LouLife

As the Chief Executive Officer of the Community Foundation of Louisville, Susan Barry knows how to lead and when to follow. She is a credible and exuberant leader, a dedicated mother and a fascinating woman whom I was honored to cover in this month’s Leading Ladies of Louisville. As someone who has been on the top of my list of people to meet in Louisville, I was overjoyed to sit down with her and hear about her childhood, her adventures in our wonderful city and her experiences while she worked her way up to become one of the most successful women in Louisville.

 

Susan Barry: “I grew up in Rhode Island. I have five brothers and a sister, and so there were seven of us squished into a house with my mom and dad. I was number five. My brothers were very rambunctious and kept my parents busy, so I sort of flew under the radar for some time. That was a good thing for me. I was good at it, went about my business and was a pretty good kid. And quite frankly, after my brothers were so rambunctious, I think my parents needed a little bit of a rest. That suited my personality at the time really well.”

 

LC: What was your first job?
SB: “My first job was in eighth grade. I felt that even in seventh and eighth grade that I needed a little ‘walking around money’ because I ran around with my girlfriends. In those days, you went out of the house on a Saturday or Sunday morning, and you didn’t come back until late in the day, and there was no check-in. I knew I needed a bit of money to buy a soda or go to the movies or do this or that. There was a farm by our house, and they had a ‘help wanted’ sign on the driveway. One day, I got off the bus, walked up the gravel driveway, knocked on the door and Mrs. Miller said they needed an egg peeler. I said, ‘Well, I can do that!’ but of course I had never peeled an egg in my life. So I became an egg peeler at $3 an hour, and I did that about six hours a week. We actually boiled the eggs, let them cool, peeled them and put them in cartons for restaurant to pick up for their salad bars and major catering.   I’m sure they were violating every law in the book.”

 

SB: “I’ve been here just about six and a half years, and a lot has changed. We’re in our 32nd year, and when I joined the foundation, my predecessor, Dennis Rigs, had really done a fantastic job. He, along with the board and many of our early donors, built a strong foundation for the foundation. In order to be able to initiate change and be somewhat of a rebel, you have to have that strong foundation. I’m very grateful for it because it provided some firm footing for me to challenge the board to think more purposefully about our mission in community. And again, we couldn’t have done that without firm footing. What I enjoy is that I get to lead a great team of individuals; we have about 20 people on staff. I have really matured into the position of CEO, thinking more thoughtfully about my work. Not so much as shining the light on Susan Barry, but developing other people.

 

Maybe this is one of those positive ‘senior moments,’ but I feel like I’m at a turn where I certainly wouldn’t suggest I know it all, but I’ve had lots of experience in the community foundation business and the non-profit field. And so my job is to bring along that next generation of leaders here at the Foundation, whether they stay here or move into other areas of business, because people did it for me. I work with a fantastic board of 30 individuals, working together to align policy and strategy to move the foundation along. Right now, we’re going through a strategic planning process over the next 16 months and thinking more thoughtfully yet again about ‘What is a community foundation?’ and ‘What does it mean to be a grant maker and social investor  in a community?’ We’re about $440 million dollars in assets, and we will continue to grow. What is the responsibility associated with that growth? What do we want to be known for? Could we do or support others doing good work, acting more as an anchoring institution in the community?

 

So, for me, it’s about my evolution as a leader, practicing a little more humility and digging a little deeper. It’s not so much how many things I can juggle in my life, but where do I want to spend my time and where can I have the most impact?”

 

SB: “A few years ago I was interviewed by Business First and was asked the same question. I’m very exuberant, but I want to be seen as credible as well, so we came up with this term – ‘creduberant.’ Of course, I’ve become more discerning and disciplined, but I think that comes with age and experience. I’m very thoughtful. I don’t wake up a day without thinking about what I can do to make a difference in people’s lives, whether it’s with my staff or with friends and family.”

 

SB: “Well, it’s a funny story, but when we first moved here, we lived in the Highlands, and my daughter was graduating from fifth grade. I said to her, ‘What do you want to do for your graduation?’ And she said, ‘I want to go to Dairy Queen.’

“So, we got up to the corner where Ramsi’s and Carmichael’s Bookstore is at Longest Avenue. There were some kids playing hacky sack, and it was dusk, and it was warm, and there were street lights, and she turned around and threw her arms around me and said, ‘Thanks for moving to the big city.’ And it was the cutest thing. And I think that says a lot about Louisville. It has a big city/small city/neighborhood charm.

 

Here we were in our little neighborhood, and for her that was the big city. And that was okay...For me, success in Louisville has always been about three things: loving my job, loving my neighborhood – we have since moved to Crescent Hill, and I adore it - and seeing my daughter, Moira, as really happy.

 

We’ve had a lot of transitions in the last 17 years, and all of those things sort of came together. Louisville has really been a comfortable place for us. People have been friendly and warm. My job has really presented me with an opportunity to meet lots of people, so I don’t know if I’m luckier than most people because of that. I think I am, and I’m grateful for it.”

 

SB: “I’m an introvert, even though I seem like an extrovert. So when I want to relax, the idea of going out with a whole bunch of people is just not relaxing to me. I like to cook, I like to decorate, I like to read, I walk, I ride my bike and I travel. I’m a big art fan, and I go up to the Indianapolis Museum of Art once every six weeks. I always do the same thing: grab lunch and a glass of wine, and then I spend about three hours going through the exhibitions. I walk around outside if it’s nice, and then I come home. 
 

My assistant would say that I over-schedule. I like to give people my attention, but it’s very stressful when I can’t, and I often feel very guilty about that.”

 

SB: “Well, I would like to have a nice glass of wine and something good for dinner, either cooking in or going out, and maybe going for a walk in the neighborhood.”

 

SB: “I would have lunch with Hillary Clinton. She’s a presidential candidate for the second time, and I would just love to have lunch with her and get to know her. I like her politics, and I feel like she and I could be friends. If she were sitting on an airplane, I would do everything I could to sit next to her. I’m a fan.”

 

SB: “We have two words on our refrigerator at home that I wrote when my daughter was five and they are ‘kindness’ and ‘generosity.’ For me, those are the guiding principles for life.”

 

SB: “I had a great group of friends growing up and went to an all-girls high school. We were very noisy! And unconventional. At the end of the day, my voice is an authentic expression of self.”