In Comparably’s weekly series commemorating Women’s History Month, we recognize female executives from our most recent Best CEOs of 2019 list. Highlighted this week is CEO Joanna McFarland from Los Angeles-based Hop Skip Drive, a mobile app that allows parents to hire transportation service for their children. The company pairs drivers with both families and school districts. All contractors must have at least five years of childcare experience before they are allowed to drive for the startup. Since Joanna co-founded the company six years ago, it has raised $27M, employs more than 100 employees, and has deals in place with school districts in 13 markets across eight states where it works with more than 7,000 contractors.
Following is an excerpt from a recent Q&A we conducted with Joanna where she shares what she learned from her biggest hero, what companies can do to increase female leaders, and if she thinks women need to lead differently than their male counterparts. It is easy to see why employees have rated this outstanding leader as one of the best CEOs in the country.
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What Top 3 qualities are essential to be an effective or good leader?
- Empathy – Treat your team and your customers with empathy and respect
- Determination – Keep going, keep seeking creative solutions to problems, keep asking why and what if
- Storytelling – Showing is so much more powerful than telling. Use stories to share your vision and share with your team why you are doing what you are doing and what it means for them, for customers and for the community.
What hero, book, or piece of advice has helped you most in your career?
My grandmother is my hero. She survived the Holocaust in labor camps in Eastern Europe and kept her sisters together through amazing odds. She taught me determination, that you have to figure out creative ways to get to yes and to keep looking for creative solutions to problems. She taught me to stand back and abstract a problem to its core – what are you really trying to solve – and then to find ways that are sometimes non-obvious to solve that problem.
A small percentage of women are CEOs and an even smaller percentage in the Fortune 500. What can companies do to increase females in leadership roles?
Companies need to work harder to develop pipelines that are inclusive and representative at all talent levels. This is not hard to do, but it does take conscious effort to think outside the box and to insist that the effort is made. I’ve recently filled a few executive roles and I’ve been amazed at the inclusive talent I’ve seen, but I had to open my search up beyond traditional channels and do a lot of the sourcing myself because some of the more traditional sourcing channels were bringing non-inclusive talent and citing ‘lack of pipeline’.
It’s not a pipeline issue, it’s an issue of effort and willingness to think a little bigger and a little more creatively. It’s also about making people feel comfortable, so making sure your culture is inclusive and welcoming to everyone.
How do you balance the happiness of employees while also meeting the demands of investors and/or customers?
We work really hard to celebrate our team and to live our values. For example, every Friday, we end our company Town Hall with Shout-outs and Gratitude. Anyone on the team can shout out anyone else for something they did that week that made a difference, and then they share something they’re grateful for. It’s a great way of celebrating wins and reminding ourselves why we do this and what we are grateful for.
We work really hard to make sure that as a team we are aligned around our values and our vision. As an example, two of our values are “feel It (empathy)” and “safety is everything” Our team does what it takes to create a great customer experience with compassion for each other, for the schools and families who use the service to get kids where they need to go and for CareDrivers who use the service to find work opportunities. They feel empowered to make decisions that put safety first, even above growth.
If we do this well as a team, and live our values, we are creating a great service that customers value and the business grows.
What was the biggest challenge you faced and how did you overcome it?
For me, one of the biggest challenges was initially overcoming the fear of taking the leap to do a startup. I was far along in my career, had two small kids and a mortgage. It felt very risky to forego a salary and a steady job. It took me several months to convince myself the risk wasn’t as big as I thought it was and that even if the business failed, I wouldn’t make my kids homeless.
I had to overcome the internal fear, doubts, insecurities and the imposter syndrome to get it started, and I continue to battle that as we grow and each new stage of the business presents new challenges. I’ve gotten better at recognizing those insecurities for what they are, and also noting my strengths. And I’ve built this incredible team along the way.
How do you motivate yourself?
From the beginning, I’ve been motivated by the problem that we’re solving for kids and for busy families. Hearing stories from customers about how we make a difference, and how removing mobility as a barrier can be the difference between success and struggle is what motivates me every day. It’s amazing what can happen for kids as long as they’re able to show up, and HopSkipDrive enables that.
How do you balance your personal and professional life?
There is no one right answer. Everyone does what is right for them. For me, I take my kids to school most mornings. I leave the office around 6 every day and go home for dinner and bedtime, and then work after my kids are in bed. I try to limit evening events (dinners, events etc) to one a week and make sure I feel it’s ‘bedtime worthy’.
How do you define and set the tone for your workplace culture?
We work hard to create a place people want to be because they feel valued and empowered and they know that everything they do is furthering our mission of helping kids reach their highest potential. It’s easier to work your butt off achieving something when you see the outcomes and the stories we hear from schools, families and CareDrivers about what HopSkipDrive means to them. We want our team to know that this is a very demanding place, but also a nurturing one. We take our work seriously, and we have fun doing it. We value the hustle and the empathy in which we go about doing it.
We start every Town Hall (weekly) with one person on the team sharing a little bit about themselves, so we all get to know each other as people. We share customer feedback, both positive and opportunities for improvement, so we remind ourselves why we do what we do every day. And we end Town Hall with shout-outs and gratitude to celebrate our wins and remember what we are grateful for.
Do you think women need to lead differently than their male counterparts?
A good leader is a good leader. Sometimes women need to just be given the chance.
What does earning a spot on Comparably’s Best CEOs list mean to you?
I’m especially honored to earn a spot on this list because it is driven by employee feedback. It means the world to me that my team drove this award. When we started this company, it was very important to me to create the kind of place where I wanted to show up to work every day with people I respected, admired and enjoyed being with and who were driven to achieve great things, and make a real difference in our communities.
You can create a culture that is incredibly demanding but also nurturing at the same time. You can live your values and let those values guide your business decisions. For me, this validates that we are on that path and sets the bar even higher for me to continue on that path going forward.
