Bozoma Saint John: An influential leader who is 'redefining badassery'
Netflix's new CMO is a force of nature and followers are tuning in to her style
Bozoma Saint John, whose first name is loosely translated “Spirit” or “Goddess,” is in her own words, “redefining badassery.”
Saint John has more than 300K Instagram followers for a reason. Starting in August, she’s Netflix’s Chief Marketing Officer.
“I’m thrilled to join Netflix, especially at a time when storytelling is critical to our global, societal well-being,” she said in a statement to Adweek.
So who is Saint John, and what are the experiences that have shaped her?
First, Saint John has taken bold steps throughout a prolific career.
In addition to her new role at Netflix, she runs a website called The Badass Workshop that helps people “architect THE GREATEST SELF.” She started a podcast in May 2020 with Katie Couric called Back to Biz with Katie and Boz, and she will also be the subject of her own docuseries called Bozoma: Being Badass.
Saint John recently left the entertainment agency Endeavor, where she worked with Papa John’s to “rehabilitate” the company after its CEO was fired for using racist language.
At Netflix, she’s now at the center of the streaming wars, facing competitors such as Disney+, HBO Max, and Quibi.
Saint John’s first full-time job was working as an assistant to Spike Lee at Spike DDB. She then worked at the fashion brand Ashley Stewart, managed brands at PepsiCo, and eventually served as the Chief Brand Officer at Uber after working at Beats Music and Apple.
I first learned about Saint John at Apple, where she worked as an Apple Music executive. I worked there for 10 years, and I saw her several times at the company’s headquarters.
At Apple, “Boz” presented at the Worldwide Developer Conference in 2016. Buzzfeed wrote then that she was the “coolest” person to ever take the stage at an Apple keynote.
“I’ve walked through America’s largest corporate hallways and had a C-suite seat in its boardrooms, but although I sashay in my stilettos, I recognize that we are not all seen as equal,” she said in a recent Instagram post.
Saint John is resilient.
She is a first-generation American born in Middletown, Connecticut, to Ghanaian parents. She lived in a series of places as a child, including Kenya, Washington D.C., Ghana, and Colorado.
Saint John considers her greatest accomplishment to be mothering her daughter, Lael. She’s done it as a single mom.
In 2013, Saint John lost her husband Peter to lymphoma. After his death, she fundraised for cancer research.
In separate philanthropic efforts, Saint John also represents Pencils of Promise as a Global Ambassador to Ghana, and serves on the boards of Girls Who Code and Vital Voices.
She embraces causes tied to her story.
Saint John is a master campaigner.
At Apple, she led a campaign for Taylor Swift’s workout wipeout to Drake and Future’s “Jumpman.”
“One could say that Saint John is the right marketer for the moment,” Forbes contributor Meghan McCormick said in a July 1 article. “She is one of the most talented people in marketing.”
Recently she’s promoted a campaign called #ShareTheMicNow. This involved black activists taking over white women’s social media feeds for a period of time. It raised awareness that, “when the world listens to women, it listens to white women.” Saint John took over the feed for Kourtney Kardashian for a day.
“We must all be vigilant to ensure that the bias which goes unchecked, doesn’t become a statistic that we then hashtag,” Saint John posted on her Instagram feed. “We must work together to HEAR those who cry out for the basic, human right to breathe and to matter.”
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To learn more about Saint John, you can watch these videos and read these articles:
The Conversation With Her Daughter That Changed Bozoma Saint John’s Life.
Talks at GS - Bozoma Saint John: Driving Change at Uber & Beyond
Bozoma Saint John talks building your own brand with Katie Couric | theSkimm
Bozoma Saint John Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/badassboz
The Badass Workshop. https://www.thebadassworkshop.com/
Netflix is missing one big thing. It just added it with its new superstar hire. https://www.fastcompany.com/90524645/netflix-is-missing-one-big-thing-it-just-added-it-with-its-new-superstar-hire