Chief Marketing Officer, Netflix
Search every verified Marian Lee interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. Marian Lee, Chief Marketing Officer at Netflix, appeared on a podcast in September 2023 where she discussed her personal and professional philosophy, as well as her past experiences. She stated that she is "selfish" and advised listeners to "be selfish in your life in your career," arguing that people should "think about yourself all of the time" and "put your mask on first before you help anybody else." Lee said she does not want to be "on my deathbed being unsatisfied with the life that I lived" and described herself as "at the center of my life," adding that "no one is above me in my life no one not even my kid." Lee also discussed her personal history, including the loss of a baby and the subsequent fracturing of her marriage, as well as her former husband's later cancer diagnosis. She said the couple "had to make a choice to have the conversations which were about forgiveness, anger and misunderstanding" and that they were "going to be together to the last heartbeat." Reflecting on her career, Lee described great marketers as "great storytellers" who "can make you believe anything," and said that the only way to succeed is "by listening to yourself, by following your intuition."
“I am selfish when you left Dubai quoted as saying you don't need to be the Savior I think when referencing the state of the company because it was going through a very tumultuous time, you can save yourself too yes and save yourself first that's what I should have said you know it's like it's all of the ways in which w...”
“Be selfish in your life in your career think about yourself all of the time. Oftentimes we're in these situations that aren't serving us and we're thinking about how the other person's going to feel but that means that I have to be selfish.”
“I do not want to be on my deathbed being unsatisfied with the life that I lived. I could go tomorrow and I would be so satisfied with this life because I've done the things I've wanted to do.”
“If there was a poster child it would be me no no it's not that I can't handle adversity I just put myself first. Are you selfish? Yes very much so but that is not a bad thing. I am at the center of my life no one is above me in my life no one not even my kid and she knows that and I try to instill the same in her no on...”
“I can see the forest I can see the whole thing and I can see like okay this needs to move there and it's helped me so much in my career for sure it's like the change maker.”
“The problem with Uber was that there was a huge campaign that was like delete Uber because of lack of diversity in the c-suite and they treat women horribly and they're not paying the drivers and it's unsafe. If I had just tried to go after one thing it would have been whack-a-mole. This is about trust. Do you trust th...”
“Great marketers are great storytellers. They can make you believe anything. Those are great marketers, the ones who make you believe that you put on a pair of Nikes and somehow you're now LeBron James.”
“The only way you're going to get to where you want is by listening to yourself, by following your intuition, by doing the things that you're really good at and leave the rest of that stuff that you're not good at that other people are trying to advise you leave that alone.”
“I lost my baby and my husband. It was the beginning of the big fractures in our relationship. We were no longer a team. A few years later he gets diagnosed with cancer after you've separated. We had to make a choice to have the conversations which were about forgiveness, anger and misunderstanding. Really did not matte...”
“Quitting is for losers? Oh gosh well look I get criticism of that all the time where people are just like oh well she can't handle adversity. I'm like me are you out of your mind? It's like if there was a poster child it would be me. No no it's not that I can't handle adversity I just put myself first.”
In this episode, Steven sits down with the former CMO of Netflix and former Chief Brand Officer of Uber, Bozoma Saint John. 00:00 ...
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