Leading in Times of Challenge with Suzanna De Baca

As president and group publisher at Business Publications Corporation, Inc., Suzanna de Baca brings 21 years of executive leadership experience to her role serving Greater Des Moines’ (DSM’s) business community. Previously, de Baca served as president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of the Heartland, VP of wealth strategies for Ameriprise Financial Services and president of Private Capital Solutions Group.

Within the community, de Baca has spent time on a variety of community boards, including for Planned Parenthood, the Chrysalis Foundation, numerous women’s funds, major health care organizations and alumni.

Suzanna De Baca Leadership Tips

One of the largest challenges de Baca faced as a young leader was 9/11 while working on Wall Street. De Baca, whose office at the time was two blocks from the World Trade Center, immediately focused on contacting her teammates to make sure they were okay. From there, she helped everyone deal with the intense emotions that stemmed from the experience. She says that humanity was the most important part of leadership on that day, and she says it is usually the most important no matter the crisis.

Since that time, de Baca has developed more awareness and coping mechanisms as she has experienced more challenging times throughout her career. Now, she tries to practice self-care to make sure she can effectively lead. Getting enough sleep, eating right, exercising each day, practicing mindfulness are all things she focuses on to stay the course and remain clearheaded. By doing these things herself, she can authentically say to her team to do them as well. 

The Leading in Times of Challenge podcast was previously produced by the Greater Des Moines Partnership. To learn more about community events and leadership, check out The Partnership blog.