Pam Kosanke

Tell us about your career journey and how you ended up here.

First and foremost, I'm a lifelong competitive athlete who's competed in 6x world championships across 3x different sports. I love to train, coach, compete and win in just about anything I do! On the professional side, I've now spent 20+ years in marketing and advertising. Got my chops working on blue-chip brands at Leo Burnett Advertising in Chicago, moved on to sports marketing and governance, tested the waters with nonprofits, then fell in love with the entrepreneurial world. I spent some time building the largest residential property management company in the U.S. before starting my own fractional marketing company, building a robotic lawnmowing company with my brother, and becoming a Professional EOS Implementer (EOS = Entrepreneurial Operating System). I love EOS and coaching entrepreneurs so much that I recently joined EOS full-time as global head of marketing in 2020. All while gearing up to launch my new toy company after 3 long years of dreaming up the thing, building the thing, figuring out how to operationalize the thing, and now finally selling the thing! Now comes the hard work of brand-building and marketing. (Mega thanks to the WIT Community for connecting me to one of the best mentors in the toy universe!!)

Describe yourself in 5-7 words - have fun with it!

Super competitive, fun-loving, and very strange.

Tell us about a time when you thrived at work, and what you learned about yourself from that experience.

I'm thriving at work most of all right now because I've found a community of open, honest, trustworthy peers who are abundance-minded and share my core values. We care deeply about being both smart and healthy. And we take great pride in becoming great leaders - for our colleagues, the work and ourselves. Most of all, we are making a truly positive impact on the world, and we are actively becoming better, more responsible and more active citizens to minority communities of all kinds. I will never again compromise on these basic principles of building incredible teams and companies. And it feels great to know that I've worked my tail off to be able to call my own shots at this point (plus, I am a highly privileged individual as a white woman). Gino Wickman, founder of the Entrepreneurial Operating System wrote often about the "EOS Life": Do what you love, with the people you love, get compensated appropriately, make a positive difference and have time for other things. Words to live by and I'm working towards these things every single day!

What is your favorite part of your job?

Freedom! I can do BIG things. I can help change the world in many ways. I can help entrepreneurs succeed and spin the economic wheels. I can be a feminist and an activist for minority communities. I can continue to be an entrepreneur. I can invent and I can reimagine. I am constantly challenged and always having to be creative and resourceful. I am learning.

How about when you "turn off" and go home? Any hobbies or fun activities you are involved in?

I LOVE to spend time with my wife and son.
I LOVE to work out.
I LOVE to compete - in almost anything.
I LOVE to play with and take care of my dogs.
Right now, I'm into mountain biking and tennis. And I'm always down for swimming. As long as I'm physically and mentally "moving" and feeling equal parts challenged and loved, I'm pretty good.

Any must-read, must-watch or must-follow recommendations?

My tastes and recommendations are a bit all over the place...from studying CRISPR technology to black feminism to food justice, so I can't say any ONE author or book or show/film in particular. Something that does come to mind right now is the old-school "Ted Talk Radio Hour" podcast with Guy Raz. It was always an inspirational podcast series to me, that I never really got sick of...and he keeps creating new and great content like "How I Built This." And of course, there's "Intersectionality Matters!" with Kimberlé Crenshaw.
Absolute brilliance - listen with intent. Oh, and I'm always down for Rachel Maddow to throw some highly researched, smartypants truth bombs our way.

Anything else you want to share with the WIT Community?

THANK YOU. It has been a pleasure getting to know some of you and feeling supported with smart content and programming. Can't say enough about the Ruth Handler mentorship program that connected me with an INCREDIBLE businesswoman and human to help me bring Sport Bigs to life!