Purpose-Led CEO Interview Series, Shari Graydon, CEO Catalyst, Informed Opinions

We had the pleasure to speak with Shari Graydon, CEO Catalyst of Informed Opinions. She has spent more than 30 years engaging media to draw attention to issues she knows and cares about. Now she motivates and trains others to do the same, developing and delivering highly-rated conference keynotes and practical workshops across the country.

She’s an award-winning author and women’s advocate. Since 2010, she has helped amplify the voices of thousands of women across Canada, supporting them in sharing their insights with a broader public.

A former newspaper columnist, TV producer and commentator for CBC radio and TV, Shari also served as press secretary to a provincial premier, and as president of MediaWatch. She’s a proud alumna of the University of British Columbia (Theatre) and Simon Fraser University (Communications), where she also taught. She has published two best-selling media literacy books for youth, received the Governor General’s Award in Commemoration of the Persons’ Case, and been named one of Canada’s “Top 100 Most Powerful Women” and a “Woman of Influence”. Royalties from her edited collection, I Feel Great About My Hands – And Other Unexpected Joys of Aging, benefit Informed Opinions. Her newest book, OMG! What if I really AM the best person? offers purse-size inspiration for knowledgeable women whose voices deserve to be amplified.

What was your first job and what did you learn from it?

My first job was waiting tables throughout high school and university. I learned that service jobs are hard. Performance is rewarded, but success also heavily depends on the team. If the cook doesn't prioritize your orders or the bartender makes mistakes, the server receives the blame.

My first professional job was working for the world's largest PR agency. There, I developed some persuasive abilities, even when discussing topics I wasn't personally invested in. I realized that news media are very influential and wielding their attention is enormously valuable. Companies pay many hundreds of thousands of dollars for that support. At that time, our clients were promoting packaged goods, pharmaceutical products and tobacco, and in some cases, I was not aligned with the values they reflected. 

I made the decision to leave the PR agency because I wanted to use the skills I’d gained for causes and clients that resonated with me on a personal level.

I don’t regret my PR work experience; it was incredibly valuable, helping me to develop skills that I’ve continued to draw upon ever since.

As you look back on your career, what were the pivotal moments that led you to your role today?

There have been many pivotal moments. 

From a very young age, I wanted to be a visual artist. In grade ten, I had an art teacher who wouldn't mark a project that I'd done because I had gone “out of the lines” by doing the designated boys’ assignment instead of the girls’. The artwork still hangs on my office wall as a reminder. I think that was the beginning of my feminist awakening, that the world didn’t always treat women and girls fairly.

I switched my elective to theatre the following year to avoid that teacher. And that changed the course of my life: theatre became my major as an undergrad, and I have drawn on those theatre skills ever since.

In my last year at UBC, even though my theatre prof cast me in the show he directed, he also did an exit interview with at the end of the year to discourage me from pursuing acting work. His message to me was that I didn’t have a “commercial look”, and so wouldn’t get cast in television and movies. I was more interested in live theatre, but the conversation reinforced for me the challenges of remaining in a profession that would require me to audition all the time, and be hired or rejected on the basis of my appearance.

After graduation, I worked a service job to earn money to go solo backpacking in Europe, and then I practiced Shiatsu therapy for three years.  But I missed intellectually creative work and set my sites on public relations. Understanding that my resume detailing my previous job history wouldn’t likely get me any interviews, I wrote a press release and used it to get into the field. 

My press release described my ability as an actor and a shiatsu therapist and how the skills that I had developed in those two areas would equip me perfectly to be an effective public relations person. I called every PR agency listed in the Yellow Pages. Based on those conversations, I narrowed it down to 18 companies, and landed 9 interviews and, ultimately, a job at Burson Marsteller.

My career in PR was pivotal. I learned that I'm good at using words, both written and spoken, to engage and influence people. 

When I went back to school for my master's degree, I saw a presentation by the executive director of MediaWatch about the portrayal and representation of women in media.  Her analysis and explanation made my head explode. I rushed the front of the room at the end of the lecture and said, “I want to volunteer for your organization.”

I was so engaged and interested -- writing op eds, responding to media interviews and getting speaking engagements – that I joined the board, and then became president a year later. I ended up staying for almost ten years.

A decade after that, while doing a cursory content analysis of the Globe and Mail’s op ed page, I determined that women’s perspectives were still chronically missing. I thought to myself, ‘I can fix that gap’. I managed to get some seed funding from the federal government. That’s how I started Informed Opinions. 

If you think back on leaders who inspired you in your career or leadership style, who were they and why were they inspiring?

Gloria Steinem's tenacious focus, clear communication, and adept use of stories and humour to engage people to identify with and get behind issues and solutions continues to inspire me.

Nelson Mandela was a brilliant communication strategist. Reading his autobiography, ‘Long Walk to Freedom’, I remember thinking that someone should take the communication insights reflected in it and write a book exclusively about them. He was so deeply committed to his cause that he was willing to sacrifice his life and freedom.  And he had a vision and patience for the long game, something I am still trying to master. 

The third person is my husband, David Mitchell. He has a unique ability to move past setbacks and seize opportunities.

Early in our friendship, on the day that I received a rejection letter from Simon Fraser University for the competitive master’s program I had applied to, David was appropriately sympathetic. But later that day when I was still depressed about the rejection letter, he said, “Shari, that was 5 hours ago!”

We’ve been together for almost 30 years now. I admire and have learned from his ability to “move on”. When he experiences something that's negative or a setback, he acknowledges and deals with it, and then he moves on. He does not let it stop him. He does not engage in self-recrimination or fall into a trap of questioning himself. 

As a life and career strategy, it's really helpful. Sometimes, we just need to get out of our own way and not ruminate on past events that we can't change.

He also models seizing opportunities.  Many years ago, we were approached by a reporter on the street asking us to comment on the passing of the pope, which had just happened. I declined.  But David, who hadn’t been to church in 40 years, was happy to weigh in. He said, “It’s a sad day for Catholics everywhere”. As we walked away, I observed how great it would be if the next pope introduced a new policy on birth control that would help prevent millions of poor Catholic women around the world from being trapped in an endless cycle of child-bearing and child-rearing. He replied, “That would be great. Too bad you declined the interview.”  That was not only a great lesson for me, but when I share the story, it’s a reminder to every woman in the room of what’s missing when our perspectives aren’t shared.

What motivates you every day?

What motivates me is the opportunity to interact with, support, and learn from the incredibly smart and accomplished women who attend our workshops, who feel inspired and motivated by the keynotes. The validation I see register in their faces when they embrace and act on the message: “your voice is important and needs to be heard”. 

We engage with thousands of really smart women across different sectors, disciplines and geographies; they’re now regularly agreeing to media interviews and writing op-eds. We monitor the presence of our database experts in the news media, so we can see evidence of the agency they’re expressing and the impact they're having. 

We regularly hear from our former workshop participants who say they were initially hesitant to accept an interview but did so anyway, leveraging our resources and tools to become more effective at sharing their insights in impactful ways. Journalists also share messages like, ‘I never would have found this person without the database’. These instances validate and reinforce the value and impact of our work.

What is the purpose and vision of Informed Opinions?

We amplify the voices of women and gender diverse people to ensure that their experiences and insights are central to shaping a more equitable, inclusive, and democratic Canada. 

When we started in 2009, women were only being featured or cited as sources 24% of the time. Our tagline was Informed Opinions ‘Amplifying Women's Voices’.  Today, although workshops and people of all genders, races, and identities can access our resources, our mandate remains to ensure the voices of women and gender diverse people are heard.

How has being clear on your purpose and vision benefited you as a leader?

Our clarity of purpose adds value to the universities, non-profits, law firms, and other corporations that we collaborate with and who value diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. They appreciate knowing that in addition to benefiting from our expertise in training and our proven programs, they are also contributing to a mission that holds significant importance in a broader context.

On the employee front, I believe my colleagues at Informed Opinions share the same level of satisfaction I feel in this work. I recently recounted a story about John F. Kennedy during his visit to NASA before the first Moon expedition. He reportedly asked a custodian at NASA about his job, to which the custodian replied, 'I'm here to put a man on the moon.' My close colleagues, Samantha and Mabel, express a similar sentiment: they understand themselves to be integral to our work amplifying women's voices to bring about systemic change.

What one piece of advice would you give other CEOs and leaders regarding leading with purpose?

Clarity of purpose simplifies decision-making because when you have a clearly articulated touchstone against which to measure dilemmas or decisions, the path forward becomes more evident. At Informed Opinions, we sometimes choose not to apply for funding that we're eligible for because the criteria would require us to deviate from our mandate and mission. Our decisions are steered by a central question: “Does this action align with what we're trying to achieve, and does it contribute to our goals?” If it doesn't, we don’t do it.

Also, if your purpose is really clear and you believe in the mission in a deep, meaningful way, then it's easier to ask others to support you, whether it's to join the board, hire your social enterprise, share resources or introduce you to others. It gives you more confidence to make the ‘ask’ because it's about the purpose and the mandate, not your ego or personal benefit. 

What one question would you like to ask other purpose-led CEOs?

Have there been circumstances in which departing from the alignment of your stated purpose was actually useful, and you were glad you did so?

This final question is from our last interview, which was with John Yip, CEO of SE Health.

His question is this: What is your advice on how do to scale “the purpose” message across the organization and stakeholders?

Be very clear about your purpose and have “why stories” that are memorable, so that others can share them across and beyond the organization.

I was speaking to a woman at a networking event. We had just met and when I mentioned my work amplifying the voices of women, she become very excited. She immediately connected my mission with a story she’d heard of a woman who declined to comment on the passing of the pope, and watched her husband do so, instead. She didn’t realize it was actually my story!

This is what you want – people sharing your “why” stories that highlight and engage others in your purpose.