Good morning! Levi Strauss CEO Michelle Gass shares how a Beyoncé song led to an ad campaign, the FTC with chair Lina Khan makes memberships easier to cancel, and GM’s Mary Barra discusses the past and future of the automaker. Have a terrific Thursday!
– Barra none. In her decade at the helm of General Motors, Mary Barra has been tasked with modernizing a century-plus-old automobile company while righting the ship after a bankruptcy and ignition switch scandal threatened the historic carmaker’s future.
It’s not an easy role, and one in which Barra has experienced myriad successes and setbacks. She was interviewed remotely Wednesday by editor-in-chief Alyson Shontell at Fortune’s Most Powerful Women Summit in Laguna Niguel, Calif.
Barra is No. 1 on Fortune’s Most Power Women ranking this year, a spot she’s held three other times since becoming the first female CEO of a global automaker. Her decade-long tenure is more than double the average for female Fortune 500 CEOs, and almost three years longer than the average male CEO’s tenure. She said part of that longevity is having a team around her that all has the same mission—and changing the company culture to reflect the shared values of employees.
“It’s easy to live your values and have a corporate mission statement when everything’s going well, but when you’re really challenged, that’s when people really take notice,” Barra said, noting doing so allowed the company to rally when the ignition scandal was unfolding. “We also said, look, we’re going to do everything in our power to help our customers through this period. We’re going to be transparent, and then we’re going to do everything possible to make sure something like this never happens again.”
GM has come a long way since Barra became CEO. In fact, last year the company brought in $171.8 billion, its best performance in 17 years. That’s the long-term outcome of structural changes Barra started instituting from the beginning of her tenure.
It’s also the result of listening to customers and giving them more of what they want. And as Barra and GM look to the future, that includes doubling down on affordable electric vehicles.
“We’ve got to continue to have affordable vehicles that people want to own and drive that are beautifully designed, and the charging infrastructure needs to continue to improve,” she said. “We’re going to be flexible based on where the customer is and really be driven by the customer.”
Asked for advice for other leaders, Barra said it comes down to doing the right thing and investing in the right people.
“The other thing I always say to people is, when’s the best time to solve a problem? And they kind of look at me perplexed,” she says. “It’s the minute you know you have one, because problems rarely get smaller.”
MPW 2024 is over, but you can find more of our coverage from the week here. And Emma will be back tomorrow with more reflections from the conference.
Alicia Adamczyk
alicia.adamczyk@fortune.com
The Most Powerful Women Daily newsletter is Fortune’s daily briefing for and about the women leading the business world. Today’s edition was curated by Nina Ajemian. Subscribe here.
ALSO IN THE HEADLINES
- I'll let you be my Levi’s jeans. “It’s sort of like a dream come true to have Beyoncé name a song after your brand,” Levi Strauss CEO Michelle Gass told the MPW Summit. Gass discussed how the company capitalized on the moment, launching a campaign starring the singer. Fortune
- Retail redirection. Also at MPW, Valvoline CEO Lori Flees described the company’s decision to focus on retail services and sell its product business, effectively changing the operations of the 150-year-old automotive services company. Flees made sure to celebrate departing workers “[b]ecause they were a part of the journey to getting the company to where it was.” Fortune
- Cancel that. The FTC, with chair Lina Khan, implemented its “click to cancel” rule that will make memberships easier to cancel, as businesses are required to make cancellations as easy as sign-ups. Now, businesses cannot require customers to use a different method to cancel than the one they used to sign up for its services. The Verge
- What does the fox say? Donald Trump attended a town hall hosted by Fox News with only women in the audience. He referred to himself as the “father of IVF” and called some states' abortion restrictions “too tough.” Also, Vice President Kamala Harris gave her first interview on Fox News yesterday, telling viewers: “My presidency will not be a continuation of Joe Biden’s presidency.” The interview mainly focused on immigration and border security. New York Times
MOVERS AND SHAKERS
Invest in Others Charitable Foundation, a nonprofit that helps the financial services community support charitable causes, named Nicole Morgan chief development officer. Most recently, she was chief development officer at the Columbia Museum of Art.
FIS, a financial technology solutions provider, appointed Nicole Anasenes to its board of directors. She was previously SVP and CFO at ANSYS.
Huddle Up, a mental health support provider for students, appointed Tyra Mariani to its board of directors. She is the founder and principal of UP Advisors.
NYBC Ventures, a blood and cellular technologies-focused investment fund, appointed Jung Choi and Cristina Csimma to its board of managers. Choi is currently entrepreneur-in-residence at Third Rock Ventures and director of Annexon Biosciences and Marea Therapeutics. Csimma is a director of Syncona and chair of Sardona Therapeutics.
ON MY RADAR
Afghan women have been brought back in time The Atlantic
How Elsa Peretti transformed Tiffany & Co. in her own fabulous image W Magazine
A 20-year-old founder’s color-changing lip oil is blowing up TikTok Fortune
PARTING WORDS
“It’s women’s time...The wake of women, when you invest in women, is way more powerful than just that individual.”
— Fannie Mae CEO and president Priscilla Almodovar on there being more single women homeowners than men
