2023 Women Leaders in Technology: Kate Ehrle

Kate is a consulting industry veteran with over 25 years of experience primarily focused in the federal and defense sectors. Her operational and leadership roles span client delivery, program management, business development and executive management. Kate presently serves as the President of Cask Technologies, a Women Owned Small Business founded in 2004. She is also the Founder and Executive Director of Girls Affected by Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS), a candidate nonprofit aimed at spreading awareness and education about PCOS among teenage girls.

What has been the biggest factor in your success so far?

Taking risks – developing and rolling out a new capability was challenging. Fiscally, for a small business like Cask, it was a huge investment that affected the bottom line. We began the CMMC journey a couple of years ago, investing time, resources and company profits – and then waited almost two years for the DoD compliance requirement to become a reality for the Defense Industrial Base. Month to month, we had no idea if our new service offering was going to take off.

What do you enjoy most about your career in the consulting industry?

Diverse challenges and solutions – every day, my job is different. We have clients with new challenges and seeking new solutions – and they want Cask to help solve complex problems. No two clients are the same, and no two projects are same. Having the opportunity to work with and learn from such a diverse group of colleagues and clients has been amazing!

What is your proudest achievement to date?

I would have to say simply not giving up. When Cask began its journey to be a C3PAO and conduct assessments, we had no idea if the new offering was going to be successful. I had several Senior execs who doubted my decision to move forward – the cost alone was huge in terms to small business resources. And we were building a new service offering during a pandemic – trying to collaborate remotely. After over two years since its development, we are finally launching the service and seeing returns.

What's the best advice you've ever been given?

Fail Faster – it's OK to fail – it's going to happen. Just recognize it, accept it, learn from it and then course correct. Don't wait until the failure becomes a larger problem to address it properly.

What does this recognition mean to you?

The recognition validates the hard work and dedication that I (and my Cask colleagues) put into CMMC…Taking a risk, trusting my experience and intuition, and making it happen!