Chief Change Officer
#314 Erika Ayers-Baden: Grit, Goals, and the Generational Advantage
Mon, 21 Apr 2025
In the second half of her conversation, Erika Ayers Badan—CEO of Food52, former CEO of Barstool Sports, board leader, media powerhouse, and author of _No One Cares About Your Career_—lets us behind the curtain. From negotiating screen time as a kid to rewriting the rules as a high-profile executive, she reflects on how grit, autonomy, and unfiltered curiosity shaped everything—from her parenting to her management style. She shares why she no longer chases titles, what failure really teaches us, and why today’s “toxic culture” talk often needs more clarity than cancellation. For Gen Xers raising kids, leading teams, or just trying to keep their values intact in a noisy world, this episode is the deep breath you didn’t know you needed.The Original Streaming Negotiation“My brother and I shared one hour of TV a week. That’s how I learned to negotiate.”Erika reflects on the creative, disciplined upbringing that shaped her independence—and how it made her a better leader, dealmaker, and parent.Titles Are Overrated. Impact Isn’t.“I cared about titles in my 20s. Now I care about purview.”She explains why chasing titles is a trap—and why real career growth is measured in responsibility, resilience, and reach.Fail Always Mode“If you feel like you’re failing, it means you care—and you’re trying something new.”Erika breaks down why failure isn’t just tolerable—it’s necessary. And why she rewards effort over perfection every time.Culture Buzzwords“I’m allergic to gossip, inertia, and pontificating.”From toxic culture to real collaboration, Erika shares her no-BS filter for building teams that do the work and actually like doing it.Gen Alpha, Gen X, and the Parenting Gap“I worry their advantages are actually disadvantages.”She gets honest about parenting kids in a hyper-stimulated world—and why she’s racing the clock to instill resilience before the clay hardens._____________________Connect with us:Host: Vince Chan | Guest: Erika Ayers Badan --Chief Change Officer--Change Ambitiously. Outgrow Yourself.Open a World of Expansive Human Intelligencefor Transformation Gurus, Black Sheep,Unsung Visionaries & Bold Hearts.EdTech Leadership Awards 2025 Finalist.18 Million+ All-Time Downloads.80+ Countries Reached Daily.Global Top 1.5% Podcast.Top 10 US Business.Top 1 US Careers.>>>170,000+ are outgrowing. Act Today.<<<
Chapter 1: What insights does Erika share from her upbringing?
Ooh, okay. So I had, I was born in Colorado and my dad was a math teacher in Colorado. My mom made all of our food. My mom was very busy. She was also a teacher and she had stopped working to have my brother and I, my brother and I are a year apart in age. We moved back east when I was probably five or six, and both my parents went back to work.
My dad became the principal of the school of the town I lived in, and my mom was a vocational teacher in the next town over. Our childhood, if I had to describe it, was you could read, you could play sports, you could hang out with your friends, but you'd have to go find something to do with yourself. You could stack wood or do chores and That was pretty much it.
We didn't have a TV for a long time and then we got a TV and my brother and I shared an hour of TV a week between us. And I always say that's where I learned how to negotiate because my brother and I really had to duke it out to figure out what we were watching.
And ultimately we had to learn that if we both compromised to watch something we both wanted, instead of getting a half hour each, we could get a full hour of television. I also learned my mother used to block MTV, which MTV was huge when I was a kid. So I would just call the cable company every month and say that I was my mother so that I could get the MTV turned back on.
So I learned a lot of lessons, I think, just from how we were raised. I think when your parents are teachers, it's a selfless job and it's a super hard job, but it really is an incredibly generous job because you are trying to impart a love of knowledge and learning, and you're really trying to inspire growth in other people, which I think is just really admirable.
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Chapter 2: Why are titles considered overrated?
Also, it's strange to have my dad be the principal. I can remember my first day of middle school, And someone scratching Erica Ayers is a blank, like horrible word. And so is her dad. They scratched it on the bathroom wall. So it also was in some ways sobering to have an authority figure in my school be my dad. I would say I learned a lot from both of those things or all of those things.
I think I really love to teach. And I think my parents gave me that. I think I have... fairly strange relationship with authority. I think that also comes from my childhood. But I also have an incredible desire to learn. And I think that's also what my parents gave me.
It sounds like you grew up to be pretty independent, solving problems on your own. Recently, I saw a post on social media talking about Generation X. They call it the figure-it-out generation. They said we had to learn how to solve things on our own because our parents were too busy to hover over us. I'm Gen X too, and I can definitely relate to that. The story reminds me of that experience.
I also grew up in a disciplined environment. And my parents actually blocked me from watching TV. Not just MTV, but all TV. The funny thing is, I am a visual learner. So I realized later that I learn best when I'm stimulated by visual images. Yeah, same. Okay. Now, you've become CEO of two companies. Let's talk about your adulthood. In particular, about building career.
Chapter 3: How can failure contribute to success?
From your perspective, are titles at work really that important?
I don't really care about titles. Now, I think that I can say that now and it's a little bit hypocritical because a CEO is a great title. I did care a lot about titles in my formative years of my career and in the hustle years where I was really trying to advance. I think here's how I feel about titles. One is You should always be endeavoring to take on more than you had six months ago.
One of the things I write about in the book is, are you doing the same exact thing you did six months ago without learning or growing or tripping on yourself or taking on something you didn't know exactly how to do? I think it's important to continue to grow in your career and in your purview. Do you have more problems that you're responsible for?
Do you have more puzzles that you can't figure out? Do you have more poise? Do you have a bigger platform? I think that's way more important than title chasing. As I think about my career, yes, I definitely cared about titles. I care less about them now. I can remember going to Microsoft and Microsoft, to be a vice president at Microsoft, what meant you had to spend 30 years at Microsoft.
Chapter 4: What defines a positive workplace culture?
To be a vice president at an ad agency, they gave those titles out like candy. So in a lot of ways, titling is different by industry, by company, by sector. But the sheer fact of what you oversee and what you are capable of doing stands irrespective of the title or regardless of a title. So I really feel the most important thing is that purview. It's that level of responsibility.
It's your resilience. It's your capacity for impact. is far more important than any title. And I tend to care about that now in my job. But I also understand that as people look to grow, they want a title and a salary that's commensurate with the level of advancement and growth.
Yeah, I must admit, I used to be quite conscious about titles, especially in the financial services industry where titles often aligned with salary. If you don't have a MD title, for example, the salary range can be significantly lower. So in the first few years of my post-MBA career, titles become a way to measure growth and progression. They were not an obsession, but they definitely mattered.
For a lot of people, titles are still tied to career advancement. On the flip side, in the tech and startup world, titles like CEO have become much more democratized. But like you said, it's not really about the title. It's about the impact you make. With great titles comes great responsibility. That leads me to my next question. As a leader, Beyond titles, how do you define success?
And how do you define failure? In your book, you mentioned that failure is actually a good thing. I'd love to hear your perspective on failure versus success.
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Chapter 5: How do generational differences impact parenting?
Oh, I love failure. I call it fail always mode. And the reason I say I love failure is I don't like to fail at all. But if you feel like you are failing, It means a couple things if you can take a step back. One means that you care. If you feel something about what you're doing, you care about it.
And two, it means you're trying something new or you're doing something that you don't exactly know how to do the right way or you haven't figured out the right way for you to do this thing. And I think that's a great way to feel because it means that you're pushing yourself. And what I really believe and value as a leader is people who push themselves. I value initiative.
I value entrepreneurial thinking. I value people who endeavor to make something happen, even if it doesn't happen. I personally will always reward the person who tried versus the person who played it safe and didn't evolve or change anything. So I think one thing that's hard for people, and myself included, is that it stings if you don't get something right. It can hurt.
It can make you feel ashamed. It can make you feel inferior or stupid. And it stinks to feel that way. But the more you push and try and explore, the more you can ultimately take on and the better you will get at doing those things. And when you look back over the course of time, it's the people who kept pushing and trying and experimenting and failing and learning.
It's those people who ultimately become people more successful and who are able to stay successful because they have learned and tried a great deal more. And I think it's very dangerous to make your world really small and to only do things that you know 100% you will be perfect at doing. One, I think it's a little bit boring. And two, I think it doesn't change your world ever.
So would you say the kind of culture you're building leans more towards a growth mindset? You've mentioned that you prefer employees to take risks, try things out. And even if it doesn't work out, you value the effort and the approach. Is that how you foster a culture of continuous improvement, where the process gets refined over time and eventually leads to better results?
A related question would be, how would you define your leadership style and approach?
I am a leader that wants growth. I'm a leader who embraces change. I am highly collaborative. I insist on collaboration. Want people who want to work with other people. I really value people who can perform and work independently, but who have a desire to play and win as a team. So I would say I'm tough. I have a high standard.
I have a high pain threshold and a tolerance for being uncomfortable, for trying things. And I think that can be hard for some folks, but I also think it can be incredibly invigorating for others. And a lot of being at a company, it's just alchemy. It's trying to find the right people who you work for as a boss and who work with you and push you and expect the same of you.
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