Kat Parker

Director of Business Development, HYPERAMS

HYPERAMS director of business development, Kat Parker, joined the firm in 2012. Since that time, she has held several titles and was responsible for the implementation of HYPERAMS’ auction operations and processes. Kat’s current duties include establishing and maintaining relationships with machinery and equipment and inventory appraisal clients, including financial institutions and asset-based lenders, in the Midwest and Southeast territories. She is also an integral member of the Auction Services team and provides auction operations support. Kat is a Repperts Auction School graduate and currently holds an auction license in the state of Illinois. In addition to business, Kat is invested in professional development and is an active member of several industry organizations, including the Turnaround Management Association (TMA) Midwest Chapter and the Secured Finance Network (SFNet) Midwest Chapter.

What is the best professional advice you have been given and how have you implemented it? 

Get involved. When I started my career at HYPERAMS, I joined to do general marketing and business development.  At that time, the firm was only a few months old and trying to make its name in the market.  I started attending SFNet events and it wasn’t long before I had the opportunity to join a committee. After that, I became a board member, and now I am currently president of the Chicago/Midwest Chapter.  Because I chose to get involved and contribute to industry organizations and not just attend events, I deepened relationships within those organizations and generated significantly more opportunities for HYPERAMS.

Within my own organization, I had started to get more involved with the auction side of the business.  I quickly decided to enroll in Repperts Auction School: one hundred classroom hours later and a passed state exam and I was HYPERAMS’ newest licensed auctioneer.  This opened up opportunities for both myself and the firm in growing our auction division.  Not everyone has the opportunity to step in and become an auctioneer, but because I put myself out there in a situation I was unfamiliar, I was able to quickly accelerate my career in addition to helping the business.  This background has given me an additional skill set as I moved to the appraisal side of the business in understanding the liquidation process.

As my career continues to evolve, I know there will be other professional opportunities to get involved.  There are also opportunities outside of the office in non-profit organizations that will help continue to advance myself personally. 

How do you define a good leader?

Throughout my career, I have been surrounded by strong leaders.  While everyone has different leadership styles, the core values that all leaders have seem to be the same: A good leader gives their importance away.  But their ability to rally different people, perspectives, and personas around a common cause is what makes them great.  A good leader communicates, delegates, and encourages innovation and action.  

I have learned from leaders who will admit their mistakes and take a step back and try to figure out how to better themselves because of what they learned from the situation.  They are also self-aware and prioritize personal development in themselves and others around them. All the great leaders that I have worked with do not work from out front – they seek to walk alongside their colleagues and community. 

Finally, and I know we’ve all heard this from a young age, but good leaders truly treat others the way they would want to be treated. People want to follow and work with leaders that treat them well.

With many working remotely or hybrid-style the past few years, what are some work-life balance strategies you’ve stuck with?

Working remotely has proved our latent ability to adapt. Moving from face-to-face time to FaceTime challenged how we interact with our colleagues in the industry. What it revealed was that it was not the way that we communicate with each other, but rather the depth of our communication that would boom business beyond belief. This experience has made an indelible impact on how I will approach my network moving forward. Not to be limited by externalities, rather to be empowered by bringing people together regardless of our physical distance.