A Compelling Rally Cry

Dear BAM,

Thank you for naming me the 2020 BAM Ally of the Year. I was so happy to have the chance to share the moment with my husband, Todd, who enjoyed the Gala as much as I did. And I admit, I shared the news with my children only moments later. What a joy!

It’s hard to express how much this award means to me. I was raised in an intensely competitive family. We loved to compete in sports, the classroom…and anywhere else there was a potential contest. That’s right, I am still reigning champion of our daily family dinner challenge to see which sister could make our brother Andy spit milk out of his nose by laughing. WINNER! (Sorry, Mom…)

In this never ending quest to “win,” I intuited that success should be measured by the numbers: how many trophies could I collect, how many certificates could I earn, how high could I push my grades. When I started my career, it’s not surprising that I looked for the same edification, only this time measured by title and pay. More was always better. And as I would also learn, more was also exhausting.

I’m not sure when it happened, but I’m glad it did. Maybe it’s one of the many gifts of age…OMG, have I finally “matured”? Cheers to late bloomers! Or maybe it’s motherhood. If so, thank you, God, for another amazing aspect of this parental journey. Whatever it is, there is no doubt, that something has changed in me. 

I have finally stopped looking for ways to measure my success by counting things that accrue to me. Instead, I’ve started thinking about my success as something that should be measured by how it accrues to others.

And that is why allyship is so important to me. Allyship is the mechanism that is teaching me how to help others succeed. It’s a complex and challenging mechanism, for sure. I aspire to be great at it someday, and I understand that it could take a lifetime to master. Count me in.

Allyship is one of the most critical components of building systemic empathy. It is essential to our dream of building a truly inclusive company, industry, and country. And allyship is not only great for humans, it’s also great for business. It’s just so rare for something this important to be doubly worth the effort!

Thank you, BAM, for giving me this rally cry. I see this award as more of an expression of your expectation for what I need to do in the future, rather than a celebration of what I have done in the past. Thank you for recognizing my potential to help others be successful. I am humbled, inspired, and convicted to raise my game.

With gratitude,

Kate