Women of Influence Preview #15: Casey McCarty

When Casey McCarty agreed to help out the Columbus Idea Foundry, she thought she knew what kind of response she would get. "Who even is she?" McCarty said she imagined the (largely male) members of the makerspace saying when they saw McCarty, a neophyte to the world of the "maker" industry, trying to make necessary operational changes. "I was just expecting all of this pushback," said McCarty, who joined the Idea Foundry as COO about eight years ago. "That's not what I encountered at all.""The members … wanted it to be successful" she said. "All these anxieties about being in this overly male-dominated space didn’t end up coming to fruition.”McCarty, now a year into her tenure as CEO of the makerspace, shared that memory in a recent conversation for our Women of Influence podcast. The experience taught her that there's not much to be gained from being nervous about entering a male-dominated space as a woman in leadership. That's not to say, of course, that she's never encountered some "toxic sexism" in her work life. Check out the teaser below to hear how McCarty handles those issues, plus my own recap of some conversations about women in leadership that came up at this week's L Brands investor day.