CoS Spotlight: Maria Renz | Amazon
Hello Everyone!
Thanks for checking out today’s newsletter. Today's newsletter sheds light on the journey of ex-Amazon Vice President Maria Renz.
It covers the following topics:
Who is Maria Renz?
Her journey at Amazon
Renz, as the chief of staff
About the CoS role
How you can be one
Who is Maria Renz?
Chief of Staff is a do-it-all role, taken up by someone with outstanding organizational and people skills who handles various tasks and responsibilities not covered by an existing executive’s leadership team member.
One such incredible Chief of Staff (at Amazon) was Maria Renz, the focus of today’s newsletter. Maria Renz joined Amazon in 1999 as a product manager in marketing after working at Kraft Foods and Hallmark Cards.
Her Journey at Amazon
Overall, she worked for 20 years at Amazon, holding various job roles. Young and optimistic Renz was promoted to director after working for a few years in marketing as a product manager.
As the director, she took a new position in their retail organization. She launched new categories like Health & Personal Care, Beauty, and Grocery then was promoted to vice president.
Showing great performance and potential, she even served as CEO of Quidsi, a baby care e-commerce platform that Amazon acquired in 2010 for 500 million dollars!
Renz, as the Chief of Staff
Unfortunately, Quidsi was shut down after trying to make it profitable for two years. Following this, she took over her role as a technical advisor/chief of staff to the CEO. She was informally known as Bezos’ “shadow,” with the ear of Amazon’s legendary founder and contributing to daily and big-picture decisions.
She described her role as spending days with Jeff Bezos and making him an even better CEO.
Typically, such advisors at Amazon hold the position for 18 months to two years before moving on to another prominent position within the company. Renz was the first woman picked for the job.
While Renz's selection as Bezos’ shadow is notable, it also highlights the lack of female executives in prominent positions at Amazon and, more generally, in the executive echelons of many of the top technological companies today. Along with Jeff Bezos, Amazon has seven executive officers, but only one of them—Worldwide Controller Shelley Reynolds—is female.
The Chief of Staff Role and how to be one?
As Chief of Staff, Maria had an incredible track record of successfully leading cross-functional teams, strategically executing new initiatives, and constantly innovating. This is an excellent summary of what one can expect from a chief of staff role.
A CoS is frequently selected from a pool of talented executives heading up smaller business units. The position provides unparalleled access to the CEO and top staff and an understanding of how the company runs.
Every day there are more and more opportunities to become a Chief of Staff, work directly with upper-level executives, and bring meaningful change. Like Maria Renz, we want more women to be able to see themselves in positions of power and leadership, and we want them to feel empowered enough to step up when they're given those opportunities.
Apply to our CoS program to start your journey to the c-suite level.
It is a 9-month program for the upcoming future leaders to help them learn the expectations & challenges of the role and equip them with the skill sets required.
Learn in live sessions from the best
Get refreshers on hard skills needed as CoS
Build your 2nd degree of relevant network
Build your “proof of work” - Capstone Project
Rewrite “your story” for interviews
See Reverse Pitches from high growth startups
You can also check out our program structure for more information!
Join our cohort as a participant to get a community of people with similar aspirations, high-quality resources, and plenty of opportunities to learn and network. Register now - https://cos.sparklehood.com.