The .CO Icons & Innovators Series showcases interviews with the big thinkers, crazy dreamers, rule breakers and risk takers who spend their days breaking through boundaries, creating new possibilities, and transforming current realities to build the future online – on .CO, of course!
Meet Randi Zuckerberg of DotComplicated.co
Mother, wife and CEO of social media firm Zuckerberg Media – Randi truly does it all! Businesswoman and former Director of Market Development and Spokeswoman for Facebook, Randi Zuckerberg is now heading a digital lifestyle website, DotComplicated.co.
Who is Randi Zuckerberg?
Randi is a New York Times Bestselling Author, the founder and CEO of Zuckerberg Media, and Editor-in-Chief of Dot Complicated, an online community helping us navigate and “untangle” our wired, wonderful lives. Randi loves to innovate. As an early executive at Facebook, she created and ran the social media pioneer’s marketing programs, coming up with the idea for Facebook Live video segments during a hackathon. Last November, she launched her first books with HarperCollins, Dot Complicated and Dot, an illustrated children’s book. She believes that our best ideas and memories are created when we’re using technology mindfully or completely unplugged – so that’s why she’s trying to find a balance between her digital and real life, while inspiring others to do the same.
What are you trying to accomplish with your work?
I want to shine the light on technology and entrepreneurship in mainstream media to inspire more young students – especially girls – to pursue careers in engineering and entrepreneurship. Technology enhances our lives in so many ways, but it also introduces a whole new set of complications. In a world where we’re expected to be connected 24/7, it’s easy to get lost and let our devices own us, rather than the other way around. I want to help people navigate this balance and remember to use tech mindfully and purposefully, so we can live happier and more productive lives – both online and off.
What does innovation mean to you?
Someone once told me that if you don’t feel like vomiting from nerves at least once a day, you’re not pushing yourself hard enough. To me, innovation means leaping outside your comfort zone, not accepting “no” for an answer, and touching everything you create with your own authentic sparkle.
Why .CO?
We hosted Dot Complicated on a .CO domain because our mission is to simplify and untangle our wired, modern lives – and we thought having one less letter to type would help save our audience some time in their already busy day! But seriously, the .CO team has been tremendously helpful and supportive– I’ve been thrilled with our choice of .CO.
What’s next for you?
We’re continuing to grow the Dot Complicated community across channels and around the world. We are planning new outposts for ourselves on television and radio in the coming year. We’ve also started working to help brands reach our tech-savvy audience with creative and differentiated integrations.
