Linda Zhang

Guy Kawasaki:
I'm Guy Kawasaki, and this is Remarkable People. First, let me digress. I love cars. This isn't a midlife crisis kind of thing for me, it's been true since I was growing up in a poor part of Hawaii, and has never stopped. In fact, my love of cars has been a powerful motivational factor throughout my life.
Today's guest has one of the most interesting jobs in the entire automotive industry. Her name is Linda Zhang. She is the chief engineer of the Ford F-150 Lightning. In the twenty-five years that she has worked for Ford, she has served in engineering, strategy, business development, and manufacturing positions. Linda rightfully earned a spot on the Automotive News list of Rising Stars for 2021.
She manages the engineering process of the electric version of the most popular truck in the United States, the Ford F-150. In my humble opinion, when all the dust settles, the introduction of this version of the F-150 is a pivotal moment in the automotive industry. Tied with, or at least second, to only the introduction of the Tesla.
Linda attended the University of Michigan, where she obtained a Bachelor's of Science in Engineering, a Master’s in Computer Engineering, and a Master’s of Business Administration. Linda's accomplishments carry even greater weight. The first time Linda ever rode a car was leaving the Detroit airport after arriving from China at the age of eight. Only in America could a girl from China manage one of the most red-blooded and macho vehicles made.
I'm Guy Kawasaki. This is Remarkable People. Forgive my fanboying because I love what Ford is doing, and here is Linda Zhang, a remarkable person from Detroit, Motor City, Michigan.
Prior to this interview, I used the Mustang Mach-E for a week, and I was blown away by the quality. I hope you don't take this as an insult because it is not made it as an insult, it's really the highest form of praise for me, which is, it really felt like a German car.
Linda Zhang:
Mach-E is a great vehicle. I have it as well. To be able to experience it, you're able to witness what electrification we can bring. I don't know in the German vehicles that you've driven, if you've done a lot of the EVs, but the electric vehicles are great. And I think Mach-E is a great execution of that and it really shows where Ford is going.
Guy Kawasaki:
My background is Apple and so when you look at Apple, you say, “Apple did Macintosh, and they did iPod, and iPhone, and iPad, and Apple store.” That's over twenty years or thirty years, but it seems like just in the last year and a half or So there's Bronco, Mach-E, Maverick, Ford 150, you guys are on a roll there. So my hat's off to you. Anyway, this was not meant as a fanboy episode.
Linda Zhang:
No, Ford's doing a lot in the space of electrification and we've started with a lot of our key products, the ones that are very recognizable for our customers. Whether it's Mustang Mach-E as the performance vehicle, whether it's Bronco as the off-roading vehicle, and then we've also got the commercial side covered too, with E-transit, with electrification, and now with F-150 Lightning, it is a great lineup and we've got a lot more to come. I know you've probably heard that Ford has announced over $30 billion worth of investment in electrification and self-driving. There's still a lot of ways to go, but we're really excited about the lineup and we're excited to hit the market running on all of this because this is a really pivotal point, I think, in electrification. And for us to bring out these key pillared products that our customers love, will help that migration and adoption of EVs in the industry.
Guy Kawasaki:
If I may back up a little, so tell me about how you got to where you are, starting in China.
Linda Zhang:
I was born in China, and I moved here when I was eight years old with my parents who were here for school, and grew up in Indiana, in West Lafayette, and then moved to Indianapolis, and then Michigan. And I went to U of M, University of Michigan that is, for my undergraduate and my graduate in engineering, my MBA degree as well, so I'm a big U of M fan.
And then from that point too, I was also already at Ford Motor Company, been here for twenty-five years, and worked on a lot of really great things, starting in manufacturing, then product development, and finance, and business development. And then lately with a lot of products ranging from Explorer to the Global Escape to F-150, and then, now, the F-150 Lightning.
Guy Kawasaki:
What was it like for an eight year old Chinese girl to grow up in Indiana and Michigan back then?
Linda Zhang:
It was great. I didn't know any better. For me, it was just growing up with a lot of really great friends and getting to do a lot of fun things, and some of them involved corn. My first job was actually a corn detasseler. Actually, it was like a co-op with middle school, but it was a lot of fun. I learned a lot about hard work.
Guy Kawasaki:
Were you a STEM girl?
Linda Zhang:
Yes, both my parents were engineers. So for me, engineering, science, math, they were all things that I basically grew up with, learning how to question things, and be curious about everything, and trying to solve how things worked, as well as how to make things possibly better.
Guy Kawasaki:
Back then, did a STEM girl stick out at school?
Linda Zhang:
For me, I don't think so because I grew up in a university town at West Lafayette. So with Purdue University right there, I had a lot of friends who also had at Purdue. And I think from that, a lot of science and math and engineering, and a lot of that was helped by the college town and environment, and really being able to leverage all that the university had to offer.
Guy Kawasaki:
Now here's the most important question, what was the first car that you owned?
Linda Zhang:
My first vehicle was a Ford Probe. It was my first new vehicle. I got that when I started at Ford, about twenty, twenty-four years ago, I would say, about a year after I started at Ford, I was able to get my new Ford Probe and it was a beautiful car. I loved it. The head lamps went up and down out of the hood and it was my first baby. Prior to that, just financially, I always had the used vehicles and whatever hand me downs we could get.
Guy Kawasaki:
All right. Does Ford have a program where employees get a deal? I hope it does. Apple does.
Linda Zhang:
Yeah. We definitely do. We have an employee and family plan, and friends and family plan as well.
Guy Kawasaki:
Good to know. What do you think Henry Ford would say about electric cars?
Linda Zhang:
I think he would be very excited. One of our first vehicles was electric, so I think from that perspective, he actually started the company with an electric car. And now we're just able to take the newest technology and being able to pack more power, more torque, into the vehicle and really get it out there to provide that elevated product, and actually, services and experience for our customer as well, with that electrification.
Guy Kawasaki:
What do you think is the weakest link in electric cars today?
Linda Zhang:
I think range anxiety is definitely something that our customers will initially struggle with, trying to understand what the vehicle can do for them from a range perspective. And that is one of the things that we've really focused on with our F-150 line, is making sure that we have really great features around range, whether it's intelligent range or distance to empty, or even being able to leverage the phone to help them plan out their trip with their trip planner. Being able to really use that and know that from that, that they're going to get accurate range from their vehicles, I think will really help.
In addition to that, Ford has access to the biggest charging network in North America with over 63,000 charge plugs, and I think that helps from an infrastructure perspective to really help that range. And then at home, with our level two charging on the extended range batteries, we're actually providing an eighty amp wall box to help charge the vehicle at night so that every morning you can leave your home with a fully charged vehicle.
That's one thing, I think from an adoption perspective, people will see some of the benefits that the electric vehicle can offer. Never having to go to a gas station, being able to wake up every morning with a vehicle full of energy to take you as far as you need to.
I know for me, having had a Mach-E for over a year now, I love being able to wake in the morning and know that regardless where I'm needing to go, I'm starting out with a full range. I'm not having to stop at a gas station in the middle of the cold winter here in Michigan, and having to charge up. So that's one thing that I would say is a positive on range that a lot of our customers won't know yet until they get into an electric vehicle and really being able to experience it and getting aware to the positives and the potential range anxiety that they might have thought there would've been.
Guy Kawasaki:
I understand that completely, but what if you live in an apartment building? What if your house doesn't have a 220 line near where you need to be? What if you don't want to spend the money to put in level two charging, and all you're doing is sticking it into a 110? My experience with the Mach-E was, overnight I would get about fifty or sixty miles.
Linda Zhang:
Yeah. I think you have to have the right infrastructure to be able to adopt the EV. What we're trying to do is make it as easy as possible, but you're right, there are some things that the customer may have to do in terms of upgrades to be able to get there. I did mention earlier also that Ford has access to North America's largest public charging, with over 63,000 charging plugs, whether it's level two or level three. So I think a lot of that will help as well, and I know like around Michigan at least, there's been so much development in terms of charging.
A lot of the garages that we have around here, or parking structures, even at the movie theater, for example, there's free charging there. So in a way, I think if you really want an EV, and you can't do it at your apartment, you can still do it elsewhere.
Guy Kawasaki:
Until I had the Mach-E I never experienced this, so I had no idea this is what happens. So maybe you can explain to my listeners, why is it that the first eighty percent is easy, and the last twenty is hard and long? What's the reason for that?
Linda Zhang:
It's actually the same thing as your phone battery. So you mentioned earlier that you're an Apple guy. The phone battery is kind of set up the same way where we want to slow down, like in the middle, so even at the beginning, the zero to ten, we want to slowly charge it, for the health of the battery. And then in the middle you can ramp up that charging speed quite a bit, and then toward the end, you want to taper it off again. All of it is to really protect the battery and to protect your vehicle, to make sure that the durability and the longevity and the reliability of the vehicle is maintained. It's pretty much a battery industry kind of thing, even at the phone level.
Guy Kawasaki:
Okay. What incentives have worked to get people to buy electric cars?
Linda Zhang:
Honestly, for us, a lot of what we've tried to do is provide an “and solution” for our customer. For F-150, we know that our customers depend on it for productivity and its capability. So it was very important for us to make sure that we had that and provide our customers an “and solution” of that productivity and capability, and other features and capabilities that electrification can bring.
So really giving them that better product. And I think when you give customers a better product, a better solution, then it doesn't take a lot of incentives. It's just great business, and it's great product so that's what we've tried to do with both, on the product side and the services side, so that our customers can get more with this F-150 Lightning.
Guy Kawasaki:
So speaking of “and features”, so just take me inside a manufacturer and how things like this come to be. And I cite two things. So first of all, how did someone decide that we should be able to power your house from your truck when your house doesn't have power? That is, the power goes in the opposite direction. And a much simpler example is, the console in the Ford 150 can convert to kind of a desk. So how do ideas like that percolate? Does Linda come up with an idea one day and go back into the engineering meeting and say, “Hey, you know what? We should make at the console convert to a laptop desk? What do you think about that, guys?”
Linda Zhang:
It happens with a great team. We have a great team at Ford that thinks through a lot of these things, and also asks a lot of the right questions. So some of it is talking to our customers and understanding some of their pain points, understanding what it is that they imagine better with the product and then taking some of those ideas, as well as ideas that we get within the company, to try to make those ideas come to real life. And to get it to the point where we can get it to our customers to improve their lives, whether it's providing them backup power for their home, or as you said, a desk for our commercial vehicle customers to be able to work, or even any customers, who's just waiting for their kid at a soccer game or soccer practice, to be able to pick them up and want to get a little bit more done.
Guy Kawasaki:
Is it conceivable that one clever person on the engineering team can say, “I have an idea, why don't we convert the console to a desk?” And the rest of you will say, “Oh yeah, good idea.” And, badda-bing, badda-bang, four or five years later, it's in the truck?
Linda Zhang:
Hopefully sooner than four or five years, but yes, we do that all the time.
Guy Kawasaki:
Now, another example, I just love getting into the mindset of how manufacturers work, so let's talk about your frunk.
Linda Zhang:
Yes, mega power frunk, one of my favorite things.
Guy Kawasaki:
So your frunk, I saw an electric Ford 150 when it was here in Palo Alto, and I was told that two sets of golf clubs could fit in there. Tell me how the sequence works, did your engineers design the frunk and design the front end, and at the end, some marketer discovered, “Hey, two sets of golf clubs can fit in there.” Or, were the engineers at the start trying, “Listen guys, and gals, we want to be able to say that two sets of golf clubs can fit in here so make the frunk work that big.” So which way does it go?
Linda Zhang:
Yeah, it's the latter. We had a target to be able to fit two golf clubs in there. Again, this was a really great feature, great content in the vehicle, that we did a lot of research work on with our customers. Trying to understand what it is that they would want to fit in here, and then making sure that we could fit it in there, and design the vehicle to ensure that it did that. So in that case, the two golf clubs was very important.
In addition to that, our customers told us they wanted as much space as we could give them. And they said, “We don't even need it to be symmetrical. We just want as much space as you can give us.” And that's what we did. We made sure that we can fit as much as possible, 400 liters.
And then not only that, because it's a truck, they told us, “Don't just give us the space, give us the payload to be able to put heavier items in there too, put balloons in there.” So we worked very hard to make sure we could get 400 pounds of payload in there as well. And then, also from that, they said, “Hey, can you get me some power up here? This is a great potential space for tailgating, now in the frunk, in the front of the vehicle.” So we did that, and then we also added bin for ice and a drain, and the ideas just kept flowing. This space is just so magnificent.
Guy Kawasaki:
So the Lighting has a zero sixty speed of mid-four seconds.
Linda Zhang:
That's right.
Guy Kawasaki:
Right. Which is remarkable.
Linda Zhang:
Yes. It's a lot of fun, and those numbers are interesting because you think about it, and you're like, “Oh wow, that's a really low number.” But when you experience the weight of this truck, and being in it, and the size of it, and how fast it goes, that experience is something that has, for anybody that's been in it, they've told me that's such a surprising feel. And then not only that, the nimbleness of the vehicle, but the response time of being able to accelerate, decelerate, passing, all of those elements, we've really made sure we built in.
In addition to that, the drive experience is awesome because we've made sure that, from a weight distribution perspective with the battery down low in the vehicle, that low center of gravity, with a balanced approach, with the batteries, and the dual motors, and then our all new rear independent suspension, giving it that, again, even more elevated ride and handling, really just helps tremendously. So it's just a fun vehicle to ride in and drive in.
Guy Kawasaki:
Okay Linda, you don't have to sell every minute.
Linda Zhang:
I'm not selling. I'm just telling you how awesome it is. I tell my friends this too.
Guy Kawasaki:
Let me be a bit of a devil's advocate, okay?
Linda Zhang:
Sure.
Guy Kawasaki:
In the real world, does truly zero to sixty in four and a half seconds matter? Not really, not for a contractor, not somebody pulling a boat, et cetera, et cetera. But is there a trade off? If I said to you, “Okay, make it zero to sixty in six seconds.” Could I gain something else? Some distance, some cost effectiveness? What did I tradeoff for being as fast as a Porsche, zero to sixty?
Linda Zhang:
The zero to sixty is great, but in addition to that, you're also getting that near instant torque. So you mentioned the towing. Towing is great in this vehicle too because of that near instant torque. You're basically towing ASAP. But a lot of that that you're mentioning, it's just in the architecture of our vehicle. There's no downside to it.
It's not like a trade off in too many ways. For us, it was just the way that our battery set up, the way that our motor set up, it just provides you with that and we've tuned it to be the best that it can with this architecture, and that's how we got to the mid-four seconds. We're really very excited about it. And again, it's one of those things that, you get in the vehicle, and that experience is just something that, it's almost not natural.
Guy Kawasaki:
I'd say, zero to sixty in four and a half seconds, completely quiet, in a truck, is not a natural experience, yes.
Linda Zhang:
But it's a great experience.
Guy Kawasaki:
Down girl, down girl. Okay. Do you consider a plugin, is that an on ramp to total electrification? Or is that a cop out?
Linda Zhang:
I think there's tradeoffs to all of it. The nice thing with the hybrid, it does provide a really great vehicle also and we actually have it for the F-150. So it just gives our customers that range of whatever they might be comfortable with. You mentioned earlier, the range anxiety. If you're really that worried about range anxiety, or if you're needing to tow more, haul more, then a gas or a hybrid is a great solution too.
Part of what we're trying to do with the F-150 Lightning is to provide our customers with more landscape, more array for them to be able to choose from. And if the battery electric works for our customers because they love what electrification has to offer them, then we want them to take that. If hybrid is what they want, because they want to be able to benefit both from the gas and the electric and use both, then that's a middle ground. And then, gas is also great too, for a lot of other reasons. We even have a diesel, so really trying to give our customers that range of choice so they can pick whatever best suits their lives.
Guy Kawasaki:
You may perceive this as a real softball question, okay? So I want you to control yourself and not go too crazy.
Linda Zhang:
Okay.
Guy Kawasaki:
Okay, you promise me?
Linda Zhang:
I promise.
Guy Kawasaki:
Because this is a serious question, I'm almost afraid to ask you this question, but do you think that when all the dust settles, that the F-150 Lightning will be considered more important than the Tesla for the electrification of cars?
Linda Zhang:
I love my F-150 Lightning. It's a great product. We're taking something that has been cherished by Americans and Canadians, as North America as a whole, and taking that best-selling product, that product our customers are so passionate about, and really putting evidence behind it that it can be tough, and it can do what a truck is meant to do. So I think it's going to do a lot for electrification and it's going to help with the pivotal point that we're at in terms of EV adoption, and trying to really get the core customer, American customers, into, and maybe even considering an EV, whereas they might not have been able to consider it before.
And what Ford's doing with the Mach-E, the commercial vehicle, with E-transit, and with Lightning, and then down the road, Explorer and Aviator, that's all going to be helping the industry as a whole really adopt EV and transition in a way, that inflection point for the industry.
Guy Kawasaki:
I'll take that as a yes. I'll put my Linda hat on for a while, okay? But I think that, to this day, when you think of Tesla and electric cars, you think West coast, liberal, male, asshole, venture capitalists. And I think that electric Ford 150 is going to make people's heads explode in the rest of the country at different levels of income because it is so, so, remarkable. Zero to sixty in four and a half seconds, 300 miles, frunk that holds two golf clubs, sets of clubs. Okay, anyway, so I just fanboy-ed there a little bit.
Now, I have to ask you this question, kind of the opposite question I asked before about great features. So one of the things that I notice in the Mustang, the Mach-E, is that it has a wireless charger. You just throw your phone in that console there. I have an iPhone Pro Max, so I have the biggest iPhone with a case on it, and it just barely can fit in that and make contact and charge wirelessly. So I want to know why something like that would occur? Because it seems to me, people knew the dimensions of an iPhone Pro Max, so why didn't they just make it a little bit bigger? Why did that get through all the QC, and all the testing, and then comes the Guy, and Guy can barely put my iPhone 12 there.
Linda Zhang:
You've got to get a smaller phone.
Guy Kawasaki:
I knew I shouldn't have asked that, okay. Okay. But are you getting all this Boudy? Like holy cow, I mean, you have her so well trained, my God. I don't think she got a degree in engineering; I think she got a degree in marketing, but anyway, I digress. My last question about the 150, and this is a delicate one, how tall are you?
Linda Zhang:
I'm five three.
Guy Kawasaki:
Okay.
Linda Zhang:
Pretty short.
Guy Kawasaki:
Yeah, so I don't know, I might get in trouble for asking this question, but, what are they going to do? Not listen to the podcast? One of the reasons why, when I met your PR people in Menlo Park, that I was interested in interviewing you, because I said to them, “You got anybody at Ford that's really interesting, be a great story to interview?”
And your name was the first one. And what interested me is, so you're telling me that a woman, who came from China at eight years old, Chinese, obviously, five foot three, is the engineering manager of the Ford 150? That just did not compute in my brain. It's supposed to be six foot four, 250 pound ex-tight end from the University of Michigan, who's white, and he's got a shotgun rack, and he's towing his boat. And then here comes Linda, five foot three, Chinese. So you ever think about that?
Linda Zhang:
I think that's what's great about Ford, is that they didn't think about that when they put me in the job because I think they felt that I was the best candidate for the job, whether it's the engineering, or the management skills, or the finance skills, or whatever it is. And how I try to think of it myself is that, I am just an engineer and a management member that's trying to do the best for our customers. And I have a great team behind me too, that provides very different points of views, and a lot of different lenses in terms of their background as well. Being able to take all of that and really apply that toward our product and really understand where our different customers could be coming from. We have a very diverse set of customers as well.
I actually drive an F-150. So for me, I want to make sure whoever's designing it is taking my points into account too, not just the six-two, six-five guy. So in a way, we try to make sure we do that. And whoever's in the different roles, we all work together to make sure that we're providing our customers with the best product ever, regardless of what we look like or who we might be.
Guy Kawasaki:
I've got to tell you; I've interviewed a hundred of people for this podcast. I've interviewed, wearing other hats, hundreds of marketing people, but Linda is the person I say stays on message better than anybody I have ever met in my career. You could not have higher form of praise about somebody staying on message. So now we're going to switch gears, we're going to talk about careers, okay?
So I may have to cut this answer too, because I know what's going to come, but what is it like being a woman of color, having engineering for a truck of a company in Detroit? Is it, no difference, doesn't make a difference? You're just the kick ass person you are?
Linda Zhang:
I'm not kick ass, but I try to do the best I can. And honestly, I just view myself as an engineer. I want to do the best we can for our customers. I really try not to think too much about all of my background that comes with me. But really trying to look forward at making sure that we provide the best solutions and the best product for our customers because I know a lot of people depend on our products for their livelihoods, and also just for their transportation, as well as their recreation.
So really trying to think about that, understanding our customers, and providing them with that kind of customer focus that they really deserve.
Guy Kawasaki:
Oh my God. Talk about on message. Okay.
Linda Zhang:
That's just how I feel, Guy.
Guy Kawasaki:
Okay. No, no, no. I appreciate, even if you were lying, I appreciate it, but okay.
Linda Zhang:
Oh, definitely not. I grew up in Indiana. We don't lie.
Guy Kawasaki:
Oh yeah. How about Pence? Never mind, I won't go down that path. Okay.
Linda Zhang:
I wear pants. I like pants.
Guy Kawasaki:
No, not pants. Pence, P-E-N-C-E. You're telling me he never lied in four years?
Linda Zhang:
I don't know about that.
Guy Kawasaki:
Let’s not go down... So what is your advice if there are parents, or the person herself, listening to this? So this is a young Linda Zhang sitting out there listening, saying, “God, she's so inspiring.” What is your advice about STEM, working in what I used to think of as a male dominated industry, what's your advice to the future Linda Zhang’s of the world?
Linda Zhang:
I think my advice to any young person is really just, and actually anybody in general, is just pursue what you love. If you love something, and if you're passionate about that, then that's what you should pursue. Because at the end of the day, we spend a lot of time at work so you should love it, and we have a finite amount of time in this world, so you really want to spend that time doing something that you want to do, and challenging yourself to be really the best you, whatever that best you is.
Guy Kawasaki:
And what happens if something you love is not economically viable?
Linda Zhang:
I think there's always ways to getting your dream, whatever it is. So there's scholarships, there's lots of opportunities, but if you apply yourself and do the best that you can, I think the opportunities will present themselves.
Guy Kawasaki:
And do you have any advice about girls in particular interested in STEM?
Linda Zhang:
I have a daughter and I have a son; I treat them equally and that never really comes into play. I just tell them to do the best that they can and do things that they love. I think from that perspective, I try to really just treat them equally. I don't think of anyone as a girl or a boy, and trying to define that because it doesn't matter. At the end of the day, we can all do really great things if we put our minds to it. And a lot of it is just focusing on what that is, and not worrying so much about the noise around it.
Guy Kawasaki:
How old are they?
Linda Zhang:
Mine are seventeen and fifteen. Yeah. They're getting older, I've got a senior that's about to graduate and a sophomore in high school as well. So they're doing great, and I've tried to raise them the same way, and they both do a really great job.
Guy Kawasaki:
And are you a tiger mom? Were they taking violin at three, and calculus at five, and Physics AP at ten?
Linda Zhang:
No, they were taking piano at one point, but they didn't love it, so we moved on. My daughter actually plays it now again, she kind of re-found the love for it. And then my kids do sports and a bunch of things, but they are up in math and science, for the most part, but that's because they're just kind of good at it. They've done well in school, and they've applied themselves there, because I think, like me, they're curious about things and they're always trying to research things. My son's always got YouTube up. I'm sure he'll listen to this episode too.
Guy Kawasaki:
I hope so. If you had a choice between the current Mach-E or a 66 Mustang, which one would you take?
Linda Zhang:
I would still take the Mach-E. I love it. It just provides that new driving experience that's so much fun. That acceleration, very similar to the Lightning, as well as that quiet ride, and just the technology in it is great. I love my phone as a key, being able to not worry about where my keys are and just being able to get in my vehicle with my phone and take off. One less thing for me to carry.
Guy Kawasaki:
I must say that, with the Mach-E you have three keys, right? You have your phone, you have your key, and then you have the combination.
Linda Zhang:
Yes.
Guy Kawasaki:
So you really got to be an idiot to get locked out of your car and not be able to use it.
Linda Zhang:
Yeah, the backup code is really awesome. Definitely, for sure. And then the backup code to being able to start the vehicle is really cool too. My daughter, for some reason, likes to use that a lot because her phone tends to die pretty often, and she's probably too connected in the world sometimes. But often I'll get the signal on my phone going, “Your backup code has been activated.” I'm like, “Oh, somebody's coming home.”
Guy Kawasaki:
Two more questions. Why don't you just stick it to Germany and Italy, and do an electric GT? Just go for it. Zero to sixty in two seconds.
Linda Zhang:
Electric GT, we're actually getting that for Mach-E. I think that's been announced.
Guy Kawasaki:
No, no, GT like GT 40.
Linda Zhang:
Oh, well…
Guy Kawasaki:
Go for it. Go all the way. Just go for it. Okay.
Linda Zhang:
Well, Guy, remember I said we're always open to new ideas? I will definitely take that back to the team and get that on the list of things that we should look at for Guy. Just for Guy.
Guy Kawasaki:
You might have thought that this episode is sponsored by Ford, but it's not. It's sponsored by the reMarkable Tablet Company. The reMarkable Tablet Company is all about helping you focus, to do your best and deepest thinking.
So Linda, how do you do your best and deepest thinking? And do not say it's by opening the console in the Ford 150, that's off the table. How do you do your best and deepest thinking?
Linda Zhang:
I do my best and deepest thinking when I am relaxing with my family sometimes. They're really great to bounce ideas off of. We do a lot of fun things together. We travel, we play golf. With COVID recently, we all really enjoyed being able to go out and get into the outside and still do something active with golf.
So I find that that's a great opportunity for us as a family to connect, and actually a great opportunity for me to kind of think through things and bounce ideas off of them, whether it's personal or even work related. I bounce a lot of ideas off with my family and that's not a bad way to go. We do a lot of that at work, just bouncing ideas off of each other. And I feel that that common bond between our teams, as well as our families, really help us with, again, provide our best self for the company, as well as ourselves and our families.
Guy Kawasaki:
So now I know why the frunk holds two sets of clubs, it's because your family golfs, the truth finally comes out.
Linda Zhang:
That definitely helps.
Guy Kawasaki:
Yeah, but if either of your kids are a hockey goalie, then you have to put the hockey goalie bag in the front. That would be the test, right?
Linda Zhang:
My son does play hockey, and it fits.
Guy Kawasaki:
Plus, you want to keep all that stink stuff, I guess…
Linda Zhang:
Oh my goodness, you are exactly right on that. And that frunk is so helpful when you want to keep those sports bags away from your nose. It definitely keeps it out of there. I completely agree.
Guy Kawasaki:
I may have to reach out back to you, for the “friends of Linda discount” on a Ford 150. It just boggles my mind. And I know I argued against it in a sense, but zero to sixty in four and a half seconds in a truck, that just appeals to my, stick it to the man kind of personality. So congratulations on such a great product and I hope this is one of the milestone events in the battle against climate change, because I really think it could be.
Linda Zhang:
Thank you, Guy. And yes, you can definitely reach out, I'm happy to give you a Friends and Family plan, and hopefully you've got one of the reservations in already because I think you've probably heard our reservations are sky high right now. So make sure you get your reservation in, if you don't already.
Guy Kawasaki:
Linda, it doesn't move me up the list?
Linda Zhang:
There's only so much I can do; we want to be fair to everyone.
Guy Kawasaki:
Yeah. Well just be more fair to me. All right, Linda, I'll let you go. Thank you. I hope I asked you questions that Car and Driver, and Motor Trend, and Road and Track, doesn't ask you.
Let me say that as a marketer, I truly appreciate Linda's ability to take almost any question and any issue and spin it into something that's positive about Ford. That is a valuable skill.
I'm Guy Kawasaki. This is Remarkable People. I want to thank Jeff Sieh and Peg Fitzpatrick for another remarkable episode. I want to thank Alexis Nishimura for transcribing this episode, and Madisun Nuismer for background research. And finally, I want to thank Jason Camp of Ford, for getting me a Mustang Mach-E to try before the interview, and Deborah Hotaling, also of Ford, for making the whole thing possible. Until next time, wear a mask, get vaccinated, wash your hands, Mahalo, and Aloha.