Podcasts Sports Running Ali on the Run Show 70. Katie Burke, Chief People Officer at HubSpot

70. Katie Burke, Chief People Officer at HubSpot

Published: April 26, 2018, 12:27 a.m.

\u201cThe best possible way to start my career was not getting what I wanted. Failure teaches you a lot, and it helped me figure out a path to success that worked for me.\u201d \u2014Katie Burke

Katie Burke is the Chief People Officer at HubSpot, a marketing software company in Boston that employs more than 2,300 people worldwide. And of those 2,300, Katie was the company\u2019s first female to land a spot in the c-suite. (Today, 45 percent of the company\u2019s vice presidents are women.) In this super inspiring conversation, Katie shares why she\u2019s so passionate about empowering women in the workplace, and candidly opens up about her own massive career failures \u2014\xa0including how bombing the LSATs turned out to be the best thing that could\u2019ve happened to her. She offers up interviewing advice, explains why prospective employees should add \u201cwe\u201d to their vocabularies, and shares the one word she\u2019s trying to add to her own life.

Katie is the oldest of six kids, and she has a fascinating family story. Her dad, Brian Burke, is extremely well-known in the hockey world, and her brother, Brendan, was a hockey player at Miami Ohio when he famously came out as gay to his teammates \u2014 and the world. Brendan was later killed in a tragic car accident, and Katie gladly shared stories of his incredible legacy with me.

Of course, Katie is also a runner. She\u2019s a four-time marathoner and 20+-time half-marathoner, and she's currently training for the Popular Brooklyn Half Marathon in May.

Apologies for the slightly off audio on this one! Despite recording in a professional podcast studio, I had the audio settings wrong on my computer. Don\u2019t let a little echo deter you from this fantastic conversation!

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What you\u2019ll get on this episode:

  • What it means to be a Chief People Officer, and how Katie landed this job (1:53)
  • Katie\u2019s advice for getting over a fear of failure (7:00)
  • How Hubspot has grown and evolved since Katie became the first woman in the company\u2019s c-suite (8:00)
  • The best \u2014 and worst \u2014 things Katie says prospective employees can say in an interview (9:45)
  • Why Katie is so passionate about empowering women (12:55)
  • What Katie tells people who say she got her job \u201cbecause she\u2019s a girl\u201d (14:15)
  • Where Katie\u2019s confidence comes from (18:30)
  • Katie\u2019s \u201cstrong opinion\u201d on mentors, and why she believes in having a \u201cpersonal board of advisors\u201d (19:35)
  • Katie\u2019s biggest piece of advice for women in the workplace (21:10)
  • The greatest challenge Katie faces at her job (25:30)
  • Katie\u2019s take on work perks and whether they actually matter (28:00)
  • What it\u2019s like coming from a big \u2014 and very high-achieving \u2014\xa0family, and the challenges of having a father who\u2019s in the public eye (29:30)
  • Katie\u2019s running story, and how she prioritizes workouts with a demanding schedule (39:30)
  • The advice Katie would give to her younger self (45:45)

What we mention on this episode:

Bates College

HubSpot

\u201cBecause I\u2019m a Girl\u201d via Huffington Post

Always #LikeAGirl commercial

Shine Theory

\u201cThis 1 Word Will Help You Do Less and Achieve More in 2018\u201d via Inc.

Brian Burke

Calgary Flames

You Can Play Project

Miami University Ohio

\u201cWe love you, this won\u2019t change a thing\u201d via ESPN

Portland Half Marathon

November Project

Popular Brookyn Half

SoulCycle

JP Morgan Corporate Challenge

Kristin Armstrong

New York Road Runners

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