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In this episode of The CEO Series, we got a front row seat to leadership lessons from Stan Chia, CEO and Board Director of Vivid Seats. Vivid Seats is an online ticket marketplace that grossed over $500 million in 2022. Stan shared amazing insights into running a huge company with over 500 employees and his personal passions outside the boardroom that keep him energized and engaged.
Below are some highlights from our conversation, which you can watch in the full video above.
The best thing about being a CEO
“For me, the best part of being a CEO is working every day in an industry you love and with the people you love. It’s a privilege to set the direction and vision of the company.”
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In his professional career
“I grew up thinking I wanted to be an aerospace engineer. I loved space shuttles and the concept of going into space. I was born in Singapore and raised in New York. After high school, I was asked to come back and serve in The Singapore Army. I did this for about three years. I was very scared, but it turned out to be one of the best experiences I had in terms of formulating who I am. After that, I had the opportunity to study industrial engineering at Georgia Tech Part of this journey helped me realize that I didn’t think a specialized field was something I wanted to do. So I pivoted to a more general space that allowed me to see more of the world, see more companies and industries, and to I finally landed here at Vivid Seats.”
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On the power of diversity
“My skills as a leader come from the ability to learn, listen, understand and appreciate cultural diversity. Singapore is a wonderful multicultural society with many different people who call it home. I think that great fusion of cultures has helped define a lot of who I am today. I’ve had the opportunity to go and try to build diverse teams everywhere I’ve worked, and I’m very proud of the fact that when you look at our leadership team at the C-suite level, we have more than 50% female leaders And when you look at the board that we put together at Vivid Seats, we came out with a majority diverse board.
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On his personal motivation
“The people that I have the privilege of leading motivate me. You know, it’s that old military phrase, that you go into battle with them every day. You have to love the troops that you’re with and I love the team that we work with. “I got here and , of course, I have family supporting me in the background. The desire to do a good job for all of them motivates me. And ultimately, really believing in the mission of Vivid Seats, which is to make sure that everyone can experience and see in person those things that they love.”
Discover more profiles of innovative and impactful leaders by visiting the CEO Series archives.