Culture Is Actually Business

Tiffany Pham

Hi, Mahvish. How are you?

Mahvish Zaman

I'm doing well. How are you doing, Tiffany?

Tiffany Pham

Good to see you. Really, really good to see you. I'm just so delighted to have you on on Chief Officer and to be able to share your really inspiring story with everyone because you have one of those inspiring stories that I know of and of course to talk about your current Chief Officer role and how you got there.

Mahvish Zaman

Yeah, I know I'm so happy that I'm being invited to share this and to the degree that I can maybe share mine and then hopefully others can listen in and share theirs because it's all about the stories, how we got here and whatnot. So for me, I'm recently appointed as a Chief People Officer at Liquid I.V., but I've had a career built in sort of HR craft, if I could say it. and the whole anger and the thread through my career has been aligning myself to the business challenge/business problems that the business is going towards next and how either they're rewriting their growth chapter or they want to reignite their growth chapter in their journey and then what is the ecosystem and the right conditions for work. the right conditions for leadership capability, the cultural aspects, the talent density that you need to kind of get to that next chapter of business growth. That's sort of been the common thread of my journey and I think those are the kind of challenges that I sort of get attracted to and get aligned with. But I've had a pretty interesting career again, I know it's cliche like nothing really was sort of planned per se, you know, like oh yeah these are the, but I've had a pretty interesting career in terms of the brands that I have been able to be associated with. So I worked at Nike, I sort of grew up at Nike and did a bunch of different kinds of jobs within my Nike tenure. But again going back to that theme around transformation and some challenge and some growth within the business and what is the talent ecosystem that we can create around. that I worked at Walmart, Sam's Club for a little bit as well. And the most beautiful sort of memory from that journey is the team that I was able to create for the merchandising group over there and how embedded and involved on the commercial side of the business my team became and still in touch with a bunch of them and take great pride in being a part. of that team. And then before coming to Liquid I.V. of the Ferragamo, which is Italian luxury fashion house, and it was this dream of mine that one day I should try working in luxury fashion and work on Fifth Avenue, New York City. And so that was a lot of fun. And Ferragamo is a historic heritage-based company, a beautiful brand. And I was able to play a tiny part in the modernization efforts in that brand as well. and get them to growth and to signal to not only the consumer that is a Ferragamo product fan, but also the internal consumer, as I call them, the clients that live inside Ferragamo in the organization to help them and support them and remind them of the value proposition of our brand and alongside the leadership and the culture work that we did and some of it we-- partner with you on that as well. So just to kind of in that spirit of transformation and and and modernization of that brand. So again, the common thread has been to be able to add impact at value on the commercial side of the business, but really equating that that. Culture is not just a nice thing to have. Culture is actually business in many ways as well. And kind of equating both of those things together has been sort of the gist of my journey so far.

Tiffany Pham

Absolutely. You and I have been collaborators, as you know, as you shared at Ferragamo and throughout your journey since then. we've been lucky to become friends throughout this journey and I've just been so impressed all throughout this time of your ability to balance that business acumen and visionary leadership on the business side with culture and HR and all those aspects intersecting has been really a specialty I have to admit as well. So it's really wonderful to see you now as Chief Officer at Liquid I.V. and to see your vision come to life here. And I was just curious, you know, if you could share when and where you were when you started to realize like that this chief officer role was ahead and that this is something that you wanted that you could see for yourself. Were you was it back at Nike, Walmart? Where was it that you started to realize that this could be the top of the path for you?

Mahvish Zaman

Right. I think at Nike back in the day, as I started immersing in like this HR practice, and I really understood this value acquisition equation that HR can actually create for the business and really kind of thrive through the common pieces that are, you know, talent capability, upscaling. And I thought it's like it's the beauty of getting these things together in the right balance. is literally a game changer for our business. So I think back in like after like four or five years at Nike, I realized this is the actual path I want to continue. Again, I didn't realize it being like, okay, it's going to be a Chief People Officer role or like a title that I would, but I knew that I'm really hooked in creating solutions that are system-based that are sort of like there's an organic element to it, but then it's also a really designed element to it, how you kind of create a system. So I didn't really think about like this is the role I'm going to go after, but I knew that this is the practice that I want to practice with, and then this should become my craft in this space. And so since then, it's just being like, you know, really quantifying the personal impact I'm bringing to the teams I've grown or developed. or the personal impact that I'm bringing and the YouTube impact I'm bringing to the business side of the house. And then one thing has led to another and that growth has come from the title side and from the scope size alongside, but the common belief or like sort of the driving force for me at the personal level has always been like stitching up these pieces, really leading with a good culture conditions that are required and staying true to that over and over again. But that's become my playbook that I refer to every time I've taken up a new role. -

Tiffany Pham

I love that. And along the way, was there a specific person or people or opportunity or opportunities that you feel made it possible for you to represent?

Mahvish Zaman

I think for so many people, you're one of them. Like so many people have been part of this journey, right? It's like, it's not a lonely journey. Like there's so many folks who have helped me. reframe my thinking, who have helped me rethink the topic that I thought I fully understood and digested. And I think that at the core of it is the curiosity. And if you are lucky enough, I guess, that you can meet some people who help you stay curious and make sure that they question you in a way. that just makes you rethink your own thinking on some topics and it makes you shift your opinions and give you additional in-depth perspective on things. So I've been extremely lucky. I can name a few people who have been my mentors and have been my coaches and be my go-to people as I'm navigating this. ever changing workforce and then just that whole definition of work around us. So yes, nothing can be done without a good coach. if you don't have one, go seek one. If you don't have a mentor and you are inspired by someone, request them to be your mentor. I think that's the number one thing is to really put yourself out there to say, I am also thinking about these things. Wouldn't you be able to give me some time? And more than often than not, people are really extremely happy to give you that time. I think that's the generosity of humanity overall. We all, I don't know if they care about what the other person is looking for. and it gives you some joy and satisfaction yourself as well if you're able to pay it forward.

Tiffany Pham

Was there a particular mentor that comes to you?

Mahvish Zaman

Yeah, I mean, I guess at Nike and now she's a CHRO at Nike. Treasure has been an amazing mentor of mine. Yeah, and there's also my there's a she's still at Nike as well, but Susie, I hope they don't mind me naming them. But Susie was one of my bosses who I learned a ton from from the actual sort of like the tact of human resources and so she's been my guide and my trainer in many of those and so I still text her sometimes and I tell her I'm like yeah I'm still kind of like I am very much all the learning I got from Susie is still very much fresh in my head. So those are the things that I kind of go back to as I'm rethinking a problem and it's literally like what would treasure do and what would Susie do like in this situation. So I'm extremely grateful that they are present for me and are available for me in that regard.

Tiffany Pham

I'm getting chills you know obviously because it does make them so proud and yeah you're a cheap pop. Yeah. And so that's incredible. Who was the first person you told? Was it someone within your family when you got the chief officer role? Your first one?

Mahvish Zaman

Yes, my daughter. She was also my advisor on this because this role required a move from New York City to Los Angeles. So this, she was also my advisor and guide and also always being my cheerleader. So she was a first person. -

Tiffany Pham

Amazing. She's the sweetest and so lovely just like you and just incredible. - And what do you feel like you had to believe about yourself to say yes to this title, to this position?

Mahvish Zaman

I think the belief is in one phrase, I think it's I believe in me being curious. And I just believe that if you are curious and you have open mindedness and your curiosity sort of like go hand in hand, so that's a growth mindset component. But if you have that, You can learn a new system, you can learn a new company, you can learn a new culture, and you can also add to it, all of that. So it's just that learning and unlearning and relearning never bothers me. Actually, that's what drives me. So I think that's my belief about me.

Tiffany Pham

I love that. And I can attest to that. Absolutely. What is a decision that you have been really the proudest of? that maybe you haven't been able to share as widely. What's something that you feel like you've done and accomplished that you've been really proud of?

Mahvish Zaman

You know, I think Tiffany, like I've been really, whenever I feel a little bit comfortable or complacent, you know, I change everything around me. So whether it's like a different city, whether it's a different industry, if it's a different company, it goes back to me being that lifelong learner, as we say, right? But I think those decisions that I've made, they're made with a lot of intention. They're made with a lot of thought to say this is something that I can go do next because I can learn and I can hopefully add value. And so for me, all decisions, they are very scary ones because you know how they say, like don't invite all the changes all at once in your life. And I keep doing that. Like, you know, I'll move a city, I'll move a, you know, a industry or a little company. And I've done that a couple times or three times already. And it felt really daunting. And those decisions are always like feel like big risks, right? But I think those are the right they have been the right ones for me, because that's just my way of being that curious person that I am and keep feeding my curiosity and it feeds my growth to in some in more than one way. So

Tiffany Pham

And this must be a really exciting time right now with so much transformative technology happening. It's changing around us for us.

Mahvish Zaman

I am so excited about this. Like, I really feel like I was talking to someone else the other day. I'm like, I feel like this is HR's moment to be the main character energy. To be able to think about work and like the components of work and design work and design the workforce around the new work. I'm really excited about all the possibilities. It's daunting in pockets, but and you don't know the answers. No one really can tell us right now that we figured it out. but it's something really magnificent about all of us trying to figure it out, I feel like. And so I'm here for that. I think it's really exciting times.

Tiffany Pham

I think so too. It's really exciting, of course, for Mogul, especially since we're at that intersection of AI and HR. And one perspective that we have is that we're able to really gain access to so many Chief Officers perspectives right now at scale across hundreds of organizations and clients that we support. the CEOs and the CHROs and what's kind of been uniformly shared with us is that everyone's starting to realize it's not a tech problem, it's a workforce transformation, learning, adoption, people issue. -

Mahvish Zaman

It's a design problem, right? It's a design problem. - And we do our own thing. -

Tiffany Pham

And carry our energy, absolutely. -

Mahvish Zaman

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I love that. -

Tiffany Pham

So I love that the spotlight is back on the HR heads and... now carrying us forward and leading the future ahead as they should be. And so I'm really excited to hear you say this. My final question to you is, what advice would you give to that leader who's just a step below the chief officer role? What kind of advice would you share with them to have them feel like they're ready or what should they do to be ready or any advice you can give?

Mahvish Zaman

You know, mine is very practical, Tiffany. I feel like, you know, again, like, you know, you define your own, you know, definition for growth and learning. But my challenge would be to say, at least at minimum, once per month, challenge a framework that you have already been operating in. It could be like, I've done talent a certain way. I've done talent succession planning a certain way. And really take that one topic and the framework or the playbook that you're used to. and just really give yourself some homework to say, if I were to deconstruct this today and recreate it with the current sort of the backdrop, how would I do it? I think that problem, like, you know, the challenge of yourself, like not, and sort of like, you know, inviting challenge to yourself and not operating just with a status quo, that piece alone gives you so much energy. It's like, if I can recreate this, and then I can add value and then see I can add the I think that that growth and someone someone when I'm interviewing people and someone can tell me that ghost story that you know I kind of like Self invited myself with this challenge and I said I think I can do this differently or enter this conversation differently. I think there's nothing more precious than that. It doesn't have to be successful or a failure. It's just like you tried and you tried to kind of problem solve in a different way. I think that would be my advice to say challenge yourself to think about an actual artifact that you work with in your current workflow. and deconstruct it and see where it takes you.

Tiffany Pham

That's the perfect advice for especially someone like you that loves to learn and for all the others listening today that love to learn and I love that advice. Well thank you so much Mahvish, so incredibly inspiring to hear your journey and thank you so much for the advice and for being again an incredible Chief Officer. And thank you again for joining us.

Mahvish Zaman

Thank you so much, Tiffany. Thank you so much. I really appreciated the time together. [