Kathleen Karich

I attribute my success first and foremost to my parents, who supported me and put such importance on education - my dad was an educator himself. Also, having a supportive husband throughout my career has been absolutely critical, especially as a working mom. And I've had strong sponsors in my career, both male and female, who made a huge difference. One sponsor relatively early in my career was a Vice Chairman I met by chance as my inner, no-window office was across from his corner office. Even though he was many, many levels above me, we happened to both come in really early to the office, so we got to know each other. He believed in supporting women before it was widely talked about as an important topic. He became one of my primary sponsors and helped me get a role based in New Zealand that completely transformed my career. His taking an interest in supporting me was a big part of my success.

Your career is a marathon, not a sprint.

Seek out sponsors, that's absolutely critical. Also, speak up and don't be afraid to take calculated risks in your career. One of the smartest things I ever did was take a big risk when I had an 11-month-old son. I saw an opportunity to go to New Zealand for 18 months to work on an enterprise process and technology supply chain transformation project, even though I didn't have much experience in that area. I asked a senior leader who was a supporter of mine if he would endorse me for the role, and he did. I applied, interviewed and was selected for a leadership role on the project. Within a couple of weeks, my husband quit his job, and we moved to from New York City to New Zealand with our baby. People told me I was making a big mistake, but I knew the opportunity would give me valuable work experience and our family an interesting life experience. That was surely the case. We made life-long friends from our stay, and when we moved back to the U.S. I was completely refreshed with a new skill set. Shortly after our return, leveraging my New Zealand experience, I led the sale of a major enterprise resource planning (ERP) project to a multi-billion dollar public sector client in New York City, which was the first of many more to come. So my advice is: take calculated risks, get good sponsors, and don't be afraid. Those calculated risks will help your career.

It was amazing to me that in 2024, when I spoke on a women's empowerment panel at my office in 30 Rockefeller Center, it was pretty much the same conversation we were having 20 years ago. Women don't raise their hands to speak up. Women don't apply for jobs unless they're overqualified, while men will apply for jobs when they're underqualified. Women will say something in a meeting and nobody listens, and then a man says the same thing and it gets heard. Above a certain level, it's still predominantly men in positions of power. Throughout my career, I walk into a room and see mostly men. Generally, people are comfortable with people like themselves, so men provide opportunities for men. This works against women. Finding the right sponsors throughout your career is important.

Honesty and integrity are really important to me. Also, helping other people advance and achieve their goals. That's not only important but incredibly motivating. I've seen people who seem to make a career pointing out the weaknesses or mistakes of others rather than positively contributing on their own. They advance by tearing others down. So I'd say making a positive impact and having integrity, building people up rather than bringing others down. It's so much more fulfilling.