Breaking Down Problems and Being a Full Human

In the latest installment of our Lieutenant series, I was fortunate enough to sit down (virtually, of course) with Paula-Jo (PJ) Oleksak, who is the chief business officer at Slice. Slice is a super cool, mission-driven company that uses technology to help local pizzerias compete with the giant chains through data insights, loyalty marketing, and shared services and the company is on fire. It now serves over 12,000 pizzerias across 3,000 cities in all 50 states, and PJ has been a big contributor to this success. In this interview, PJ talks about her transition from finance to operations, how she builds successful teams by keeping things simple, and the need to empower people while allowing them to be full humans, especially in today’s world.

What's your role at Slice?

As the chief business officer, I oversee all sales, customer success, operations, marketing, and customer experience. I also have a small team that is essentially building future business units of the company, rounding out what we need to strengthen our value prop to both the shops we support and consumers. We're defining solutions and then partnering with the tech side to bring them to life.

Where were you prior to Slice?

I spent the first half of my career in finance, where I did banking, and then spent a lot of time in private equity. I loved the investment side, but I got to a place in my career where I didn’t want to sit at the board room table without the experience of being an actual operator. So I joined one of our portfolio companies, FreshDirect, which is now the largest online grocer in the Northeast. 

I joined the founder and CEO to help him grow and expand the business. My job was to figure out what was next, build the divisions, and ultimately run them. One of the coolest things I got to do there was to co-found a business within FreshDirect called FoodKick, which provides same-day grocery and alcohol delivery. I was there for eight years, and it was awesome.

What’s one word you would use to describe your leadership style?

I would say empowering. One of my superpowers, and what I'm focused on as a leader, is building awesome high performing teams. When I interview people I draw a grid, kind of like a nine box but a little different. On the bottom axis is performance, the other axis is cultural value add. Basically, being an awesome team member. Everyone who works for me has to live in that upper right-hand quadrant, being a high performer and a contributor to culture.

When I interview people I draw a grid... On the bottom axis is performance, the other axis is cultural value add. Basically, being an awesome team member.

You can't just be super smart. I want high performers who are engaged and part of the broader team. That’s what I demand of people, but also my gift back to them. There is nothing better than working alongside really talented individuals who are also good humans that you know will have your back.  But even if you hire super smart people who are engaged, you have to put in place the right structure to really empower them to be their best. And then be willing to support them when they need you on their journey. 

There is nothing better than working alongside really talented individuals who are also good humans that you know will have your back. 

Any tips and tricks for how you empower teams, and making that scale?

This is where clarity of goals, priorities, and transparency of information are really critical. If you have those things, it's a lot easier to empower people and teams. It starts with me, and then I work with my leaders on how they set up their own operating rhythm -- how they're setting priorities, leveraging data, and working with their teams. If they have the building blocks, they can teach their people as well. 

It's also important to facilitate an environment where learning is valued. We're going to test some stuff. We're going to fail. I tell my team "just know we are going to be wrong about some things. We are on a journey. We have a goal and an endpoint. The path with which we get there may differ along the way, because we're going to test and learn and pivot." 

This is where clarity of goals, priorities, and transparency of information are really critical. If you have those things, it's a lot easier to empower...It's also important to facilitate an environment where learning is valued.

What do you look for in great lieutenants when you're hiring?

I look for confidence and a willingness to speak your point of view. Being willing to stand up and speak your mind is so important because fantastic ideas come from anywhere. We as one brain are not nearly as smart as many brains when they come together. I was trained very early in my career to speak up, even when you're the most junior person in the room. I think it's really important to cultivate that on teams.

I was trained very early in my career to speak up, even when you're the most junior person in the room. I think it's really important to cultivate that on teams.

Also, I love people who are financially savvy, and if I don't see it, I try really hard to help cultivate it. I want to work with people who are able to think about the business in terms of ROI. Last but not least, you need to be a great people leader. The people side of the business is everything. 

Slice has innovated in a cool way through this crisis. What’s it like being a lieutenant in a time of crisis like what we're currently experiencing? Any advice?

It's really helped that we're a mission-driven business. Our mission is to keep local thriving, and it's been an incredible rallying cry for this organization right now. Everyone is so passionate about supporting those small businesses, whether it's ramping up a delivery solution for shops that didn't have a delivery offering before the pandemic, to making sure anyone who needs online ordering knows they have a lower-cost provider.

As a leader and lieutenant though, it's important to balance your drive to get stuff done with making sure you're checking in on your people. There are a lot of bad things happening in the world around us, and you can get lost in a virtual world of all-day conference calls. You have to remember that people are affected by the environment, by what's happening in the political world, with racial injustice and everything else. I know plenty of people who have been impacted by COVID, either themselves or family members getting ill, or losing family members. When you're moving really fast, you have to be more conscious about finding those moments to check in, because everyone's dealing with a lot. You have to balance that drive for performance with allowing people to have space to be human. 

You have to balance that drive for performance with allowing people to have space to be human.

Also, make sure people actually take their vacation. That can sound silly because there aren't too many places to go right now, but when you're in an environment that's fast-paced, you are always on. That is intense for people. Many people are working at home with children, and some with very small children. I myself have a three-and-a-half month old and a four-and-a-half-year old at home. You just need to let people know that it's okay. There's going to be a meeting where I may pick up my baby, and you may see their head. We're full humans. We are not just the job.

There's going to be a meeting where I may pick up my baby, and you may see their head. We're full humans. We are not just the job.

Speaking of being fully human, how do you manage and cope with stress personally?

My biggest mechanism is family. If I just have some time with my kids and get some snuggle, it is so good for my soul. Having small children is also a good reality check. They're still the boss of me at the end of the day, no matter what problems I'm trying to solve. Another way I try to reduce stress is to simplify and take everything back to basics. What is the root of the problem? Sometimes situations can feel overwhelming, but when you get to the core of where the stress is coming from, you're more likely to figure out if it's actually worth being stressed about. Then you can focus on how to move past it.

Another way I try to reduce stress is to simplify and take everything back to basics. What is the root of the problem?

I often say there are two types of people in the world - simplifiers and complexers. Do you think you can coach simplification?

I do think there are some people who immediately see the hurdles in things, and while you can coach around that, I don't know if I've ever completely changed how someone views problems. But you can help people work through it, and help them simplify a complex situation into smaller workstreams. Breaking something into a smaller problem can give people the opportunity to focus on it, crush it, and feel the win. That's really important for positive momentum in an organization and really important for speed.

Breaking something into a smaller problem can give people the opportunity to focus on it, crush it, and feel the win. That's really important for positive momentum in an organization and really important for speed.

After your experience with FreshDirect, you could have gone to a lot of different places. You could have become a CEO yourself. Why did you choose to go to work for Ilir Sela (Slice's CEO), and do you ever aspire to be a CEO yourself?

You can't talk to Ilir and not want to work with him. You instantly know he's a really good person who is so passionate about this mission. I'm passionate about it as well. My grandmother had two pizzerias, and I was like, "Oh, I'm going to fight the big guys for her!” At FreshDirect, I had the ability to build and co-found a business and I loved bringing an idea based on data and insights to life. I was essentially the CEO of that and grew it within three years to a $100 million business that was profitable.  I’ve had other opportunities where I could have stepped into that type of a position. But ultimately I felt like I still have so much to learn. 

Ultimately, I do aspire to be CEO and potentially even be a founder.  I love what I'm doing but I'm probably not a life-long number two.