As a woman in business, I never chased or hungered for equality. Cause I know that we women have many advantages over men, for Diplomacy&Commerce says Katja Fašink, Best Crisis Communications Leader 2023 by DAVOS Communication Awards WCFA • Crisis Communications member leader at FORBES Communications Council • CEO key7 • PRCA Southeast Europe Network Slovenia Chapter Chair. As a successful business woman, she talks about her experience on the road to success and whether it is important to be a woman or a man if you know how to do your job.
“Highly skilled women operatives love to work backstage. We don’t want or need the attention, don’t have the time or drive to perform, and a desire for public attention (panels, events, interviews) nor the character that likes attention. “
1. “A woman in business”, how “exotic” is this still in 2024 and how much has this become an everyday thing?
I belong to the group of human crisis comms operatives in a highly demanding and disrupted industry, highly skilled in managing complex infrastructure or ordinary corpo crises that are becoming our every day on an institutional and individual level. So, I consider myself exotic in the business. But not cause I’m a woman (laugh*).
2. What did Your business journey look like, the business journey of a successful woman? What challenges would you single out as the ones that had the most impact on You today?
I started as a TV host, which brought me popularity, so I opened my own business for a decade before I decided to devote myself entirely to the public relations industry. Before I started to work for a government-owned system operator in Slovenia, I managed PR for many excellent individuals and institutions regionally and institutionally. I was also lucky to be chosen to perform as a public information officer also for royalties in a complex family situation. I have consistently delivered unbeatable results, although I admit that since last and this year, I have not realized how high I rank among the best crisis communicators in the region and internationally.
3. You have won numerous awards for your work and knowledge. You are Best Crisis Communications Leader 2023 by DAVOS Communication Awards WCFA and Crisis Communications member leader at FORBES Communications Council. Is there a recipe for successful crisis communications and could you tell us some of the tools You use?
I lecture about crisis communication to a whole specter of industries, so the supportive tools are usually tied up in a straight line to their individual and institutional needs. I try to train the authorized group and the communication leaders to use and rely primarily only on one tool – brains. Brains are the only tool you can trust in a crisis time. My job is to give and teach them solutions for their industry in their cases, not in a general manner; all cases that we work on are actual predictions from their company/industry. We write newer, updated processes to be better, reliable, and completely stable. That’s why I prepared for some lectures for more than three months; I needed a longer period to be fully qualified to guide them at something so essential and cooperate with them to set protocols that would be unbeatable and bulletproof.
4. Today you have your own company “Key7”. You work with governments, decision makers at various levels. Is being a woman in such an environment an advantage or a disadvantage, what is your impression? What would you separate from the jobs you currently do?
At this stage, it doesn‘t matter what gender I represent cause the service that Key7 offers is very urgent to many of them, and they don‘t have many choices or a choice at all. But if the service weren‘t urgent, it would be easier if I were a man. As a woman in business, I never chased or hungered for equality. Cause I know that we women have many advantages over men. On www.key7.si, we tried to describe our basics; however, we solve corporate/complex communicational, critical infrastructure and it/cyber security problems and crises. But to separate what I love the most at Key7 team? I think it‘s about the closure that we provide and is built from informations and answers to all your questions. The key to smart life and business is to get all the answers. Answers are your individual and institutional rights and responsibilities. And we only stop once we find all the answers and know all the details of the whole story. We bring you »the whole truth« in a posttruth world.
5. There are far less women at the head of companies compared to their male colleagues, around 5%. What do You think is the reason for that and how can this number change in favor of women?
This 5 % of brilliant and bold women got their positions cause there was no man suitable-skilled or educated or trained enough to get it. So, these 5% of women are titans for both genders in the business. If one man were “good enough,” the position would be his. This funny number won’t change drastically in the future cause highly skilled women operatives love to work backstage. They don’t want the attention, don’t have the time or drive to perform, and a desire for public attention (panels, events, interviews) or the character that likes attention (they’re usually intellectual introverts who are immensely reliable and advanced operatives-engineers). So they don’t want positions, and to be sincere, sometimes they make the same or even more money than general managers, so why would they want their positions? Those with real, niche knowledge and skills who are reliable and reputational professionals want to avoid the bigboss positions. Usually, the ones who lack knowledge, abilities, power, and results have an intensive self-love and selfpromotion drive and consequently want these important chairs; usually, they also get them or are given to them by the same kind of successful businessman.
6. Does female solidarity exist in the business world or should everything be observed professionally and individually?
Women’s solidarity exists in many other worlds, but unfortunately, not in business or politics. If it does and when it does, it is sporadic and interlaced with mutual respect and admiration for each other’s knowledge, skills, abilities, achievements, or similar past experiences and “pains.”
7.What is Your message to women in general when we talk about a business and do You have a message for male colleagues? Should this distinction still be made at all?
For the finish, I have to be slightly sarcastic again, so my message for colleagues „of all genders“ is: What you give is what you get. Remember that. And book Key7 team till you have a choice, eventhough I love it the most, when you have no choice.