Students gain insight into leadership from Pinterest Vice President

Students gained valuable insight into global leadership and career development from Pinterest Vice President Beth Horn.

Leeds University Business School welcomed Beth Horn, Vice President, Southern Europe, UK and Ireland at Pinterest, as part of the International Executive Speaker Series, for an engaging discussion on global leadership, career growth and the importance of curiosity in modern business.

Opened by Professor Cathy Myles, Pro Dean for student education at Leeds University Business School, the session gave students the opportunity to hear from a senior leader whose career has included roles at Meta, Spotify, and Pinterest. Drawing on her experience leading commercial strategy and working with major global brands, Beth shared honest reflections on her career journey and the realities of leadership in a fast-moving industry. 

Beth reflected on the start of her journey, which began 27 years ago when she studied drama and history at Stanford University. She shared that after leaving university, she realised she did not have all the answers, so instead, she learnt to embrace uncertainty and new experiences.

Reflecting on this mindset, she stated she has spent her career:

Embracing curiosity, challenge and change.

Students also heard how Beth’s early experience in performance and storytelling later shaped her approach to business. She spoke about the value of storytelling in communicating ideas, which is particularly important in a world shaped by information and technological change, especially as today’s students enter an environment increasingly shaped by AI.

A key theme throughout the session was the importance of leading with care. Beth encouraged students to learn how to have hard conversations while approaching people with genuine curiosity. She spoke about the value of considering what you want someone to feel and what you want the relationship to be, and highlighted vulnerability as an important quality in modern leadership.

Beth also spoke openly about redundancy and change. Reflecting on being made redundant from Meta in 2023, she said: “It was hard.” She explained that unravelling who she was when so much of her identity had been tied to her job was painful, but that the experience helped her build stronger emotional boundaries between work and personal life.

That shift prompted her to think more intentionally about life outside work. She shared how carving out time for the things that filled her cup made life richer, and reflected on her experience as an opera singer for the BBC, touring and performing at the Proms and Wembley Arena. Beth also spoke about performing 12 shows during her time in New York, and how the “yes, and” approach of performance, accepting opportunities and building on them, later shaped her approach to leadership and growth.

One of the clearest messages from the session was:

I don’t own the company loyalty; I own my self-loyalty.

She noted that business can change more quickly than individuals expect, and stressed the importance of protecting the part of life that exists outside work, allowing time for the brain to reset and energy to be managed more intentionally.

Throughout the talk, Beth returned to the value of staying driven, learning through failure and surrounding yourself with curious people. She described genuine curiosity as a “super power”.

Beth concluded by sharing five key reflections for students:

• Go where you are going to learn, grow and challenge yourself
• Hire someone better than you, because you can always learn from others
• Nothing beats genuine curiosity; learn from other people's perspectives
• You are going to fail, and that is okay: scare yourself a little, surprise yourself a lot
• It is just a job; you are more than your job.

At the end of the session, during the Q&A, Beth answered questions from students on topics ranging from Pinterest AI to balancing flexibility with long-term career goals. She spoke about the importance of a growth mindset, emotional boundaries and handling difficult conversations, while again returning to curiosity as a defining theme in both leadership and career development.

She encouraged students to approach their careers with curiosity and confidence, noting that every job involves an element of sales, selling yourself. Beth highlighted the value of asking the right questions, learning from different people across an organisation and staying open-minded, while balancing long-term ambition with short-term flexibility.

Rebecca Padgett, Associate Professor at Leeds University Business School, commented:

Beth Horn’s vulnerability is refreshing, and her reflections on leadership and career development really resonated with students. Events like this are incredibly valuable in giving students direct access to senior leaders and real insight into the realities of modern business.

The session reinforced the purpose of the International Executive Speaker Series: connecting students with senior global leaders who provide practical insight into the realities of modern business and leadership.

The International Executive Speaker Series gives students the chance to learn directly from senior executives working at the highest and most strategic levels in business, while also offering opportunities to network with peers and industry professionals.

Find out more about the International Executive Speaker Series.