From HR Business Partner to Future CPO: Designing a Career with Purpose

In this episode of Leaders in Talent, Elizabeth Weilburg (Senior Talent Leader at Coinbase) shares how she intentionally designs her career toward becoming a Chief People Officer. We discuss ambition, mentorship, saying hard things, career ownership, and how to align personal growth with real business impact. If you're in HR, Talent, or People leadership and thinking long term about your career, this episode is for you. Timecodes:01:17 – Introduction: Lizzie’s move from Citadel to Coinbase 02:38 – Why openly saying “I want to become a CPO” matters 07:07 – Learning by observing great leaders early in your career 09:04 – Becoming more outspoken and intentional about ambition 10:16 – Mentorship in action: Learning to “say the hard thing” 13:37 – Taking up space and building leadership presence 15:32 – Why helping with career progression defines great managers 18:11 – Creating real career paths inside growing organizations 19:31 – Why companies should be net exporters of great talent 21:16 – How Lizzie runs career development conversations today 22:58 – Building talent expertise as part of a long-term CPO path 24:51 – Organic mentorship vs formal mentorship programs 26:43 – Networking intentionally (and why it matters more than you think) 28:17 – How to pitch your own role inside a company 30:31 – Creating opportunities by spotting unmet business needs31:36 – Aligning ambition with business value___________________________Connect with us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/matchr/Get in touch with us: https://www.matchr.io/who-we-are/contact/____________Connect with Elizabeth Weilburg: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizabeth-weilburg-45527955/Connect with Adriaan Kolff: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adriaankolff/___________________________RSS feed: https://media.rss.com/leaders-in-talent/feed.xml___________________________Scale Your Hiring with Embedded RPOPlug Matchr’s experienced recruiters directly into your team. Fully embedded. Fully accountable. Fully aligned with your business goals.We operate as part of your internal Talent team, owning delivery, stakeholder management, and hiring outcomes from day one.Learn more: https://matchr.io