KATE VAN HULZEN
Posted On: Jul. 29, 2007 12:00 AM CST
Principal and Los Angeles Communication Line of Business Leader
Buck Consultants L.L.C.
Los Angeles
Age: 37
Kate Van Hulzen has been a financial writer and communications consultant for her entire professional career. Ms. Van Hulzen specializes in designing and implementing strategies to help corporations communicate their benefit programs. A customized communications campaign she developed for Northrop Grumman Corp. resulted in a significant increase in employees participating in the company’s 401(k) plan, as well as a big rise in the average contribution. Fluent in Spanish, Ms. Van Hulzen has helped clients communicate benefit plans for Spanish-speaking employees. She has earned several industry awards for her communications projects.
Advice to young women: "It is important to realize that all of us will make mistakes. What sets us apart is what we do about it when we find out we made a mistake."
Professional role model: "Many women have inspired me. One person in particular who especially inspired me was Christine Infante, who worked as a manager for another benefit consultant. We had a frank discussion to identify what skills I would need in order to reach my goals. She helped me to identify different types of projects and work assignments I should be involved in to develop those skills. Working with her was just an extraordinary experience. She really helped me to understand how to develop a career plan for myself and how to achieve that."
Best professional advice: "Know where you want to go and develop a strategy that will help get you there. You need an idea of what you want to achieve and then you need to identify the steps to help get you there. I leaned that from Christine and other women I have worked with over the years."