Debra Bass, Global CMO and US President of Nuvo is not only an authority on village movements, she’s led and been supported by villages of all kinds in her unconventional career. Growing her marketing expertise through AT&T, Procter & Gamble, Bristol Myers Squibb, Panasonic, followed by 15 years at Johnson & Johnson, Debra is now making another unconventional move to lead Nuvo, a radical new technology company focused on reinventing pregnancy care for the 21st Century, where it is all about the village – the parents, the unborn child, the vast array of partners in the ecosystem and more.
As conventional as the brands she worked for earlier sound, Debra has always taken on unique roles to further round out her experience. In her last role as President of Global Marketing Services at J&J, her job was to reimagine and redesign the entire internal and external marketing services platform across the globe and create systemic change to up-skill every marketer in the organization as well as a new roadmap for agency partners.
With risk comes great reward and as Debra says “if it’s to be, it’s up to me.” But Debra is also quick to acknowledge her #1 key to success being the community around her. Her mentors, advocates, sponsors and supporters. In particular, having her leadership tested in male-dominated industries, Debra has been a huge proponent, giver and receiver of women supporting women. She was very active in the Women’s Leadership Initiative (WLI) at J&J and ultimately joined the global steering committee to help women around the world. In addition, she is still very involved in the Healthcare Women’s Business Association (HBA), which helped her connect with other women as both a mentor and mentee outside of her organization.
“It’s not only important network internally, but also externally.”
On top of all the incredible career tips Debra shares through this podcast, she also shares some fun personal learnings from her global travels. Tune in to find out more about why you shouldn’t hug people you don’t know and how her career continues to be a journey, not a destination.
