Uncharted Journey Cathy McKnight

Karrie Sanderson is the dynamic and accomplished founder and CMO at K.E.S. Consulting. With a wealth of experience in growth marketing, brand leadership and strategy, creative studio management, and strategic consulting, she is a powerhouse leader who knows how to drive success.
Her desire to be a journalist, with a detour via an engineering degree, landed her in the sweet spot of marketing that allowed her to blend her creative side and appreciation for structure and process. Karrie's impressive career includes CMO roles at Typeform and Smartsheet and impactful stints at iconic brands like The Coca-Cola Company and Starbucks.
As a mentor at Techstars Seattle and a member of Chief, Karrie is passionate about driving growth through research, strategy, brand building, and dynamic leadership. Her belief in the power of brand building and the importance of creating high-performance marketing teams is the cornerstone of her success. She embodies the philosophy that brand building is not optional and that a strong foundation is key to achieving greatness.
Based in Seattle, Karrie enjoys life with her family—both two-legged and four-legged members. She loves the outdoors, sailing, travel, and adventure and is always ready for the next exciting challenge.
Her advice for those starting out in their careers? “Say YES! Raise your hand for new and challenging opportunities when they come along.” And be sure to take others along with you on your journey to success.

Karrie Sanderson on LinkedIn

Jessie Shipman has established herself as a pioneer at the intersection of education and technology, paving the way for a brighter future.
As the CEO and founder of Fluincy, Jessie Shipman has blended her teaching and technological skills and fostered an environment where her team can make daily impactful contributions. This approach has helped their customers enable partner selling, transform processes, increase success, and improve the lives of their staff, all in equal measure.
But let's rewind to her beginnings as a high school history teacher. Jessie wasn't your typical memorize-and-forget classroom—oh no! She taught her students the power of actions and decisions throughout history and how they shaped the world we live in today.
When she took on systems administration, her teaching evolved. She became the go-to guru for JamF adopters, and then at Apple, she moved on to teaching the teachers. From curriculum development to onboarding sales teams, she showed everyone how the right tools, the power of technology, and a dash of encouragement can unleash creativity and revolutionize the learning experience.
Parker, Colorado-based, is a mom and wife, snowboarder, mountain biker, entrepreneur, and WiFi Nerd in varying parts depending on the day. Donning her bootstrapping CEO-founder hat, her best advice is, even when you have what you think is a great idea, make sure "to validate idea has legs in the market", and "don’t quit your job without 12 months of runway in the bank".
Jessica Shipman on LinkedIn

Soundarya Balasubramani (aka Pooja) is not yet 30 but has already achieved so much. Since quitting that gig, an ex-product manager with Salesforce, she has added 2x author, creator of the online community unshackled.club, and founder to her list of accomplishments. She is a rare combination of writer, creator, and technologist.
Curious by nature she aptly calls herself, and her website, Curious Maverick, as a reminder of the courage she found to quit her well-paying to veer off what she thought was her journey’s path to follow her big heart and even bigger imagination.
Soundarya, who is based in San Francisco, has a master's degree from Columbia and sets a high barevery aspect of her life. She has learned that success comes from setting and then leaning into your own standards and expectations and ignoring others' definitions of success or failure. She for herself in believes that "Living by your own goals and expectations sets you free to focus on learning and growing from every new experience."
Soundarya Balsubramani on LinkedIn
Book: Admitted
Book: Unshackled
Unshackled community
Blog: Curious Maverick

Beth Torrie has an impressive 20+ years of experience in IT as an expert in industry analyst relations, marketing strategy, and media communications. She has fearlessly supported and driven AR programs for start-ups, midmarket, and large companies, delivering against aggressive goals, ensuring they meet, but often, with her guidance, exceed their business objectives.
As a strategic advisor and analyst relations professional, Beth has played a pivotal role in building several well-regarded analyst relations programs for esteemed companies, including FatWire, RedDot, Cybage Software, Contentstack, Sitecore, and OpenText. Now, as the principal of her analyst relations firm, she is in demand as a trusted advisor, thought leader, and go-to resource for venture capital and private equity companies, providing invaluable guidance on growth strategies for software and services companies.
Beth is a passionate music fan. She believes it to be the universal language and in its power to unify people and invoke positive change. She’s also learned as she moved out of early career survival mode to support great ideas wherever they come from, to help others in need, and to lift them up. Looking back on her career, she shared, “I've realized the impact of not having that support and the importance of providing it for others.”. Indeed, great advice.
Beth Torrie on LinkedIn
Torrie Communications

Melissa Moody is a full-stack marketing executive and entrepreneur extraordinaire. With an unwavering passion for user-first products and a remarkable talent for creating clarity amidst chaos, she is the go-to for best practices on finding focus and going big.
At the helm as General Manager for Matcha, a platform that empowers professionals, communities, and teams to grow their networks in a focused and meaningful way, she is continuing to connect people and positively amplify voices and knowledge.
With a mission to make the web a seamless and delightful place for all, before joining Matcha, Melissa blazed a trail as the CMO & Founder of SaaS start-up Gated. Before that, she spent almost 15 years at Google, working closely with Fortune 500 Travel companies, championing fast, frictionless user experiences and crafting effective cross-channel marketing strategies.
As if running a company wasn’t enough, Melissa also co-hosts a weekly marketing-focused podcast – 2 pizza marketing. And last year, tired of seeing the same faces in her LinkedIn feed, that were/are so often predominantly male, she co-founded Wednesday Women – a LinkedIn Group with the mission to increase the visibility of executive women leaders we should know, learn from, and be inspired by.
When she is not in the throes of work-hustle, she is fanatically family-centric, an adventure enthusiast, an avid reader, and a passionate traveler. She is also a fan of Modern Stoicism and has amazing taste in music as a big fan of The Killers.
Being based in Alaska and surrounded by nature, she gets a daily reminder just looking out the window to heed her own best advice to slow down, pause before delving in too deep, reacting to outside pressures/points of view. In the words of The Killers, Melissa wishes for everyone that “Your limits be unknown, and your efforts be your own.”.

Melissa Moody on LinkedIn

Nikki Carvalho's ascent to the presidency of State Window Corporation is a testament to her exceptional leadership qualities and unwavering dedication. As President, she not only holds the title but also leads by example, setting a high standard for excellence and encouraging her team to reach their fullest potential.
But Nikki's journey to success did not start overnight. She honed her business acumen and gained invaluable experience during her tenure as the Chief Financial Officer of the Peel Financial Group of Companies. Before that, she spent a decade at Deloitte, building a solid foundation of knowledge and skills across disciplines and industries.
As a female and visible minority leader in her male-dominated industry what notable sets Nikki apart is her refusal to be confined by preconceived notions and her unwavering belief in the power of diversity, kindness, and compassion. She is a showcase for what is achievable to underrepresented individuals who often face barriers in their careers. Through her unwavering passion for pushing boundaries and challenging the status quo, she inspires those around her to strive for excellence. And through her leadership, she aims to redefine the industry's perception of leaders by showcasing qualities of kindness, compassion, and rationality, while also championing the impact of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) considerations.
She walks the walk in terms of advice to not let imposter syndrome stand in the way of success. If you believe that you have earned a seat at the table – take it, by advocating for, and believing in yourself.
Nikki Carvalho on LinkedIn
State Window Corporation