From Au Pair to Sales MVP - Kate Price Shares Her Unconventional Journey through Tech

This German native and 15-year Extreme channel operations veteran came from humble begins in her career and has achieved many accomplishments along the way. Recently named a CRN 2021 Women of the Channel, Kate Price leads our global channel operations team including our channel self-service automation initiative which is helping partners to quote faster and operate more efficiently with Extreme. Also, one of only three non-sales employees to be named a Sales MVP last year, Kate says one thing she appreciates about Extreme is she always feels like she is heard. When she speaks with executives, she feels like people are listening and actions are taken. She is looking forward to the world opening up to get back to her love of attending live events and engaging with Extreme’s partner community. See how Kate advances with us!

Tell us about yourself – how did your career journey begin?

I was born and raised in Germany close to Frankfurt. Before my university years, I spent some time in the United States working as an Au pair in Boston for a year. My host mom was a finance executive at an IT company and her neighbor was a CFO at a software company. They were both very inspiring women that I looked up to. A few years later, while working on my degree, I reached out to my former neighbor and she helped me get my first internship in the IT Networking industry at Aprisma which was a former Cabletron company, and the rest is history.

What do you do in your role at Extreme?

I'm responsible for global channel operations. So, I'm responsible for many processes and tools that are in the background of our systems, how things get connected to the partner portal, and anything that is channel-related.

What has been your favorite memory at Extreme thus far?

I really enjoy (and miss) all of the live events. I’ve been to so many cool places because of Extreme. I have a global role and traveled often before COVID. I've been to Malaysia, Las Vegas, San Diego, Carlsbad, Boston, Florida, Lisbon, and Greece - just to name a few! Partner conferences, I think are my favorite type of event because it's lots of interaction with our partners as well as our internal colleagues.

What advice do you have for colleagues or college-grads pursuing a job similar to yours?

Try things out and be brave. Even if it's not what you studied in school, be curious and try out new tasks. Ask people if you can help in other departments, be open to the opportunities and always try to help out. It will help you in your career because people will notice you and will listen to you.

What do you like to do outside of work?

In the winter, I enjoy snowboarding. A few of us on the German team do, so for the past couple of years we’ve organized a multi-day ski trip where we all take PTO off for a couple of days and spend some time together without any work. We go to the same mountain in Austria (Flachau) since over 10 years now

What is one of your favorite past times?

I go horseback riding from time to time. I used to do it regularly when I was younger, now I only do it once a year on a riding weekend with friends.

What’s a fun fact about you?

My last name is Price and my husband’s is Fix. We didn't take each other's names, but if we had taken a double-barrel surname, it would be Price-Fix or Fix-Price. Especially in this industry, that name might not such a good thing!

You’re an active member of Extreme’s Women’s Leadership Council. What have you enjoyed most about the ERG?

The mentorship program and initiatives. I’ve learned a lot from my mentor and our group sessions with Dr. Patty Ann Tublin are worthwhile.

Join Kate and the rest of the team!

Visit our careers page to explore opportunities in channel operations as well as the many other roles in which you can advance and help Extreme drive effortless networking experiences for enterprises worldwide.

This blog was originally authored by Jasmine Davis, Manager of Internal Communications.