Kathryn Crater Gershtein

I really attribute my success to my family. From the get-go, my parents were both academics and they said I could do pretty much whatever I wanted and have been super supportive. My husband is super supportive too - I'm like, hey, I think I want to get another degree! And he's like, okay, go for it! The environment that I grew up in was very multicultural, and I was able to really see the other aspects of the world and other perspectives from a very young age. I think that probably led me to where I am today.

The best career advice I ever received was from my mentor at SMU, who told me to follow what lights your fire. He's a human rights activist, and I remember I approached him with something that just really pissed me off, and he's like, that's what you need to do, because you will get worn out if you don't do something that you actively love, something that lights your fire or that really pisses you off. I'm kind of following that advice - I do something that I love, I love archaeology, but I'm also starting to go after the things that really piss me off, like homelessness, mental health, substance use disorder. Those are the things that really light my fire in a different way, so I'm really grateful to him for giving me that advice.

I would say find that balance between education and life experience. It's going to be hard, so go out there, get some work experience, but don't forget that you will need to get back to education eventually. I took a break between my undergrad and my graduate degree, and it was great. I think it really helped me build some success. Don't be afraid to get your hands dirty, because you will - both metaphorically and physically. And another piece of advice would be to get out of the country, just for a little bit. Get out of the U.S., be it for a degree or just go spend time outside of the country.

We have a lot of opportunity right now in our field. There's a lot of work, so I feel like the CRM field is booming right now. Some of the bigger challenges is finding people who can manage. That's really difficult right now, so one of the biggest challenges that we're facing is that we have so much work, but not enough support. We end up with a lot of people who may have their PhDs, but have zero experience in CRM itself, which leads to them not really being able to help in some of these bigger projects where management and CRM experience is important. That's starting to change quite a bit - they're starting to be more CRM-focused instead of only academia-focused in schools to kind of help better prepare our students for that, because there just isn't a lot of opportunity in academia right now. They don't pay well, and there aren't a lot of jobs for people coming out with their PhDs. A lot of these guys have just gone straight through school and have no experience when it comes to having to work within time limits, budgets, and moving fast. We're missing that perfect mix of people who have experience but also higher degrees.

Family values and a sense of loyalty are really important to me, and just the idea of helping others. I feel very driven by that, sometimes to my own detriment. Taking care of others, taking care of each other - I think that's really important. Self-care is also really important, though I'm not great at it, obviously, as you can tell by my rather busy schedule. But it is so important to give ourselves some grace, I think, especially women in our world - we do not give ourselves enough grace. Empathy is huge - if everyone could be a little more empathetic to those around them, a little more aware, that would make such a difference.