Much has been made of the Barstool Sports culture, says former CEO Erika Ayers Badan. What often gets missed is how hard working and mission driven the people are in a high-pressure, high-volume, high-experimentation environment. Erika, who is the current CEO of Food52, compares and contrasts the Food52 culture, where perfection is critical to the brand promise, with Barstool Sports. Erika goes on to talk about the role the CEO plays in creating the company culture.
In the full interview (E159) with Erika, she discusses her willingness to take risks, how she thinks about career development, the roles of mentors in assisting her success, her approach to getting over the need to be perfect, and she discusses the CEO’s role in cultivating the company culture that will help an organization succeed.
Erika Ayers Badan is the CEO of Food52 and the former CEO of Barstool Sports. During her tenure at Barstool from 2016 to 2024, Erika transformed the organization from a regional blog to a national powerhouse operation leading to a 5,000% increase in overall revenue, making it one of the most innovative and successful internet media brands.
Before joining Barstool, Erika held several leadership positions in media and technology at Microsoft, AOL, Demand Media, and Yahoo. She has been extensively recognized for her innovation in the industry, including being named one of Forbes’ Most Powerful Women in Sports amongst other achievements. Erika currently serves on the boards of the Premier Lacrosse League, Axon Enterprise (AXON), and Malaria No More. She is the author of the book “Nobody Cares About Your Career: Why Failure is Good, The Great Ones Play Hurt and Other Hard Truths.”
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