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This month, Goody’s co-founder and CEO Edward Lando announced that he’ll be moving into a new role as chairman of Goody’s board of directors. In his place, Katy Carrigan, one of Goody’s first employees and previously Goody’s Chief Revenue Officer, will become Goody’s new CEO.
We asked Katy how she feels about leading a high-growth company, her advice to other professionals pursuing startup careers, and what she’s excited about in the months ahead.
Congrats on the new role! How did you get tapped for this opportunity?
Thank you! I’m beyond excited and humbled to take on such an important role. First and foremost, I would say my passion and love for what we are building here made a big difference. I started working with Goody over a year ago in a consulting capacity, and I immediately saw the potential in what the team had put together, which made it a very easy choice for me to join the company full time.
When joining Goody, I always knew that Ed’s goal was to assemble a great team (we have a team full of rock stars), and then find an operator and manager to take over. In the last year, Ed has given me the space to step up, take on more responsibility, and prove that this individual could be me. At first, I was a bit uncomfortable with the idea, but the more I thought about it, I knew I could take on this challenge. Ed and our board recognized that as well.
My passion and hustle for the company over the past year opened the door for me to step up as CEO. I’m excited to continue to work with Ed, the other co-founders, and our investors as I lead Goody into its next chapter.
What are you most excited about in the months ahead?
So many things! I can feel the team’s energy and eagerness to win. We recently shipped alcohol gifts, which I think is a really underrated feature. (Where else can you send a bottle of champagne, and the recipient can swap it for mezcal – or cookies?) We’ve also just added gift cards, plus Custom Stores that allow businesses to set up their own digital swag closets. And have so many more great enhancements planned. In particular, I am excited about supporting international gifting, multi-item gifting, and enhancing the recipient experience.
How would you describe Goody’s mission as a company?
We’re enabling meaningful human connection at scale. Yes, with Goody you can get a cool gift, but more than that, we’re making it easier for people to show their emotional connection to one another. There are a lot of tools and platforms for digital connection, but very few that create these positive feelings of appreciation and gratitude. There is so much joy in sending gifts, but people often avoid it due to all the logistics around it. We’ve taken away those barriers.
Honestly, this is what gets me so excited about Goody. People tell us all the time how Goody helped them cheer up a co-worker who was having a bad day or connect with a friend they haven’t seen in a while. I want to help facilitate millions of these interactions daily. People want to show they care, but sometimes life makes that hard. Goody can help change that.
Goody is a fully distributed team. As a CEO, how do you think about building a company culture and working effectively when everyone is remote?
I think a lot about this one. As a completely remote company (we have no office), we’ve had the opportunity to hire some of the best talent, not only throughout the US, but around the world. However, without proper attention this setup can leave employees feeling disconnected and disengaged. We work to combat this through finding creative ways to connect with each other, like fun Slack channels – my personal favorite is the #skincare. And of course, we ourselves use Goody for celebrating employees’ milestones and giving kudos. Then we also have company offsites, like the one we had this past March in Miami, which help immensely in terms of building relationships and staying energized.
On working effectively while remote, communication and expectations are key – though I would say this is true for remote or in person! As a leader, it is important that everyone understands the shared goals we are working towards and their respective responsibilities for helping us get there. Goal or OKR setting is one of my favorite ways to keep track of the team’s projects and ensure that everyone is working in tandem.
Do you have any words of advice for young professionals, especially young women, interested in leadership roles in tech?
A few! I know everyone says it, but it really is true that it’s your support network that elevates you. Fill your corner with strong mentors, peers who will challenge you, and curious newcomers.
You’ll be able to build that meaningful network if you’re consistently advocating for yourself – and others. Even before entering the workforce, I had big ambitions career-wise and would always make sure my managers (and their managers) knew about them. By clearly articulating where I wanted to be, it helped my managers get me there faster. Together, we would make growth plans with concrete milestones that showcased success. This way, when opportunities for leadership arrived, my name would come up naturally. People knew I was eager to advance and willing to put in the work.
It’s been a turbulent year for tech startups. Has that changed how you think about Goody’s business strategy?
The last few months have definitely been a reckoning for a lot of tech companies. You’ve seen the growth-at-all-costs mentality give way to more of a focus on profitability and sustainable business models, especially in the VC community. Fortunately – and I think this is really thanks to Ed’s vision as well as our board’s guidance – Goody has always been focused on building a lean, versatile, highly leveraged team. That’s part of our DNA. Which means we don’t have to do the same course correction that a lot of other firms have had to do. So I’m confident that we’ve built an adaptive, world-class team that can rise to any challenges that come our way.
What are your go-to Goody gifts?
Such a hard question. Goody has truly become a brand discovery platform for me. Our Partnerships and Merchandising teams do such an excellent job with curation across all price points. If I had to pick a few of my favorites, you’ll always find me sending…
- Apotheke Reed Diffuser: Select the charcoal scent, you’ll thank me later
- Hu Chocolate: My absolute favorite chocolate. I reached out to the co-founder letting them know I needed them on Goody just so I can gift them to everyone
- Parker Clay: A mission-driven company that makes beautiful leather goods
- The Agave Collection: You can never go wrong with a mezcal margarita
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