By Julie Sneider, Senior Associate Editor
When Transportation Technology Center Inc. (TTCI) President and Chief Executive Officer Kari Gonzales was invited to serve as keynote speaker at the 2021 League of Railway Women (LRW) annual conference, she used a famous black-and-white news photo as her speech-writing prompt.
The photo is of Kathrine Switzer, who in 1967 became the first woman to compete in the Boston Marathon. In those days, the marathon’s organizers didn’t allow women to participate, so Switzer used her first and middle initials to register for the event.
The famous photograph shows Switzer at about the fourth mile of the 26-mile race, and a marathon official — furious to see a female runner — jumping behind her from the sidelines. The official grabbed Switzer in an attempt to pull her off the race course, but the male runners around her pushed the official away. Despite being physically attacked, Switzer kept on going and crossed the finish line.
“You can imagine the mental struggle Kathrine Switzer had to overcome just to complete that race,” Gonzales told attendees of the LRW conference, which was held virtually Oct. 18-20.
An inspiring role model
Gonzales relates to Switzer’s story in a number of ways. First, she identifies with Switzer’s commitment to athletics: Gonzales competed in sports in high school (basketball) and college (softball), and today she’s active in CrossFit training and bodybuilding.
“Over the course of my career, I’ve used many of the skills that I learn through my participation in athletics,” she said. “But that’s not the only connection I made to Kathrine’s story. Another point that came to me was the mentality of, ‘You’re not supposed to be here.’”
On that point, Gonzales shared her own story with the conference attendees.
“I didn’t come from a wealthy, established family. Quite the opposite,” she said. “My parents had my older sister when they were in their teens. Neither of them had parents in the picture. My grandmother on my mom’s side raised 11 children on her own, and my dad and his siblings raised themselves after their mother died when my dad was 16.”
Although her parents didn’t come from money, Gonzales grew up surrounded by a big, loving family.
“From where I stood, I didn’t even know I was poor,” she revealed. “I grew up with relatives who were teachers and blue-collar workers who lived paycheck to paycheck. So, my family was amazed when in kindergarten I showed up for ‘Future Career Day’ carrying a brief case and wearing a power suit ready to be a lawyer.”
Eventually, Gonzales switched her future career aspirations from lawyer to engineer. She earned a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering at the Colorado School of Mines and an MBA in strategic leadership from Regis University. In 2002, she went to work for TTCI as a senior engineer, then was promoted numerous times in the years that followed. (Progressive Railroading named her one of the industry’s “Rising Stars” in 2014). By December 2018, Gonzales was TTCI’s vice president and chief financial officer, and by September of this year — at age 41 — she ascended to president and CEO.
“Much like Kathrine’s story as the only female in a race of 750 men, by all facts and figures, I really shouldn’t be standing here as president of a major research organization,” Gonzales told the LRW audience.
Gonzales recalled that Switzer once said she didn’t sign up for the Boston Marathon to prove a point. She signed up because she “just wanted to run” in the race.
“I saw myself in that simple statement,” said Gonzales. “I was the kid who just wanted to play sports, who just wanted to explore math and science. Then I became an adult who just wanted to be an engineer, who just wanted to have a successful career in rail, who just wanted to become a people leader and give back to a community that has given so much to me.”
She encouraged LRW conference attendees to not let anyone hold them back from pursuing their own “I just want to” list of goals. She advised them to develop a support network to lean on when career and life challenges arise; resist the “dangerous and unproductive” habit of comparing oneself to others; and use failures “as stepping stones to your next success.”
What color is your lipstick?
Another detail Gonzales relates to in Switzer’s story was her pre-race experience. Prior to the marathon’s start, Switzer’s boyfriend told her to remove her lipstick lest someone discover she’s female and stop her from running. Switzer refused.
“When I read that part of Kathrine’s story, I giggled a little,” Gonzales said. To explain why, she held up a recent TTCI press release and photo that showed her standing between two male CEOs who towered over her 4-foot-10-inch frame.
TTCI’s then-Acting CEO and President Kari Gonzales stood between PuebloPlex Russell DeSalvo (left) and Swisspod CEO Denis Tudor (right) last month to announce a new partnership between TTCI, a subsidiary of the Association of American Railroads, and Swisspod that calls for the development and construction of Swisspod’s newest Hyperloop testing facility in Pueblo, Colorado. Photo provided by TTCI, Swisspod and PuebloPlex“My physical size is like lipstick I can’t take off,” Gonzales said, adding she’d spent a good deal of her life trying to overcome her petite stature. Then one day, she changed how she thought about herself: Her height could be an asset.
“Now when I walk into a roomful of six-foot-tall railroaders wondering who brought their daughter to work, I use that to start conversations about the rail industry,” she said.
Winding up her keynote, Gonzales shared this final bit of advice about being true to oneself:
“Think about that metaphorical lipstick that you don’t want to wear today and embrace it,” she said. “And change it from a muted taupe to a bright red.”
