From Zero Diversity To 36% Women In The C-Suite—How Expel Is Doing It

Cat Starkey’s recent promotion to CTO brought security operations provider Expel’s female C-suite representation to 36%, a whopping 11% higher than the industry average. For a company that started with “zero diversity” at the C-suite, I was interested in understanding how they made this change and how Cat climbed the ranks to become one of only 8% of CTOs who are women.

What I learned gave me hope for the future of women in tech.

Starkey joined Expel as Vice President of Engineering in the midst of the pandemic, during what she calls a “very vulnerable time in her life” with children about to go back to remote learning. As a female engineer with 20 years of experience in tech, Starkey had seen her fair share of bias and toxic workplaces, so she held a healthy amount of skepticism for companies that claim to support DEI or women in the workplace.

But she could immediately see that Expel was different. Starkey describes the “depth of thought” that went into how Expel supported women during the pandemic, and why this was such an important factor in choosing to work there.

Starkey remembers saying, “If you need a VP who’s going to make this job their life, I totally understand that, but that can’t be me.”

Atracting diverse talent without lowering the bar

Supporting women and parents through the pandemic and allowing workers to maintain a work-life balance is part of Expel’s dedication to creating a culture and environment that attracts diverse talent. They intentionally focus on equity and inclusion before diversity, ensuring diverse hires are set up to succeed.

This is a very different approach from other companies, who focus on first hitting hiring quotas or diversity targets and often treating equity and inclusion as a second thought.

CEO Dave Merkel, or ‘Merk’ as he’s known to his colleagues, is not a fan of hiring targets and quotas because he feels they lead to the wrong behaviors, with companies focused on hitting a number instead of finding the best candidate for the role.

While Merkel insists on always hiring the best candidate, he seeks to create an environment that attracts diverse talent, and ensures he chooses from a diverse candidate pool.

Given there are fewer diverse candidates for senior roles, I asked Merkel how he continues to find talented, diverse candidates to interview for his leadership team.

Merkel acknowledges that “it’s really hard”, but shares that when hiring externally, he tells the recruiter that he needs to see a wide range of candidates, and does his best to hold them accountable.

He notes that a key element of this strategy is being open to hiring first-time VPs and C-level executives to create a larger pool of diverse candidates. This means indexing on traits and skills over years of experience. However, he’s insistent that it does not involve lowering the bar.

Instead, he and Starkey are adamant that when hiring first-time executives, one should remain highly critical and not change how the candidate is being interviewed. This helps avoid hiring someone who is not yet ready and unlikely to succeed in the role.

What stood out to me in the conversation was the level of thoughtfulness and intention that has gone into creating an environment that fosters inclusion and attracts diverse talent at Expel. Merkel shares that Expel was founded by three male founders, and network hiring in their early days meant the team was far from diverse.

He also notes that network hiring has a “huge, huge bias to it,” and as soon as he and his co-founders were able, they created an emphasis on diversity.

The strategy has worked. With Starkey’s promotion, the Expel C-suite is now well above the industry average for female representation, and this same diversity is reflected throughout the company.

“I never thought it could be this good,” says Starkey, who before interviewing with Expel, never wanted to be a senior executive, due to the poor work cultures she had experienced.

She’s not alone. When asked why only 8% of CTOs are women, Starkey points to the toxic cultures in the tech industry, particularly in engineering, that especially impact women. Women are self-selecting out because they don’t want to deal with it.

Paving the way for other women

Starkey is now focused on creating a legacy that will impact the female engineers behind her.

She wants anyone who works in her organization, especially at Expel, to “understand what good (culture) looks like, and to take that with them wherever else they go. So they won’t settle for anything that is worse.”

Instead of just focusing on mentoring women, Starkey looks for ways to help the men in her organization be part of this change by raising awareness for those who have been in privileged positions.

Last year, the engineering team flipped to have more women leaders than men - something Starkey has never experienced before.

“Women want to work here, and they feel safe and comfortable working here.”