October 20, 2023 • 30 mins
Quote about change: "Just go in, figure things out, and get things done."
Ever wondered what it takes to transition from corporate finance to entrepreneurship? Our insightful chat with Karri Howlett is a must-listen for anyone facing career changes or contemplating a leap into entrepreneurship. Karri Howlett is the owner of Karri Howlett Consulting. She takes us through her remarkable journey of career changes, the challenges she encountered, and shares how her upbringing on a farm shaped her decisions and cultivated an optimistic outlook.
We dive into the real deal of entrepreneurship, discussing the decision Karri and her husband made to become entrepreneurs, even against initial apprehensions from their family. Karri shares insights on the risks and rewards of leaving a steady paycheck. She sheds light on the resilience required to forge ahead and how nourishing optimism can lead to achieving goals.
Karri shares her experience of buying a business with partners and how crucial alignment is in finding the right partner. Finally, we delve into the importance of trusting that inner voice when making decisions.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Peggie Koenig (00:00):
Welcome to.
So you Want to Move to theCountry and Raise Goats?
This is a podcast about change.
Change is all around us andsometimes we're ready for it and
sometimes we're not.
When it overwhelms us, well, wejust want to move to the
country and raise goats.
This podcast features storiesfrom people who have gone
(00:20):
through change.
We hope that their insightswill help you better understand
and deal with the changes inyour life.
I'm Peggy Koenig and, alongwith my co-host, Catherine Gryba
, we chat with insightful peoplewith interesting change stories
.
We hope you enjoy our podcast.
Catherine Gryba (00:43):
Karri Howlett is the owner of Karri Howlett
Consulting.
She has a very interestingbackground in finance,
geoscience, engineering, mergersand acquisitions, so a lot of
Carrie arrived at owning her ownconsulting firm.
She has strong ties andconnections to her family, where
she grew up in a farm.
(01:03):
Following university, shestarted working for corporate
Canada and made the very commonmove to Caligary where she
followed the love of her life.
They then decided to move backto Saskatoon to be close to
family as they raised theirchildren.
Carrie is an optimist.
She just knows that things willwork out.
(01:25):
She trusts her voice inside andhas what she describes as a
bouncy mind.
She pays attention to whenshe's bouncing and has learned
to quiet herself throughmeditation.
Join Peggy and I as Carrieshares her story.
Peggie Koenig (01:44):
Today we're very happy to welcome Carrie Howlett
to the program.
Hi, carrie, thanks for joining.
Catherine and I.
Karri Howlett (01:51):
Hi, Great to be here.
Thanks for the invitation to bea part of your great show.
Peggie Koenig (01:57):
Okay, great Well you know, carrie, you and I have
.
We've known each other off andon over the years and I think it
really way back in the day youwere actually a client of my
consulting firm.
I didn't work with you directly, but that's where we first
connected and then we actuallyshared some space in the same
(02:17):
office building, which wasinteresting as well.
We would run into each other inthe hallway.
So I'm interested and I thinkour listeners are interested in
hearing about about your careerand its evolution, and I know
that you started out studyingfinance, and I'm wondering if
you can just go back back thereand sort of start talking about
(02:40):
where that took you and why youmade the decisions that you made
and the changes that you made.
Karri Howlett (02:46):
Yeah, thanks, peggy.
Yeah, it's funny when you thinkback to that.
That was 30 years ago when Istarted my university degree.
I was 17 years old.
I was, you know, farm kid, grewup in around Porcupine Plains,
saskatchewan, and, you know,wasn't going to fulfill my
(03:09):
grandfather's desire dreams ofme marrying a farmer and taking
over the farm.
So, you know, it was somethingthat I was interested in was to
go to university.
I was first thinking aboutbecoming a corporate lawyer,
actually, and then, once I gotinto school and realized that,
(03:31):
you know, law school looked alittle too challenging for me, I
thought I would go straightinto commerce and stick with it.
So, yeah, I picked a financedegree.
I always think of that asapplied accounting or applied
economics one of the two and soI always found that really
interesting and creative aboutyou know how you can grow wealth
(03:56):
and grow businesses and thingslike that.
So I really took to thattraining and, of course, when I
finished my degree, I did asevery good Saskatchewan kid does
.
I moved to Calgary for a coupleof years, but I didn't move for
a job, I moved for love.
My husband was finishing up hisarchitecture degree there, and
(04:17):
so when I, as soon as I finisheduniversity, I headed out to
Alberta to be with him and so Ispent a couple of years working
in the oil industry in Calgaryand then, after we had our first
daughter, we moved back toSaskatchewan.
And because he's fromSaskatchewan as well, he's from
Saskatoon and so I worked for acompany called what was called
(04:39):
Co-op Trust.
I think it's gone through a fewdifferent iterations I can't
remember what it's called now,but it's.
I worked in their corporatefinance group there and was
lucky enough to be involved withtheir large merger, which was a
large merger with anothercredit union institution and I
(05:00):
think it was a total of about $7billion in assets and really
complicated merger work in termsof financial modeling and
regulatory and things like that.
So super fulfilling experienceand really loved it.
And then continued on doingthat for Saskatoon Credit Union,
doing their mergers, and thendecided at that point that I
(05:25):
like doing that so much andthought that that could be
applicable skills that could befor many different companies,
not necessarily just banks andcredit unions.
So I decided that I wouldbecome an entrepreneur and start
my own consulting business anddo ownership, transition, risk
(05:45):
management, cash flow management, those types of things, and
that was super fulfilling.
I guess, growing up on a farm,entrepreneurship is in your
blood, and so again disappointedmy grandfather, who thought
having a good, steady job in thecredit union system was the way
to go, and then thoroughlydisappointed him yet again by
(06:06):
becoming an entrepreneur.
But when you grew up on a farm,it's hard not to work for
yourself, and so that's what Idecided to do.
Catherine Gryba (06:15):
Maryam, I'm curious.
I want to go back to when youmoved to Caligari because,
you're right, there was such anexodus of young people moving
for that grass that was greenerin Alberta, and so when you
moved, did you have in mind thatyou were going to come back
within two to five years, or wasthat even you know?
You're young enough that itwill just take it as it comes?
(06:37):
What were you thinking then interms of your path to Alberta
and back again?
Karri Howlett (06:44):
Yeah, good question.
It really really was, with noplan in mind other than just to
go to be with my love.
And so I was working for CIBChere and was kind of on that
path that you take once you arefinished university and decided
(07:07):
then to move it towards.
I took a job at CIBC inCaligari originally just to kind
of get me there, and then got amuch better paying job in the
oil industry as they all do.
But I wasn't really.
We didn't really have a plan.
It was just sort of more of atake it as you go.
My husband being an architect,you know there may not have been
(07:31):
as much opportunity inSaskatchewan as there would have
been in Alberta.
So we didn't really have a planto move back.
Things just sort of all fellinto place.
I, we had our first child inCaligari and while I was on
maternity leave I was visitingfamily back in Saskatchewan and
saw a job posting.
For what was the job?
(07:52):
At Co-op Trust, applied for it,thinking you know, that sounds
like a cool job and it would benice to be close to family
because I grew up very close toall of my my family and my
husband's family is here and gotthe job and then my husband was
able to find work here, and sothen we, we moved back and
(08:12):
haven't looked back.
But when we, when we leftCaligari, it was we left in 2000
.
And that was still the massexodus.
And I remember going to changemy, my address at different
places and I was saying, youknow, I'm moving, I'm changing
it from Caligari to Saskatoon,and people would be like you
(08:33):
have that backwards, are yousure I like that doesn't seem
right.
And so you know we were, wewere kind of bucking the trend,
I suppose, by moving back whenwe did.
But but you know, got us anopportunity to get a good
foothold here in our careers and, you know, by house and and
raise our family here and it'sjust been wonderful.
Peggie Koenig (08:56):
So, Kerry, it sounds like I mean, you were in
some pretty large corporationswhere you really honed your
skills and it sounds to me likeyou had that you were really
open to new experiences on thejob, to really jumping in and
doing some of the tough stuff.
(09:16):
Am I hearing that right?
Karri Howlett (09:19):
Yeah, I think, especially when I came back here
and started working for Co-opTrust.
I mean, the company was sodynamic.
It was run by just a phenomenalwoman leader, myrna Bentley if
anyone remembers Wonderful,wonderful Myrna and she was so
inspiring and really ran a greatcompany and I was really given
(09:43):
a lot of opportunity to do, tomake the role what I wanted it
to be.
And you know, just again thatkind of Saskatchewan upbringing
where you just you don't need amanual, you just go in and you
figure it out and you get itdone, and when there's a problem
that needs to be solved, youfigure out how to solve it and
(10:04):
over time that just gives youkind of a good good foothold in
skill development.
And and then, paired with thefact that I can't really say no
when things sound really fun andinteresting and a lot of things
sound fun and interesting, andso I you know it just gained a
lot of great experience there,so did you ever have moments
(10:25):
where you really wonderedwhether you could do it?
Peggie Koenig (10:28):
Did you ever have questions of confidence?
Because it sounds like you hadopportunities to to take on all
sorts of things, like peoplewere were giving you things to
do that you nest not necessarilyreally knew what you were doing
at the time.
I'm making an assumption.
Were you ever?
(10:48):
Was your confidence ever?
Did you ever question yourself?
Were you ever afraid?
Karri Howlett (10:55):
Yeah, I think I'm not.
I'm pretty good at askingquestions of others, I like to
learn, and so anytime I was abit a bit lost.
Luckily, I had a ton of greatmentors there, so I was able to
to really lean on a lot of veryexperienced people who knew a
(11:15):
lot more than me, and so, youknow, and made and made my fair
share of mistakes too.
Again, great great environmentthere.
I was able to make mistakes andlearn from them without too
serious of consequences too.
So, you know, I think it was,it was just a great place to to
start my career really.
Catherine Gryba (11:37):
And I'm curious .
Carrie, it's absolutely true.
Farming is really anentrepreneurial business and
it's just born into you andyou're raised that way, and yet
you were on a trajectory for avery successful career in
corporate world.
So what did you go through whenmaking that decision to make
(12:00):
the jump, because there wouldhave been some risk in it, also
in going out on your own.
What was what went through yourmind to make that decision?
Karri Howlett (12:09):
You know it's funny, catherine, you mentioned
that, and it's when you, as soonas you ask that question, I'm
thrown back to 2006, when I madethat decision, and it feels
like yesterday it was.
It's a tough one to go intoentrepreneurship, give up that
steady paycheck that I'd hadsince I was a teenager, always
(12:31):
having that place to go onMonday and the paycheck at the
end of every two weeks, and so,yeah, it was risky.
But then I thought back to whenI started university and I had
nothing.
I was, you know, I mean a goodfamily and strong background,
but, you know, taking on studentloans and living off of very
(12:52):
little money and and just doingwhat you had to do, and I
thought this is just going to bea new form of tuition.
I'm going to be having tosacrifice a little bit of income
to learn a new skill.
I could go back to school or Icould become an entrepreneur.
Both, both require a cost ofadmission and and and some you
(13:14):
know, intuition is the school oflife when you're an
entrepreneur, and so that'sthat's ultimately what the
mindset that I had to adopt inorder to to get through it was
that this is going to be anotherfour year degree in
entrepreneurship.
Peggie Koenig (13:30):
So when, when you made that decision, I'm taking,
I'm taking back to when I madethe decision.
I left a job, at a good job,initially at the university and
then with with Deloitte, tostart my own business.
My parents were absolutelyhorrified that I would do such a
(13:52):
to give up all that security.
How was, how did your familyreact to you making that
decision?
Karri Howlett (14:00):
Yeah.
So I mean, I had two young kidsat the time and my husband also
made the decision to become anentrepreneur.
He became a partner in hisarchitecture firm at the same
time.
So I remember going to ouraccountant and our lawyer and
saying, okay, we need thepaperwork drawn up for starting
(14:23):
two businesses this month.
And so, I don't know, maybe wewere crazy, but it all worked
out.
It was, it just felt like theright thing to do and and yeah,
it all it all worked out, tofair, you know, with varying
degrees, I mean, nothing's evera straight line or perfect all
the way through but butcertainly it was, yeah, kind of
(14:47):
a pivotal moment for both of us,and we were kind of going
through it at the same time, andso we just, we just did what we
had to do.
It helps if you start yourcareer with your, your
consulting business, with yourfirst contract though, so
there's a little bit of cashflow that to get you started is
always helpful.
But landing that second andthird contract is the hard part,
(15:08):
for sure.
Catherine Gryba (15:10):
And you experience setbacks.
Karri Howlett (15:14):
Yeah for sure there were all little setbacks,
little things where maybe aclient, that just didn't pan out
the way you thought it wasgoing to.
I still think of consulting asa fun, a funny thing, and even
though I've been doing it for 15plus years, I still go into
(15:37):
every contract thinking thatwe're going to deliver this
beautiful, shiny, golden orb atthe end of this project and it's
going to be so wonderful.
And then in reality by the timeit's done, you're handing over
to the client this, you know,rusted and beat up and like you
know things taped on and gumstuck to it and it's like it's
(16:02):
not shiny and golden but it'syour orb sort of.
And you know, and it's just thereality.
You know you go into thingswith the best of intentions and
then it just life happens and soon both sides, you know you
can't anticipate everything.
So I think you know,entrepreneurship is a bit like
that too.
It just starts out as this youknow great idea and everything's
(16:27):
going to go wonderfully, andthen just things come along to
kind of batter and bruise youalong the way.
But ultimately I think it's amuch stronger battered and
bruised orb in the end, becauseit's you know it's real, it's
been tested through life and itstill holds up.
So I think that's kind of atestament to anybody who's an
(16:48):
entrepreneur and who's beendoing it for a long time is that
if you can, you know, still beheld up.
You're maybe a bit battered andbruised, but you're still going
.
Peggie Koenig (17:00):
So it's very you know through this conversation
what I'm hearing a lot ofresilience and also where
hearing resilience combined withforging ahead to achieve your
goals and just almost making anassumption that it's all going
(17:22):
to work out.
Am I, like you, just reallybelieve?
You believe?
Karri Howlett (17:28):
I guess.
So, yeah, I do have anoptimistic viewpoint generally.
I think now it's a little moretempered with realism than it
was, you know, when I startedout, when I was younger.
Yeah, I guess just alwaysfeeling like I could figure it
out.
But if there was anything thatyou know came my way that was
(17:54):
was kind of threw me off, then Icould figure it out.
Or and not just me I have.
I have great people in my world.
I've met so many, many, manyamazing people in my different
spheres of business, eitherthrough as a corporate person on
(18:14):
this entrepreneurship journeythat I've been on on different
corporate boards that I've beenon.
There's just so much wealth ofknowledge and people who are
willing to share their adviceand their thoughts with you and
kind of banter things out on.
You know how to maybe look at aproblem a little bit
differently, those types ofthings, and it's really quite,
(18:37):
quite amazing.
So, yeah, I definitely draw onsome of my own resilience, but I
think I also draw on theresilience of others who've
who've been there and done thatand are are just amazing people
who are willing to share andhelp out.
So we get to have a lot of thatin Saskatchewan.
We've got a lot of people whoare just like it doesn't matter
(18:57):
if you are, you know, a personwhose name is on an important
building in the city or you have, you know, run a company for so
many years or whatever, or even, yeah, just, or you're a doctor
or anything, just everybody'sgot such interesting stories and
(19:18):
they're just so willing to tochat.
So it's a great.
It's a great place to dobusiness, it's a great place to
build your career and it's yeah,I really have enjoyed it.
Catherine Gryba (19:31):
Harry, do you specifically seek out mentors,
or or do these conversationskind of happen and you're in
boardrooms or meetings andyou're open to open to you know
advice?
Then how does that work for you?
Karri Howlett (19:47):
Yeah, I actually don't go and seek out mentors.
I think I have had mentors inthe past.
Some are formal, some areinformal.
Yeah, I think that's a lot ofpressure on someone to feel like
they need to provide you theright thing at all times.
(20:10):
So I like to kind of just haveconversations with people and
just learn from their experience.
I'm one of these types ofthinkers that I can.
I'd like to make connections inwhat people are saying.
So even if someone sayssomething that is seemingly
(20:30):
irrelevant to what I might begoing through, actually there's
probably a lot of relevance.
I mean, the human experiencecan be fairly universal in many
ways, and so I always getsomething of great value anytime
I talk with someone, andoftentimes, if it's not a nugget
(20:52):
for use in a current situation,there's usually a quote or
something that comes out in mymind, or even just a general
feeling that I get from thatperson that I can draw on later
If there's another challengethat comes ahead.
Yeah.
Peggie Koenig (21:10):
So you were a consultant, you are a consultant
, but in between the were andare, there were some.
You've had otherentrepreneurial opportunities,
right?
And just prior to going on tothe podcast, you were talking
about how you and some otherpartners bought into a company
(21:33):
which is where I first met youin the hallways right, but that
company was merged, right, andyes, and then you stayed on for
a while.
But there, talk to us a littlebit about how important
alignment is at work.
Karri Howlett (21:55):
Yeah, so the company that you're talking
about, peggy, was used to becalled North Rim Exploration.
It was a client of mine back in2009 or 2008 that was looking
to sell his business, and when Igot into entrepreneurship, I
was looking for a business thatI could either build or buy, and
(22:15):
so that was maybe differentthan consulting.
And so this opportunitypresented itself this client who
was looking to sell hisbusiness.
I got to know the business, Igot to know the people.
I really loved it.
It was in mining, so totallydifferent than what I was
experienced.
But every business has afinance component.
(22:37):
And so, yes, I organized agroup of individuals who worked
at the company, as well as aninstitutional shareholder, to
buy the company from this fellow.
And then we ran it for six years, went through the ups and downs
of the mining industry, so grewthe business, shrunk the
business and got ourselves backto having good profitability,
(23:01):
really good profitability, andhad had a vast, quite a bit of
cash over that time.
And so we were, and ourinstitutional shareholder was
looking to exit.
So we were looking for partnersto kind of grow and expand our
business into new areas and alsohave take out our institutional
shareholder, and so we had acouple of options.
(23:26):
But we ended up working with acompany called Respec, which was
based out of Rapid City, southDakota, and our other partner
potential partner was based outof Germany, and so we were kind
of deciding between the two andwhat we found was that our
partner, respec, in Rapid City,was just had a lot of the
(23:48):
similar perspective.
They're both they're Midwestcompany, you know, based out of
Rapid City, so they got thatkind of Midwest feel, very, you
know, home driven, you knowhardworking, just yeah, let the
work speak for itself, but havethat balance with your life and
(24:10):
your family and those types ofthings.
So that was really importantfor our team.
And then we became it's anemployee owned business and we
were an employee owned business,so it was just a good fit that
way as well, and so they justfelt like the right partner and
it because they felt like theright partner from the day we
started talking to the day weclosed the deal was four months
(24:33):
and so it all happened reallyreally fast, just because we
were all aligned and and it justfelt like a good fit.
And so, yeah, and it's been asuccessful transaction
transition ever since.
Catherine Gryba (24:50):
Carrie, what advice or tips and tools would
you share with our listenersthat have worked for you or
didn't work when you wentthrough change?
Karri Howlett (25:04):
I would say a tip is and this sounds cliché, but
it is so very, very true istrust that voice inside that
says this is the thing that youshould do or this is the thing
you shouldn't do.
I can pinpoint me not listeningto my inner wisdom to every
(25:25):
failure I've had, and I canpinpoint listening to my inner
wisdom for every success thatI've had too.
In order to be able to do that,you do have to spend some time
getting to know yourself alittle bit and what's important
to you.
I keep going back to myupbringing and just being around
(25:51):
the farm and being aroundfamily all the time, and it just
has to fit with your values.
I guess, if I can segue intowhat I'm doing now, I guess
that's what I like about thework that I'm doing now, which
is ESG strategy consulting, sohelping companies not only make
(26:16):
money but also do it in a waythat aligns with the values of
their stakeholders, becausethat's been so important to how
I've governed my life and madethe choices I've made in my
career and I've seen the success.
For me, it just feels like abit of a natural fit to be able
(26:39):
to talk about how that might besuccessful for others and for
other businesses.
Catherine Gryba (26:46):
I find the trusting your voice such an
important piece of advice.
And did you get better at itthe older you've got?
Do you pay attention to thatvoice now, or was it always
there?
Karri Howlett (27:03):
I think it was.
Honestly, I think it was alwaysthere.
I was lucky I had.
My grandmother was one thatalways kind of taught me how to.
She taught she was my firstmeditation teacher, so she
always taught me how to kind ofget quiet and listen.
I have a busy brain and I'm abit of a bouncy person, and so
(27:26):
she gave me some really helpfultools on how to kind of quiet
that and pay attention.
That was really helpful and, Ithink, also to we all put
certain brave faces on and kindof soldier through things a lot
in life and so there's times ofcourse where you just kind of
(27:50):
push through because you have to, but I think in the end you
usually find out if that was agood decision or not.
So as I've gotten older, I'mstarting to have a little bit
more, maybe a little less energyto push through, I think.
I think that's the big thing.
(28:12):
So if it's not working for meright now, then I kind of
sometimes will just say nah, nah.
So maybe I pivot a little bitquicker now than I used to
before.
Peggie Koenig (28:24):
Fascinating, yeah , and I really think that that
is such good advice because veryoften, where the first thing we
jump to is in our insecuritiesand we don't listen to our
intuition.
We think about how othersexpect us to react or how others
expect us to be, when really,intuitively, we know what our
(28:50):
decision should be.
So I'm just actually learningthat myself, and how many.
Well, I'm quite a bit olderthan you guys, but, yeah,
sometimes it takes a long timeto get to that place.
Catherine Gryba (29:05):
Yeah, yeah, carrie, this has been
fascinating.
I've admired you for so manyyears and I really am so pleased
to see how well you'reconsulting for me and it's just
a perfect timing.
The whole ESG and I've donesome work with you on this
limited, but you have such apractical approach and it's you
(29:30):
kind of take the all of us stuffaway and just really bring it
down to here's what you need tobe focusing on talking about,
and I'm guessing that also comesfrom your Saskatchewan boots.
Let's just think about what'simportant here and move through
that.
So congratulations on how wellyou're doing with your company.
Karri Howlett (29:51):
Thank you so much .
Yeah, it's so much fun that wecan have in business, and this
is just another dimension of it.
So I'm really really gratefulfor the opportunity to have made
a living and a career here inSaskatchewan with other
Saskatchewan businesses and hopeto keep going Okay.
Peggie Koenig (30:12):
Thank you so much Thank you so much.
If you've learned just onething about change while
listening to this podcast,please subscribe on Apple or
Spotify and share with friendthis episode recorded via Zoom
Audio.
Producers Peggy Keneck andCatherine Greiba.
Executive producer.
(30:32):
Keneck leadership advisorytheme music La Pompée, written
by Chris Harrington, musicpublisher in Vato Market.
For information on this podcastand to purchase some fabulous
goat merchandise, please visitwwwgetyourgoatca.
Welcome to.
So you Want to Move to theCountry and Raise Goats?
This is a podcast about change.
Change is all around us andsometimes we're ready for it and
sometimes we're not.
When it overwhelms us, well, wejust want to move to the
country and raise goats.
This podcast features storiesfrom people who have gone
(00:20):
through change.
We hope that their insightswill help you better understand
and deal with the changes inyour life.
I'm Peggy Koenig and, alongwith my co-host, Catherine Gryba
, we chat with insightful peoplewith interesting change stories
.
We hope you enjoy our podcast.
Catherine Gryba (00:43):
Karri Howlett is the owner of Karri Howlett
Consulting.
She has a very interestingbackground in finance,
geoscience, engineering, mergersand acquisitions, so a lot of
Carrie arrived at owning her ownconsulting firm.
She has strong ties andconnections to her family, where
she grew up in a farm.
(01:03):
Following university, shestarted working for corporate
Canada and made the very commonmove to Caligary where she
followed the love of her life.
They then decided to move backto Saskatoon to be close to
family as they raised theirchildren.
Carrie is an optimist.
She just knows that things willwork out.
(01:25):
She trusts her voice inside andhas what she describes as a
bouncy mind.
She pays attention to whenshe's bouncing and has learned
to quiet herself throughmeditation.
Join Peggy and I as Carrieshares her story.
Peggie Koenig (01:44):
Today we're very happy to welcome Carrie Howlett
to the program.
Hi, carrie, thanks for joining.
Catherine and I.
Karri Howlett (01:51):
Hi, Great to be here.
Thanks for the invitation to bea part of your great show.
Peggie Koenig (01:57):
Okay, great Well you know, carrie, you and I have
.
We've known each other off andon over the years and I think it
really way back in the day youwere actually a client of my
consulting firm.
I didn't work with you directly, but that's where we first
connected and then we actuallyshared some space in the same
(02:17):
office building, which wasinteresting as well.
We would run into each other inthe hallway.
So I'm interested and I thinkour listeners are interested in
hearing about about your careerand its evolution, and I know
that you started out studyingfinance, and I'm wondering if
you can just go back back thereand sort of start talking about
(02:40):
where that took you and why youmade the decisions that you made
and the changes that you made.
Karri Howlett (02:46):
Yeah, thanks, peggy.
Yeah, it's funny when you thinkback to that.
That was 30 years ago when Istarted my university degree.
I was 17 years old.
I was, you know, farm kid, grewup in around Porcupine Plains,
saskatchewan, and, you know,wasn't going to fulfill my
(03:09):
grandfather's desire dreams ofme marrying a farmer and taking
over the farm.
So, you know, it was somethingthat I was interested in was to
go to university.
I was first thinking aboutbecoming a corporate lawyer,
actually, and then, once I gotinto school and realized that,
(03:31):
you know, law school looked alittle too challenging for me, I
thought I would go straightinto commerce and stick with it.
So, yeah, I picked a financedegree.
I always think of that asapplied accounting or applied
economics one of the two and soI always found that really
interesting and creative aboutyou know how you can grow wealth
(03:56):
and grow businesses and thingslike that.
So I really took to thattraining and, of course, when I
finished my degree, I did asevery good Saskatchewan kid does
.
I moved to Calgary for a coupleof years, but I didn't move for
a job, I moved for love.
My husband was finishing up hisarchitecture degree there, and
(04:17):
so when I, as soon as I finisheduniversity, I headed out to
Alberta to be with him and so Ispent a couple of years working
in the oil industry in Calgaryand then, after we had our first
daughter, we moved back toSaskatchewan.
And because he's fromSaskatchewan as well, he's from
Saskatoon and so I worked for acompany called what was called
(04:39):
Co-op Trust.
I think it's gone through a fewdifferent iterations I can't
remember what it's called now,but it's.
I worked in their corporatefinance group there and was
lucky enough to be involved withtheir large merger, which was a
large merger with anothercredit union institution and I
(05:00):
think it was a total of about $7billion in assets and really
complicated merger work in termsof financial modeling and
regulatory and things like that.
So super fulfilling experienceand really loved it.
And then continued on doingthat for Saskatoon Credit Union,
doing their mergers, and thendecided at that point that I
(05:25):
like doing that so much andthought that that could be
applicable skills that could befor many different companies,
not necessarily just banks andcredit unions.
So I decided that I wouldbecome an entrepreneur and start
my own consulting business anddo ownership, transition, risk
(05:45):
management, cash flow management, those types of things, and
that was super fulfilling.
I guess, growing up on a farm,entrepreneurship is in your
blood, and so again disappointedmy grandfather, who thought
having a good, steady job in thecredit union system was the way
to go, and then thoroughlydisappointed him yet again by
(06:06):
becoming an entrepreneur.
But when you grew up on a farm,it's hard not to work for
yourself, and so that's what Idecided to do.
Catherine Gryba (06:15):
Maryam, I'm curious.
I want to go back to when youmoved to Caligari because,
you're right, there was such anexodus of young people moving
for that grass that was greenerin Alberta, and so when you
moved, did you have in mind thatyou were going to come back
within two to five years, or wasthat even you know?
You're young enough that itwill just take it as it comes?
(06:37):
What were you thinking then interms of your path to Alberta
and back again?
Karri Howlett (06:44):
Yeah, good question.
It really really was, with noplan in mind other than just to
go to be with my love.
And so I was working for CIBChere and was kind of on that
path that you take once you arefinished university and decided
(07:07):
then to move it towards.
I took a job at CIBC inCaligari originally just to kind
of get me there, and then got amuch better paying job in the
oil industry as they all do.
But I wasn't really.
We didn't really have a plan.
It was just sort of more of atake it as you go.
My husband being an architect,you know there may not have been
(07:31):
as much opportunity inSaskatchewan as there would have
been in Alberta.
So we didn't really have a planto move back.
Things just sort of all fellinto place.
I, we had our first child inCaligari and while I was on
maternity leave I was visitingfamily back in Saskatchewan and
saw a job posting.
For what was the job?
(07:52):
At Co-op Trust, applied for it,thinking you know, that sounds
like a cool job and it would benice to be close to family
because I grew up very close toall of my my family and my
husband's family is here and gotthe job and then my husband was
able to find work here, and sothen we, we moved back and
(08:12):
haven't looked back.
But when we, when we leftCaligari, it was we left in 2000
.
And that was still the massexodus.
And I remember going to changemy, my address at different
places and I was saying, youknow, I'm moving, I'm changing
it from Caligari to Saskatoon,and people would be like you
(08:33):
have that backwards, are yousure I like that doesn't seem
right.
And so you know we were, wewere kind of bucking the trend,
I suppose, by moving back whenwe did.
But but you know, got us anopportunity to get a good
foothold here in our careers and, you know, by house and and
raise our family here and it'sjust been wonderful.
Peggie Koenig (08:56):
So, Kerry, it sounds like I mean, you were in
some pretty large corporationswhere you really honed your
skills and it sounds to me likeyou had that you were really
open to new experiences on thejob, to really jumping in and
doing some of the tough stuff.
(09:16):
Am I hearing that right?
Karri Howlett (09:19):
Yeah, I think, especially when I came back here
and started working for Co-opTrust.
I mean, the company was sodynamic.
It was run by just a phenomenalwoman leader, myrna Bentley if
anyone remembers Wonderful,wonderful Myrna and she was so
inspiring and really ran a greatcompany and I was really given
(09:43):
a lot of opportunity to do, tomake the role what I wanted it
to be.
And you know, just again thatkind of Saskatchewan upbringing
where you just you don't need amanual, you just go in and you
figure it out and you get itdone, and when there's a problem
that needs to be solved, youfigure out how to solve it and
(10:04):
over time that just gives youkind of a good good foothold in
skill development.
And and then, paired with thefact that I can't really say no
when things sound really fun andinteresting and a lot of things
sound fun and interesting, andso I you know it just gained a
lot of great experience there,so did you ever have moments
(10:25):
where you really wonderedwhether you could do it?
Peggie Koenig (10:28):
Did you ever have questions of confidence?
Because it sounds like you hadopportunities to to take on all
sorts of things, like peoplewere were giving you things to
do that you nest not necessarilyreally knew what you were doing
at the time.
I'm making an assumption.
Were you ever?
(10:48):
Was your confidence ever?
Did you ever question yourself?
Were you ever afraid?
Karri Howlett (10:55):
Yeah, I think I'm not.
I'm pretty good at askingquestions of others, I like to
learn, and so anytime I was abit a bit lost.
Luckily, I had a ton of greatmentors there, so I was able to
to really lean on a lot of veryexperienced people who knew a
(11:15):
lot more than me, and so, youknow, and made and made my fair
share of mistakes too.
Again, great great environmentthere.
I was able to make mistakes andlearn from them without too
serious of consequences too.
So, you know, I think it was,it was just a great place to to
start my career really.
Catherine Gryba (11:37):
And I'm curious .
Carrie, it's absolutely true.
Farming is really anentrepreneurial business and
it's just born into you andyou're raised that way, and yet
you were on a trajectory for avery successful career in
corporate world.
So what did you go through whenmaking that decision to make
(12:00):
the jump, because there wouldhave been some risk in it, also
in going out on your own.
What was what went through yourmind to make that decision?
Karri Howlett (12:09):
You know it's funny, catherine, you mentioned
that, and it's when you, as soonas you ask that question, I'm
thrown back to 2006, when I madethat decision, and it feels
like yesterday it was.
It's a tough one to go intoentrepreneurship, give up that
steady paycheck that I'd hadsince I was a teenager, always
(12:31):
having that place to go onMonday and the paycheck at the
end of every two weeks, and so,yeah, it was risky.
But then I thought back to whenI started university and I had
nothing.
I was, you know, I mean a goodfamily and strong background,
but, you know, taking on studentloans and living off of very
(12:52):
little money and and just doingwhat you had to do, and I
thought this is just going to bea new form of tuition.
I'm going to be having tosacrifice a little bit of income
to learn a new skill.
I could go back to school or Icould become an entrepreneur.
Both, both require a cost ofadmission and and and some you
(13:14):
know, intuition is the school oflife when you're an
entrepreneur, and so that'sthat's ultimately what the
mindset that I had to adopt inorder to to get through it was
that this is going to be anotherfour year degree in
entrepreneurship.
Peggie Koenig (13:30):
So when, when you made that decision, I'm taking,
I'm taking back to when I madethe decision.
I left a job, at a good job,initially at the university and
then with with Deloitte, tostart my own business.
My parents were absolutelyhorrified that I would do such a
(13:52):
to give up all that security.
How was, how did your familyreact to you making that
decision?
Karri Howlett (14:00):
Yeah.
So I mean, I had two young kidsat the time and my husband also
made the decision to become anentrepreneur.
He became a partner in hisarchitecture firm at the same
time.
So I remember going to ouraccountant and our lawyer and
saying, okay, we need thepaperwork drawn up for starting
(14:23):
two businesses this month.
And so, I don't know, maybe wewere crazy, but it all worked
out.
It was, it just felt like theright thing to do and and yeah,
it all it all worked out, tofair, you know, with varying
degrees, I mean, nothing's evera straight line or perfect all
the way through but butcertainly it was, yeah, kind of
(14:47):
a pivotal moment for both of us,and we were kind of going
through it at the same time, andso we just, we just did what we
had to do.
It helps if you start yourcareer with your, your
consulting business, with yourfirst contract though, so
there's a little bit of cashflow that to get you started is
always helpful.
But landing that second andthird contract is the hard part,
(15:08):
for sure.
Catherine Gryba (15:10):
And you experience setbacks.
Karri Howlett (15:14):
Yeah for sure there were all little setbacks,
little things where maybe aclient, that just didn't pan out
the way you thought it wasgoing to.
I still think of consulting asa fun, a funny thing, and even
though I've been doing it for 15plus years, I still go into
(15:37):
every contract thinking thatwe're going to deliver this
beautiful, shiny, golden orb atthe end of this project and it's
going to be so wonderful.
And then in reality by the timeit's done, you're handing over
to the client this, you know,rusted and beat up and like you
know things taped on and gumstuck to it and it's like it's
(16:02):
not shiny and golden but it'syour orb sort of.
And you know, and it's just thereality.
You know you go into thingswith the best of intentions and
then it just life happens and soon both sides, you know you
can't anticipate everything.
So I think you know,entrepreneurship is a bit like
that too.
It just starts out as this youknow great idea and everything's
(16:27):
going to go wonderfully, andthen just things come along to
kind of batter and bruise youalong the way.
But ultimately I think it's amuch stronger battered and
bruised orb in the end, becauseit's you know it's real, it's
been tested through life and itstill holds up.
So I think that's kind of atestament to anybody who's an
(16:48):
entrepreneur and who's beendoing it for a long time is that
if you can, you know, still beheld up.
You're maybe a bit battered andbruised, but you're still going
.
Peggie Koenig (17:00):
So it's very you know through this conversation
what I'm hearing a lot ofresilience and also where
hearing resilience combined withforging ahead to achieve your
goals and just almost making anassumption that it's all going
(17:22):
to work out.
Am I, like you, just reallybelieve?
You believe?
Karri Howlett (17:28):
I guess.
So, yeah, I do have anoptimistic viewpoint generally.
I think now it's a little moretempered with realism than it
was, you know, when I startedout, when I was younger.
Yeah, I guess just alwaysfeeling like I could figure it
out.
But if there was anything thatyou know came my way that was
(17:54):
was kind of threw me off, then Icould figure it out.
Or and not just me I have.
I have great people in my world.
I've met so many, many, manyamazing people in my different
spheres of business, eitherthrough as a corporate person on
(18:14):
this entrepreneurship journeythat I've been on on different
corporate boards that I've beenon.
There's just so much wealth ofknowledge and people who are
willing to share their adviceand their thoughts with you and
kind of banter things out on.
You know how to maybe look at aproblem a little bit
differently, those types ofthings, and it's really quite,
(18:37):
quite amazing.
So, yeah, I definitely draw onsome of my own resilience, but I
think I also draw on theresilience of others who've
who've been there and done thatand are are just amazing people
who are willing to share andhelp out.
So we get to have a lot of thatin Saskatchewan.
We've got a lot of people whoare just like it doesn't matter
(18:57):
if you are, you know, a personwhose name is on an important
building in the city or you have, you know, run a company for so
many years or whatever, or even, yeah, just, or you're a doctor
or anything, just everybody'sgot such interesting stories and
(19:18):
they're just so willing to tochat.
So it's a great.
It's a great place to dobusiness, it's a great place to
build your career and it's yeah,I really have enjoyed it.
Catherine Gryba (19:31):
Harry, do you specifically seek out mentors,
or or do these conversationskind of happen and you're in
boardrooms or meetings andyou're open to open to you know
advice?
Then how does that work for you?
Karri Howlett (19:47):
Yeah, I actually don't go and seek out mentors.
I think I have had mentors inthe past.
Some are formal, some areinformal.
Yeah, I think that's a lot ofpressure on someone to feel like
they need to provide you theright thing at all times.
(20:10):
So I like to kind of just haveconversations with people and
just learn from their experience.
I'm one of these types ofthinkers that I can.
I'd like to make connections inwhat people are saying.
So even if someone sayssomething that is seemingly
(20:30):
irrelevant to what I might begoing through, actually there's
probably a lot of relevance.
I mean, the human experiencecan be fairly universal in many
ways, and so I always getsomething of great value anytime
I talk with someone, andoftentimes, if it's not a nugget
(20:52):
for use in a current situation,there's usually a quote or
something that comes out in mymind, or even just a general
feeling that I get from thatperson that I can draw on later
If there's another challengethat comes ahead.
Yeah.
Peggie Koenig (21:10):
So you were a consultant, you are a consultant
, but in between the were andare, there were some.
You've had otherentrepreneurial opportunities,
right?
And just prior to going on tothe podcast, you were talking
about how you and some otherpartners bought into a company
(21:33):
which is where I first met youin the hallways right, but that
company was merged, right, andyes, and then you stayed on for
a while.
But there, talk to us a littlebit about how important
alignment is at work.
Karri Howlett (21:55):
Yeah, so the company that you're talking
about, peggy, was used to becalled North Rim Exploration.
It was a client of mine back in2009 or 2008 that was looking
to sell his business, and when Igot into entrepreneurship, I
was looking for a business thatI could either build or buy, and
(22:15):
so that was maybe differentthan consulting.
And so this opportunitypresented itself this client who
was looking to sell hisbusiness.
I got to know the business, Igot to know the people.
I really loved it.
It was in mining, so totallydifferent than what I was
experienced.
But every business has afinance component.
(22:37):
And so, yes, I organized agroup of individuals who worked
at the company, as well as aninstitutional shareholder, to
buy the company from this fellow.
And then we ran it for six years, went through the ups and downs
of the mining industry, so grewthe business, shrunk the
business and got ourselves backto having good profitability,
(23:01):
really good profitability, andhad had a vast, quite a bit of
cash over that time.
And so we were, and ourinstitutional shareholder was
looking to exit.
So we were looking for partnersto kind of grow and expand our
business into new areas and alsohave take out our institutional
shareholder, and so we had acouple of options.
(23:26):
But we ended up working with acompany called Respec, which was
based out of Rapid City, southDakota, and our other partner
potential partner was based outof Germany, and so we were kind
of deciding between the two andwhat we found was that our
partner, respec, in Rapid City,was just had a lot of the
(23:48):
similar perspective.
They're both they're Midwestcompany, you know, based out of
Rapid City, so they got thatkind of Midwest feel, very, you
know, home driven, you knowhardworking, just yeah, let the
work speak for itself, but havethat balance with your life and
(24:10):
your family and those types ofthings.
So that was really importantfor our team.
And then we became it's anemployee owned business and we
were an employee owned business,so it was just a good fit that
way as well, and so they justfelt like the right partner and
it because they felt like theright partner from the day we
started talking to the day weclosed the deal was four months
(24:33):
and so it all happened reallyreally fast, just because we
were all aligned and and it justfelt like a good fit.
And so, yeah, and it's been asuccessful transaction
transition ever since.
Catherine Gryba (24:50):
Carrie, what advice or tips and tools would
you share with our listenersthat have worked for you or
didn't work when you wentthrough change?
Karri Howlett (25:04):
I would say a tip is and this sounds cliché, but
it is so very, very true istrust that voice inside that
says this is the thing that youshould do or this is the thing
you shouldn't do.
I can pinpoint me not listeningto my inner wisdom to every
(25:25):
failure I've had, and I canpinpoint listening to my inner
wisdom for every success thatI've had too.
In order to be able to do that,you do have to spend some time
getting to know yourself alittle bit and what's important
to you.
I keep going back to myupbringing and just being around
(25:51):
the farm and being aroundfamily all the time, and it just
has to fit with your values.
I guess, if I can segue intowhat I'm doing now, I guess
that's what I like about thework that I'm doing now, which
is ESG strategy consulting, sohelping companies not only make
(26:16):
money but also do it in a waythat aligns with the values of
their stakeholders, becausethat's been so important to how
I've governed my life and madethe choices I've made in my
career and I've seen the success.
For me, it just feels like abit of a natural fit to be able
(26:39):
to talk about how that might besuccessful for others and for
other businesses.
Catherine Gryba (26:46):
I find the trusting your voice such an
important piece of advice.
And did you get better at itthe older you've got?
Do you pay attention to thatvoice now, or was it always
there?
Karri Howlett (27:03):
I think it was.
Honestly, I think it was alwaysthere.
I was lucky I had.
My grandmother was one thatalways kind of taught me how to.
She taught she was my firstmeditation teacher, so she
always taught me how to kind ofget quiet and listen.
I have a busy brain and I'm abit of a bouncy person, and so
(27:26):
she gave me some really helpfultools on how to kind of quiet
that and pay attention.
That was really helpful and, Ithink, also to we all put
certain brave faces on and kindof soldier through things a lot
in life and so there's times ofcourse where you just kind of
(27:50):
push through because you have to, but I think in the end you
usually find out if that was agood decision or not.
So as I've gotten older, I'mstarting to have a little bit
more, maybe a little less energyto push through, I think.
I think that's the big thing.
(28:12):
So if it's not working for meright now, then I kind of
sometimes will just say nah, nah.
So maybe I pivot a little bitquicker now than I used to
before.
Peggie Koenig (28:24):
Fascinating, yeah , and I really think that that
is such good advice because veryoften, where the first thing we
jump to is in our insecuritiesand we don't listen to our
intuition.
We think about how othersexpect us to react or how others
expect us to be, when really,intuitively, we know what our
(28:50):
decision should be.
So I'm just actually learningthat myself, and how many.
Well, I'm quite a bit olderthan you guys, but, yeah,
sometimes it takes a long timeto get to that place.
Catherine Gryba (29:05):
Yeah, yeah, carrie, this has been
fascinating.
I've admired you for so manyyears and I really am so pleased
to see how well you'reconsulting for me and it's just
a perfect timing.
The whole ESG and I've donesome work with you on this
limited, but you have such apractical approach and it's you
(29:30):
kind of take the all of us stuffaway and just really bring it
down to here's what you need tobe focusing on talking about,
and I'm guessing that also comesfrom your Saskatchewan boots.
Let's just think about what'simportant here and move through
that.
So congratulations on how wellyou're doing with your company.
Karri Howlett (29:51):
Thank you so much .
Yeah, it's so much fun that wecan have in business, and this
is just another dimension of it.
So I'm really really gratefulfor the opportunity to have made
a living and a career here inSaskatchewan with other
Saskatchewan businesses and hopeto keep going Okay.
Peggie Koenig (30:12):
Thank you so much Thank you so much.
If you've learned just onething about change while
listening to this podcast,please subscribe on Apple or
Spotify and share with friendthis episode recorded via Zoom
Audio.
Producers Peggy Keneck andCatherine Greiba.
Executive producer.
(30:32):
Keneck leadership advisorytheme music La Pompée, written
by Chris Harrington, musicpublisher in Vato Market.
For information on this podcastand to purchase some fabulous
goat merchandise, please visitwwwgetyourgoatca.
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