From the age of 15, Kathryn knew she wanted to be a lawyer. She earned her J.D. from The Ohio State University and went on to fulfill her dream by becoming a litigation attorney. For over 10 years, she practiced the law — but despite her success, she found herself eager to try something new. 

“As a litigator, you spend a lot of time arguing and resolving conflict,” Kathryn said. “I looked forward and was not sure I wanted to keep doing that for the next 30 years. I wanted to help build something and find solutions rather than take something apart.” 

She knew that she loved the human aspect of litigation — specifically taking depositions and learning about people through their stories. A conversation with a friend inspired her to channel her passion for interpersonal connections and problem-solving through executive search. After researching the industry, she joined the legal search practice at Spencer Stuart.

“I loved the excuse to get to know people — to learn about their careers, why they made the decisions they made, and the many different ways of getting to the same place,” Kathryn said.

She built her expertise in executive search for nearly six years, until an opportunity arose at American Express. She then joined their internal executive search team before eventually transitioning to a Human Resources business partner role. 

Though she loved her time and experiences at American Express, Kathryn began missing the investigative aspects of executive search. Early on in her tenure at American Express, she inherited some work where Ksquared Search, a small boutique firm working with Fortune 500 clients, was the executive search firm partner. Throughout their interactions, she was struck by the team’s creativity, perseverance, and intentionality. 

“They were fantastic,” Kathryn said. “I appreciated the way they approached search and how they were a really strong partner. It was different in a very positive way.”

When she decided she wanted to return to executive search, Kathryn reconnected with the firm and joined the team. She immediately began working on critical executive searches for highly valued clients, including McDonald’s, Walmart, and Goldman Sachs. And her connection with her former company did not disappear. She further nurtured Ksquared’s relationship with American Express by working on searches for them. 

“I love doing work with American Express,” Kathryn said. “I know the culture and a lot of the people there. It’s been really wonderful to be able to continue working with them.” 

Kathryn has now been at Ksquared Search for nearly five years. Backed by years of experience in executive search, HR, and the legal sphere, her insights have become invaluable in searches across industry sectors. Her strategic approach has only strengthened Ksquared Search’s collective expertise. 

“I bring perspective, having gone from practicing law to moving into search and Human Resources,” Kathryn said. “Because of my foundations, I am very conscious about how we serve our clients and treat our candidates.”

Similar to her colleagues, Kathryn has become a jack-of-all-trades in executive search. She works on searches across different industries and functions, but the majority of her experience is with human resources, legal, marketing, and communications searches. 

Ultimately, Kathryn’s passion for Ksquared Search stems from long-term client relationships. She takes time to deeply understand each organization and candidate — finding out what is important to each and what makes people successful in different corporate cultures.

“I think we have incredible clients that we fall in love with and love to represent,” Kathryn said. “It is rewarding to work with those clients, get to know them, and help them bring top talent into their organizations.”

Kathryn and the rest of the Ksquared Search team are relentless in the pursuit of ideal candidates for your organization. We take pride in maintaining a consistent feedback loop and tailoring our executive search approach to meet your needs. Through our all-hands-on-deck approach, we weave experience from multiple professionals together to ensure we reach your goals. 
Elevate your executive team by working with Ksquared — reach out to our team to start an executive search partnership.