International Women’s Day provides a key moment to celebrate women’s achievements in the workplace, as well as an opportunity to celebrate a vision of a more inclusive world free of bias, stereotypes and discrimination.
Equality, diversity and inclusion are important to K2. We’re committed to making progress, with 65% of our workforce made up of women, a 15% increase in the last two years and 57% of our management positions held by women, 26% higher than the market average in 2021.
In 2020 we also set up a dedicated Executive Leadership Team, which is currently fully female, as a direct voice into the K2 board, enabling greater diversity of thinking and influence on strategic and operational decision making but we know there is always more to be done both within the global mobility sector as well as our organisation, to create a truly inclusive workplace.
In the lead up to International Women’s Day (8 March) we wanted to take the opportunity to hear from some of our female colleagues about their careers in global mobility. Over the next few weeks, we’ll be featuring different perspectives of K2’s successful working women in industry, as well as their male colleagues who proactively champion and support equality and challenge bias.
Vice President of US Operations, Katie Musloe, is the first to talk to us about her perspective and career in global mobility.
Katie Musloe has been at K2 Corporate Mobility for nearly 12 years — an impressive stint! Having started in a client services role with just three other colleagues, Katie has worked her way up the corporate ladder and seen the team grow exponentially. Alongside being a mum to two adorable children (Cooper, 4, and Josie, 6 months), Katie is a key member of our Executive Leadership Team. Katie talks to us about working in the global mobility industry.
This years’ theme for International Women’s Day is #BreakTheBias — empowering us to strive for a gender-equal world, free of bias, stereotypes and discrimination. Is this something you’ve ever personally dealt with?
Honestly, I haven’t, and I feel very fortunate to say that. Especially in a work setting. K2 was my first job out of college and I’ve never felt like I’ve been held back because of my gender. At K2, it’s about hard work. Everyone within the company has worked really hard to get to where they are and the rewards have naturally followed.
How does it feel to be part of a strong Executive Leadership Team at K2, led by women?
I stand behind every single one of those women. We’ve all worked incredibly hard to get to the position we are in now and all want the best for K2. Each of us have our own individual strengths — it’s part of the reason we work so well together. It’s incredible to look back at our journey over the past two years and see how our vision has changed, especially with COVID, as we had to quickly adapt our environment. 2022 is set to be a big year for us and we’re currently in talks to finalise some of our plans…watch this space!
Do you have a powerful female role model, if so — who?
Can I say…my mum? My mum has taught me everything I know. From her, I’ve learned to be kind, to work as hard as I possibly can and that excuses aren’t a thing. Everything I am today, I owe to my mum.
Finally, what are your aims for 2022 — both business and personal?
This year, at K2 we’re really focusing on continuing the growth of the team. One of the really important considerations for us is that despite the team expanding, we need to ensure that the special ‘family’ culture still exists — for us, it’s not growth at any cost. As for my personal life, with a very new second child the real aim this year is to learn to juggle the challenges of juggling two children alongside my husband and managing our careers. I’m particularly lucky to have a fantastic support system, both at home and at work. K2 is such an understanding company when it comes to working parents. My manager (Phil) has children himself, so he just ‘gets it’. If there’s ever an issue at home, he is very understanding and we work together to find the best solution. I think if I didn’t have such good support in both areas it would be incredibly tough, but being in such a great company makes it worth going to work every day.
If you’d like to share your experience of your career as a woman in the global mobility industry, how you support or celebrate a female colleague’s achievements, or talk about what equality and breaking bias means to you please comment in our LinkedIn and Twitter conversations or get in touch.
