Former Partner Emma Spagnuolo (New Jersey, 14-21) is on a mission to redefine the way we think about aging, and it's reflected in the company she leads: Caddis, a lifestyle brand that's shaking up the eyewear industry with its bold approach to empowering people over 40. With a personal journey that includes overcoming breast cancer, Emma brings a unique perspective to her role at Caddis. In this quality assurance, Emma shares her insights on leadership, authenticity, and what she still hopes to be doing in twenty years.
Tell us a little bit about what Caddis is and what you do.
Caddis is "a mission disguised as eyewear." It was founded on the fact that most companies stop targeting people in their 40s and older with marketing dollars. They decide that you're no longer worth reaching out to – and it's just not true.
The idea came to our founder when he went to a drugstore to buy reading glasses. He saw a direction sign in the store that said "laxatives, adult diapers, readers." And he thought, why do I have to put something on my face that feels icky? So that's what started Caddis. He wanted to make readers for who we call the Age Awesome.
Because of that mission, we have the right to be a lifestyle brand. Soon, we’ll extend beyond eyewear. We’ve already expanded beyond readers – we now also offer prescription eyewear and sunglasses.
Age is just another factor, and it has nothing to do with who you are and what you like to do. That’s the way that we have positioned the brand and all of our marketing content focuses on real people who are in this age demographic.
We have amassed a cult following of artists and musicians because these are people who really need to see in order to do their craft. Other people who follow us are welders, people who work with their hands, and gardeners. It's been really cool to meet all of these people, and the way that the brand makes them feel is the part that we love the most.
What does the company being a pro-age brand mean to you personally? And how do you infuse that into your leadership decisions?
When I was at McKinsey, I remember telling all of my clients that they needed to be consumer-first. What this comes down to is that thinking about who our consumer is needs to be the first thing that happens with any type of decision, whether it's an email that's going to go out or thinking about the next product we're designing – or even broader, what will be the next category we move into.
For us, this is a person above the age of 40 who still wants to look and feel amazing. We ask ourselves: Is this product going to make them feel great? Will it resonate with them? Does it mean something to them?
I have a team that comes with a lot of very diverse strengths, and I have our founder who is living and breathing this mission, so I get to hear all of the thoughtful sides of an argument.
We talk about our consumers and who they are all the time, whether it's a little decision or a big decision.
The brand voice of Caddis is very cheeky and bold and smart. How are you planning to maintain that authenticity while you're scaling the business?
It’s a great question, and it's honestly one that has been very top of mind for all of us recently. We are at this inflection point where it's time to go from being a smaller, digitally native brand with a high growth rate to being a larger brand that has to find new channels and learn new tricks, so to speak. We want to remain on brand and authentic and still make the right decisions to grow.
It does require you to weigh both of those things equally. When you're looking at an opportunity that feels extremely lucrative, you must weigh the future impact of that decision. If you make the decision to grow in the wrong way, it's very hard to go back from that. It's so important right now for us to make sure that we are remaining authentic and that we are keeping our voice.
What is your best "only at McKinsey" moment?
There are so many of them. But one that really shows what I loved about the Firm happened when I was a summer intern in 2015.
I had some business experience, but this project was high-profile and it was for a very large client. It was time to present to the chief financial officer of the company, whom I'd never met, and it was maybe my fourth week at the Firm. And the partner on the project looked at me and told me I needed to be the one to present because it was my workstream that we were talking about.
At the time, I didn't realize how remarkable it was for somebody who has four weeks on the job to go in and basically have the worth of the project riding on this meeting with the chief financial officer. It ended up being a really good and successful meeting.
It was much later when I realized the huge level of trust the Firm has in its people and the strength of the concept of entrepreneurship. You do not get that in other places.
So sticking with your time at McKinsey for another minute, what would you say is the best piece of advice you ever got from a mentor here?
The best piece of advice that I ever received was "the worst thing you can do is do nothing." Assess the situation, look at the data, make the best decision that you can, and move forward.
If you make the wrong decision and you go the wrong way, you at least had a reason for it, and it was a logical reason. And you can switch gears and back up. But the worst thing you can do is do nothing. I have taken that with me literally throughout my entire career. That is great advice.
What is something you hope to still be doing in 20 years?
In 20 years, my goal is to still be able to play soccer. I have played soccer my whole life. I play in a women's league right now. And I coach my youngest daughter's team, which is as tough as my corporate job. Wednesday nights I have a one-hour game, and during that hour, I don't think about anything else. I'm so much more energized afterwards. And recently, it's been more and more important to me that I stay healthy and fit because I want to be around for my kids. I don't want to let the stress get to me. And if I'm able to play soccer in 20 years, it means that I've succeeded at that.
That’s so great. Anything else you’d like your fellow alumni to know about?
I'm open about my health history and my background. While I was at the Firm, I was diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer. The Firm was so incredible during that time. The support I got from colleagues was phenomenal, and that does not happen everywhere.
One of the things that we're doing at Caddis is that in October, for Breast Cancer Awareness Month, we are going to have a limited-edition product. We’ll be donating 25% of all of the sales to Stand Up To Cancer, which focuses on cancer screening. It is a way to give back because I feel so fortunate that I was at the Firm when I went through it and that I had such great support.
