While Kate Gulliver started her career as an analyst at McKinsey & Company, it wasn’t until her post-MBA work at private investment firm Bain Capital that she started thinking about the career path that led her to Wayfair’s C-suite.
Now the home decor and furnishings retailer’s CFO and chief administration officer, Gulliver credits McKinsey for the analytical and communication skills she’s used throughout her 20-year career. It was at Bain, though, that she became interested in guiding and influencing a company’s success long-term as an operator rather than as an investor.
Networking led Gulliver to Wayfair in 2014, where she first applied her consulting and investing experience to building the online retailer’s investor relations function as the company prepared for an IPO. She led IR for two years before becoming global head of talent for six more. Gulliver was named CFO and chief administrative officer in 2022.
Kate Gulliver
CFO and CAO, Wayfair
First CFO position: 2022
Notable previous employers:
- Bain Capital
- McKinsey & Company
This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.
SANDRA BECKWITH: Why did you leave Bain Capital to run investor relations at Wayfair?
KATE GULLIVER: At Bain, I learned the value of investing in exceptional companies with incredible teams. While many people have great ideas, it’s how they execute those ideas that ultimately creates sustained value. When I became interested in becoming an operator, I knew from Bain that I only wanted to make that career change with an exceptional company and people.
After meeting Wayfair’s team and learning more about their business, I knew it offered the type of company and team I was looking for.
As for the IR role, they were planning to IPO the company and needed someone to set up, build and lead investor relations. I was willing to join this business in any role, but I knew that the head of IR was a smart fit for my background. It was also a fantastic way to learn about the company.
Talk to me about how/why you went from IR to HR to administration and finance at Wayfair. Was this strategic, or more organic?
I had no idea when I took the investor relations role that eight years later, I’d end up as CFO. That wasn’t the plan. I’ve always thought about my work as: What’s the next right thing for me to do? Who am I going to get to work for and with? The chief people officer reported to the CFO, someone I was already learning a lot from, and I wanted to continue that learning.
What got me excited about that particular position, though, was a conversation with our CEO, who said, “What I think about all day long is: Do I have the right people in the right roles? It’s the most important thing to me right now, and it’s the thing that I believe is the biggest limiter on our growth.”
I thought, if this is what the CEO is most focused on, what he thinks is most critical for our growth, why wouldn’t I want to be engaging on that problem?
Was becoming CFO ever a goal for you?
I’ve always liked looking at a business through the lens of the financials, but it wasn’t as if I had a plan to be a CFO.
When our CFO shared that he was going to retire and thought I could step into his role, it dawned on me that it might be my path.
You’re on the board of directors at PVH. How does that enhance or support your work at Wayfair as CFO? Would you recommend it as a career strategy to those hoping to be CFOs?
Absolutely. I’m very fortunate that Wayfair supports it. It makes you better at your job in finance because we rarely get to see another organization of a similar scale and stage up close like I do as a board member.
I see how their finance organization operates, what technology they’re using, and how they’re thinking about issues like regulatory changes. All of it helps me in my job, and hopefully, I am also helping them with theirs.
From a career standpoint, what’s your biggest regret?
I was fortunate at McKinsey to work in one of the firm’s India offices for six months. In retrospect, I probably would have spent a full year working internationally, perhaps in China, before going to business school.
I think it’s so valuable to have that breadth of experience. You’re exposed to how different businesses operate, how different cultures and governments work, and how to navigate new environments.
What advice would you give to others in finance hoping to become CFOs?
Get broad business experience. If you’re sitting in the finance organization and get asked to run a P&L or a geography somewhere, take that opportunity. You’re going to learn something from it that you will bring back, ultimately, to the CFO seat. My advice is don’t be afraid to move laterally to get those opportunities.
