Welcome to Doohan Group and the first blog of my post-Xperi career.
Leaving Xperi four months ago after seven successful years as Chief Marketing Officer was difficult. I loved my role and the company simply crushed it during my tenure. Xperi grew from 200 to 2500+ employees and the marketing team grew from 9 to 40+ talented team members from 2014 to 2021. Xperi's revenue grew 2.5x and the company's market cap doubled while I was CMO. I would gladly have served for another seven years and more but that option wasn't available beyond March 2021 when the CRO let me know he decided to move forward without a CMO.
Avoiding fear and resentment Is an essential part of the way I live today so I didn't allow feelings of disappointment to stick around for long. I embraced acceptance and gratitude as a primary response to the change. I purposefully put myself "on pause" for a bit to consider next steps and take a well-earned break.
I'm happy to share here that after four months on pause. I'm ready to press resume. I am super excited about the opportunities ahead and I am proud of the progress I've made since mid-March. What did I do? See below.
Highlights of April-July 2021
Spent time with my family - pool time, farm visits, low & slow BBQ for Sunday dinners, long walks with my daughter, tye-dyeing, a Red Sox game and countless other fun activities that created priceless memories.
Reconnected with friends - So many calls with friends. Reconnecting and sharing stories feels like a time machine. I'm fortunate to have a large network of kind, generous and smart friends. It's awesome to see their success and to be reminded through their stories that most successful career paths don't go as planned.
Hired executive coaches - I'll write a follow up blog post on my experience of working with coaches so far. Bottom line: It has been significant personal and professional growth accelerator for me. Highly recommended.
Got smarter - I completed the Section4 Platform Strategy sprint, earned a University of Colorado DE&I Certificate, and earned two fundamental certifications offered by The Trade Desk Edge Academy. I also finished three books! Maybe I should add book reviews here. hmm....
Established Doohan Group LLC - I established Doohan Group as a vehicle for taking on select projects while I consider CMO gigs. I have three criteria for projects: 1) must be fun 2) must be an opportunity for me to learn something new 3) must be focused on a challenge that I'm uniquely able to solve
Prioritized what's important in my next gig - I am more knowledgable than ever about what I Is important to me in a CMO role and about the unique value I can offer to an executive team and company. Working with my coach, I developed a thorough, honest perspective on what's important and we used it to create a tool for objectively assessing opportunities.
I'm beginning to explore CMO opportunities. I've started to monitor job postings and I am connecting with recruiters who specialize in marketing executive searches. I am also reaching out to select companies where I believe my vision and leadership can make a big impact.. It's already SO much fun and I'm just getting started!