An Athlete's Life, with Anouk Patty

The Sydcast

An Athlete's Life, with Anouk Patty

Episode Summary:

So many people are afraid of change, but sometimes we get to talk to someone whose life is a case study of change. When it was clear that Anouk Patty – an NCAA champion ski racer – would not be good enough to reach Olympic medal heights, she changed. Business school and a successful career in tech strategy and deal-making followed. When Anouk realized that she was not living her true self, this mother of two came out as gay, at age 40. When she was diagnosed with breast cancer, she became an even more empathetic and passionate leader. An honest and inspirational conversation with Anouk Patty, on The Sydcast.

Sydney Finkelstein

Syd Finkelstein is the Steven Roth Professor of Management at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College. He holds a Master’s degree from the London School of Economics and a Ph.D. from Columbia University. Professor Finkelstein has published 25 books and 90 articles, including the bestsellers Why Smart Executives Fail and Superbosses: How Exceptional Leaders Master the Flow of Talent, which LinkedIn Chairman Reid Hoffman calls the “leadership guide for the Networked Age.” He is also a Fellow of the Academy of Management, a consultant and speaker to leading companies around the world, and a top 25 on the Global Thinkers 50 list of top management gurus. Professor Finkelstein’s research and consulting work often relies on in-depth and personal interviews with hundreds of people, an experience that led him to create and host his own podcast, The Sydcast, to uncover and share the stories of all sorts of fascinating people in business, sports, entertainment, politics, academia, and everyday life.

Anouk Patty

Born into a skiing family in France and raised in Vermont, Anouk Patty was practically destined to make it onto the US Ski team at age 14. Yet after a few years as a global top-30 skier, Anouk was ready to leave behind the “single-minded focus that it takes to be a world-class athlete.” She went on to ski at Dartmouth, where she claimed an NCAA title, and then to JP Morgan in New York where she launched her professional career. After earning her MBA at Harvard Business School and doing a stint at Bain Consulting, Anouk jumped on the tech bandwagon at Intuit. She spent 10 years there before taking some time off to be a mom and (finally) have some time to reflect on her life and what she wanted. As a result, she got divorced, came out as gay, and decided to head back to work doing strategic partnerships at HP. Today, Anouk holds a similar role at Dropbox, sits on numerous ski-related boards, and is a recent survivor of breast cancer. She describes herself as “intensely curious about life, business, opportunities, and people.”

Insights from this Episode

• The age range ski racer's usually reach the peak of their careers
• The challenges of being an athlete
• The importance of the single-minded focus for an athlete
• The differences between an excellent athlete and a world champion
• The difficulties Anouk faced when she transitioned to the business world
• How Anouk ended up working on Wall Street
• The skillsets from the athletic world that have served Anouk the most in business
• Anouk's experience choosing an alternative career path
• How Anouk decided that she was going to retire temporarily to be a mom
• How being gay has affected Anouk as a leader
• How the workspace has changed in the past decades
• How Anouk dealt with being diagnosed with breast cancer
• What advice Anouk would give to her younger self

Quotes from the Show:

• "It's a pretty brutal sport. You're out there in the cold, it's freezing... whether its raining or cold or whatever it is you have to be out there and they're long days" - Anouk Patty [09:30]
• "I love hanging out with people that are trying to be the best in the world at something. There's only one number one at any point in time, so most people are not gonna hit that, but that doesn't mean you can't try it" - Sydney Finkelstein [20:11]
• "When I was actually trying to get the job and going through recruiting, I had a number of different firms say to me: Well you should just go back into sports" - Anouk Patty [23:30]
• "When you make these life-changing shifts you feel like: Oh God, what am I letting go, and what am I giving up? Will I ever be able to find this sense of reward and satisfaction again?" - Anouk Patty [32:28]
• "[About breast cancer] You just never think that something like this could happen because we [the athletes] spend so much of our time taking care of our bodies, eating the right food and exercising everyday"- Anouk Patty [44:30]
• "If you want to get the best out of others, you have to bring your best and truest self to the table" - Anouk Patty[48:42]

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Anouk Patty

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This episode was produced and managed by Podcast Laundry.