An Interview with Shaz Kahng

“You can succeed with smarts, scruples, and style.”

Research scientist, business leader, mother and now author, Shaz Kahng has led an extraordinary, challenging and fulfilling life. In preparation for the release of her first book The Closer, Shaz took the time to reflect on how she got here…

What’s the correct way to pronounce your name?

Shaz has a short “a” and rhymes with “jazz.” My last name Kahng is pronounced as 'Kong' (like in “King Kong”).

What made you want to write this story?

Frustration. In nearly every fiction book I’ve read where there was a female leader or a successful woman they were always portrayed as evil, or cunning, or deceitful. Or they were allowed to be good at their jobs but were required to be neurotic or desperate for a man. I personally know so many smart, successful, honorable women leaders and I wanted to write this book for them. It was important to me to create a positive female role model and I believe you can have a character that is accomplished and has integrity who is still a fascinating person to learn about.

You’ve worked in a number of male dominated industries as a scientist, strategy consultant, ebusiness builder, brand builder, and executive. What enabled you to succeed in each field?

I ignored naysayers. When people told me “It can’t be done” or “You can’t accomplish this” it would only strengthen my resolve. I’m a pretty stubborn person and I like proving people wrong. There’s nothing more satisfying than taking a disaster of a situation and turning it around much to the surprise of others.

At Nike you were in charge of the global cycling business and were the first woman in that role. What was it like taking that leadership position?

It was interesting and challenging. The business had been run for seven years by a former professional track cyclist, but had never made a cent. The team was mostly male and certainly not welcoming of a female leader. I had to do a number of creative things to get the team on board, transform the business, and get results. In my first full team meeting I knew I had to get the team to recognize the many problems with the business, so I took them through some exercises that made them rethink how they were approaching things and to open their thinking to new ideas. Ultimately, we grew revenues 300% and got the business profitable in a year.

You inherited a troubled business when you ran Lucy Activewear, yet you and your team turned it around and made it profitable for the first time in history. How did you accomplish that?

It was not easy. I was the third CEO/President in three years and the business was struggling- bleeding cash, dealing with product problems, experiencing poor performance at retail, and having so many other issues. We also had to physically move the company to the Bay Area, hire a completely new team, change all our business processes, move onto new IT systems, and change our factory sourcing base- all in the first quarter of my leadership. My team and I worked hard to completely overhaul the business and set it on a new path and we actually got the company profitable within thirteen months, which was one-third of the time expected by the corporate parent. Also, my husband and I had twin girls and I took only a two-week maternity leave, which I definitely do not recommend to other new moms.

As a woman leader what are some of the pitfalls you need to watch out for when taking a new and visible role?

For some reason when people, especially some men, encounter a new female leader they don’t expect certain things from her that are key to being a great leader. They don’t expect her to come with a bold vision for the business. They don’t expect her to be strong and determined. They don’t expect her to be decisive. They don’t expect her to hold people accountable. They don’t expect her to be tough when necessary.

The upside is that people are very often surprised when they encounter a female leader who actually does bring these characteristics- it may throw them off a bit at first, but when they start to see the results she’s getting they tend to get on board pretty quickly.