The latest episode of the SBC Leaders Podcast just dropped, and features Joanna Lambert, President and General Manager, Consumer, at Yahoo. Joanna spearheaded the Yahoo sportsbook and fantasy sports portfolio, and has extensive experience in FinTech and senior executive roles at some huge brand names.

The two had a fascinating chat about Yahoo’s sportsbook and fantasy offerings, the US sports betting market, diversity, being passionate about your work, and the resilience, creativity and inspirational nature of her team.

Joanna also tells Kelly about her career-defining moments, personal heroes and role models, and all about what’s coming next for Yahoo!

0:18 - Intro

1:42 - Yahoo sportsbook live in 11 states, plans to go into more. What does Joanne see happening in the next 6 months? How does the BetMGM partnership benefit fans and players?

3:19 - Joanna’s history in the world of FinTech, who brought her over to sports betting? Excited by the strides Yahoo have made. The combination of great and trusted content, and high-quality products. Yahoo functioning as the top of the funnel, can drive players towards products and offerings.

6:00 - What does Joanna think about sports betting? How does it differ from the worlds of tech and finance? Product development is a similar process, always bring the customer to the centre. More casual players coming into the space, meaning more opportunity to serve customers.

7:20 - Diversity, how diverse are sports in general? And how important is diversity at Yahoo? Joanna’s passion for diversity, pride that Yahoo is number 1 for African-Americans, LatinX and Women. Importance of making sure the voices in your team are reflected. Yahoo is an incredible platform for story telling and Yahoo take this seriously.

10:45 - Yahoo looking to open up the sportsbook offering to a wider audience than the traditional male audience. Yahoo looking at what kind of talent they can bring in, to enable them to attract new audiences. Focusing on non-traditional media such as TikTok, Club House etc. to attract the younger audience.

12:52 - Do you have to be a sports fan to run a sports company? Joanna’s belief that you have to be passionate about what you’re working for. Joanna’s interest in connecting people with their passions.

13:46 - Does Joanna have her own personal hero? Loves watching people innovate, inspiration coming from her own network, her own staff. Every day heroes. Taking inspiration from an intern at Yahoo to move towards TikTok, as an example.

15:15 - Does Joanna have a role model when it comes to making her own life decisions? Taking inspiration from current/former colleagues and bosses. The importance of sponsorship and help when it comes to leadership and growth.

16:30 - What does Joanna see as career defining moments? Relatively early in her career, telling her boss she was bored, wanted more responsibility and would be willing to move anywhere in the world for the right opportunity.

19:07 - What brought Joanna to Yahoo? A persistent recruiter and seeing the scale of the opportunity at Yahoo. Starting at Yahoo Finance and moving on from there.

20:30 - What has surprised Joanna the most? The resilience of the team over the last 2 years, and how creative people can be when their backs are against the wall.

22:20 - What’s next? Continuing on the strategy of providing the 360 degrees service. Moving from being a small department in a huge business, to being a standalone business. Yahoo going to continue to evolve in the space.

23:15 - Outro