Our Team
Salt of the Earth Consulting (SOTE) was founded in 2022 by Kathryn Dick and her two daughters, Madeline Dick and Gretchen Bruinsma. Kathy boasts over 40 years of experience in finance and supervision, and Madeline and Gretchen joined SOTE from a financial consulting firm and a personal wealth management team, respectively. Today, Kathy provides our clients with a tailored strategy to meet their individual goals while Gretchen provides administrative support.
Read more about Kathryn Dick and Gretchen Bruinsma below.
Kathryn Dick
Kathryn Dick (she/her) is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Salt of the Earth Consulting (SOTE), leveraging her accomplished career and reputation as a sought-after advisor to financial institution clients. Kathy has deep experience in navigating regulatory issues, governance and risk management challenges, strategic initiatives, and compliance requirements.
Kathy began her career in the public sector, spending 26 years at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). There, she started as a community bank examiner and rose through the OCC ranks to complete her tenure as a Deputy Comptroller for Credit and Market Risk, Chair of the OCC’s National Risk Committee, and OCC representative for the President’s Working Group on Financial Markets. Along the way, Kathy served as the Examiner-in-Charge of the OCC’s London Office, developed the OCC’s Financial Markets Group and was responsible for identifying emerging risk issues in the banking system and leading efforts to promptly respond to early warning signals. In response to the 2008 financial crisis, she served as co-Chair of the agency team established by the Comptroller to influence global and domestic regulatory reform efforts.
Upon leaving the OCC in 2010, Kathy joined the consulting firm Promontory Financial Group (“Promontory, a Business Unit of IBM”). Kathy served as one of Promontory’s critical leaders, executing on the mission and vision developed by former OCC Comptroller of the Currency, Gene Ludwig, Founder of Promontory. As a Managing Director, Kathy successfully led client engagements at multinational banks, midsize banks, thrifts, and financial market utilities such as rating agencies and clearinghouses. She played a key role in client outreach by heading one of Promontory’s primary client coverage groups.
After eight successful years at Promontory, Kathy chose to step deeper into the private sector by joining United Services Automobile Association (USAA) in a newly created position of Senior Vice President of Risk, Governance and Regulatory Strategy. This career move was motivated by her respect for persons who serve to protect their communities (including Kathy’s immediate family members) and the USAA mission to facilitate the financial security of its members. While at USAA, Kathy recruited and hired the team needed to develop and support a comprehensive regulatory relations strategy for engagement with Federal and State regulatory authorities. Kathy was responsible for regulatory reporting to USAA’s management committees and Board of Directors, and established infrastructure to manage and report accurately and timely on regulatory matters.
Kathy is a Minnesota native who attended the University of Minnesota Carlson School of Management for her M.B.A. in Business Administration. She is a Chartered Financial Analyst Charterholder, a professional in the Risk Management Association and President of the OCC’s Alumni Association. Kathy resides in Virginia with her husband, Jeff, and their dog, Bailey.
Gretchen Bruinsma
Gretchen Bruinsma (she/her) serves as the Chief Financial Officer and Director of Marketing at Salt of the Earth Consulting (SOTE). She has been with our team since we were founded in 2022. Gretchen began her career as a project coordinator for an engineering firm, and then later entered the financial services industry as the head of marketing for a financial advisor. Throughout her career she has exclusively worked for small companies, which allowed her to take on numerous responsibilities and work closely with a variety of departments. Her jack-of-all-trades background has allowed her to accrue years of experience in project management, administration, information management, and marketing. Gretchen graduated from Syracuse University with a B.S. in Information Management and Technology.
At SOTE, Gretchen continues to wear many hats. She serves as Kathy’s administrative assistant, our billing department, tech support, and manages all our marketing efforts. Gretchen is also the editor of our email newsletter, Sundry Edition. She currently resides in Oklahoma with her husband, Alexander, and their dogs, Ryder and Felix.
Salt of the Earth Consulting 