Stacey Libbrecht on leadership, transitions and small worlds becoming big ones

Welcome to Stepladder,?by Todd Dybas , a newsletter about career journeys. We all endured twists and turns during our work careers. Experiences, bad and good, shape us as bosses or employees. This newsletter will explore various work paths via deep conversations with newsmakers, business builders, content creators, and more.

Stacey Libbrecht, 49 | Vice President, Creator, Mom | Arlington, VA

Stacey Libbrecht knew she didn’t want to stay in the South and wanted to be in entertainment…somehow. An internship at PBS created her first job before a long run at Starz solidified her career as an executive, teaching her hard but valuable leadership lessons from dealing with cuts to the dynamics of being a female manager. The pandemic upended her career while providing invaluable personal and professional turns, creating a path to her current role as Vice President, Creative Services back at PBS.

Libbrecht's answers from a conversation with LinkedIn News were lightly edited for clarity in this as-told-to format:

I was born in northern California; San Jose. When I was 10, we moved to Louisville, Kentucky. When I was 16, I moved to Hong Kong.

Going from California to Kentucky to Hong Kong was wildly different. My dad worked for UPS, and he started the air division in Louisville. And then when we moved to Hong Kong, it was the opportunity to work in the Pacific Rim for my dad.?

My sister graduated college, my brother was in college, so I was the last one and I was 16, and I had no choice. There were literally claw marks upon leaving the U.S. because I had never been out of the country.?

So we went to Hong Kong. We were only there for a year because within the first month of being there, we knew we were moving to Singapore before the changeover, before it went back to China.

I felt weird, awkward, scared. I was a 16-year-old. I just got my driver's license. I was mad. My parents made me move.

My dad always tells the story, which I do not remember this conversation, that he sat me down and said, you are old enough now to make your own decision, and you can come with us (to Singapore), which I want you to, or you can move back to Louisville, be there for your senior year.

My brother was there at that point. So, I did move back to Louisville and finished my senior year at my old high school, but did spend time in Singapore with my parents.? I spent a year in Hong Kong, and it happened to be during the Gulf War. So there were some weird things there. But I tell people that was the most life-changing moment in my entire life.

Moving to Hong Kong took me away from everything I ever knew. I didn't have my brother, I didn't have my sister, it was just my parents.

I didn't know the language. I did go to an American school, but it's vastly different. And being this pale redhead girl in a sea of people… they just didn't know what to do with me.

We lived in this high-rise apartment building, which I'd never lived in an apartment. And we had to take a cab to the school for this orientation.?

We get to the cab line, and there were two other girls who were American. And they had just moved there too. My mom is very outgoing. And she said, ‘Oh, what's your name?’ My mom asked if they wanted to share a cab. They said OK. They get in the cab, my mom opens the door, puts me in, says, 'Have fun.' Slammed the door and sent me off.?

I was like, what the…(laughs). She shoved me in with these people who I still know today.?

Going back to Kentucky after being in Hong Kong for a year, all of a sudden, I went, whoa, what was I thinking?

It just opened my eyes.

And I got more confident.

One decision launches a life

I always knew I wanted to be in some form of entertainment.

My dad was at UPS his entire career. He started in college working nights and then eventually retired with the company. UPS is very much a work-from-the-bottom-up company. He did and did very well.?

That was what I saw: you're in one company, and you're in forever, and that's your career. So me being interested in the entertainment space was a bit of a foreign thing.

I was in Kentucky. It was just weird.?

At one point I thought I was going to be an actress. That was crazy.

So I looked at it as, OK, let me find out about all things. I want to know all the areas so that I can make a better-informed decision. So whether I go in front of the camera or behind the camera, I want to understand all of it so that I don’t have a blind area.

At Auburn, it was very much radio/television/film. It was a little bit of dabbling, a little bit of everything. But the biggest thing was that there was a requirement I had to do an internship.

I had an offer from a news station from the NBC affiliate in Seattle, from the Fox affiliate in Louisville, Kentucky. So I could live at home. My parents were in Kentucky at that point. Auburn had offered me to stay there to do an internship at a local station.

My sister and aunt lived in the D.C. area. And my sister had a friend who used to work at PBS who knew somebody and gave them my resume.

They called me. I thought, what do I do?

A friend sat me down: Do you want potato chips or broccoli? Which one's better for you??

Broccoli.?

And he said, 'You're going to PBS.'

And I did. It was probably the best decision I made.

Going to PBS you know, they were such a warm and open place. The way they treated me as an intern…they just let me do lots of stuff and they were just so enriching, and what's the word? Nurturing.

It was a great experience. At the end of my internship, they said, what are you doing??

I'm going to backpack around Europe.?

Well, how about you come for the summer and work part-time?

So I took it and ran with it.

Upward and westward movement

I worked my way up from an internship, and then they created a PA position for me. Eventually, I was a senior writer-producer.?

After I'd been there for seven years or so, I think I was getting itchy or antsy.?

And an old co-worker said Starz out in Denver is hiring. And lo and behold, it was the woman who used to run the creative department at PBS. She was out there, and he gave her my resume.?

And she kind of dismissed me because the last time I had been around her, I was an intern.?

Then she got my reel and my resume, and she called me the next day and said, ‘When can you come?’

It was the opportunity just to try something different and new. I didn't know much about Starz. I knew I needed a change. I needed to shake it up.?

She said, come out, it'll be 1-3 years, and then you’re going to go on.

Fricking 18 years later…

It's just incredible I ended up being there as long as I did. I still wonder how it happened.

I started in the marketing department, which was a completely foreign thing for me.?

I was hardcore selling: you get 12 channels for this. And I thought, God, this feels terrible. I was always about creating that beautiful promo that seduces you into watching something. So it was a challenge.

They still hadn't figured out their brand and it was just kind of messy. So I instantly regretted moving when I got there (laughs).

But I'm glad I did it because that helped give me a bigger perspective.

Within six or seven months, they restructured and they put me on the Starz channel, which was a lot more fun. I'm working with movies like? “Lord of the Rings,” and we had all the big movies.

It felt big and exciting.

There were a lot of changes at Starz while I was there. It went from being this multiplex group of channels, linear channels, then they added on-demand, and they were probably one of the first in the business. They just didn't tout it.?

Then we had the app, and it went crazy.

We had original series, and I was there for all of it. It was very exciting to be part of a lot of it.

Managing new manager life

Oh, clumsy. No one teaches you how to manage. They just throw you in those positions.?

I always just took ownership of stuff. It goes back to how I wanted to know all the elements. What are all the things we're making, and where is it going? I would always just take charge of that.

But it was clumsy.?

When you go from a peer to a manager it is a challenging situation. I definitely made mistakes; tried to evolve. And I continually work on my management skills and leadership skills. I doubt [them] every day.

You get to understand the ins and outs [after 18 years in one place]. The history.

I used to say I know where all the bodies lie. I know why it got there, why it was the way it was, why things ended up the way they were.

You get to really understand those dynamics and be an authority of that place.?

Conversely, you know all the things, and then it is a challenge every day to push past that because sometimes that knowledge pulls you back. And so I would work very hard on myself: Don't let yourself get caught up on what has already been done.?

How do you think differently? How do you continue to keep fresh??

The fortunate thing was Starz went through so many changes the whole time I was there that it was always fresh because the dynamics changed all the time.?

I had 12 different bosses, and I was there for 18 years.?

I learned a tremendous amount there. I've had some amazing mentors. I had some people that I definitely learned to not do what they did.

But I don't think I would trade it. I traveled all over the world with the company. I was on series sets, and red carpets, and junkets and it all seems so glamorous. In the end, they're just people.

The challenge at Starz was it was all thrust upon you because it was such an evolving sort of company. A lot of it was, you just need to make these changes here. You have to cut this, or you have to do this, or you have to do that.?

So I looked at what is the least amount of impact, how can I save the most people??

At some point, you have to take the emotion out of it, and that's really challenging.

I worked hard to get the best dynamics, to pull together to get us all successful. Because you're only as strong as your weakest link.

I mean, people are gonna be upset. They're gonna be upset no matter what.?

I never have portrayed myself as anything other than I was. I was always very honest. I always had an open door. Tell me, and if you don't feel comfortable telling me, tell somebody to let me know.

I was always very open to criticism and feedback. You get very self-aware of where your shortcomings are. It's something I work on every day. I know where I have shortcomings and I try to overcome them and change my style.

Then I was transitioned out. It wasn't unexpected. I wasn't happy with how it happened, but it was one of those things I knew was going to happen at some point.

The pandemic happened, and the whole world changed. I put my search for other work to the side because we all did. We're all like, what are we doing here? So being transitioned out during the pandemic was a bit more of a challenge than I wanted to handle. But you do what you have to do.?

The nice thing about it was I got to take a break, and I needed it. I was pretty burnt out. I was burnt from working all the time. At that time, my daughter was two.

And I felt like I was never seeing her. So, I always say that the pandemic gift was that I got to be with my daughter.?

At that time, I was living in LA, working all hours, and it was taking me 45 minutes to an hour to go seven miles.

I'd get home and I'd see her I'd, I'd be able to put her to bed and I'd be able to get her up in the morning.?

This is not what I want. It just, it sucked to be perfectly honest.

It was such a big thing for me to be able to spend that time with her, but at the same time, extremely stressful because we live in California, we moved here for my job, and now I don't have a job. Now what are we gonna do??

Catching the boomerang

I went through my contact list and I just started reaching out to everybody I knew, and not necessarily, ‘Oh, do you have a job? I need a job.’ But it was, ‘Hey, I haven't talked to you.’?

I hated that it took that for me to do that because it was so nice. I had these great conversations reconnecting with people, and then even talking with people who went through similar experiences.?

And it gave me a lot more perspective because the ego part of, I've been transitioned out, now what? You're like, what? But, no one's indispensable.?

Those reconnecting conversations were basically how I ended up back at PBS, which is ironic on so many levels.?

I can't believe I actually came back to, or that I'm back at, PBS. But it's been a fortunate turn for me.

Twenty-some-odd years ago, I was a kid. I didn't know all the other things. And I'm in a completely different role now.?

So my exposure to a lot of the other workings of the company is much greater than I ever had then. It feels so different, even though a lot of stuff is the same.?

There are five people in my group that I worked with previously. So coming back, and starting virtually to be able to go on a Zoom meeting and have five friendly faces who not only were friendly but who were there with welcoming arms, was extremely amazing. It was a gift.

But the sad note to know is, as I look through my career, the people who helped me the most were men, which is great. But I didn't have strong female leaders or ones that I would say helped shape me.?

As I became a leader, as I started becoming a manager and leading teams, I definitely noticed [the glass ceiling] more.?

I noticed the different challenges that I had being a female leader as opposed to male leaders. And I hate to compare it that way because I always looked at it as this doesn't matter. I don't care one way or the other, male or female. But the double standard of if I did one thing in a way, and a male counterpart did the other, the male was seen as strong, and I was seen as bitchy.

And that's still prevalent.?

But there are different challenges being a female leader as opposed to a male leader. And I hate saying that because I like to think that things are changing, and they are. And I'm very fortunate to work in a company where we have an amazing president. Paula Kerger 's amazing, right? She's a strong female leader, and I respect the heck out of her.?

Not to mention my boss treats me with respect and trust, and he's amazing. And my counterpart is great.?

So, now I think about that and how I present myself and how I am and how I can be for everybody. What can I do to help encourage other strong females? How can I encourage other females to be leaders?

And, having work-life balance is amazing.

It speaks volumes to how you can approach your job and how you feel about your job and what you're willing to do for your job when you feel valued, appreciated, and you have a lack of dread.

Every day I'm excited to go to work. Whether I'm logging into a meeting at home or going into the office. I love it. My husband tells me you seem happier. And I am. I'm extremely happy.

I sleep now.

I don't wake up going, Oh my God.

Here, I don't mind killing myself for this. It feels important.

The funny thing is, I still think every day, what am I doing? I sometimes go, God, how did I get here?