Five years of Kate. The team has some things to say.
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Kate! Kate exudes a well of poise, confidence and warmth that makes bringing her any topic an easy decision. She embodies and champions Roboflow culture, from public channel frankness to unblocking account spreadsheets. Den master, queen raccoon, stalwart last line of defense in interview candidate quality! THANK YOU for all you do 💜
— Lake
Two things come to mind immediately for me: When it comes to work you're always there if I need something and always competent / get it figured out! You have helped me on hiring, making offers, policy questions, performance reviews, stock option exercises, and the harder people stuff like letting a team member go or people leaving. You always respond super fast. I always feel like you've got my back and are helping make sure I've got everything covered. Second, I just really enjoy working with you — you're warm, personable and empathetic without ever sacrificing who you are. You keep it real and I always enjoy talking with you about early Iowa startup days and the growth stages we're going through at Roboflow. Kate, you're super supportive, I'll never forget you checking in on me when my mom was sick and when I had to go back to Germany while my dad was in the hospital!
— Thomas
Kate is one of those people who makes you feel like you're never solving something alone. She's always in your corner and brings clarity and solutions to even the trickiest situations. No matter where she is in the world (often calling from inside her closet) she somehow always makes time to help you find the path forward. Five years of that is a pretty incredible gift to Roboflow. Congratulations, Kate!
— Brianna
Kate's super power is finding the exact right next brick to lay without forgetting about the overall highway she is building. This ability to focus on strategy and execution at the same time leads to faster results that actually propel us forward. The most fun part of working with Kate is that her feedback always demonstrates how to achieve this balance within your specific problem, making her a every effective coach and mentor. Lastly, but unrelated, her fashion sense is 👌👌👌
— Franklin
Kate is one of my most-trusted humans & one of Roboflow's most-reliable problem-solvers. When there's a thorny issues to be solved, she's almost always one of my first calls. A few years ago I realized I had been leaning on Kate to fix so many things that she had started answering my calls with "what happened now?" instead of "hello". So I decided to purposely throw her some curveballs every once in a while and start calling with good news or just to say "hi" & those calls have been some of my most fun check-ins. Kate is always at the center of whatever the most important thing happening at Roboflow is & so checking in with her is a lens into the beating heart of Roboflow at any given moment. Kate hasn't just led ops at Roboflow; she's been ops at Roboflow over the past 5 years. She started it, she lived every part of the role, she's stood up every function. She's done payroll, finance, insurance, benefits, culture, recruiting, HR, legal, investor relations, PR, travel planning, and everything in between. It's the embodiment of leadership at an early startup. And it's no wonder she's the queen raccoon. :queen-raccoon:
— Brad
kate has been an irreplaceable presence and driver ever since i started here, and that unmistakably extends to her full tenure. she is both pragmatic and empathetic, striving for efficacy and quality every single day while simultaneously encouraging those around her to do the same. her humility and the way kate embraces herself and others in the ways that they work and how they show up to roboflow routinely inspires me. that impact is weaved into almost every part of the company because of her, and that is a true rarity. thank you kate for all of the things that you do (which is impossible to put into words). it's such an honor and treat to work with a talent and leader like you, and roboflow would not be the same without you!
— Korryn