Erika Ayers Badan on Leading Food52, Career Pivots, and Empowering Women in Business

Food52 CEO Erika Ayers Badan is coming off a big year in 2024. She left her post as Barstool Sports’ CEO in January 2024 after nearly eight years, traveled to Rwanda in February, joined culinary, lifestyle, and homeware brand Food52 as CEO in April, and published the book Nobody Cares About Your Career: Why Failure is Good, the Great Ones Play Hurt and Other Hard Truths in June. Ayers Badan hopes 2025 will be more peaceful, in comparison, but as her past achievements and new podcast Work prove, we’re sure she’s on track for another successful year. We spoke to Ayers Badan ahead of International Women's Day on March 8, for her advice on being a woman in business, saying “yes,” and the famous person she wants to cook alongside.

Your career path has been dynamic, spanning media, sports, food, and lifestyle. What drew you to Food52, and what has been the most exciting part of leading the brand?

ERIKA AYERS BADAN: I like to learn and try stuff. Spending almost a decade at Barstool Sports was fulfilling on so many levels and an unbelievable experience. It was also a decade spent thinking about content and products mostly for 18- to 34-year-old men. 

I liked the opportunity at Food52 because it is focused on a different consumer (women) and has a different business model (commerce) and was a chance to learn about design, manufacturing, and production. I wanted a new challenge and this has certainly been one!

As a female CEO in industries traditionally dominated by men, what challenges have you faced, and how did you overcome them?

EAB: Work is hard for everybody. Women, men, everything in between—work can be a slog. Sometimes I think being an outsider (in my case, a woman in a room full of men) can be lonely. 

It can also be a great opportunity to learn and to build skills you wouldn’t have developed otherwise. 

I think women (myself included) can get battered down by their insecurity and the fear that things might not be perfect. You don't hear about imposter syndrome from men. I hear about it a lot from women. 

I had a boss once who would start to speak more slowly and more softly when the men around her would talk over or mansplain her. I like to say “let me finish.” There’s all sorts of ways to be heard.  

What leadership lessons did you take from your time at Barstool that you’ve applied to your role at Food52?

EAB: Barstool was chaos [in] the best way! We were growing so fast, trying so much, creating so many things—all at the same time. It was an exercise in stamina, creativity, resilience, and risk. I took a lot of lessons from that—including the value of a small, highly motivated, nimble team—and also the need to cut losses quickly and to stay strong and persevere, even when the odds are against you. 

What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received, and how has it shaped the way you lead?

EAB: Say yes. Say yes to things. Say yes to the meeting you don't want to go to. Say yes to people who look different than you and come from a different place. If you say yes, you learn more, get a chance to do more and can become more. 

Also, fire quickly. If things aren’t working and you know it’s not working, make it end. It’s better for everybody.

Were you always interested in food, or was this an unexpected pivot in your career?

EAB: I like to eat! I like to bake. I am a homebody. I like the Schoolhouse design and the way Food52 curates. Working in this category is definitely unexpected. 

How has your personal relationship with food and cooking evolved since joining Food52?

EAB: I realize just how bad I am and just how far I need to go. It’s also so inspiring to see the creativity and talent here. I also eat more delicious things. 

What is one kitchen or home essential from Food52 that you absolutely swear by?

EAB: Our brand Schoolhouse has the most incredible lighting and patterns. I have a soft spot for a table lamp called Teig. At Food52, my go-to gift is the Mosser Glass Bathing Beauty. It’s a glass dish that looks like a woman in a bathtub (sounds weird but it’s beautiful). 

If you could cook a meal with any woman in history, who would it be and why?

EAB: Great question! I always really admired Margaret Thatcher. When I was growing up she was the only visible woman in politics and I always felt like she was so strong and so classy. 

Your new podcast, Work, dives into the way people approach their careers. What inspired this concept, and what can listeners expect?

EAB: We all spend so much time at work. It’s the thing that consumes so much of our minds and so much of our time. I also believe work can be an incredible vehicle to change your life. I don’t see a lot of execs having an open, candid, vulnerable, and blunt conversation about how to make work, work for people. That’s the goal of the podcast. 

What does International Women’s Day mean to you personally?

EAB: I’m not a big holiday / national day for _____ kind of person but I think anything that moves women forward and lifts women and people up is great. I’m more into doing it than jumping on the bandwagon of the holiday that celebrates it, if that makes sense.

What advice would you give to women navigating career changes or leadership roles in male-dominated industries?

EAB: Do the work. Be great at what you do. Tell your insecurity to shut up. Humble yourself and be willing to be told you have stuff to learn. Be resilient and strong and convicted about yourself and the risks you want to take.

2024 was a big year for you—you left Barstool, published a book, and traveled. What’s next for you in 2025?

EAB: That was slightly stupid of me and a lot to pull off in a year—emotionally and professionally. I’d like 2025 to settle down but I’m not sure it will.

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