Stephanie Covert: Representation in AI Starts at the Top

Christine Maslin: Welcome to Shesess Unplugged, the podcast where we dive deep into the world of female leadership in the private equity SaaS industry. I'm your host, Christine Maslin, and I'm on a mission to spotlight the incredible female CEOs who, uh, are making waves in our industry. Join us, uh, as we embark on a journey to explore the triumphs, challenges and pivotal moments in the careers of 12 extraordinary female leaders. Over the course of 12 episodes, you'll hear firsthand from these trailblazers as they share their insights, experiences and the secrets to their success.

Co-host: Today I'm joined by Stephanie Kova, known to most simply as Steph, the CEO of MacRobond Financial. MacRobond are owned by one of our valued sponsors, Francisco Partners. Steph's career spans some of the most complex and influential corners of the software and analytics world. Before stepping into the CEO role at MacRobond, Steph spent almost 10 years at UH FICO, holding executive roles across software, sales, marketing operations and professional services. She's led global teams, driven commercial transformation and operated at the intersection of data analytics and enterprise scale SaaS from Oracle to FYCO and now to MacRobond. What really stands out is her work in transforming companies, especially in the analytic platform space where she led teams focused on responsible AI, fairness in analytics and explainable AI long before it was the mainstream conversation it is today. And now at UH macrobond, she's leading a business that sits right at the heart of a financial data industry going through massive change from AI driven analysis to the rising demand for speed, transparency and workflow automation. Steph brings a combination of operational depth, commercial sharpness, and a real commitment to empowering women in tech and data, which makes her the perfect guest for shesaas Unplugged. Steph, first of all, welcome.

Stephanie Kova: Thank you, Christine. I really appreciate you having me today.

Co-host: So I'd really love to start by going, um, back to the beginning and looking at your leadership journey. Some of the moments, decisions and experiences that really shaped you. You've spent nearly two decades scaling complex software organizations. When you look back, what were the defining moments that shaped your leadership style?

Stephanie Kova: You know, there are so many moments. But I'll share with you what I really think is the foundation of where my leadership skills have come from. Throughout my career, there were. There were so many times that I was either asked to take on lateral moves or move into leadership roles into positions that were really outside of my area of expertise. And so the first thing I would say to anyone listening to this is if someone Offers you a position and it gives you an opportunity to understand another part of the business or, uh, learn a new skill. I would just suggest saying yes, I think you'll figure it out along the way, because we all do. But I think those times that I was thrown into just a completely new situation where I wasn't the expert, it's what actually forced me to adopt what are really great leadership skills. Because I was no longer the person in the room that had all the answers, I naturally had to ask curious questions. I would ask people for their opinions. I was constantly asking people what would they do, how would they make a decision, what are the risks they would see. And so, uh, naturally just bringing all the voices to the table. And because I wasn't the expert, I had to find new ways of adding value to the team. And so I would do this by bringing people together. I would ask the difficult questions, I would talk about the elephant in the room. I would m. Mitigate and resolve conflict, ask coaching questions that would make people think more deeply. And I found that I was being far more successful, uh, in that type of leadership role than in roles where I was actually the expert. And it was really eye opening for me. So I think being dropped into that environment was really a strength and it really forced me to develop the leadership skills that I have today. And I think that it was the defining moment for me was taking those uncomfortable challenges, being pushed outside of my, my comfort zone, and really having to rely on others around me and enable those around me to be, to become better at my day to day job. And that's really built the foundation of my success today.

Co-host: Love that.

Co-host: Thank you, Steph. Yeah, and I've heard similar themes from other women that have been on this podcast too. Right. Kind of one that comes up quite a lot is, you know, say yes to opportunities, you know, have that opportunity to see other parts of the organization and how it operates and kind of be curious. So, um, you know, interesting to hear that perspective from, from you as well.

Co-host: You took a more unconventional route into

Co-host: executive leadership, starting in field marketing and rising through operations. What perspective did that give you that

Co-host: leaders on more traditional paths might not naturally develop?

Stephanie Kova: You know, it's, it's really interesting because this is something that I did hear a lot during my interview process with many, you know, many different PE firms that thought that my, my background was really unconventional. Unconventional. And I, I believe that, you know, people that have a broader cross functional experience naturally become better operators. You know, when I think back at my career, you know, having Worked across marketing, sales, customer success, operations, product. I think I really gained a stronger understanding of how value actually moves end to end through a business and it really helped me to develop a lot of good instincts and decision making skills. And uh, when I think about things, I know how a change in product impacts a sales motion and impacts the go to market. I can understand how a pricing change might influence customer adoption. I can see the intersection of brand roadmap and revenue and how that creates value for a company. So I think that coming from uh, this diverse background has really allowed me to see all these interdependencies within a department. It's also given me a lot more empathy for all of the domains and the function within an organization which I think helps me to lead them better. Um, but I also think it's really given me what I would call more of a builder's mindset rather than a caretaker's mindset. You know, working cross functionally and across many different disciplines, you often have to learn by doing things or by fixing things. And so your default mode just becomes action, it becomes value creation. And I think that really aligns well in the PE environment. And so I found it quite interesting that people thought my background was maybe an inhibitor and not a strength because I find it actually helps me be an even better operator in the environment I'm in today.

Co-host: Yeah, I mean that makes so much sense when you, when you explain it like that. And um, yeah, I certainly didn't mean

Co-host: to say that it was an inhibitor.

Co-host: I think it's certainly is a strength, but it's just unconventional. It's not what I've used, you know, what I'm used to seeing in terms of a route to the CEO role. Sounds like your path was actually quite purposeful and intentional, which is great to hear and I like that as well about the kind of builder's mindset that it creates the action, uh, the value creation. And agree it's very well suited to

Co-host: the kind of environment you're in today, which is that private equity backed context.

Co-host: What, what's something you used to believe about leadership early, uh, in your career that you see completely differently now?

Stephanie Kova: I think like most people, I used to think that, you know, leadership mean really being the expert in the room, having all the answers. I always thought when I would look up at leadership, I, I believe that, you know, they, they always have to

Stephanie Kova: know what to, to do.

Stephanie Kova: They have to know how to make

Stephanie Kova: all the right decisions. Um, they must have a clear direction

Stephanie Kova: around where the, the company's headed. At all times.

Stephanie Kova: And, um, but as I move further up in leadership, I realized that that's not usually true.

Stephanie Kova: You know, leaders have expertise and they

Stephanie Kova: draw on that expertise and they use that to make informed decisions, but they don't have all the answers. And as I've gone through my career,

Stephanie Kova: what I've really learned about leadership or

Stephanie Kova: what my perspective has changed is that leadership is more about. It's elevating and enabling others. It's, it's about bringing out the expertise in the room, not being the expert in the room. And it's really empowering other people to make decisions so that the business can move forward and it can move forward quickly. And so there's definitely a dynamic shift in thinking that leaders were the experts versus leaders extract the expertise out of the organization.

Co-host: That's really powerful insight. Thank you. Thank you, Stefan.

Co-host: Yeah, it really resonates as well with me. Let's shift into your role today at MacRobond. Um, you stepped into the CEO seat at a, uh, fascinating moment for MacRobond and for the industry. What were the first things you wanted to understand when you arrived?

Stephanie Kova: First, I wanted to understand our customers. I really wanted to understand what value they were getting from the data and the solutions that we provide. And I wanted to hear from them the challenges that they were facing. You know, how were they being disrupted in the moment, you know, what were their fears about that disruption? I also wanted to understand a lot about the opportunities that they saw as a result of the disruption and how can we help them capture those opportunities. And we really used a lot of the feedback that we got from those engagements with customers to, as our compass to inform the vision and where we're taking MacRobond in the next phase of our journey.

Co-host: Yeah, great, thank you. And that's not surprising. I think we'll come on to your focus on customers a little bit later, um, in the questions. But yeah, not surprising to hear at all.

Co-host: What's been the most surprising thing you've

Co-host: learned since becoming CEO either about the

Co-host: business or about yourself?

Stephanie Kova: You know, I expected the biggest surprises to come from the business. You know, there's the complexity, there's really the pace and the pressure of being in the, the PE backed environment. And those are all real, but there weren't any major surprises there. I think what surprised me the most was how much clarity the organization still needed in terms of direction. And we're talking about a great company. You, uh, know, macrobond was a great company. When I stepped in leadership, it was already running very well. Already providing a tremendous amount of value for our customers. And so it was really easy for me to underestimate how much people in an organization are still looking for direction even when they know the right things to do right. They were doing so many things right. And so it reminds me that the critical piece of my job is sort of like chief storyteller, right? It's, it's getting the team and our customers excited about what our future holds. It's not just about operating the business.

Co-host: What's your vision for macrobond as you,

Co-host: as you look ahead for the next few years?

Stephanie Kova: You know, my vision is to build MacRobond into an agentic macro research platform. And we, we really believe that AI should, should augment expert analysis and not replace it. And so when we think about the AI that we're building and the agentic research platform that we're building for the future, it's really about helping our customers do things that might be lower value work for them. How do they find the relevant data that they need? How do they maybe even find alpha and data that, that they might not have used before? We also want to be able to automatically suggest insights to them that they might not naturally see that's going to improve their analysis, help them make smarter decisions. We're also thinking about how do we automatically generate visualizations or commentary that reduces the time for our users to create their research and to create their outputs. And so we're really looking at building true productivity enhancers for our customers. But I think what's most important to us is that our users firmly remain in control and are the ultimate decision makers. And so we don't believe that AI is going to replace our users. We believe it's going to augment their productivity so that they can spend time on higher value efforts. And so that's what we're here to do, is build that agentic research platform that amplifies the ability of our end users.

Co-host: Yeah, it's a really, really interesting topic and leads quite nicely on to my

Co-host: next set of questions. You've spent years at FICO deep in analytics, AI and responsible model development long

Co-host: before these topics exploded into the mainstream.

Co-host: How has that experience shaped your approach to AI at MacRobond today?

Stephanie Kova: At a company like FICO, the stakes are very high. When you're building AI models, you know, you're building models that are influencing lending, risk, people's financial lives. And so that kind of work, it really requires an environment that's heavily grounded in discipline, governance, explainability, and most importantly, right fairness and so, and FICO is really at the forefront of responsible and explainable AI. And, um, I feel so honored to have worked there for so many years. You know, I view our approach to AI at MacRobond through a similar lens. You know, I think the cornerstones of our AI strategy are really shaped around trust, transparency, and human oversight. And so every new feature that we're going to build will have a human in the loop approach. Um, because we believe that the decisions our customers are making, they require human intelligence working together with artificial intelligence. And so it's really the foundation to making sound decisions has to be trust and transparency, and you have to have that human in the loop.

Co-host: Yeah, I couldn't agree more.

Co-host: And it's nice to hear that from you.

Co-host: There's so much noise around AI in financial data. Uh, where do you see the real opportunity and what do you think is overhyped?

Stephanie Kova: I think what's real is that AI is an accelerant. It is making discovery faster. It's reducing manual work for our customers. It's helping people to spot patterns or trends that they might not have seen in the past, and it's enhancing modeling. And that's all happening in our, in our customers today. We're seeing this every day. I think what's overhyped is the idea that AI is going to replace domain expertise. I think in macroeconomics specifically, context is everything. And AI is not, not going to replace the context that an analyst can bring to a decision. And so we believe that AI is going to amplify, uh, our users, but it's definitely not going to replace them.

Co-host: Brilliant. Again, very reassuring to hear you say, um, you've said diversity is essential to fighting bias in AI. What does building AI the right way look like inside a software organization?

Stephanie Kova: Yeah, when you work with AI systems, I think what you come to learn very quickly is that AI systems are going to reflect the data that they're trained on and the people that design them. And so people naturally carry biases. They're both conscious and unconscious. And those biases will easily make their way into the design of an AI system if you don't have protections against that. And so that's why I believe so strongly in hiring a diverse, diverse team of people to build AI systems, because the, um, diversity is going to ensure that the right questions are getting asked.

Stephanie Kova: You know, when people don't all think

Stephanie Kova: in the same way or come from same backgrounds, they're going to spot gaps in data that might create biases. They're going to challenge biased thinking from the design of the system. And they're going to help to frame the problem more broadly so that all constituents are considered, uh, when creating the models. And so when I think a team is made up of diverse backgrounds, they're just going to be far more likely to challenge the status quo, to question and to call out bias when they see it so that it can be resolved and not become part of your AI system.

Co-host: Yeah, such an important point and really great to get your perspectives, um, on AI, um, given how much time you've spent on that. Of course you've also led almost every part of the commercial engineering. I'd love to get your perspective on, um, what it takes to build and scale a high performing go to market organization today. What have you learned about what makes a go to market strategy truly effective?

Stephanie Kova: I think it really comes down to three things. I think it first starts with real segmentation. You have to know what your ideal customer profile is.

Stephanie Kova: You have to prioritize ruthlessly about going to market against that icp. And even when you have deals that come to you, uh, that are customers that are outside of your icp, sometimes

Stephanie Kova: you have to walk away from that so that you don't distract yourself from the end goal.

Stephanie Kova: Second, you have to be able to articulate your value clearly.

Stephanie Kova: Your teams have to know why you

Stephanie Kova: win and they have to be able to articulate that to your customers. I think a lot of times people believe that their teams understand the value and that their sales teams can articulate it to the customers. But most of the time the value has never been clearly articulated. And so they don't always have the confidence to get in front of customers and be able to share that value in an effective way that's going to win deals. I think the third is really around tight alignment between product marketing, sales and customer success.

Stephanie Kova: If these teams are not working in

Stephanie Kova: pursuit of the same goal, this is going to be the biggest problem that your organization has. They have to be, uh, aligned on what products you're taking to market, how you're talking about them in the market, the value that they provide to their customers.

Stephanie Kova: And you have to understand how customers

Stephanie Kova: are going to get value and how they're going to adopt those products. If any of these three things are out of alignment, you're most likely going to just struggle to deliver sustainable growth.

Co-host: I mean that makes total sense. The customer segmentation, understanding who your ICP is, the ruthless prioritization, being able to clearly articulate your value and completely appreciate what you said there around. That's not always straightforward. It sounds basic, but it's not always straightforward. And then that tight alignment with sales, marketing, product and customer success all sounds kind of really straightforward. But trying to put it together in practice is not always an easy thing, is it?

Stephanie Kova: That's correct.

Co-host: Boards are obsessed with sales efficiency, especially in the private equity world. From your experience, what, what genuinely moves

Stephanie Kova: the needle, My first focus is really on simplicity. I believe you have to simplify the operating model so that sales reps can spend more time selling and really less time navigating your internal complexity. And it's not that you shouldn't have rigor and process, you should, but it should be the minimum viable process necessary to really keep your organization agile. And I think what a lot of people will say is that activity leads to better sales efficiency. But I don't agree with that. I believe it's about more effective activity

Stephanie Kova: and not just more activity. So what we really look at is

Stephanie Kova: quality over or quantity and I think that's really what's going to improve your sales efficiency.

Co-host: Yeah, I couldn't agree more with that. Uh, um, I'm totally aligned with you on that. And I think that there's so many, so much overcomplication that can happen when um, organizations are trying to implement sales engines. And you know, sometimes I also feel like the, the use of AI can over, can over. You know, rather than simplifying can can over complicate. Have you experienced similar?

Stephanie Kova: Yeah, I think a lot of times

Stephanie Kova: people will throw tools at their sales reps thinking this is going to make them better. I think what that results in a lot of times is than having to do more work to enable the tools so that you can get the reporting. You need to find out if they're being more productive. And so I would caution people from using too many tools. I think AI is extremely helpful. There's a lot of tools out there that help record meetings, take notes, record follow ups. Those are all great things. But you also have to remember that your sales team needs to be spending more time with your customers than inputting things in your internal systems. And I think that's always the caution that I take. And that's how they're going to become more effective and more efficient is the

Stephanie Kova: more time they're spending speaking to customers.

Co-host: Yeah, agree. Absolutely. And switching to talent. I'm really interested to get to get your view. What are the qualities that you would tend to look look for in, in go to market talent first?

Stephanie Kova: What I look for is are they naturally curious, are they going to really Ask the questions that are going to unlock customer value and you'll see this come out in the interview process because they're going to be the people that are grilling you, grilling you on your vision, your strategy, your value prop, your, your icp. They're going to be the people that are asking you more questions than you're asking them. And, but I think that's a, that's

Stephanie Kova: a really good quality.

Stephanie Kova: Second, I always look for commercial sharpness. I don't just want reps that are going to just follow a playbook and do exactly what I tell tell them to do. I want them to be creative when

Stephanie Kova: it's required and I want them to

Stephanie Kova: know how to craft the win win proposals that might be a little bit

Stephanie Kova: out of the box or a little

Stephanie Kova: bit gray area, but we're, you know, macrobond wins and the customer wins. And third, I think this is most importantly is they have to have a center around, around teamwork. I think that they need to be productively competitive, but they really need to care about the overall success of their team and they need to raise up everyone around them. Yeah.

Co-host: Really agree with, with, with all of that. Thank you for, thank you for sharing. And um, what do you think separates, it might be a very similar question actually, but what do you think separates kind of good GTM talent from, um, great talent or good commercial talent from great talent?

Stephanie Kova: I think good talent, they're going to be accountable, they're going to follow the process, they're going to consistently hit their number.

Stephanie Kova: We all love good commercial talent.

Stephanie Kova: I think great talent, they go a little bit further. I think they're always the ones that are pushing the envelope. They're the ones that are naturally working cross functionally. They mobilize the entire organization to reflect, you know, work for them and support their success. They also are the ones that are challenging your strategy. They're often the ones that are pulling you into new growth areas even when you're not ready, ready to go yet. Uh, they also, they know how to take calculated risks.

Stephanie Kova: Right.

Stephanie Kova: They're really comfortable swinging for the fences. And I think most importantly, when they miss, they're able to pick themselves back up and keep going. Right. They don't let those obstacles get in their way. And I think that often really great commercial talent and sales organizations are labeled as kind of the squeaky wheels. But I, but if you really listen to them, they're not complaining. What they're doing is they're trying to move the company forward. And so, uh, that's Usually how I identify them is they're usually the, you know, the loudest voices in the room.

Stephanie Kova: Um, and if you really listen, you can extract a lot of value from that.

Co-host: Brilliant. Thank you. A thing that's come up again and again in your career is delivering customer value, making sure software actually creates outcomes. I'd love to dig into how you think about value and adoption, especially in a data driven business like MacRobond. In your view, what does delivering value genuinely look like in enterprise SaaS?

Stephanie Kova: Yeah, I think for me, you know, success is when customers achieve their outcomes, the outcomes that we, that we were hired to help them achieve. And that m. That outcome is measurable. But I do think that that outcome is really the result of maybe, uh, a more important question that I like to think about and um, I ask my team to think about all the time is have I really helped a customer transform their business, not just get results, but transform their ways of working for the better. And if we've done that and we can show the results of that, to me, that is delivering real value. If you can help them transform their

Stephanie Kova: business, not just hit some KPR's or

Stephanie Kova: get some results, but transform the way they're working to be more efficient, to be more competitive, to be more successful in their market, that's when I think true value is achieved.

Co-host: Beautifully put. Thank you. Macrobond operates in a world where accuracy and trust is critical. How do you balance staying customer centric whilst continuing to innovate at pace?

Stephanie Kova: Yeah, I would say that customer centricity is probably one of the biggest parts of the secret sauce we have here at Macrobon. Uh, I really believe that we should innovate with customers and we should not just innovate for them. Right. We need their input, we need to capture their feedback and we do that in a lot of ways. Here at macrobond we run a lot of different programs. We have early access programs where we give customers the access to beta products. We follow up with feedback sessions, we learn, we refine the products. We also do co development with our customers where we bring them in at the ideation stage and we share our ideas with them and we build features and solutions together. And I think having this really customer centric approach helps us to really validate our thinking early. And a lot of people might say,

Stephanie Kova: well that's going to slow you down.

Stephanie Kova: Getting too much input is, isn't always a good thing. Well, we think it's a great thing getting input from our customers because we're able to accelerate the pace by which we deliver products that they need that is going to provide them true value. And so we really think that that's helped us develop really deep and meaningful relationships with our customers that helps that feedback loop to continue year after year.

Co-host: Thanks, Steph. Really, you know, really clear that you're, you're very focused on, on the customer, which I personally think is, is a great thing. You've been a champion for women in science, technology and analytics. What do you think actually moves the needle today?

Stephanie Kova: I would say in today's environment, what moves the needle most is representation of women in leadership roles. And I don't mean frontline leadership roles, I mean, uh, executive leadership roles. Because when you have a more diverse leadership team, you're naturally going to create an environment that fosters diversity better.

Stephanie Kova: Right.

Stephanie Kova: People are going to look at talent in different ways. They're going to sponsor people for roles that they, that may have been overlooked in the past. And they're going to speak up when things aren't, aren't fair. So I think the best way right now that we can break old cycles is to have more diverse voices in the room and for organizations to really look at their leadership teams and make sure that they do have representation there, because that is what's going to change this issue we have around representation.

Co-host: Really well put. Thank you. Was there a moment where it hit you just how much representation matters either for you or for the women around you? Yeah.

Stephanie Kova: You know, in my, my last role at fico, I actually had this happen to me a few times. You know, we were a global company. We had offices all over the world. We would regularly hold virtual town hall meetings with the whole company. And this actually happened quite frequently to me during the pandemic. You know, after town hall meetings, you know, I started to get these messages

Stephanie Kova: from the men that worked for me.

Stephanie Kova: They would, they reach out, they would send messages, and they would tell me how much their daughters admired me and really thanked me for being a role model for their daughters. And I found that so many men on my team, when we were having our, uh, virtual call, would invite their daughters in to watch, even though they

Stephanie Kova: were too young to understand what we

Stephanie Kova: were, we were really talking about. And they would show their daughters the screen and they would show all of the faces and they would show how many people were on the call, and they would say, see all these people? Almost all 4,000 of them. They all report to her, you know,

Stephanie Kova: and, and they would share with their

Stephanie Kova: daughters that, uh, that they could do that too.

Stephanie Kova: And I just, I thought that was the coolest thing because I knew that

Stephanie Kova: my leadership, I was having an impact on the women in my own organization, but I didn't realize how much reach

Stephanie Kova: it had outside of the organization and

Stephanie Kova: how you could be uh, such a

Stephanie Kova: role model for people that you never

Stephanie Kova: suspected, like the daughters of your employees. And I, that really touched me a

Stephanie Kova: lot and it helped me realize how important it is to be a role model and that uh, and what a

Stephanie Kova: responsibility it is as well.

Co-host: What a lovely story. Yeah, I've got goose pimples listening to that. And it is so true. Isn't really does make a difference in something like the pandemic where actually your work came into your home for the first time for many people that were not used to working at home and overnight everybody was, you know, whether they were going to be in meetings, they were now like this 4,000 person video call, you know, for their daughters to see and their sons probably right. To see their whole organization being led by women is really inspiring for those, for those kids growing up. So yeah, lovely story. Thank you so much for sharing that. What advice would you give to women entering data analytics or AI roles today?

Stephanie Kova: First I would say that you should do it. You know, I think a lot of

Stephanie Kova: women self, self select out because of the, the challenges of representation in the space.

Stephanie Kova: But, but I think women have every

Stephanie Kova: right to pursue the career in the space and I think the industry really needs different points of view, they need different diverse perspectives. And I think when you're thinking about going into the space, I think the advice that I would give to any woman is to really look for organizations that, that live their values. If an organization says that they value

Stephanie Kova: diversity, but when you look at the

Stephanie Kova: top and all the leadership team looks the same, you might question if it's

Stephanie Kova: going to be the right supportive environment for you to thrive in.

Stephanie Kova: I would say, you know, find a company that's going to, that truly values diversity and you'll be recognized on your merits and you'll have a very successful career.

Stephanie Kova: And there are so many good companies out there.

Stephanie Kova: You can find one that'll support you in your journey. And um, so I think it's just about finding the right company and you'll find the right success.

Co-host: Brilliant advice. Thank you. You've worked in major public companies like Oracle and fico and now you lead a PE backed organization. What have been the biggest differences in operating rhythm and expectations?

Stephanie Kova: You know, it's such a great question because my public company experience isn't so far in the rear view that, you know, that I can't really quantify the differences.

Stephanie Kova: I think there are a few that really stand out for me.

Stephanie Kova: I think first would be speed up decisions. I think when you're in the PE world, you have to be really comfortable making decisions really quickly, sometimes with limited information. And you really have to expect your leaders to use their judgment and not always wait for alignment. Right. Make the decision, move fast. I think in larger public organizations, decisions just sort of move through more of a, uh, like layers of functional leadership.

Stephanie Kova: Right.

Stephanie Kova: And there's a reason for that because you need to enhance predictability, you need to enhance the outcome of that decision, I think. So the decision making process is a bit, I think, slower in public companies. I think the operating rhythm itself is

Stephanie Kova: a great one as well.

Stephanie Kova: I think in public companies you have these very well established planning cycles, annual planning, quarterly business reviews, monthly forecasts. It's very predictable. There's a lot of heavy reporting that goes along with that. Where the PE world is more dynamic, right. You're looking at daily metrics, weekly KPIs, you're constantly about reevaluating your strategy. You're constantly looking at value creation priorities and pivoting the direction of the organization. So I would say that there's just like a lot less ceremony when it comes to the PE world because uh, the bias to action just has to be much quicker. And I think probably the third thing for me was, would be around really the relationship with your investors. It's just, it's very different. I think in public companies. The relationships you have with your investors, they're very structured, they're very, very formal and they're, they're highly regulated and that's, that's for a reason. Right. But in PE companies, your investors, they're, they're more hands on. They're, they're your partners. You're constantly engaging with them. There's a higher level of transparency because this value creation plan, it's a shared commitment between you and them. So they're there to help you achieve it. You know, they're not, they're not just providing oversight. So I would say in the PE world that your investors are really in the journey with you. And that's a big difference I see between the two operating models.

Co-host: Really interesting to get that insight. Thank you. I, uh, mean kind of many of the things that you mentioned, there is many of the reasons I love working in the kind of private equity world. Do you see differences in culture, uh, or motivation across public versus piggyback companies?

Stephanie Kova: Yeah, I Think when you've worked in both, you start to notice that there's sort of an underlying, the underlying energy is different. It's not better or worse, it's just, it's just different. I would say uh, in public companies that people are more motivated by stability, maybe long term career paths, they spend a lot of time becoming really deep experts in what they do. And in PE companies I feel like the culture is, it's shaped more by ownership and urgency. I think that people join PE companies because they want to make a visible impact. Uh, they like fast and paced environments and they want just a real opportunity, I think to shape the companies they work for, not just operate in it. So I think there's a lot less interest in hierarchy and kind of more focused on outcomes than pe. But yeah, so if I had to sum it up, I would say that PE just operate in ah, I think far more of a flat structure and the accountability feels a lot closer.

Stephanie Kova: And you really. Because you really feel the impact of your decision.

Co-host: Yeah, interesting. And now that you're in the CEO role, what do you appreciate most about the PE model and what do you think is most misunderstood, you know, people's misconceptions, perceptions around private equity?

Stephanie Kova: You know what, what I appreciate most, I would say is the relationship you build with your investors. You know, maybe I struck gold and I, and I have the best investors.

Co-host: But you do have great investors. I have to say.

Stephanie Kova: They're phenomenal. They're phenomenal. But I think this rings true for many.

Stephanie Kova: Right. I think the level of transparency that you have and can have, right, you can let them know when you're, when you have a, an issue, a ah, struggle, a challenge. I think there's just this great focus on solutions and joint accountability and getting to the outcome. Right. It's really refreshing that you are really working together on achieving this outcome. And I think what people misunderstand is sometimes there's an antagonistic view of investors in the PE world put out in the market, but I haven't experienced that myself. I find it to be a really beneficial relationship.

Co-host: And so I'd love to finish with a few more personal questions to get to know you. Beyond the CEO role, what's a mantra or belief that's kept you grounded in your biggest leadership moments?

Stephanie Kova: One that I always think about is the saying that this too shall pass because I think it's very important to always stay humble when things are going well and to not catastrophize when things aren't going as well as you would like them to. And so that often keeps me grounded, that, hey, this can pass. These great times can. Can. Can go away if you're not focused and humble. And these bad times are. Are just a moment in time too,

Stephanie Kova: and, and they can always get better.

Co-host: Yeah, really good point. Definitely seeing the opposite in. In practice. But, um, yeah, I agree with you. I think it's very easy to get. To get carried away in the good times and, And. And also to despair a bit too much in the. In the. In the more challenging times. So, yeah, good, good advice and good, good mantra. What's a piece of feedback that changed the trajectory of your career?

Stephanie Kova: Yeah, this, this piece of feedback actually came from my.

Stephanie Kova: My husband and I would, you know,

Stephanie Kova: say we're truly partners in everything that we do. We support each other deeply, personally and professionally.

Stephanie Kova: And so when I was much younger

Stephanie Kova: in my career, you know, he told

Stephanie Kova: me that I needed to stop being

Stephanie Kova: so agreeable, that I needed to learn how to set boundaries, and that I needed to stop caring so much about

Stephanie Kova: other people's opinions of me, you know, uh, because I had.

Stephanie Kova: I, um, fell into the trap that

Stephanie Kova: I think most women do, you know, being agreeable, overworking to prove my value.

Stephanie Kova: And it really just resulted in, I think, my talents being taken advantage of.

Stephanie Kova: And so he told me professionally to

Stephanie Kova: stand up for myself and if. That.

Stephanie Kova: If my boundaries caused a problem for

Stephanie Kova: me, that I wasn't the problem. Right.

Stephanie Kova: And that I should go somewhere where

Stephanie Kova: I was valued and respected. And, uh, it was a tough conversation because, you know, I had to admit to myself that I was people pleasing,

Stephanie Kova: that I was being too agreeable, you

Stephanie Kova: know, that I. I did care what

Stephanie Kova: people thought of me and I wanted to be liked. And it didn't feel good, you know,

Stephanie Kova: to admit that I was doing things not for the right reasons, but to make myself feel better. Right.

Stephanie Kova: And.

Stephanie Kova: But it was the best advice that

Stephanie Kova: I've ever gotten because I think the

Stephanie Kova: day that I. I started to put

Stephanie Kova: boundaries in place to.

Stephanie Kova: To speak my mind, you know, professionally and to make sure that my talents were being rewarded and recognized and I wasn't being taken advantage of is, I think that day that my.

Stephanie Kova: The whole trajectory of my career changed.

Co-host: Uh, what a wonderfully supporting husband you've got. And, you know, great advice. If I interviewed people who've worked closely with you for years, what do you think they would say is your superpower?

Stephanie Kova: You know, first they would probably say, she doesn't sleep, but that's.

Stephanie Kova: That's not true.

Stephanie Kova: I sleep a solid seven to eight hours a night. Uh, but I. What I believe they would say is that I have a talent, I think, for seeing greatness in other people, uh, especially when they don't see it in themselves. And I have the courage to give them the really tough feedback that it takes for them to realize that within themselves. And I think there are times that I've had really difficult conversations with people that have, that have worked for me. And what that's resulted in them is just catapulting their career because I saw in them something really great and I wanted them to achieve that.

Stephanie Kova: And I think that's my superpower.

Stephanie Kova: I see what people really can be.

Co-host: Nice. Well, look, that's bringing us almost to the end of, um, the podcast. So much wisdom, so much humility. It's been really fantastic to have you on our podcast. Thank you. Um, can we finish up now with

Co-host: a quick fire round?

Stephanie Kova: Absolutely.

Co-host: What's one thing people are always surprised to learn about you?

Stephanie Kova: That I ride dirt bikes.

Co-host: I am surprised to learn that everyone is. You're so glamorous. It just doesn't seem to fit. Absolutely.

Stephanie Kova: Sounds fun.

Stephanie Kova: It's great fun.

Co-host: A song that always lifts your mood.

Stephanie Kova: I think Girl is on Fire by Alicia Keys. It always brightens my day.

Co-host: Go to coffee, order.

Stephanie Kova: It's actually sugar free Red Bull. I don't drink coffee. This is something that all of my team knows about me.

Co-host: Not first thing in the morning though.

Stephanie Kova: Yes, first thing in the morning.

Co-host: What's a talent you don't have but wish you singing.

Stephanie Kova: I wish I could be.

Stephanie Kova: Would be a. Could be a singer.

Co-host: Oh, uh, yeah, me too. I love a bit of karaoke. I'm very bad at it, but, uh, yeah, enjoy it a lot. It's so fun. Well, it's brilliant to have you on the podcast again. Thank you so much, Steph. And um, look forward to staying in touch.

Stephanie Kova: Thank you so much, Christine.

Christine Maslin: Thank you for listening to this episode of Shadow Sheas Unplugged. I hope it inspired you in your personal journey. If you enjoyed listening, please subscribe and share this episode with others. You can find out more about Shesas at our website, shesas.org you can also find us on LinkedIn.