Her Story
About Cara
Cara SmithKotalrek serves as Chief of Staff in the tech sector, where she has spent six years partnering closely with executive leaders on strategy, execution, and cross-functional initiatives. Her current work centers on humanoid robotics, an emerging field she finds exciting for its creative and strategic possibilities despite challenges of public misperception. She brings an academic background in English literature from Princeton University, which she credits with sharpening her analytical and systems-thinking skills, and she previously worked in finance and on the business side of a corporate law firm, handling partnership and recruiting efforts. Cara is a certified yoga instructor who teaches two classes weekly as a way to serve her community, and she is a lifelong athlete who played Division I softball. She attributes her professional success to her faith and the supportive challenges provided by her family and husband, while emphasizing values such as a dig-in mentality, humility paired with confidence, and the importance of strong teams. Among the career advice she shares is the importance of treating every situation as a learning opportunity and making ideas exist before perfecting them, and she encourages young women entering tech to speak up, ask questions, and claim their place with confidence.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Cara
01What do you attribute your success to?
I think definitely, I'm a religious person, so I believe that God plays a heavy hand in everything that happens to me and for me. But my family, my parents did an absolutely wonderful job of placing challenges in front of me, and helping me navigate those challenges. And my husband does the same, so we do that for each other. We drive each other to be better, and to achieve more, and to not leave something on the table. So, yeah, God and family, for sure.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
I think, probably, just be in the habit of treating everything like a learning opportunity. Don't let what might appear to be something that you don't know enough about, or something that you don't have enough repetitions on to be productive, keep you from going out there and learning. Something doesn't have to be perfect before you start it, because otherwise we wouldn't start anything. So, first make it exist. Make it good. That's okay.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Just to get loud, speak up, ask questions, you are certainly worth every single opportunity that you get, whether it's given to you or whether you take it. And I think it can be tough for women to feel like they belong in any industry, and I would advise young women to just fake it till you make it. Tell yourself that you belong in that room. And you will. And you do. You have to say things that are in service to yourself.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
I work specifically now in the humanoid robotics space, which is just new and there's so much that we don't know yet about how this technology is going to affect the world. I believe that it's going to have a really positive impact. There's a challenge of misperception, because there is a lot that's unknown, and it is an emergent technology that we've been taught to maybe have fears around because of Terminator or something like that. But it's so exciting because there is so much possibility. There's so much room to do creative, strategic thinking around what's going to be really powerful to move this technology forward and into the mainstream.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
A dig-in mentality, the ability to look at a hard thing and not be intimidated by it, but to treat a challenge as an opportunity and not a block. Being humble, which is not the same thing as lacking confidence. In order to be truly humble, you have to have confidence. I truly believe in the value of a team. I believe that life is a team sport. I'm a lifelong athlete. I played Division I softball. And I continue to really prioritize the health and spirit of a team, both professionally and personally.
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