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Kate Sanders is the Vice President of Missouri Equipment Company, a 4th generation family business that offers custom stainless steel fabrication in St. Louis, MO.
Kate talks to Cynthia about her initial career in the shoe business, and how the stresses of raising a family and traveling the globe reached a breaking point. She and her husband are both entrepreneurs and they’re raising their two daughters to follow in their footsteps.
1 – Introduction 00:24
2 – Tell us about what you’re doing now 01:09
3 – Different expectations for boys vs girls in her dad’s family 05:00
4 – Tell me about your work history 06:52
5 – How long were you with them? 10:06
6 – Authentic energetic person 11:10
7 – What made a guy want to hire you from a meeting at a wedding? 13:04
8 – Leading with kindness and genuine compliments 14:35
9 – How long were you in this role? 15:48
10 – What were some of the impactful things he taught you 18:26
11 – Other important lessons learned 20:29
12 – What prepared you for success in that surprise moment? 22:42
13 – Tell me a little more about the job 24:22
14 – Global sales travel as a working mom 26:05
15 – Needing help as working mom 28:40
16 – Learning how to shift expectations as a mom 30:03
17 – Why did you leave that role? 30:58
18 – Finding alignment 36:08
19 – Obstacles of being the owner’s daughter in male dominated field 36:51
20 – Lessons and mistakes 38:47
21 – Adapting as a leader 40:12
22 – How to set boundaries 41:41
23 – Building relationships with employees 43:34
24 – Other obstacles faced 44:37
25 – Dad’s role in confidence 47:58
26 – What are some lessons you’ve learned 50:24
27 – Other tips and lessons 51:17
28 – Advice for next gen 53:30
29 – Future roles for men and women 56:57
30 – How do you build confidence 59:46
31 – What do you say to those afraid to make a mistake 1:01:12
32 – Importance of failing 1:03:30
33 – What’s coming up 1:05:42
34 – contact info 1:06:57
35 – What are your core values and what makes you tick? 1:07:20
Content Notice
This podcast and all She Lift Project content represents the opinions of Cynthia Kirkpatrick and her guests. The content here is for informational purposes only, and should not be taken as professional advice – financial, legal, medical, or otherwise.
Views and opinions expressed in the podcast and across all She Lift Project media channels are our own and do not represent that of our places of work. While we make every effort to ensure that the information we are sharing is accurate, we welcome any comments, suggestions, or correction of errors.
“But sometimes when you prove yourself and people don’t see your value, you need to remove yourself, which is what I did. And was it hard? Yes. Was the pay cut difficult? Yes. That first year was challenging. But I knew where I wanted to go and I knew I wasn’t going to get there by staying.”
“And I always say creativity dies in the courtroom, and I love creativity in cases. And I love people having the ability to have the power to decide what their parenting plan looks like, what their settlement’s going to look like. Judges don’t get that much say. They kind of have boxes they have to stay within.”
“I got to a point in Frank’s office where I realized there was kind of a ceiling. People that I had come in after me, I was training, were now moving up. And my ego got to the best of me. This is the dream job. Like, what happens after Frank Gehry? What could possibly be next after that?”
We’re catalysts for better conversation. And we know at Filament that the teams that we work with are not looking for the right answer, because there’s no such thing as the right answer. There is the next best answer to the questions that we’re asking.
“Research actually shows when there’s this lack of trust in a relationship, this lack of connection, the same part of our brain that processes physical pain gets activated when there’s an emotional pain. Right? And so if I’m feeling rejected or I’m feeling like I’m not part of the team or I’m not valued in any way, that part of our brain activates and says, like, pain. And so if you think about it in that way, think about the number of people who are walking around your office every day in pain.”
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