Know Who You Are and the Value You Offer: Interview with Fara Howard, Chief Marketing Officer of GoDaddy

Several years ago, I interviewed Fara Howard, Chief Marketing Officer of GoDaddy, in an interview originally published in Thrive Global. Here is an excerpt from our interview:

Adam: Thanks again for taking the time to share your story and your advice. First things first, though, I am sure readers would love to learn more about you. What is something about you that would surprise people?

Fara: Career-wise, I think people would be surprised at the breadth of industries I’ve worked in – from sports and computers to fashion, and now for a software company focused on providing everything from domains to websites to commerce solutions – helping everyday entrepreneurs propel their businesses. 

Outside of work, people may be surprised to know that I have three young, very active sons who are nearly 10, 11, and 12. My boys keep me and my husband extremely busy. Fortunately, we are all obsessed with sports because much of our life outside of work these days is about being at someone’s basketball, lacrosse, or baseball game.

Oh, and one other surprising fact: I love to cook and am determined to teach my children where food comes from so they appreciate the growing, the making, and the eating. We have 8 chickens and try (often unsuccessfully) to grow our favorite fruits and vegetables. 

Adam: How did you get here? What failures, setbacks, or challenges have been most instrumental to your growth?

Fara: Early in my career a mentor of mine taught me to always raise my hand for every opportunity, even if I didn’t yet have the experience. It was through challenging myself that I was able to learn on the job and build new skill sets. During those times of discomfort in which I lacked the experience, I grew the most, both personally and professionally.

I’ve had a few significant challenges in my career. Early in my career, I was asked to help Dell stand up their in-house digital agency. I lacked the experience, but I had the drive and passion. The role was extremely challenging in the beginning, but it ended up being the most gratifying team-building experience I’ve had in my career.

In terms of setbacks and learnings, there have been a few instances in my career in which the culture wasn’t a good fit for me. In those settings, I learned how important the people I work with are to my personal job satisfaction. I had to make hard shifts—hard in the sense that I stepped away from a brand that I loved or a team that I was passionate about growing. Those shifts were important because they helped me identify what really mattered, and it is the people. In learning those lessons, I became acutely aware of the importance of culture and sought out opportunities accordingly.

Adam: What is your best advice for those working at big organizations on how to best climb the corporate ladder? 

First, raise your hand early and often for opportunities. Second, exercise curiosity. In the marketing world, things are changing so quickly that keeping up means asking questions and constantly seeking information. Lastly, remember the importance of teams and relationships. Work happens together, not independently, particularly as your career builds. Being driven, bright, and curious is a prerequisite to success, but I would contest that being the type of person that others want to work with—which is what I often call the ‘likeability’ factor—will also help set you apart.

Adam: What is your best advice for entrepreneurs and those working at small businesses on how to cultivate relationships and sell to large companies?

Fara: Know who you are and the value you offer. Be clear and concise in articulating what sets you apart. That consistency is your brand, and it will enable you to attract and retain customers. 

Adam: What are three things everyone should understand about marketing?

Fara: Telling a great story requires empathy, a lot of listening, and an earnest focus on your customers’ needs. Experimentation can have a massive impact on your company’s business performance. Measure, measure, measure – if you’re not measuring your results how can you deliver bigger and better results? And again, marketing happens in teams so know how to engage others in your organization to ensure you can bring your ideas to market in ways that are meaningful and enduring.

Adam: What are three things people who work in marketing should understand?

Fara: First, being a marketer requires collaboration. A huge part of my role is to work with partners across the company to understand our customers and our products. Then, my team and I work to externally express our values and products through our marketing. For GoDaddy, we’re always striking a balance between putting our customers in the center of our marketing and conveying new products and services to serve our growing audience with the goal of empowering entrepreneurs everywhere.

Second, the more context creative teams have, the higher the probability that they’ll deliver meaningful messaging, creative, and experiences. I’m a huge proponent of bringing creative teams close to the business challenges. I’m also an advocate of having creative talent in-house to ensure teams have the requisite depth needed to make great work—whether it’s done in-house in full or augmented by agency partners.

Lastly, the importance of establishing clear hypotheses and using data and analytics to solve problems will ensure you are able to iterate in ways in which you use science to support the art of marketing.

Adam: What is the most important attribute of an effective CMO?

Fara: A CMO must balance creativity and analytical thinking and be an exceptional listener -– the most impactful communication is built with empathy!

Adam: In your experience, what are the defining qualities of an effective leader? How can leaders and aspiring leaders take their leadership skills to the next level?

Fara: CMOs cannot be successful in our digital world without a strong foundation in analytics and experimentation. One piece of advice is to understand the importance of establishing clear hypotheses and using data and analytics to solve problems. There are countless examples in my career in which analytical rigor propelled our team and business forward, from building robust tools for marketing measurement to creative testing.

Adam: What are your three best tips applicable to entrepreneurs, executives, and civic leaders?

Fara: For entrepreneurs, remember that getting started takes courage; and to that point, seek guidance in areas where you need support (that’s where GoDaddy can help!).

For executives, always make time to listen to your customer. There are countless examples in which companies prioritize their needs over their customers’ and the results never deliver in the long term.

To civic leaders, don’t be shy to tap into the economic powerhouse that is your local microbusiness community – those with 10 employees or fewer. We’ve closely researched the economic impact of the 20 million microbusinesses GoDaddy supports in the US, and the data unequivocally shows that these very small but very mighty businesses raise median incomes above the national average, mitigate the fallout from economic downturns such as COVID-19, and lead to the creation of more jobs. These microbusinesses generally operate outside the typical data collection of government, so for policymakers, they have been very hard to see and support…. until now. Check out Venture Foward to understand more (and quantify the size!) of the microbusinesses in your community and the level of impact they are having.

Adam: What is the single best piece of advice you have ever received?

Fara: Put yourself in the customer’s shoes (aka, adopt a customer, observe your customers, talk to your customers, and consume loads of research).

I started my marketing career decades ago at Gatorade. Working in consumer-packaged goods taught me the value of always starting with the customer and getting out in the field (literally) with them to see how they engage with your product. The customer-centricity that I learned early in my career provided an invaluable foundation for how I solve marketing problems.

Adam: What can anyone do to pay it forward?

Fara: It sounds obvious, but to pay it forward, you must invest in the next generation of marketers. This means mentoring future leaders inside and outside of your organization as well as hiring burgeoning marketers early in their career. The mentoring process is extremely gratifying, and I find that the people I mentor often teach me a great deal as well. For example, I guarantee that a recent college graduate I’m helping in their career has a better perspective on what makes a brand relevant on TikTok than I do. By paying your experience forward, remember that you will continue to learn and grow as a leader yourself.

Adam: What are your hobbies and how have they shaped you? 

Fara: My hobbies are largely grounded in sport. Sports taught me that life happens in teams. Sports taught me that having a plan (aka, your strategy!) matters. Sports taught me to communicate on what you need and what challenges you’re seeing—in real-time. To that point, sports taught me to stay aware and to pivot. Sport taught me drive and the benefit that comes with hard work.

Adam: Is there anything else you would like to share?

Fara: GoDaddy is a customer-first organization, and we will continue to be one moving forward. We feature our customers, their business, and their websites in our campaigns. In doing so, we not only promote GoDaddy, but we promote their business too. Sharing stories of the resilience and innovation that kept our customers’ doors open will be an inspiration to the next generation of small business owners. As we continue to bring together the community of like-minded entrepreneurs, we will drive forward an economy that thrives on the success of independent, small businesses. Our internal content team, GoDaddy Studios, will continue to think beyond concept, development, and production norms to create content that’s truly meaningful and reflects how the company is listening to small business and directly incorporating their needs and aspirations into each campaign.


Adam Mendler is an entrepreneur, writer, speaker, educator, and nationally recognized authority on leadership. Adam is the creator and host of the business and leadership podcast Thirty Minute Mentors, where he goes one-on-one with America's most successful people - Fortune 500 CEOs, founders of household name companies, Hall of Fame and Olympic gold medal-winning athletes, political and military leaders - for intimate half-hour conversations each week. A top leadership speaker, Adam draws upon his insights building and leading businesses and interviewing hundreds of America's top leaders as a top keynote speaker to businesses, universities, and non-profit organizations. Adam has written extensively on leadership and related topics, having authored over 70 articles published in major media outlets including Forbes, Inc. and HuffPost, and has conducted more than 500 one on one interviews with America’s top leaders through his collective media projects. Adam teaches graduate-level courses on leadership at UCLA and is an advisor to numerous companies and leaders. A Los Angeles native, Adam is a lifelong Angels fan and an avid backgammon player.

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