Today we’d like to introduce you to Kari Hackett.
Kari, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Upon graduating Florida State University, I met Jennifer Zeller at my brother’s wedding who worked at the Metro Atlanta Chamber as the head of research. She and I were talking and it’s funny when you look back and didn’t even know you were networking. Long story short, we connected, passed my resume along and two months later, I was in Atlanta interviewing for an entry level at the Metro Atlanta Chamber. The first job I was interviewing for was an administrative assistant position…a position I didn’t really even want but the old adage to get your foot in the door was what I was after. Turns out that they never hired for this position and a few months later, an entry level event planning position came open. I got the call, came to Atlanta and was offered the job in the interview. I moved to Atlanta three weeks later in January 2001, just two days after my 22nd birthday to become a Project Coordinator at the Metro Atlanta Chamber. My role was to handle logistics for networking events, small group meetings and fundraising events, golf tournaments and annual meetings. My job quickly evolved as September 11th happened nine months into working and lots of changes happened quickly after that. The pivotal moment in my early career was raising my hand after three years of working for a job after the VP of our department left. She had a wealth of experience and knowledge and I was just a few years into working. I created a job description that included some of the VP responsibilities, but really more in line with someone who was taking a leap, but also appropriate for the organization. I presented the idea to my boss and was promoted to Manager.
Many lessons to take from that early experience including advocating for yourself, being bold and raising your hand and truly believing that you’ve got what it takes. From there, the new responsibility just flowed in and I was managing a team, managing budgets, engaging with C-suite executives, planning incentive trips and thinking big.
Now, it’s been 18 years and I’m taking another leap and going out to explore what is next. I’ve raised my hand again and said it’s time to fly.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Of course, there have been struggles. The first time I was promoted, I was promoted over my peers and became a manager of people my age. I didn’t have training and was definitely not equipped to navigate this challenge and had the pleasure to learn all that I had been doing wrong in my very first 360 review. I absolutely got hammered. I learned needed to be a boss vs. a friend and teammate— I needed to take care of things. So many lessons learned as to what people really want from a boss — compassion, empathy and humanity, of course, but the team really wanted someone who will address problems quickly and handle the tough situations.
We’d love to hear more about your organization.
I recently left the Metro Atlanta Chamber after 18 years. The Metro Atlanta Chamber is a 160-year-old organization that has seen many different versions of Atlanta but has survived all iterations. The organization is known for leading on tough issues that help businesses create jobs and create a better place for everyone to live and thrive.
My most recent role was Vice President of Investor Relations & Development. My team was responsible for engaging with the membership to ultimately help them and their employees grow and connect with other people in a variety of ways. I had responsibility for revenue, events, our team and the most fun of all special projects.
I grew up under the leadership of Sam Williams, a visionary statesman who trusted me at an early age to engage with our executive board of directors. In the last five years, a legacy CEO, Hala Moddelmog has been leading the organization. Could not be luckier to have worked under a male and female CEO. While always at the same organization, new leadership allowed the ability to make big changes.
I am known both internally and externally as someone who makes things happen. My career has been highlighted by creating some of the most amazing events for our members from ringing the bell at the New York Stock Exchange to hosting 2000 people on the field of Mercedes-Benz Stadium; and bringing in some of the most influential CEO’s for speaking engagements in the renowned Insights on Leadership series. Being in a room with rockstar CEO’s like Jamie Dimon, Sir Richard Branson and Muhtar Kent enabled me to learn more than I ever could have imagined possible.
What were you like growing up?
I grew up in small town in north Florida, Panama City, FL. It was a great place to grow up and live at the World’s Most Beautiful Beaches. The town is full of the nicest, most hardworking people that love life and like to have a lot of fun. Of course, growing up there as a high schooler, we spent most of our time at the beach and anyone who knows me knows that the beach is my absolute happy place. It’s the place where I’m the most calm and truly relax.I would describe my childhood in the 80’s and 90’s growing up in a small town as safe and normal playing outside with the neighbors riding bikes and playing flashlight tag. My dad worked hard getting up and out the door by 6:30 a.m. and my mom had the kids.
As the youngest of 4 children, I made my mark by being the tallest and a bit awkward. But my mom, my biggest cheerleader, gave me more confidence to survive being the tall girl than you can imagine. If she said it once, she said it a thousand times, “Throw those shoulders back and stand tall. You are beautiful and gorgeous.” She was definitely lying in high school!!! Because of her, I wasn’t afraid to try sports (even though I wasn’t good at any of them), I wasn’t afraid to wear tall shoes and I wasn’t afraid to stand tall and be myself. I truly believe she is the reason that I have an attitude for thinking any and all things are possible and love wearing heels!
During high school and college, I was definitely known as the person to plan what we were going to do, who was going where and who was doing what. I think it’s why I naturally gravitated towards event planning and operations — it’s just a natural skill set to make things happen.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.karihackett.com
- Phone: 404-452-9704
- Email: hackett.kari@me.com
- Other: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karihackett/
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