The Moxie Podcast
Conversations with entrepreneurs on how they got in the game and how they stay in the game. Sure, we get into stuff you could improve in your business, but primarily, we're here for the story of how even our 7-year old selves were prepping for this bossless life.
The Moxie Podcast
"I'm listening" with Moxie's new CEO Scarlett Riu
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Listening is an under-rated skill. It takes a willingness to close your own mouth and put aside your own thoughts in honor of someone else. Scarlett Riu, the new CEO of Moxie, is listening. Her own thoughts and ideas aside while she listens to the Moxie community and what they need from Moxie.
In this episode, Scarlett shares her approach to leadership, starting with empathy, curiosity, and a community-first mindset. She’s planning to listen deeply to the Moxie community, identify real pain points, and build solutions that genuinely serve freelancers and solopreneurs.
Hear about Scarlett's reveals her 30-year journey through tech - from QA to leadership - and also her favorite coffee.
We talk about:
- The underrated value of QA in the tech industry and why it’s a crucial skill for every developer.
- How Scarlett’s diverse background, from blood banking systems to RV life, shapes her innovative leadership style.
- Her plans for building a product that reduces admin complexity, so freelancers can focus on what they love.
- Her strategy of conducting a "listening tour" to truly understand community needs before implementing change.
- Why a community-centered approach creates opportunities for independence, growth, and empowerment in freelancing.
Why does this matter? Because the next phase of Moxie’s growth depends on authentic connection and understanding user pain—and Scarlett’s approach could reshape how tech companies serve their communities.
Perfect for entrepreneurs, community builders, and future-focused tech leaders, this conversation will leave you inspired by the power of following your intuition while staying tuned into the voices of those you serve.
First thing is gonna be that you need to understand if I'm listening. Um just want to make sure that we're building something that is gonna be used and kind of return to that core of building for the community.
SPEAKER_01Hello, Moxie family. I'm so excited that I get to be the one to introduce you to our new CEO, Scarlett. Uh today is actually we're recording this on her very first official day. So we're really, we're really doing it. So, Scarlett, give us um just a quick intro. Uh, tell us your name, uh, maybe like a quick bit about your background, like what things you've done in the past, and uh what time zone are you in? People need to know.
SPEAKER_00Hey, well, my name is Scarlett Ryu. I have been um in technology for over 30 years now. Um started from QA, grew through to where I am right now. I uh ended up just jumping to different positions because I just love to learn about all the different pieces of the business. Um I'm in the East Coast, East Coast girl, and so Eastern time and what else do you want to know?
SPEAKER_01I think that's great. I love I think QA is such an underrated like skill set.
SPEAKER_00So every to me, every single developer should start at least six months just doing QA so they can understand um as well as you know, some of the things we'll talk about.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. I I think that it's you know, I feel like that is a little bit of what I did when I started at Moxie was we'd, you know, we'd like release features and then they'd be like, can you go try this? And be like, oh yeah, I am the everyman here. I don't know what. Yep. Not a developer. I am happy to go in and break stuff.
SPEAKER_00Yes, it's like you know exactly what you want to do, and you will do it that way. And a developer has no idea that you would ever think to do keystroke in that order. And you're like, but that is how everybody does it. So why don't you know?
SPEAKER_01Yes, I love that. Um, okay, one more quick question. What is your favorite um cereal or breakfast item if you're not a cereal person? Coffee.
SPEAKER_00Just like a rarely breakfast. No, I um I I'm a sweet, sweet kind of woman. I love my my current favorite is the dulce de leche from Bustelo with some baby cream in there, and and that's I just have that for my whole morning. I actually just had an extra cup because we were gonna get on, and so I want a little a little boost. Um, so it's like a little dessert. So that one's at the grocery store when I was um down in Atlanta. I was able to get this other one. It's like Santa's White Christmas, and that was just magical. And but Santa has left the building where I am now, so I am back to my roots with my considential.
SPEAKER_01That's amazing. Um, okay, so a lot of folks kind of start down this entrepreneurial path, uh, freelancing path uh with a side hustle. Did you ever have a side hustle? And if so, maybe what was it or what was your first one?
SPEAKER_00Um I didn't actually do side hustles. My side hustles were my kids when they were growing up. Um, and then I was like always obsessed with whatever I was working on. So it's just like uh in between, like, all right, I'm gonna get up extra early so I can dig into code at home while the kids are sleeping, and then I'll they get up, I get them off to school, and then I'm back, and you know, this is when you had to you didn't have all the uh remote connection, so then I would take it into work and then plug it in and upload so that it would compile. Um but I did do uh contracting work, but it was as you know, kind of full-time. So it was a full-time freelance contracting. Did a um at a company that we worked in blood banking, um created um a system so that we could share blood resources because you would donate, it would be in one area, and you would have an excess, but other areas were short, so it was a way for them on the internet back in late 90s to exchange like hey, and and like I'll buy that from you. We we got this blood and pop it over, and so that was really uh really interesting to understand how that business worked.
SPEAKER_01That's that is so cool. That's such a cool donor donate blood people that's needed. That's amazing. Like, not I like that is for sure one of those things that technology solves well, but I would not have thought like, oh, this is a place that you know needs you know a developer. That's that's very cool.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yes, yeah, and I also did some contract for when I had taken time off um or R Ving. And I was the director of RV operations because basically my wife was working um remote, so sh you know, basically she got to be fun bread winner, and I was just planning every single route, all the campgrounds and um all of that, making sure the Wi-Fi, the you know, the hotspots were gonna be good, and just struggling through all that. And then and then I ended up um I was like, well, I should do something because there was only so long I could not work. Um, and so I had jumped into some communities that they you know, the side hustles or they're doing their freelance business, they're trying to start their own businesses, and got connected with um somebody had built a campground booking platform. And so I started you know freelancing with them, and that just turned into a long time uh gig where they ended up just bringing me in to help build out the sport um and the customer success and and then they got acquired, so that's where I'd been um dealing with that. But they were just fabulous, the campground business, those folks are they were so nice, especially I spent a good portion with the call center business type and just like the difference of um it's like oh well okay, it's it's not working. If you can get to that, it'd be awesome. Whereas call center, they're ready to burn everything down, so it's like the world has come to an end and you must solve it immediately. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01We always say at our house for my kids, like outside is magic. And I think that that just showcases that that the people who are outdoors working also on campground stuff have that kind of like magic feel, I think. Yes, yes. That's amazing. So as you get started here with Moxie, what is the first thing that you hope Moxie users hear from you about either leadership or vision or both as you get started?
SPEAKER_00Um well, the the first thing is gonna be um that you need to understand as I'm listening. Um, I've actually been lurking for a couple of weeks in the different places because trying to get a feel for what's been happening, where uh boxy's falling short, where it's being successful. I'm looking to see those those those pain points. Um, I don't want to come in and just like, oh, we need to do all this, and then I break a bunch of stuff that actually is working. Um, I'd rather focus on understand what's not working, um, what is working, and get ready to um fix what's not working. Basically, I just want to make sure that we're building something that is gonna be used and kind of return to that um the the core of building for the community and understanding what the community needs and putting that um into place. Um so there's some things that I will need to be catching up with to understand what those are. I'm gonna be doing lots of reaching out um to talk directly to the community and kind of move forward with that.
SPEAKER_01That's amazing. I think it's such an important thing to come in and listen. You know, I I've been at several companies and lots of different styles of leadership and lots of different contexts, but the folks that have come in the best kind of do a bit of a listening tour, you know, like let's hear from all of these different areas and see like what's the real need? Like, I think I know, but there's no way to know from the outside. And so I really appreciate that, you know, you've been doing that. Like, um, like uh intentional lurking.
SPEAKER_00Yes, yes. And that's like I've heard from you, I've I've heard from Jeff. Um, although Jeff was like just asked them, which is great. Um because he's like it coming in from the outside, I might see some things that are um different from what he's thinking. So that's that's just kind of where it needs to be. And we'll see if everything kind of lines up with what we're doing. That's excellent.
SPEAKER_01Okay, let's talk about, you know, if you have the chance, well, you do have the chance to address Moxie users as a whole, kind of directly. What's something that you want to say to them in kind of this exact moment of transition?
SPEAKER_00Um basically uh you know, coming in, understanding that the company exists because of them, because of the community that was built. Um it's been able to grow to the to the point where it's at. Um I just want to continue with that as kind of the the through line of what we're doing is we're building for that community. We're building for the freelancers, the solopreneurs, the people that want that independence. Um things are changing, things are getting upset with how we would normally do things, and we just all want a little bit of independence. Um, we want to know where our meals are coming from. We want to have control over what we do. And this the option of freelancing is now a lot easier as far as tools and the ability to do it, but it's also getting a lot harder to put into place to find the clients that do what you need to do. So it's like if we have this to remove the complexity of how do I build and manage a project, then you can keep focus on what you do best and um work with your with your own clients, customers with whatever you do and not have to worry as much about admin stuff.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, we talk a lot about how most, you know, many of our users are unemployable, not in the sense that, you know, we could not be employed, but we don't want to be. More in the like, I have spent so many people have spent time building someone else's dream and they're ready to, you know, have what you're talking about, that freedom and building your own dream and you know, getting your work to kind of come around your life, um, and not the other way around. So I love that. Yep. Um, so as we wrap up here, um, let's talk about that life side. Um tell us about something that you have going on that is not work or multiple things, however, however many things you want to talk about.
SPEAKER_00Um I family, I I love spending time with family. Um and uh hiking. I love to go hiking. I have to find the right um spots around here because I just keep going back to the the state park that's right there. Um but explore some more of that. When I was out in Colorado living, that was you know, it'd go first thing in the morning and you know, five o'clock hit the trail as soon as the sun is coming up. Me and my dog, I think that's part of why I kind of he's old now. Um he's over 13 and he can't do that. I can't take him more than a mile. Um and even that's probably pushing it for him. So I only do that a couple times a week. Um so I think I'd feel guilty if I go for those big hikes with him. He knows. He knows he knows he smells it when I come home. He's like, Where were you? And I'm like, listen, buddy, you are no longer the little puppy. Oh, I cannot carry you when you can't make the trail. So gotta stay home. Um where you've been. He does, he knows. Yeah, but those are the biggest things I just uh enjoy being around the family.
SPEAKER_01Well, thank you so much for your time. I I feel so excited about this season. I, you know, like Moxie has been so much fun to be a part of, and I do feel like so privileged to have gotten to be a part of it for you know this the kind of initial build years. Now I feel really excited to get to be part of this transition into the grow years. Um as as we keep you know iterating and innovating, and I could not be more excited to have you at the home.