Katie is the founder of Mutual Ground Strategies, where she supports individuals and organizations in navigating workplace conflict and fostering healthier collaboration. With a professional background in mediation, employment law, and customer experience leadership, she brings a unique blend of insight into both human dynamics and business operations. Through coaching, training, and mediation, she equips clients with practical tools and strategies to move forward with clarity, especially in challenging situations.
Could you elaborate on the nature of your business, highlighting its purpose and the ways it benefits people?
At Mutual Ground Strategies, I help people navigate conflict at work, whether it’s tension between coworkers, misalignment at the leadership level, or challenges that don’t rise to the level of legal action but still create stress and distraction. My goal is to make workplace conflict less overwhelming and more productive by giving people tools to understand what’s happening, clarify what they need, and take action with confidence.
I offer coaching, mediation, facilitation, and training, depending on what the situation calls for. I’ve found that most people don’t actually want to escalate things, they just want to be heard, respected, and have a way forward. I create the space and structure to make that possible.
What inspired you to start your journey as a coach and entrepreneur? Were there any specific events, challenges, or people that motivated you to take this path?
I recently wrote a whole article on this which was published in the Chicago Bar Association’s Journal The Record. To summarize the article, my path into coaching and entrepreneurship began during my time as an employment attorney. I vividly recall handing a $10,000 settlement check to a client who had endured prolonged sexual harassment and was ultimately fired for rejecting her supervisor’s advances. While the amount seemed substantial, I couldn’t shake the feeling that monetary compensation was a poor substitute for what she truly needed: acknowledgment, understanding, and genuine accountability. It struck me that the legal system, while necessary, often falls short in addressing the deeper human aspects of workplace conflicts.
This realization led me to explore mediation and conflict resolution more deeply. Over the years, through various roles in law, customer success, and operations, I consistently found myself drawn to helping individuals and teams navigate challenging interpersonal dynamics. Founding Mutual Ground Strategies was a culmination of these experiences—a way to provide people with the tools and support they need to address conflicts constructively, fostering healthier and more productive work environments.
https://www.mutual-ground.com/post/my-journey-into-mediation-and-conflict-resolution
Looking back at the beginning of your career, what were the major challenges you faced when establishing yourself as a leader/coach? How did you overcome those obstacles?
One of the biggest challenges early on wasn’t just doing the work, it was defining what the work actually was. I offer something that doesn’t always fit neatly into a box: it’s not HR, not therapy, not legal advice, but something in between that helps people navigate conflict before it escalates. Figuring out how to talk about that, brand it, and help people understand the value was (and still is) a big part of the journey. I’ve always paved my own path, but building something innovative means there’s no blueprint. What’s helped me is 1. finding people through networking who get me and what I do, and 2. having mentors to guide and encourage me.
Would you like to share any remarkable achievement?
I just launched a program in partnership with a nonprofit called The Wolf and The Bee to help people navigate workplace harassment. It’s called the Workplace Conflict Navigator and includes a 90-min coaching session which will consider your long-term career goals, emotional health, and safety while deciding how to move forward.
https://workplace.mutual-ground.com/about
I also just launched The Mutual Method: A Playbook for Navigating Important Conversations, which is a simple 4-step process with templates, worksheets, and checklists to help you manage important and difficult conversations.
https://resources.mutual-ground.com/resolving-conflict
Women are a growing force in the workplaces worldwide, standing shoulder to shoulder with their male counterparts. What are your thoughts about women leadership today?
I think many women leaders bring a deeper understanding of the value of diverse perspectives, something that’s essential for resolving conflict and building strong workplace cultures. We’re often more comfortable bringing our full selves to work, leading with vulnerability, and creating space for others to do the same. That kind of leadership doesn’t just improve collaboration, it helps prevent conflict by making people feel seen and valued. In my work, I see firsthand how powerful it is when leaders seek to understand what motivates their team and what makes them unique so they can advocate for them, instead of trying to force a one-size-fits-all approach.
What message/advice would you have for future women leaders and aspiring entrepreneurs?
You’re going to do a lot of things you’ve never done before. It will stretch you, challenge you, and yes, sometimes overwhelm you. That’s part of the process. The key is to stay grounded in what makes you unique and the skills you bring to the table. I have to remind myself every day not to get caught up in self-doubt or wonder whether people will trust me with their problems. Instead, I come back to what I know: the work I’ve done, the impact I’ve had, and the values I stand for. Start there and keep going.
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