28. Corna Kokosing CEO Lori Gillett

A few years ago, Lori Gillett and a colleague from the Kokosing family of companies attended an event focused on women in the workplace and the challenges they face.It's easy to attend those types of events, resolve to take action based on what you've learned, and then quickly return to your normal daily routine without taking any steps to change things, Gillett said. But that's not what she and her colleague wanted to happen. So they took out their calendars, booked a meeting, and sat down within weeks to talk about how they could establish a mentoring program for women at Kokosing. “This program that we attended was so powerful," Gillett said. "We just felt so moved by the statistics we heard that day.”That event and the subsequent meeting was the spark for W.I.S.E. – Women's Ideas and Strategy Exchange – a mentoring program within Kokosing that launched in 2018.Gillett talked about that moment of inspiration during a recent live taping of our Women of Influence podcast, held as part of our annual Mentoring Monday event. Check out our full conversation to hear more about how the program works, along with additional leadership insights from Gillett, who became CEO of Corna Kokosing last summer.Mentioned in this episode:Let Crate Media help uncover your company's story and amplify your messaging with a branded podcast. Get a free one-hour casting session at crate.media/cbf