. Scott is known as the Commander in Change and is a sought-after world-renowned motivational speaker and Life Coach. Together, we interview his good friend, Nancy Romanyshyn. Nancy is the Director of Pay Strategy and Partner Success at Syndio. We talk about the important work that Nancy is doing to help companies embed workplace equity into their core business so that they can achieve enduring success. We also have some fun talking about Oreos. The question remains, are they brown or black? Scott and Nancy have some fun with this. Email your opinion to jodi@todayisthedayliveit.com. Please subscribe, like, share, review and download this podcast!YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChTpwqeDDJ9wUfg43eiBC1AStream: https://todayisthedaychangemakers.buzzsprout.com/Today Is the DayWebsite: https://todayisthedayliveit.comFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/todayistheday/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/todayisthedayThe Applaud Our Kids FoundationWebsite: www.applaudourkids.orgFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/applaudourkidsInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/applaudourkidsTo sign-up for our mailing list, schedule a conversation with Jodi or ask a Changemaker a question: jodi@todayisthedayliveit.comHave a great week everyone!
In this episode of Revenue Rehab, Brandi Starr is joined by marketing strategist Carol Grant, who has over 20 years' marketing experience across multiple areas including product marketing, digital, retail, enterprise, and SaaS. As the CMO at Syndio, a SaaS company focused on helping large enterprises achieve workplace equity, Carol is uniquely positioned to join Brandi in discussing strategies on how to build a diverse team. This week Brandi and Carol walk us through how to begin, where to focus and what strategizing looks like when it comes to diversifying your teams. So, grab a pen and paper or open that notes app and settle in for 45+ mins of so many great recommendations, insights, and key takeaways, you'll be ready to start Building Your Own Diverse Teams and tackling Challenges in Recruiting Diverse Talent in no time! Links: Get in touch with Carol Grant on LinkedIn Syndio Subscribe, listen, and rate/review Revenue Rehab Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts , Amazon Music, or iHeart Radio and find more episodes on our website RevenueRehab.live
Maria Colacurcio is the CEO of Syndio, a company dedicated to eradicating pay disparities in the workplace using their workplace equity analytics platform. Maria is passionate about issues surrounding equal pay, employee wellness and equity at work. She is recognized as a business thought leader, and is a frequent speaker and author for various organizations, publications and conferences delivering the latest trends and solutions in workplace equality. As a whole life success story, she is a mom to seven children and works to build health wellness and finance into hers and her family's lives. She recently came first overall in the LA Hyrox open and also set a world record for he age group in the worlds event. In this episode Maria and Jamie talk about solving the pay equity gap, how Maria found and has excelled at HYROX, being a CEO and the keys to balancing work, family and wellness. Be sure to tell Maria and Jamie what you think about this episode by leaving a review and rating. It helps us get the message out there! Refresh and plan! Find out more https://linktr.ee/bigideabigmoves Follow us on Instagram @bigidea_bigmoves Facebook www.facebook.com/bigideabigmoves For amazing Lifestyle Clothing epitomesportswear.com Our listeners get 20% off with the code BIBM For Human Resources and Talent help contact www.epitomeHR.com Take their free assessment Talk to us about partnerships https://beacon.by/epitome-hr-inc/bibm-sponsoship-packages Follow Maria on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/mcolacurcio and Syndio https://www.linkedin.com/company/syndioinc/
This is the fourth episode of our DE&I series. In these conversations, we want to explore issues related to diversity, equity and inclusion, and our hope is that these help build a world in which people from all backgrounds and with different views can thrive. Our aim with these series is to chat with inspirational guests who can encourage us all to look at the industries we work in (media, comms and tech) from different perspectives. Our guest for this episode is Ritu Mohanka, Managing Director for EMEA at Syndio, a technology company that helps companies measure, achieve, and sustain workplace equity. Ritu is passionate about making workplaces more diverse, inclusive, and fair. She joined Syndio with over 20 years of experience in senior leadership roles with HR and talent-focused businesses, including leading business development and strategic growth efforts in EMEA at Glint (now a LinkedIn company). Prior to Glint, Ritu worked at Kenexa/IBM Smarter Workforce to drive rapid revenue growth across the EMEA region. At IBM she was a highly regarded and lauded Diversity Champion and an Executive Sponsor for several diversity groups. Winner of multiple awards, our guest has been recognised several times on the Empower Top 100 Ethnic Minority Senior Executive rankings. Tune in to learn about Ritu Mohanka's incredible journey from a conservative Indian background to having spent over 20 years in leadership roles in the tech industry. Syndio's EMEA MD highlights the importance of representation and how to encourage businesses to make it happen, as well as what the company is doing to help others offer opportunity equity in the workplace. In the interview hosted by Tyto's Associate Director Shamina Peerboccus, Ritu also discusses imposter syndrome in women and how to help overcome it by “identifying allies and advocates in the workplace who believe in you and who are supportive of your work.” Recognition is a powerful motivator, and breaking barriers for women and acknowledging the professional achievements of the BAME community is something Ritu is hugely passionate about. You can watch the recording on our YouTube channel here: https://youtu.be/cFUdAhhtJgY
In this podcast today, I will discuss the company Syndio! Listen to the podcast for details! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/thressa-sweat/support
Michael and Chris sit down with the CEO of Syndio and co-founder of Smartsheet, Maria Colacurcio. As a pioneer in her field, Maria shares her pay equity insights and why it is no longer optional for business leaders to invest time and resources into it. Together, we foray into what "equal work for equal pay" truly means, and how Maria and her team are helping Fortune 500 companies measure it in a meaningful and actionable way.
Grant, a former Zillow and Microsoft executive, has found her new home at the growing pay equity software startup Syndio as vice president of marketing.
In this podcast today, I will discuss the company Syndio! Listen to the podcast for details! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/thressa-sweat/support
This podcast interview focuses on product innovation that has the power to transform our workplace into a fair workplace - starting with fair pay. My guest is Maria Colacurcio, CEO of SyndioMaria is a tech veteran – she previously co-founded Smartsheet, which went public in 2018. She spent three years at Starbucks, one of the first Fortune 50 companies to go public with pay equity results. Having started her career working on congressional campaigns, she has a long history of mission-driven work, and a compassionate and competitive attitude to spur change.She serves on the board of the nonprofit Fair Pay Workplace and has been named by Goldman Sachs Builders + Innovators Summit one of this year's 100 most intriguing entrepreneurs.As a CEO and a mom of 7, Maria is walking the walk on eradicating workplace inequities. Today Maria is the CEO at Syndio, a SaaS startup helping companies around the world create an equitable workplace for all employees, regardless of gender, race, or ethnicity. That inspired me, and hence I invited Maria to my podcast. We explore what's broken in today's workplace when it comes to valuing people for the contribution they bring and paying them fairly independent of who they are. We discuss the pivot and what it took to change course. We discuss the effects the Pandemic introduced, and what was critical to not only bounce back, but actually come out stronger. And last but not least we address the role of the CEO in creating a business that people love talking about. Here are some of her quotes:If we get it right we quite literally transform society. I think the gender and race pay gaps resulted in lifetime wages that are often hundreds of 1000s of dollars less for women and people of color. So I think when you think about the wealth gap, and how we just compound over time, that's where we have a tremendous opportunity to transform society. And for companies, it's just as big because, if we get it right, it means they move away from this cycle of annual one and done remediation. And they actually get to stay on top of this proactively overtime on both sides.We really believe that workplace equity is a combination of two things. We started with pay equity, and now we're moving over to more broad workplace equity to look at promotions and when you can get to both. That's when you have a company that Really has an enduring ability to create value and to measure how they're valuing their employees not just for who they are, but the contributions they bring.During this interview, you will learn four things:That the odds of success and surviving any crisis starts with having a solution that's perceived as mission-critical, and not a nice to have.How to prioritize your roadmap by focusing on the smallest ingredient that driving the biggest impact for your ideal customersThat your ideal customers are not the ones that have the biggest budgets, but the ones where you align on world-views and show the courage to stick to it no matter whatHow to focus your leadership team on looking at a problem and brainstorming a solution collaboratively without blaming and fingerpointingFor more information about the guest from this week:Maria ColacurcioWebsite See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
Love unicorns? This episode of your favorite podcast has two, baby! That's right, Gem and Andela have joined the ranks of the $1 billion club. And by the looks of a few others on this week's show, more could be coming with Syndio raising $50 million this week and Cocoon getting a plump Series A. We also ask whether or not chatbots are all the same, or are some just posers in life's big taco stand? Then we welcome October the right way with Amazon scaring the hell out of us for the low, low cost of $1,000.
Love unicorns? This episode of your favorite podcast has two, baby! That's right, Gem and Andela have joined the ranks of the $1 billion club. And by the looks of a few others on this week's show, more could be coming with Syndio raising $50 million this week and Cocoon getting a plump Series A. We also ask whether or not chatbots are all the same, or are some just posers in life's big taco stand? Then we welcome October the right way with Amazon scaring the hell out of us for the low, low cost of $1,000.
Maria Colacurcio is CEO of Syndio, an analytics platform that ensures workplace fairness in every stage of employment and aims to eliminate pay disparity. She is responsible for the company’s vision, strategy, building talent within the organization, and developing organizational excellence to deliver the highest levels of business value to its customers. Most importantly, she is passionate about issues surrounding equal pay, employee wellness and equity at work. Prior to joining Syndio, Maria co-founded Smartsheet.com, worked in technology and communications at Microsoft, Starbucks, and a variety of tech startups. She has a proven track record of building successful companies, with strong core values that are dedicated to its people and customers. In addition, Maria is also a mom to seven kiddos and makes sure to talk about family finances at the dinner table. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Kate Davis talks to Maria Colacurcio, CEO of Syndio, about the gender pay gap, pay equity, and what companies can do to make real progress in closing the gap. Links to more reporting on the pay gap from FastCompany.com: https://www.fastcompany.com/90609641 https://www.fastcompany.com/section/short-changed
February's 'Burg's Eye View podcast features Rob Porcarelli '87, who is a career-long advocate for workplace fairness. Rob is chief legal counsel for Syndio, an HR analytics company that promotes equal pay and employment fairness. Rob previously served as the VP assistant general counsel at Starbucks, where he helped the coffee giant launch a program to employ and support thousands of United States servicemembers.
A new survey proves that remote work is more productive for accounting firms, which makes it all the more astounding that it took a global pandemic to make working from home the norm in this profession. Also: Sage Business Cloud suffered a multi-day outage in South Africa, Biden's financial watchdogs set new targets, Syndio raises millions for its pay equity app, Rewind (coincidentally our sponsor for this episode) raises a Series A, the best laptops for 2021, SMS apps you should consider for your firm, a survey showing Zoom fatigue is real, nearly a third of professionals would rather quit than go back to the office, and more stories about remote work than you can shake a stick at!
On this episode of The Built in Seattle Podcast, I talked with Maria Colacurcio, CEO at Syndio (synd.io)For extras from this interview, subscribe to my weekly emailEpisode HighlightsThe precision required to create a category.The parallels and differences between Smartsheet and Syndio.Why pay equity matters / why now.What really matters when serving big enterprisesHow parenting 6 kids helped Maria become a simplifier at work.Why skills matter more than experience.Lessons from working with veterans and "team over self."How to let people fail, but not become a failure.The trust candor loop.How Maria learned the "religion of focus" from marketing.The difference between busy-ness and effectiveness.Why she took a risk and hired a lawyer as the first seller.Guest Bio:Maria Colacurcio is Syndio’s Chief Executive Officer. As CEO, Maria is responsible for the company’s vision and strategy for delivering innovative solutions, building an organization of the industry’s most talented people and developing organizational excellence to deliver the highest levels of business value to its customers. Most importantly, she is passionate about issues surrounding equal pay, employee wellness and equity at work.Recognized as a thought leader in the HRM/HCM industry, Maria is a frequent speaker and author for various organizations, publications and conferences delivering the latest trends and solutions in workplace equality. She is a member of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) - the voice of all things work; and the WorldatWork Organization - the total rewards association.Prior to joining Syndio, Maria co-founded Smartsheet.com, a work collaboration tool for companies of all sizes. Drawing on more than 20 years of experience in technology and communications at companies including Microsoft, Starbucks and technology start-ups you’ve never heard of, she has a proven track record of building successful companies with strong core values that are dedicated to its people and customers.She is a mom to six kiddos and makes sure to talk about family finances at the dinner table.Where to follow Maria:https://www.linkedin.com/in/mcolacurcio/https://twitter.com/mcolacurcio/Where to follow Adam:https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamschoenfeld/https://twitter.com/schoenyFeedback? Suggestions on who to interview? Email me anytime - adamseattlepodcast@gmail.com
Syndio is at the forefront of pay equity, a topic near-and-dear to our hearts, so the boys thought they bring CEO Maria Colacurcio on the show to get a read on what's going on and what the future holds when it comes to such issues. Enjoy another exclusive powered by NEXXT, with the double X.
Resources: 1) Rebecca's website with insights 2) Rebecca's Instagram account 3) Rebecca's Twitter account 4) Resources to find contract and freelance work: Creative Circle, Vitamin T, Catchafire, and Aquent Time-stamp notes This episode with time-stamp notes is available on my website.
What’s it like to sell your company and something you’ve poured your heart into for over 7 years? On the latest episode of the Innovation and the Digital Enterprise podcast, Shelli and Pat are joined by Zack Johnson, VP of Business Development at Visier. Prior to Visier, Zack started and ran Syndio, an analytics provider based in Chicago, for over 7 years. Zack takes us through his incredible background, from founder to lecturer to advisor to pop & hip-hop artists, and breaks down how analytics are being used in a wide variety of industries.[00:25] - Introduction to Zack Johnson[01:10] - The personality traits necessary for entrepreneurship and intrapreneurship - patience, persistence and motivation[02:58] - Zack’s experience founding Syndio[06:51] - The difficulties involved transitioning a services business into a product company[10:23] - How Shelli and Zack met through the HR tech community[11:25] - Lessons learned transitioning from entrepreneurship into working for Visier[17:13] - The value of mentorship and coaching for entrepreneurs[20:47] - Grappling with the gravity of the decisions you make as a leader[23:48] - What should employers consider when hiring former entrepreneurs[26:49] - Should the type of exit they had play into the hiring decision?[29:08] - The relative impact of product/market fit vs having a ‘smart team’[31:39] - Zack’s specific experience transitioning from Syndio to VisierZack Johnson is currently the Vice President of Business Development at Visier Inc. At Visier, he builds strategic partnerships with organizations who believe that data unlocks critical, untapped value for their customers. Prior to Visier, Zack was the co-founder and CEO of Syndio, a people analytics software provider based in Chicago. Outside of Visier, Zack enjoys guest lecturing about applied network analysis, people analytics and entrepreneurship at a number of institutions including the Kellogg School of Management, Yale, MIT, and the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth, as well as for companies such as Exelon, Nielsen, and Mars. He also advises pop and hip-hop artists how to use analytics to rapidly grow their fan base.If you'd like to receive new episodes as they're published, please subscribe to Innovation and the Digital Enterprise Insider in Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider leaving a review in Apple Podcasts. It really helps others find the showThis podcast episode was produced by Dante32.
Tom and Charles discuss the new definition of business casual. They speak with Louis Klarevas, author of "Rampage Nation" about gun violence and talk to the founders of Syndio about using AI to address pay equity (as well as the relative merits of visiting MGM Studios vs. Paul Allen's the Museum of Pop Culture...you'll just have to listen!)
Currently the Vice President of Business Development at Visier, Zack Johnson is a thought-leader in the field of business analytics. As a young CEO and graduate of Northwestern University, Zack sold his first company, Syndio, before the age of 30. His passion for improving performance through analytics comes through in this lively conversation, in which a variety of subjects are discussed through Zack’s unique lens. As a millennial, Zack offers insights into the changing landscape of employment in today’s marketplace. His optimistic vision for the next generation of leaders includes the integration of technology and analytics which we can only imagine today. By organizing companies using analytics and objective data, Zack hopes to streamline decision making and leadership. He describes a “major shift in how people manage people,” comparing today’s management to a plane without electronics on-board. Listen in for a closer examination of business analytics, evolving technology, inspiring employees through leadership, mental health, personal development, and what millennials are looking for in a workplace. Guest Contact Information Zack Johnson on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zackj ### Credits: HOST: Carol Ross, standoutandbelong.com PRODUCER/EDITOR: Kyle Donovan, kyledonovan.com GRAPHIC DESIGN: Nicholas Geier
In Episode 11, Host Carol Ross speaks with Zack Johnson. Currently the Vice President of Business Development at Visier, Zack is a thought-leader in the field of business analytics. As a young CEO and graduate of Northwestern University, he sold his first company, Syndio, before the age of 30. His passion for improving performance through analytics comes through in this lively conversation, in which a variety of subjects are discussed through Zack’s unique lens. Listen in to this show preview and be sure to subscribe so you are among the first to hear the show! standoutandbelong.com/blog/ ### Credits: HOST: Carol Ross, standoutandbelong.com PRODUCER/EDITOR: Kyle N Donovan, kyledonovan.com GRAPHIC DESIGN: Nicholas Geier
As you begin to start your business, you may have all the groundwork done and your business plan in motion, but not sure where to start? Katya Siddall, Co-founder and SVP of Sales and Marketing at Syndio, started out as an investor turned entrepreneur. Join us as we also delve into her decision to not start her own company, but to acquire one and build it from the ground up to make an impact! In this episode you will… Know if you really want to be an entrepreneur or be in a small startup Find the joy in the hectic lifestyle of being the boss Learn how to transition from being an employee to the boss Understand how to effectively communicate with your employees as a boss Know how to choose like-minded individuals with the same drive to start a business with Figure out how to form a well-oiled machine with your co-founders or business partners INSIGHTS “I thought before I had a strong sense of ownership. I thought that I was driven. I thought I cared a lot about the business... but holy cow, the burden that true ownership brings is absolutely insane.” –Katya Siddall “Once you own a business there’s no turning back; it’s a commitment of I have to see this through until the last possible minute, whatever this becomes.” –Katya Siddall “I have to do some mellowing and revising of my tone and that is the biggest management challenge for me right now. And remembering that not everyone is the same as I am; remembering to carefully temper my expectations so I can get the most out of all the people that I work with, even if they are different than I.” –Katya Siddall “I care about building trust with people I work with. I’m trying to listen to them, empathize with them...and make an effort to understand their problem and solve it effectively.It’s all about them, it has nothing to do with me. So I have to give them what they need. How do they need to hear the information in order for them to feel comfortable making a decision?”-Katya Siddall RESOURCES Katya Siddall LinkedIn Katya Siddall Twitter Katya Siddall Instagram Trello Give and Take by Adam Grant The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz
Ryan Hammond, CEO of Syndio by Al Adamsen
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