Today we’d like to introduce you to Katie Bouton.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Katie. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I started Koya in 2004 out of my house with a small desk in the corner of my bedroom! At the time, I had a computer, a tax ID number, and a phone. That was it! I had no working capital, no systems, no marketing or sales team. We built Koya from scratch.
Over the last 14 years we have grown into a 50+ person company with offices in 11 cities. We serve approximately 200 clients annually across multiple sectors, including nonprofits, higher education institutions, and public and private enterprises.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I don’t think any entrepreneur would describe the road as smooth! The bumps and curves in the road are what make the job exciting. The last 14 years have brought a lot of struggles and a lot of joy. You have to learn to live with constant risk and some degree of ambiguity. Some of my biggest struggles were around cash flow and access to capital. I had trouble getting banks to loan me working capital which slowed down my growth in the early years of the business. More recently, the challenge has been keeping up with the opportunities being presented now that our brand is more well known. Learning to manage to scale is also always a challenge!
Koya Leadership Partners – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Koya Leadership Partners is a national executive search firm dedicated to placing exceptionally talented leadership at mission-driven institutions committed to serving a larger social purpose. Koya was founded in 2004 on a single belief – the right person in the right place can change the world – and is deeply committed to its clients and the missions they serve. Koya has been recognized by Forbes for two consecutive years (2017 & 2018) as one of America’s Best Executive Recruiting Firms.
What sets us apart is our commitment to our clients and our customized client service. We partner with clients over many years and make it a key priority to really understand their mission and their values. We are most proud that 75% of our clients come back to Koya for an additional engagement.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
I am most proud of our company culture. Koya is built on the fundamental belief that all of us can have impact in the world. Our mission statement—the right person in the right place can change the world—is the core driver of our business and our employee engagement.
The office environment is virtual, with shared offices space in several major cities (Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Washington, D.C., and Boston). Working hours are flexible; it is typical for employees to log on for six hours, log off for a few hours to be with family, and then log back in to finish up. We trust individuals to do their work well. We also nurture a culture of celebration: Company-wide “shout outs” via email, where employees from any level of the organization recognize another team member (complete with Jimmy Fallon or Beyoncé GIFs); handwritten notes, small gift cards, unexpected flower deliveries, and spot bonuses are the norm at Koya.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.koyapartners.com
- Email: executivesearch@koyapartners.com
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/koyapartners
- Twitter: @koyapartners
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