How Do I… Turn Company Culture into a Growth Engine? w/ Emily Yueh

Subtitle

From outsider to industry leader: how authentic leadership and organizational “health” drive performance.

Episode Overview

In this episode of How Do I?, Matt Putra sits down with Emily Yueh, President at Sneex and former COO of David Yurman, where she led a 25% growth turnaround and international expansion. Drawing on 15 years as a McKinsey partner, Emily shares a rare, practical framework for transforming culture from a vague buzzword into a measurable business advantage. She breaks down how to identify when culture is capping growth, how to fix it, and how to scale teams globally without losing alignment or performance. If you’re a founder or executive looking to drive healthy, sustainable growth—this one’s for you.

Emily Explains

• How to move from an outsider to an insider in leadership
• Why culture and organizational “health” directly impact performance
• The difference between compliance and true alignment
• How to measure cultural health beyond employee satisfaction
• What makes international expansion succeed or fail
• Why the best culture champions are always your top performers
• 
  

Timestamps

00:00 – Matt’s intro and why this conversation matters

01:30 – Emily’s journey from China to leading global brands

05:10 – How education and curiosity shaped her career path

10:40 – Lessons from 15 years at McKinsey

18:00 – Feeling like an outsider at the top

20:30 – Culture as a silent cap on growth

22:00 – How to diagnose “organizational health”

26:00 – Data-driven ways to assess team health

29:30 – Why satisfaction ≠ performance

31:00 – Designing the right interventions for culture change

34:00 – How to connect culture and profit

36:00 – Structuring teams for global expansion

38:30 – The balance between global consistency and local flexibility

41:00 – Corporate vs local decision-making

42:00 – Final reflections and how to reach Emily

Follow Emily Yueh

Website: sneex.com

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/emilyyueh

About Emily’s company

Sneex is a leading luxury brand known for its commitment to craftsmanship, innovation, and global growth. Under Emily Yueh’s leadership, the company focuses on building high-performing, resilient cultures that scale internationally without losing their creative edge.

What Emily shared:

• Focus on organizational health as a measurable driver of performance
• Link culture initiatives directly to business outcomes
• Champion growth through authentic leadership and alignment
• 
  

About How Do I?

The How Do I? Podcast gives you 60 minutes with industry experts who teach their expertise to eCommerce founders and business operators. Each episode centers on a single "How do I...?" question, providing actionable tactics you can implement immediately.

Host: Matt Putra, Founder & CEO of Eightx

Our Sponsors

Eightx helps eCommerce, CPG, and SaaS companies scale profitably with expert CFO services and financial architecture. Founded by Matt Putra, Eightx specializes in cash flow optimization, financial planning, and strategic growth guidance for businesses between $5–80MM in annual revenue or venture-backed companies. Their team of experienced CFOs provides the knowledge and proven strategies that make scaling, growing, and lasting effortless.

Services include:

• Fractional CFO and financial leadership

• Cash flow management and optimization

• Strategic financial planning and forecasting

• Marketing ROI analysis and optimization

• Operational efficiency improvements

Website – eightx.co