When Debra Rosen was presented with an opportunity to take over a North County business group 14 years ago, she was told the group had “a few issues.”
“I probably should have asked them to define ‘a few issues,’” she said.
Rosen soon realized the situation was more challenging than what she first imagined.
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The organization, then known as the San Diego North Chamber of Commerce, was struggling with debt. It was behind on payroll taxes and rent.
“They were living out of boxes and there were massive liens against the organization,” Rosen recalled.
“The board direction from the beginning was simple, there were issues and we had to fix it or close it.”
With the support of a strong board that was put together by Rosen and other regional leaders, good mentors and a membership that believed in the new team, “we were able to pay off all debt, have liens released and build a fabulous team of colleagues in a year and a half.”
This was accomplished during the recession years of 2009 and 2010.
Fourteen years and a name change later, Rosen marked her retirement from her CEO’s job at the North San Diego Business Chamber on June 30 with a sense of accomplishment. She handed responsibility for a larger organization (now with more than 800 business members) and a much stronger organization to incoming CEO Chris Thorne.
Lifetime Achievement
Rosen received the Lifetime Achievement Award when the San Diego Business Journal handed out its CEO of the Year Awards on June 27.
Rosen’s retirement may end up being more of a sabbatical.
In the near term, she is looking forward to taking her 45-foot catamaran on an extended cruise. She is going with her husband (whom she introduced during the awards ceremony as Captain Mike), her son and a few other crew members. The plan is to explore the Gulf of California and Sea of Cortez for six to seven months.
She also plans to do some consulting while on the boat.
“There is a lot of downtime and this amazing tool called Starlink that allows me to stay connected from anywhere in the world,” Rosen said. “That was one of the requirements I had before retiring with my husband and traveling, and he made sure it was on the catamaran and ready to roll.”
She plans to stay active in the chamber, as an advisory board member, and attend chamber events while she is in town.
Rosen and her husband Mike have been planning to sail into retirement for five years. They made a trip to Santa Catalina Island in early July.
“My whole career has been around deadlines, schedules, meetings and emails, and it will be different not having this structure,” she said. “I really enjoyed the first week of sailing around Catalina with no itinerary of when we had to be anywhere. We made a few deviations in our journey, knowing we didn’t have to get back for anything.
“However, with Starlink, I was able to stay connected to the chamber so if they had any questions they could reach me.
“Working and leading have always been enjoyable and it was a tough decision to retire,” Rosen said. “While the idea of retirement looked good five years ago when we put the plan in place, the closer we got to retirement, it was a bit scary although exciting. Thus a sabbatical for a few years to sail as much of the world possible while we are still young and healthy.”
If all goes well with the first journey through the Sea of Cortez, Rosen and her husband would like to sail further south to Panama and head over to the Caribbean in late 2024.
From SDSU to Fifth Avenue
A graduate of San Diego State University with a bachelor’s degree in public administration with a business and marketing emphasis, Rosen said that she had planned on becoming a lawyer but changed her mind after taking a year off from school to go into advertising sales.
Her early business experience was with Sutton Industries and Capital Cities Inc.
The experience reinforced a few key points. She learned early on the value of building relationships and gaining the trust of colleagues and customers.
Rosen also learned to view sales through the lens of a solution provider: “You are not selling an object. You always present a solution to a challenge the customer is facing.”
Sales turned out to be so lucrative that Rosen decided against going to law school. She went to work at the San Diego Union-Tribune, eventually going into management. While there, she developed an interest in business organizations after working with the Gaslamp Quarter Association.
In the 1990s, redevelopment of the Gaslamp Quarter was still in progress. It was no longer a dingy district with businesses serving sailors on leave; it had yet to emerge as the slick entertainment district teeming with crowds. There were no baseball fans; Petco Park was still in the future.
Rosen got to know and work with entrepreneurs such as restaurateurs Ingrid Croce, David Cohn and Eric VanDenHaute.
“They were all involved with growing the Gaslamp Quarter Association and gave me the opportunity to be involved with them,” she recalled. “This gave me the opportunity to work with small business and really understand what their challenges were and develop some creative strategies.
“The Paladion was also downtown and it was fun working with Louis Vuitton, Tiffany and Company, Versace, Cartier and Alfred Dunhill with their display advertising needs.”
The View from North County
After a little more than 14 years with the Union-Tribune, Rosen moved on to her first stint at heading a troubled organization, the Escondido Downtown Business Association, which the city was then threatening to dissolve.
Rosen convinced city leaders to keep the association after she met with every downtown business to determine what they needed from the association.
Four years later, another door opened for her. The San Diego North Chamber of Commerce needed her help.
After taking the helm as president and CEO, one of the first things Rosen did was renegotiate the organization’s lease. Then, after COVID hit, she right-sized the office again, going from a suite that had five private offices, a conference room and a board room to one with a small conference room and three private offices, one of which is kept open for members to use.
One of Rosen’s guiding philosophies is that everything that the chamber does has to be relevant to a majority of its members. “Every dime we spend, every event or program we implement must be relevant to 75% or more of our members,” she said. “If it’s not, we don’t do it.”
Today the organization she rescued is thriving. NSDBC is one of only six California chambers to have a highly coveted five-star rating from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, a distinguished accreditation earned by only 3% of chambers nationwide.
During Rosen’s tenure, NSDBC has broadened its reach to include companies well south of Interstate 8. The organization also has a reputation of creating value for its members, boasting a retention rate of 87% and an engagement rate of 93%.
Crayons and Competition
Rosen used her acceptance speech at the CEO of the Year Awards to share several things she has learned.
One lesson came early in life.
“Many of my report cards that came home said Debra has some challenges when following directions,” she recalled. “The directions were to color inside the lines but she always goes outside of the lines and will often add her own elements.
“Well, it turns out that is one of the things that were a blessing because when you face challenges in leading an organization, you must think creatively and not follow the status quo.”
She also spoke on the subject of competition.
“Some of us love it, some hate it, but one thing I have learned is that it makes you better. It brings out the best in us; it forces us to push ourselves, to be more creative and more innovative.
“As the great philosopher Aristotle once said, ‘Through competition, we improve ourselves.’
“Competition also teaches us valuable life lessons. It teaches us how to lose gracefully, how to be a good sport, and how to handle rejection. And let’s face it; rejection is just a part of life. Unless you’re Tom Brady, then you never experience it.”
She elaborated on her thoughts when reached after the event.
Learning about the nature of competition early in her career “allowed me to develop strategic ways to accomplish anything,” she said. “It has never been a desire to impact the competition negatively but rather make ourselves more relevant to the market we are all trying to capture.
“Competition has allowed me the ability to really understand the weakness and strengths of competitors, allowing us to compete at a different level, making us stronger and more relevant to the marketplace.”
“As crazy as this sounds, I like competition,” Rosen said. “It makes the game more interesting and makes us all stronger while developing new strategies or fine tuning the ones we have.”
She also recalled her mentors and the people, who have influenced her thinking, including:
David Powell. “He believed in me and gave me an opportunity to go into advertising sales right out of college. Dave taught me the strategy behind sales as a 20-something employee just out of college.”
Gary Moore. “An incredible leader at the San Diego Union-Tribune. He taught me the value of relationships and really listening to others and understanding what they are saying. He also allowed me the autonomy to try things that had not been tried at the paper before and were successful.”
Larry Prior, former CAO, County of San Diego. “Larry is one of the best strategists I have ever known. He taught me how strategy works and how to use it to achieve outcomes that benefit everybody.”
Brad Holiday, retired CFO of Callaway Golf and Yutaka Honzawa, retired CFO of Sony Corporation. “Both taught me that every number has a story and once you understand the story, it is easier to manage and tell it.”
Mike Fasulo, retired president/COO of Sony and Neal Manowitz, current CEO/COO Sony. “It’s all about the people. Take care of your people and they will follow you anywhere. People are the backbone of your company and if your team is happy, your customers will be happy.”
Deborah Dugan, (former) first female CEO of The Recording Academy. “NEVER, EVER give up or leave your values at the door. Your moral compass is something no one can ever take from you. Always stand up for what is right.”
On receiving her award June 27, Rosen closed her remarks with the sentiment, “It’s OK to color outside of the lines and when life gives you lemons, make a margarita. Cheers!”
IN HER OWN WORDS:
“It is an honor and I am humbled to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award and celebrate with all the CEO of the Year Nominees. There are many people that believed in and inspired me over the years, teaching me how to be the best leader possible in this ever-changing world. As a leader, you are always being watched, and watching others has been a great source of learning for me.”
