CEO out of the blue: the surprise that changed everything
“I had been working in the family business for some time when my mother, who was CEO, decided to surprise me at the general shareholders’ meeting. Without telling me, she announced: ‘The new CEO is Sofia.’” Sofia Bordone smiles as she tells the story of how she took the reins of Editoriale Domus firmly in hand. This historic Italian media company was founded in Milan in 1929 by her grandfather, Gianni Mazzocchi, and owns iconic brands such as Quattroruote, Domus, Meridiani, and Il Cucchiaio d’Argento.
Bordone, who graduated in Business Administration from Bocconi University after studying at the German School in Milan, explains that she grew up “breathing” the company. She says: “I lost my father when I was very young and I always saw my mother working. I knew that our family published magazines. In fact, I used to tell my friends at school ‘my mom is a publisher,’ but I didn’t understand what it really meant until I started to do my part in the company.” But as she explains, that wasn’t a foregone conclusion or an obligation. “I have a sister who chose to do something completely different: competitive horse riding. [Editor’s note: She’s Olympic equestrian athlete Susanna Bordone.] My mother never forced us, she always said that the business could be ours if we wanted it, but that we were free to choose another path.”
Bordone, on the other hand, was fascinated by the family business and returned to Italy after her studies and work experience at the Spanish publishing house Motor Press Iberica, where she was in charge of operational marketing and management control. In 2002, she joined Editoriale Domus in the advertising department. “It wasn’t easy, and I remember there were even times when I would get into serious debates with some managers, but it was a useful way to learn the ropes, and it gave me the grit to I needed to do even better.” So, Bordone went back to school to shore up her knowledge of finance with the help of Professor Guido Corbetta at Bocconi, an expert in generational change. Following his advice, she rejoined the company in 2005 and found her place as publisher, tasked with a number of titles. Among these, she was sole brand director of the famous Italian cook book Cucchiaio d’Argento before being appointed group CEO in 2015.
On her leadership, she says: “I try to be authentic. When I think of my leadership style, I would call it inclusive: I listen a lot and I trust to the people I work with.” As for her views on being a woman in the publishing world, she explains: “Our company is unique because all our employees and suppliers were used to dealing with a woman at the top. In this case I was lucky, my mother was the trailblazer. If anything, the challenge for me now is to bring innovation to a company with a 90-year history and to revolutionize the business model.” For Bordone, this means expanding abroad, both with digital media and print media, but above all with digital services for the professional world, taking on a B2B perspective. This can be seen in the extraordinary development of the Professional System for the automotive industry, encompassing cars and motorcycles.
Her advice to young women is to approach the world of work with great perseverance and humility: “The most important thing is to be yourself. Act, dress, and think like a woman, because that is who you are and that is one of the positive qualities you bring to a company.”
