How I Hire
Talent is critical to every successful company, but hiring at the executive level comes with many challenges and variables.
Roy Notowitz and his team at Noto Group have spent the last decade helping build iconic consumer brands, one hire at a time. Now, Roy is sitting down with some of the world’s most inspiring leaders to dig into the complexities of assembling exceptional teams.
Whether you’re interested in hiring strategy, leadership assessment, or industry trends, you’ll want to tune into How I Hire for the best executive recruiting advice and insights.
All Episodes
Stephanie Roberts, CFO (Old Navy, Specialized, Rothy’s) on Building a Career Without Losing What Matters
Stephanie Roberts is an experienced financial executive and partner at FLG Partners, where she provides CEO and CFO consultation and coaching. She is the former CFO of major brands like Old Navy, Rothy’s, goop, Specialized, and ThirdLove. Her extensive background as an executive leader across the e-commerce, retail, and consumer sectors informs her unique leadership style, as well as the deep operating knowledge that she brings to her work at FLG. Stephanie and Roy dig into the ways in which her work ethic and values were shaped by her childhood, the challenges of contending with work pressure and burnout, the importance of building long-term relationships with direct reports, the true value of time, and much more. Highlights from our conversation include: - How Stephanie’s upbringing shaped her career (1:54) - The three segments of Stephanie’s career (6:31) - How her life experience informed her empathetic leadership style (9:31) - Believing she had to outwork everyone and how that affected her (11:11) - How being “full light, no dimmer” ended up being unsustainable for Stephanie (13:50) - What she would tell the younger, over-worked version of herself (16:45) - What the term ‘time affluence’ means to Stephanie (17:33) - Her consultation and coaching work with FLG Partners (19:34) - The point in her career when she felt her leadership style had fully evolved (21:56) - Stephanie’s leadership philosophy (26:12) - Things she might change about the past if she could go back in time (28:39) - What Stephanie’s most excited about looking ahead to the future (29:43)Inside the Modern CRO Role with Carve Designs’ Megan Porteous
Megan Porteous is the Chief Revenue Officer at Carve Designs, a beach lifestyle brand creating surf-inspired apparel for women. Megan traces her career back to D1 volleyball, which led her to work at Oakley as Global Sports Marketing Manager and continues to inform her leadership approach today. After 6 years at Oakley, Megan followed her curiosity and passion to new opportunities at Amer Sports and Reef, where she cultivated deep experience in brand and digital leadership, leading growth and implementing strategy across e-commerce, wholesale, and marketplace channels. Megan and Roy get into her leadership and hiring playbook, the current opportunities and challenges facing CROs today, and more. Highlights from our conversation include: - How Megan’s background as a college athlete informed her early career experiences (2:05) - Why Megan left her dream job at Oakley (4:00) - The evolution of her leadership playbook (6:10) - How she approaches stretch projects with her team (8:42) - What Megan looks for in a leader (10:24) - Cultivating healthy team culture (12:45) - Making the most of her team’s in-person time together (13:50) - How the CRO role differs from past roles (16:00) - What her team structure looks like at Carve (18:12) - How Megan stays up on opportunities and tools in the digital marketing, brand, and e-commerce space (22:16) - Balancing brand and performance marketing (24:06) - Megan’s advice for emerging leaders (28:46)Kate Williams on How Purpose Powers Performance at 1% for the Planet
Kate Williams is the CEO of 1% for the Planet, a global, philanthropic organization growing a network of businesses committed to donating at least 1% of their annual revenue to verified environmental initiatives. At the helm of 1% for the Planet, Kate leads an international campaign to help companies move beyond good intentions into credible, accountable action. To date, 1% for the Planet’s network has allocated nearly $1 billion to vetted environmental solutions. Through her work and speaking engagements, Kate inspires action and innovation amongst other purpose-driven leaders seeking to make an impact. Kate sits down with Roy to discuss fostering and maintaining a high performance culture, balancing community and autonomy within her team, the importance of learning agility in prospective talent, and much more. Highlights from our conversation include: - Early experiences that made Kate the leader she is today (2:08) - The scope and scale of 1% for the Planet’s impact and mission (7:54) - The unique perspective Kate has at the center of a global movement (10:47) - What effective, purpose-driven leadership looks like in 2026 and beyond (12:26) - Engaging and supporting talent through a critical mission (14:29) - Creating the culture of 1% for the Planet (17:19) - What work and life looks like at 1% and how that impacts performance (20:05) - What Kate looks for in prospective talent (26:01) - Lessons from hiring successes and failures (28:38) - Kate’s advice for rising leaders (32:13) Visit HowIHire.com for transcripts and more on this episode. Follow Roy Notowitz and Noto Group Executive Search on LinkedIn for updates and featured career opportunities.Transformation, Growth, and Innovation with Helayna Minsk (Johnson & Johnson, Walgreens, Unilever)
Helayna Minsk is an experienced executive leader who has led major organizational transformation for brands like Unilever, Walgreens, and Johnson & Johnson. Helayna’s work encompasses general management, P&L leadership, portfolio evolution, and revitalization campaigns, both domestically and internationally. Her approach to brand stewardship and cross-functional collaboration has led to an extensive track record of profit expansion, scalable growth, and strategic implementation for some of the largest CPG companies in the world. Helayna joins Roy to discuss leadership lessons learned during periods of immense change, how communication is the cornerstone of high-performance teams, the upside of ambition, and much more. Highlights from our conversation include: - Core values that have become part of Helayna’s leadership playbook (3:07) - Mentors and learning opportunities that helped shape her leadership philosophy (5:16) - How Helayna’s leadership developed and evolved as she took on different roles (7:44) - The role talent plays in driving growth and impact (10:17) - Tips for navigating changing market dynamics and consumer behavior (14:10) - How Helayna developed an aptitude for hiring top performers and building high performance teams (16:05) - Comparing the approach to talent and hiring at different brands (18:25) - What Helayna looks for when she’s hiring for her own leadership teams (20:09) - How she approached leading a turnaround for J&J in China (22:17) - Cultural differences when working in China that adapted her thinking -(25:27) - Advice Helayna has for people early in their careers (28:33) - What’s next for Helayna (30:29)