Breaking Borders: A Remarkable Story of Adventure, Family, and Career Success That Defied All Expectations

Kate Isler’s incredible story demonstrates how women can stop self-selecting out of opportunities and take the leap of faith to accomplish their dreams.

Kate Isler navigated the male-dominated culture of the technology industry, breaking new global markets for Microsoft in their fast-paced, hyper-growth startup years in some of the most challenging regions in the world – all without a college degree or resources that many believe are necessary for success.

Kate’s story is a fascinating adventure from her years as a naïve young adult through her unexpected global career at a time when corporations weren’t hiring women to represent their companies overseas.

In Breaking Borders, Kate candidly shares:

• Her moments of success, failure, and very public mistakes.
• The struggle she faced to pivot her career in a completely new direction.
• How she overcame the disappointment of a failed startup by channeling her passion for supporting women.
• Her mission to inspire other women by building Be Bold, a women’s advocacy non-profit, from the ground up.

Kate’s story is a guide for women who want to stop self-selecting out of opportunities because they "assume" they don't have the right education, connections, or skills to take a chance.

While working at Microsoft, Kate Isler started her international career in Dubai in 1993 by talking her husband into quitting his job to become a “house husband” for what she promised would be a two-year adventure. Twenty years, three children, and six international moves later, Kate left Microsoft to try her luck at running a digital health startup.

While that venture ultimately did not bear fruit, she learned vital lessons that she has taken into her new organization, Be Bold Now, a conscious consulting practice whose mission is to build an intersectional community of women and men, who strive to inspire, empower and support each other to take bold pragmatic action to accelerate gender parity.

Kate is a change agent and thought leader. Her experience in high tech as a CEO of a digital health startup and as an executive at Microsoft, provides a powerful platform of real-world expertise and examples to draw from when addressing gender equity and balanced management practices.

 Kate has successfully navigated the complexity of a global company and tested her agility and ability to innovate as an entrepreneur. Her journey of leadership, challenging the status quo, overcoming adversity, and breaking gender stereotypes motivates and inspires audiences.