Biography

Susan Packard is a co-founder of Scripps Networks Interactive (NYSE: SNI) and the former Chief Operating Officer of HGTV. She was SNI’s second employee and helped build the company to a market value of over $15 billion.

SNI’s media portfolio includes popular lifestyle television brands HGTV, Food Network, DIY Network, Cooking Channel, country music network Great American Country (GAC) and the Travel Channel. Packard held a variety of senior positions during her tenure at SNI. In addition to being COO of HGTV, she created and served as president of Scripps Networks New Ventures, where she oversaw the development and launch of DIY Network, and online interactive platforms. She was also president of worldwide distribution for the Scripps cable brands.

She began her cable career at HBO, then moved to NBC and was part of the start-up team for CNBC. In 1994, she joined HGTV and became its Chief Operating. Under Packard’s helm, HGTV became one of the fastest-growing cable networks in Officer in 1995 television history. Today, HGTV is available in more than 99 million U.S. homes and distributed in 175 countries and territories.

She has been recognized by industry peers, colleagues, and employees as an innovator, role model, and mentor. She received the Woman of the Year award by Women in Cable & Telecommunications (WICT) and was profiled in Modern Visionaries, a book chronicling the contributions of women to the cable and telecommunications industry. Contemporary Economics, a high school textbook, profiled her as an entrepreneur in the field of media specialization. CableWorld magazine honored her among “The Most Influential Women in Cable” numerous times. In 2008, she was inducted into the Cable Hall of Fame.

Packard was the first woman elected to serve on the board of directors of Churchill Downs, Inc. (NASDAC: CHDN), the owner and manager of the Kentucky Derby and other horseracing properties. In that capacity, she served on the Audit, Strategic Planning, and CEO Succession committees.

She is active in national and local business and community affairs. She was named a College of Arts and Sciences Outstanding Alumni at Michigan State University. She is past vice chair of the board of an independent collegiate day school, and has been an advisor on job training programs for the homeless as board member of Lazarus Ventures LLC. In recognition of her outreach work, she received the E.W. Scripps William Burleigh Award for distinguished community service. She was admitted to The Committee of 200, a select group of senior women executives dedicated to inspiring future women leaders and charged with granting scholarships and doing outreach to young, aspiring business women.

She is an active speaker at global business forums and at universities such as UCLA, Fordham, Carnegie Mellon, and the Darden Business School at University of Virginia. She spoke at Stanford Business School as part of SBS Executive Breakfast Briefings.

In 2019 she was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Humanities from Michigan State University. In 2020 she was invited to join Harvard Business Review’s Advisory Board, and she was also named one of the top 40 women keynote speakers by RealLeaders.

Susan has been commissioned and is actively teaching a form of meditation called Centering Prayer, which she incorporates into her facilitation of leadership and mindfulness retreats. She is working on certification to also teach the Enneagram, a self-knowledge tool.

Her first book, New Rules of the Game, was written to help women navigate and lead in the workplace. In 2019, Penguin/Random House published Packard’s new book, Fully Human, Three Steps to Grow Your Emotional Fitness for Work, Leadership and Life. The book offers a fresh, new framework for growing one’s emotional intelligence.

She lives in Knoxville, Tennessee, with her husband and two female felines named Diva and Dart. They have a son, Andrew. 

 

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Advancement Through Gamesmanship

How do employees reach that next level in their career? Baseline talent gets everyone in the game. Then people begin to compete for advancement and factors such as likeability and trust influence who is promoted into senior roles. Susan Packard, co-founder of HGTV, lays out an approach to help your employees succeed called gamesmanship-a strategic way of thinking, as well as a language of business to help people advance. We are taught that ‘winning’ at work means collaboration and perfecting what we do. But these two drivers are not always the best way to move forward. Through a dynamic and down-to-earth approach, Packard lays out the rules of gamesmanship, based on her book, New Rules of the Game, and illustrates how employees can better compete for promotions and plum assignments by speaking an alternative language, as well as how they can handle the many stresses that come with being in the workplace.

Emotional Intelligence (EQ) for Today

Based on her book Fully Human: 3 Steps to Grow Your Emotional Fitness for Work, Leadership and Life, Susan Packard outlines why EQ is more important today than ever, and offers practices that help us to grow our EQ and leadership skills. She shares cautionary tales of workaholism, and how to avoid getting stuck in power and ego traps, and inspiring ways to build honest, morally courageous cultures. Moments of reflection can strengthen EQ skills, and she shares stories of business leaders, how they actively practice great EQ everyday, and how we can too. As a certified meditation instructor, if a group is interested, she can lead a meditation exercise too as part of this discussion.

Move Fast, Think Big: Building a Brand Leader

HGTV took a big idea – a cable television network devoted to all things home – into a marketplace dominated by media giants and emerged the leader. Now launched in more than 98 million homes, HGTV changed how we envision our homes and, in the process, established a new model for business innovation and success. Packard shares with audiences strategies for forging and promoting a brand while gaining customers who’ll remain loyal to it, and provides ideas for expanding into other channels and platforms to secure even greater market share while maintaining brand integrity.

The Leader Within: Growing Your Leadership Team

What do leaders need today to excel? Hear from HGTV’s co-founder, Susan Packard, as she shares leadership lessons from businesses she has helped to build, and from the leadership work she is doing today. She will discuss how vision, audacity, and relentless focus are some of the key factors that make great leaders today. She will also share some unusual insights and stories about diversity as a business practice today.

How Culture Impacts Employee Engagement: Timeless Lessons on Talent

Two of today’s toughest challenges are recruiting and retaining the best talent. Learn how a $7 billion business did it from the ground up, and how these lessons can apply to you. HGTV co-founder Susan Packard will cover critical areas such as team structure, having a sense of mission, and how small, inexpensive things can impact loyalty and workplace excellence. Having the right people in the right jobs with the right amount of motivation is crucial to any successful organization and Packard shares what employers must do to create a workplace that can become the envy of any industry.

Testimonials

I’ve had the pleasure of knowing Susan for over 30 years. She’s a very special blend of passion, intellect, creativity and character. I can’t think of a better role model for women in business, or better yet, for men who should be emulating some of her very special qualities as a leader.
– Dean Gilbert, Former Vice President at Google, Global Head of Content at YouTube and venture capitalist
Susan is an intelligent, tenacious leader who has earned the respect and admiration of those who know her best. She is a valued mentor to many and a tireless advocate for women who aspire to success and accomplishment.
– Ken Lowe, CEO and Chairman - Scripps Networks Interactive
I was a business colleague of Susan’s for 10 years. I watched in awe as she and the team built a business culture founded on the values most important to all of us—work/life balance, kindness and collaboration—while building profitable businesses. The legacy she leaves at Scripps is testament to how to truly incorporate the power of women into all levels of a company that wants to grow and thrive.
– Judy Girard, President Emeritus - HGTV and Food Network
I had the great pleasure of hosting an executive women’s roundtable with Susan Packard. Susan shared her experiences of being a senior female executive in an open, insightful way. I received fabulous feedback from participants about Susan’s contribution for many weeks after the event. I hope to have the opportunity again soon to work with Susan.
– Dr. Ines Wichert, Director of High Performance Institute - Kenexa
Susan has been a boss, mentor and friend throughout my career. Her wisdom and great counsel have provided invaluable support to me as I’ve advanced over the years, and I continue to rely on her for keen professional guidance and insight.
– Bridget Baker, President of TV Networks Distribution - NBC Universal
Finding comfort competing, the importance of practicing many roles on a team, and the key role that resilience plays – these define a winning spirit. Susan’s book will be extremely useful to all women navigating career choices.
– Margo Georgiadis, President, Americas, Google
Susan has shown courage and shrewd skill in building media businesses.
– David Zazlav, President and CEO- Discovery Communications, Inc.
Susan Packard was the first woman to serve on the Board of Directors of Churchill Downs Incorporated, the owner of the Kentucky Derby. She was a key player in developing a strategic plan that brought a staid company into the modern world of frenetic change.
– Tom Meeker, Chairman Emeritus - Churchill Downs, Inc.

Booksby Susan Packard

Fully Human

New Rules of the Game

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