Salt of the Earth Consulting

Celebrating Women’s History Month (Part 1 of 2)

By Gretchen Bruinsma

The month of March is a great time to celebrate and reflect on all the amazing accomplishments that women have had throughout history! My mother, Kathryn Dick, is among the many women that I look up to during Women’s History Month (as well as every other month of the year). When she founded Salt of the Earth Consulting, I knew that one of her primary goals would be to support other women in the financial industry and encourage them to succeed and thrive in the same ways that she has.

My name is Gretchen Bruinsma, and I am the Director of Marketing for Salt of the Earth Consulting. Being able to work with a team of strong women and leading the efforts to promote this consulting group are two things that I’m incredibly excited and grateful for. I could not think of a better way to commemorate Women’s History Month than to chat with my mom about what has inspired and motivated her throughout her career. And if you enjoy this post, please stay tuned for part two with an interview conducted by my sister, Madeline Dick.

The below interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Gretchen Bruinsma: What advice would you give to a woman starting her career in financial services?

Kathryn Dick: Be strong, authentic, kind, and strategic. In my opinion, the financial services industry is critical to the success of individuals and families. Therefore, diversity and equality are necessary for communities to thrive. So, I recommend “be strong,” because women have not yet achieved parity with men in many industries, financial services being no exception. Don’t take rejection personally, look for good mentors and coaches throughout your career, and know that you are contributing to a very important industry. I pass along the advice to “be authentic,” from some great colleagues in recent years, who showed me the importance of being true to yourself. There is always room for improving your skills and executive presence, but you should understand your own values and stay true to them. “Be kind,” sounds easy, but I have had the pleasure of evolving my understanding of this concept with age. Life is short, the world is quite small, and most people are good. Being unkind will not solve the root cause of a problem and may close opportunities along the way. We all know the saying, “what goes around comes around.” Finally, I cannot over-emphasize the importance of being strategic in your career. I have seen the financial services industry go through several changes, and as my family knows, founding Salt of the Earth Consulting is a strategic move that was seeded in discussions that took place with my parents when I was starting my career. I have a feeling we’ll discuss this further…

Gretchen: You are absolutely right! On that note, what motivated you to start your own consulting group and how did you select the name, “Salt of the Earth?”

Kathryn: My interest in starting SOTE was motivated by a few life experiences. One conversation with my parents and a college-age me really stands out in my memory. While I was getting ready to graduate with my MBA, my parents encouraged me to consider starting my own business. My father opened a law firm shortly after finishing law school and he was, and still is, passionate about the learning he gained from having his own business. My husband, Jeff, serves as another great role model for me – he spread his entrepreneurial wings in 2004 with MainStreet Bank, which is now a $1.7Billion commercial bank in Northern Virginia. When I completed my most recent corporate position, it afforded me time to reflect on whether I was ready to start my own business. My career interest has always been in financial services and starting a boutique firm with two of my favorite people, my daughters Madeline and Gretchen, seemed like the right strategic move. We have a great dynamic at SOTE, utilizing our combined skill sets to offer bespoke and affordable consulting services to individuals, companies and associations looking for assistance with new initiatives or other challenges. I chose the name “Salt of the Earth” because to me, this name captures the essence of the product deliver – Principled Guidance provided by good and honest people.

Gretchen: In recognition of Women’s History Month, what is something you enjoy about collaborating with other women?

Kathryn: This is a great question. My initial reaction is that I welcome collaboration with all people. Gender equality and representation fall under a much larger topic of diversity and ultimately promote a culture of unbiased opportunities. I’ll answer your question with an example: in 2004, I collaborated with a group of tenured women in the OCC to establish the agency’s inaugural women’s affinity group. What I enjoyed the most about participating in this effort was the commitment we made to respect, support, and promote one another – an early example of establishing a forum to be your authentic self. Success to us, meant lifting the entire group of women higher in the agency by sharing thoughts on what we had learned through our careers. This group believed and actioned the famous phrase by Aristotle, “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.” I get my energy working with others and have a great passion for helping people navigate their careers. There is so much opportunity in financial services for women to contribute at the highest levels of the public and private sectors and working towards greater equity and inclusion remains a top priority for me. One of the reasons I joined the Women Business Collaborative Leadership Council.