Getting Real with Extreme Employees - Katy's Korner

Two years ago, and in connection with the start of our CEO’s International Women’s Council initiative, we launched a video series to showcase our female leaders. Leading up to this I had engaged with our employees all around the globe in various round tables and learned that our employees had no idea we had such amazing female leadership at Extreme. The idea of the video series was to shine a light on the challenges and accomplishments of our female employees to inspire the younger generation of women and others at Extreme.

The women I interviewed were and still are incredible – mothers, grandmothers, mothers-in-law, stepmothers, sisters, daughters, wives, aunts, friends, and professionals – I learned so much from each conversation.

The videos were well received by our employees, so we made it a weekly series – Katy’s Korner. We expanded the interviewee pool to all leaders with insight and perspective on how to empower and support women in the workplace. This included our CEO, our executive team, and several members of our Board of Directors.

For the first year and half of the program, the interviews were conducted in person. With the onset of the pandemic and work from home, we’ve now picked up the series via Zoom. In these unprecedented times, our conversations are much broader than the issues facing women.

Today, we’re having frank discussions about diversity and inclusion in the workplace, living during a pandemic, working remotely, and adapting to change among other topics.

It’s been my honor and privilege to interview our incredible Extreme employees and I’m so thrilled to share these interviews externally with our customers and partners. I’ve learned so much from these interviews and hope you will too!

Click here to watch some of my interviews on YouTube and be sure to subscribe to our channel so that you’re notified when we publish additional stories.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjL5weO978I&list=PLvQMiI4QwvHSxswtNOyyNaZu0YWKKajQ3&index=1

Here’s a glimpse of some of the wonderful words of wisdom from Katy’s Korner interviewees:

“Our culture is one where opportunities are all around us. If you have a passion you want to pursue all you need to do is stand up and go for it. Just because you started in one place doesn’t mean you have to stay there.” - Kim Basnight, Chief of Staff to the CEO, Extreme Networks

“In a company that works in a highly virtual environment at a fast pace to get things done, you need to be ambitious, take action, and remain calm and confident always.” - Natalia Vianden, Director of Global Channel Programs

“What separates us does not divide us. I’m proud to work for Extreme because here there is a safe space for everyone to spread their wings and succeed.” – Dane Felicien, Senior Account Executive, Extreme Networks

“I have never been bored at Extreme. I like the fact that Extreme is innovative and aspires its employees to be the best that they can be.” - Padraig Hayes, Vice President, Controller, Extreme Networks

“Always be open and honest and don’t be afraid to speak with your direct boss because closed mouths don’t get fed.” – Erica Dixon, Sales Executive Assistant, Extreme Networks