Ep. 82: Rachel Hutter, Former EVP of Operations at The Walt Disney Studios

After twenty-nine years at Disney, Rachel Hutter joins host Karina Jimenez to reflect on a career that began with a childhood dream and ultimately took her from engineering and theme park operations to serving as Executive Vice President of Studio Operations across Marvel, Lucasfilm, Pixar, Disney Animation, Twentieth Century, Searchlight, and more. Rachel shares why some of the most important career decisions come down to choosing the right leader, not just the right company, and why great leaders create opportunities for people to stretch beyond their job descriptions. She also opens up about learning to give and receive honest feedback, navigating her career as the first woman in several technical leadership roles, and why leaders have an obligation to take ownership when their teams make mistakes in good faith. Ultimately, Rachel reminds the next generation to stay curious, admit what they don't know, learn from mistakes, and bet on themselves. Because if you have a dream no one has pursued before, that may be exactly the reason to go after it.