21 Things You Probably Didn't Know About Sheryl Sandberg The Facebook COO worked in government and Google before landing a top role at the social giant.
By Rose Leadem •
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Sheryl Sandberg's experience goes far beyond being the chief operating officer of Facebook.
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Graduating from Harvard University in 1991, Sandberg later went back and earned her master's in economics. During her time at Harvard, Sandberg was an aerobics teacher and helped co-found the on-campus group Women in Economics and Government. After school, she worked with Larry Summers as his chief of staff while he was treasury secretary under President Bill Clinton.
Before joining Facebook, Sandberg was in a leading position at Google. But once she met Zuckerberg, she hopped on board and is today recognized as not only the COO but a leading female figure at Facebook. While she's experienced setbacks and heartbreak -- having lost her husband unexpectedly -- Sandberg's publicly demonstrated her strength and resilience.
Related: Sheryl Sandberg Shares 7 Ways to Build Resilience Into Your Company Culture As You Scale
She's the author of two bestselling books and is a leading voice of women around the world. There's much to learn about the inspirational woman -- here are 19 facts you probably didn't know about Sandberg.
WIN-Initiative | Getty ImagesShe was born in Washington, D.C., but moved to Miami when she was 2.
Although she was born in the country's capital in 1969, Sandberg and her family moved to Miami when she was 2-years-old. She later attended North Miami Beach High School, where she graduated in the top 10 of her class.
Jon Gray | Getty ImagesSandberg used to be an aerobics instructor.
While in high school in the 1980s, Sandberg was an aerobics instructor clad in leggings, leg warmers and bright eye shadow. Later in college, she supposedly ran the Harvard aerobics program.
Barry Chin | The Boston Globe | Getty ImagesShe co-founded the group Women in Economic and Government at Harvard.
Studying gender and economics at Harvard, Sandberg co-founded the group Women in Economics and Government on-campus.
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Darren McCollester | Getty ImagesLarry Summers was her thesis advisor at Harvard.
While at Harvard, Sandberg wrote her thesis, "How Economic Inequality Contributes to Spousal Abuse." At the time, her thesis advisor and mentor was Larry Summers, who served as the treasury secretary under President Bill Clinton, the director of the National Economic Council for President Barack Obama and the chief economist at the World Bank.
Rick Friedman | Corbis | Getty ImagesShe graduated summa cum laude from Harvard.
Sandberg graduated summa cum laude from Harvard University in 1991. She majored in economics and was also awarded the John H. Williams Prize for being one of the top graduated of economics.
Brooks Kraft | Corbis | Getty ImagesSandberg graduated with the highest distinction from Harvard Business School.
Sandberg went back to Harvard to earn her MBA. She graduated in 1995 with the highest distinction.
Cynthia Johnson | Getty ImagesShe was chief of staff to U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Larry Summer under the Clinton administration.
In 1999, at 29-years-old, Sandberg served as chief of staff to then U.S. Treasury Secretary Larry Summers under the Clinton administration. She had prior worked for Summers as a research assistant at the World Bank.
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Miyuki Watanabe | EyeEm | Getty ImagesShe married her first husband at age 24.
In 1993, when she was 24, Sandberg married her first husband Brian Kraff. However, their marriage only lasted for a year and by 1994, the couple divorced.
Brooks Kraft LLC | Corbis | Getty ImagesShe worked at Google before Facebook.
Before becoming COO at Facebook in 2008, Sandberg was Google's VP of global online sales. She spent six years at Google, managing online sales channels for AdWords and AdSense.
Drew Angerer | Getty ImagesSandberg and Zuckerberg met at a Christmas party.
In 2007, Sandberg and Zuckerberg met at Silicon Valley financier Dan Rosensweig's Christmas party. A year later, Sandberg joined the Facebook team.
Bloomberg | Getty ImagesEric Schmidt convinced her to join his team.
It took some convincing from Google's Eric Schmidt, who was the company's CEO at the time, to get Sandberg to join Google. Sandberg shared that in 2001, Schmidt told her, "Don't be an idiot. If you're offered a seat on a rocket ship, you don't ask what seat. You just get on."
Antoine Antoniol | Getty ImagesShe doesn’t like the word “bossy.”
Sandberg launched the "Ban Bossy" campaign to empower women from a young age. She believes the "b-word" doesn't encourage women to lead. And the campaign's website reads: "Words like bossy send a message: Don't speak up or take the lead. By middle school, girls are less interested in leading than boys -- a trend that continues into adulthood."
Vincent Isore | IP3 | Getty ImagesShe was the first woman to be appointed to Facebook’s board.
In 2012, four years into Sandberg's career as Facebook's COO, Sandberg became the first woman to join Facebook's board of directors.
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Kevork Djansezian | Getty ImagesHer husband died unexpectedly during a vacation in Mexico.
In 2015, Sandberg's husband and then CEO of Survey Monkey Dave Goldberg passed away unexpectedly during a vacation in Punta Mita, Mexico. Sandberg and Goldberg were married for 11 years, with two children.
Noam Galai | WireImage | Getty ImagesAfter her husband’s death, she wrote "Option B: Facing Adversity, Building Resilience and Finding Joy."
In order to rebound from the crushing loss of her husband, Sandberg wrote the book, Option B, where she shares her personal experience of dealing with loss, and how she found the strength to persevere and find happiness once again.
Scott Eells | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesFacebook helped her recover from the loss of her husband.
In a 2015 Reddit post, Sandberg shared how Facebook helped her recover from the loss of her husband, because it showed her the massive amount of support she had from across the globe. "Facebook is helping me get through what has been the hardest year of my life... Recovering from loss is a huge part of the human condition and by connecting with people on Facebook I was reminded that I was part of that global community."
Andrei Daniel | EyeEm | Getty ImagesTo unwind, she watches “bad TV.”
In order to relax and unwind after a busy day, Sandberg admitted in a 2015 Reddit post that she indulges in some "bad TV," as her late husband would call it.
Bill Greene | The Boston Globe | Getty ImagesShe uses a spiral notebook to organize her day.
Sandberg is old-school when it comes to organization. In fact, according to Fast Company, she carries around a spiral-bound notebook where she keeps meeting notes and discussion points.
Matt McClain | The Washington Post | Getty ImagesBefore meetings, she asks people to share their current well-being.
Before starting meetings with her leadership team, Sandberg checks in with members of the meeting, inviting them to share their current emotional and professional state before getting down to business.
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Kevork Djansezian | Getty ImagesShe wakes up early and goes to sleep early.
Sandberg usually arrives at work around 7 a.m., and then leaves sharply at 5:30 p.m. so she can spend time with her children. By 9:30 p.m., Sandberg goes to bed.
Stephen Brashear / Stringer | Getty ImagesShe has a gift from Howard Schultz hanging in her conference room.
In her conference room hangs a poster that reads: "The future belongs to the few of us still willing to get our hands dirty." Turns out, this poster was actually a gift from Starbucks' Howard Schultz and is one of Sandberg's favorite things.
