Our Consultant Spotlight series lets us tell the stories of the people who make up the Lions & Tigers community. We are kicking of the new year by getting to know Kim Bennett. Kim is an L&T consultant and marketing professional whose deep love of learning is shown by her many interests. She is an aspiring web developer, creative writer, entrepreneur and traveler dedicated to her family and making an impact through meaningful work.

ABOUT KIM 

I am technically from Seattle, but didn’t grow up here, which sounds odd. To help clarify, my father (now retired) was a diplomat, and I spent the majority of my childhood moving from country to country. By the time I was 18, I had spent only a handful of years in the United States. And those years were spent primarily in Maryland, so maybe I’m really from Maryland? Not sure.

I was born in Seattle and both of my parents were born and raised here, so summer breaks with grandparents were always in Seattle, making it the one constant during my early years. I am married to a Seattleite and have a 5-year-old daughter who enjoys he Pacific Northwest, so I can now say that I’m firmly rooted in Seattle. However, I do still get the desire to travel the world. With travel now being a bit challenging, I am relegated to staying stateside for the time being.

FAVORITE COUNTRY FROM LIVING ABROAD 

We lived in Japan, Sweden, Brazil, Russia, Swaziland, and Canada. I really enjoyed Japan. I was 9 years old when we were posted there, and I remember taking it all in from the backseat of the car as we left the airport. Everything was different and exciting – the street signs, buildings, lights, shops, crowds of people waiting at the crosswalks, and even the side of the street we drove on. I was pretty excited to be there, which was not always the case for new posts. I liked it so much that I ended up returning for a year as an exchange student in college.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERTISE 

I have been working in and around Microsoft for about 15 years now. I started out as a vendor, became an FTE, and then decided to go back to being a vendor to pursue my ambitions in marketing. I joined a marketing agency as a consultant (working on Microsoft projects for the most part) and learned almost everything I needed to know about marketing over a 4-year period of juggling a wide range of projects and doing a bit of biz dev. After that, I worked at a boutique agency owned by a graphic designer friend, started a sole proprietorship, and spent 7 years with the Bing Maps team managing marketing communications. And now, I’m here at Lions & Tigers.

DREAM JOB AS A CHILD 

Veterinarian. I love animals and always enjoyed going to the county fair in Maryland to visit with the farm animals.

WHY LIONS & TIGERS 

Brea’s founder story is quite compelling. It resonated with me, especially when I reflect on the time that I went on maternity leave and returned to work while taking care of a newborn. I could relate and respected her desire to create a company that valued flexibility and made space for parents to work without having to sacrifice time with family.

AREAS OF INTEREST & PASSIONS 

I must admit that I have too many interests. I am constantly pursuing one thing or another, which is fun, but I probably should focus on one thing for an extended period time at some point. Below are a few things that I am interested in:

• Singing – I took private voice lessons for about two years focusing on an eclectic mix of music. My coach specialized in rock, so we worked on a little Pearl Jam, White Snake, Paramore, Kings of Leon, and Heart with a sprinkling of Adele, John Legend, and Rhianna for variety. Ihaven’t dropped an album just yet, but I am quite good at karaoke.

• Web Development – I am an aspiring web developer. I completed a 6-month web dev bootcamp several years ago and really enjoyed the challenge and triumph of completing it. Ihaven’t had too much time to further build up that skillset recently, but I still dabble. My goal is to build a mobile app but need to set aside time for that endeavor.

• Calisthenics – Now that Ican’t go to the gym (I worked with a personal trainer prior to the pandemic), I am working to stay in shape with good old-fashioned calisthenics. With steady progressions and consistency, it can be very effective. I have already seen some surprising strength gains. One-arm pushups on the horizon maybe?

• Creative writing – As an English major I have always been drawn to the written word. I am currently working on a sci-fi novel, which is very slow going. My goal is to complete it within a year.We’ll see how it goes.

• Launching a skincare business – I formulated a skincare product for my daughter when she was a baby, which is natural and very effective. Over the years, I’ve shared the product with family members with great results, and now I am working to make it available to the public. We just completed packaging design, but I still have a lot to do before it’s ready for the world.

GO-TO KARAOKE SONG 

I don’t really have a go-to song. But I remember really having fun singing “I Got You (I Feel Good)” by James Brown at a Karaoke bar in Japan when I was in college.

DESCRIBE YOUR NOVEL 

Time travel, an epic journey to save the world, and a legion of young women called to battle powerful, otherworldly beings.

BENEFIT OF FLEXIBLE, HIGH IMPACT WORK 

The flexibility is ideal when you have a little one at home to take care of. Now that my daughter is doing remote learning, I have the flexibility to take her outside for recess or check to make sure she’s getting her work done in class. It’s a true luxury to have the opportunity to balance both home life and work, particularly work that is high visibility and impactful.

PLACE YOU WANT TO VISIT WHEN WE CAN TRAVEL AGAIN 

Definitely going back to Japan. I would like to visit Sweden again as well.

ADVICE TO OTHERS NAVIGATING CAREER TRANSITIONS

Learn, learn, and learn some more. Don’t stop learning. Take classes, read books, listen to podcasts etc. I have found that a lot of the extra learning I have done outside of work has paid off handsomely when I am faced with a new project or challenge, making me feel more prepared for whatever may come. Also, by taking classes, you can identify the areas of strength and interest that you can leverage in the workplace to help grow your career in the direction you want to go.

Interested in joining Lions & Tigers?  Check out our open roles here.