admin Great leaders approach each day with vision, boldness, and a desire to elevate not only their own success, but also the success of those around them. Kim Vogel, an innovator and proven leader in the tech field, embodies these characteristics. Vogel’s story and rise in the tech industry offers inspiration and lessons on how to set goals and improve organizational performance.
Kim Vogel is the Co-founder and President of BaseVenture, a cloud-based software company in the investment management space. Vogel says she believes strongly that “vision, bold decision making and the desire to build and be part of innovative teams” have been critical to her success with BaseVenture and in her other endeavors. She states, “Having the ability to clearly visualize a direction and future benchmarks, and being prepared to make quick decisions are leadership traits that drive forward progress.” Kim appreciates the value of surrounding oneself with a team of highly intelligent and creative people and maintains that “doing so enables leaders to source and power visionary ideas”.
In her current role at BaseVenture, Kim is working to develop innovative solutions in the areas of financial reporting, data visualization, and process management. Beyond BaseVenture, Kim has held executive positions in multiple large tech and finance companies, worked as a certified public accountant and taught as a professor at St. Mary’s College where she currently also serves as a board member. Kim has an MBA she earned from Harvard Business School, and has decades of experience working to grow and monetize companies.
Lessons In Creativity and Innovation
It’s a strenuous task to make a company innovative from the roots up. Vogel knows that to be a true innovator, it takes the right mindest, culture, incentives and support through out an organization. Kim draws on experiences and lessons she learned while serving as the CFO at mFoundry to drive innovation at BaseVenture.
“During the nine years I spent as CFO at mFoundry, I repeatedly faced tests in innovation and creativity. We were working to take a new idea that many people found crazy or scary (mobile banking) and ignite it and make it mainstream. It took a lot of persistence, creativity, and teamwork to redefine people’s perceptions of mobile banking,” reveals Kim. But as Vogel points out, obstacles present opportunities to come up with innovative solutions.
Becoming a Tech Enthusiast
Vogel sees endless opportunities in tech. The technology industry is evolving rapidly, and Cloud technology is one of the most exciting arenas in the modern tech industry. This is one reason why Kim considers herself to be a tech enthusiast. Vogel explains that she is in the tech industry because “It is exciting. It is all about growth and innovation. Where I am now, I have opportunities to help other businesses be successful. Not only that, I can also push myself, dream big and chase my career aspirations. This industry is full of potential.” However, it took a bit of luck for Kim to find her way into the technology sector in the first place.
Kim says she was lucky with the timing of her career. She started working in investment banking just at the time when the dot com bubble was inflating. Everything at that time was about technology and the excitement of tech companies going public. Kim eventually jumped into tech to be part of that excitement. Kim mentions that, “Although I came from a finance background, I was lucky that the timing of my forward career movement came at a time of abundant tech growth”.
Finding Inspiration
Passion is one of the most important things required for attaining goals. Intelligence, networks, and courage help, but it is hard to trump passion. The truly successful leader is almost always the one who is highly passionate about his or her endeavor.
“Witnessing the rapid growth of the tech industry and realizing that I could be a part of it, lit a fire in me professionally. Personally, I’ve always been driven and passionate about pursing my goals,” mentions Kim.
According to Kim, her parents have been a main source of her inspiration. . They taught her to work hard and gave her the courage to confront obstacles in life.
“My mother (a hairstylist) and my father (a warehouse worker) were extremely hard working. It was their hardship that inspired me. Motivated by their work ethic, I became the first in my family to go to college. And this set me on a path to pursue bigger and bigger goals,” affirms Kim.
Encouraging Women to Be Successful in Tech
When asked how women can achieve a more prominent role in their organizations, Kim propounds, “There are several strategies. One of the biggest obstacles in terms of women advancing in their fields is that many of them drop out of the workforce when they have children. Women can’t consistently take steps forward and reach top leadership positions if they are not in the workforce. So, it is important for women, who want to work and raise families to pursue opportunities that afford them flexibility in terms of remote working and scheduling. This will enable women to stay in the workforce and continue to advance their careers,” recommends Kim.
“Also, I think when women have a vision of where they want to be in the future, and what position they want to hold within their organization and so forth, it allows them to take steps that will propel them to that point. Setting specific goals, like what title a woman would like to hold in the future is helpful. So is networking and building a support team,” she further adds.
Vogel shares that while she’s never felt particularly intimidated herself, she understands that tech can be intimidating to women, particularly because so few women are employed in the field. Of course, technological skills are in demand. Women who pursue an education and training in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) can empower themselves and position themselves for professional success. Therefore, Vogel highly encourages women to get degrees with a STEM emphasis.”
Building a Network
According to Kim, complacency or stagnancy scares her. “I don’t ever want to stop moving and growing. The list of things I want to do and learn is long. Surrounding myself with brilliant and driven people helps diminish my fears and makes me feel confident and inspired in my journey,” says Kim.
Kim shares that “A lot of business comes down to relationship building. Whether building and nurturing personal or professional relationships, it is important to focus on three things: showing attention, affection and appreciation.” It may seem obvious, but listening to people when they talk, and looking them in the eye, conveys that you are attentive. Showing affection involves a smile or giving someone your time, and appreciation can come in the forms of saying “thank you” or expressing gratitude in other ways.
Maintaining Balance
Kim admits that maintaining a healthy“work-life balance is always a challenge and something she constantly struggles with. Vogel says that with a sixteen-year-old daughter and a five-year-old son, there are a lot of demands that unfold daily. “First and foremost, the biggest enjoyment I have in life is being a mother. I remind myself every day that I have worked so hard to ensure that I have the flexibility in my schedule, to be an active part of whatever my children are experiencing. I think balancing becomes much easier when priorities are clear. My priorities couldn’t be clearer, my children come first.”
InspiringYoung Entrepreneurs
The beginning of any business is always challenging. Kim started BaseVenture with a passion which helped her build a successful empire in the tech industry. She proved that if you’re focused and driven, you can be highly successful.
Vogel believes if you have started your journey as an entrepreneur, you will come across various unexpected hurdles. Expanding a startup requires a lot of hard work, passion, dedication, and resilience.
Kim likes sharing her views with aspiring entrepreneurs. “Don’t feel you have to do it all by yourself. It takes a village, to build a successful family and a successful company. Seek out the best and brightest people to work with you,” says Kim.
The inspiring leader closes with these words: “In a fulfilling career surrounded by inspiring people I am far from achieving all that I desire. I truly believe we get out of life what we put into it, and we are all co-creators of our own respective destinies. There is still a lot of work to do. My life journey continues to be a work in progress, and I feel there is so much yet to see, experience, and accomplish.” An unsurprising statement from a driven leader.
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