Kacey Siskind is HONK’s Senior Vice President of Account Management and a founding member.  She has been in the parking business for over 13 years and came to it by chance.  Her strength and resolve are evident throughout her story.   

 

Kacey graduated from University in Toronto, Canada (a fellow Canadian, don’ cha know it), but didn’t know what to do with her life – she’d always wanted to be a lawyer, but “the LSAT and I weren’t getting along,” so she put that idea aside.  She experimented with all sorts of jobs: assistant, commercial real estate, tech companies, until she had the opportunity to coordinate events for a venue.  Finding her groove, she later started her own event planning company, which lasted about 13 years.  At almost 40, she and an entrepreneurial friend (Michael Back) were both ready to move on to something new. That something new was HONK and, after 13 years, it is a successful company in the parking technology industry.  HONK provides parking payments, permits, reservations, and validations with many nuanced versions, finding success with universities, municipalities, and operators.   

 

As I listened to Kacey tell her story from event planner to parking professional, I thought, “She is a strong person.”  There was strength in her network, strength in her grit, and strength in her credibility.  Curious about the definition of strength, I dove into my trusty Noah Webster’s 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language which, to my delight, defines twenty kinds of strength. I decided three kinds apply to Kacey’s strength in business:  1) Support – that which supplies strength or security; 2) Firmness, solidity, toughness – the ability to sustain the application of force without breaking or yielding; and 3) Soundness – the quality that convinces, persuades, or commands assent.   

 

SUPPORT

 

Support comes in many forms – for Kacey it is her family.  At the crossroads of her career, her mom helped her sort through what she wanted next.  Kacey laughs as she remembers one afternoon while her mom sat beside her, guiding her through a visualization of the life she hoped to build.   They plotted it out: she wanted to be involved in something from the beginning, help create and build it, and travel. Then, HONK came along and it was a great fit, even though Kacey “knew nothing about parking.”  

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Her husband, Bram, has also been an incredible support to her.  Their partnership has worked especially well as his real estate agent schedule is very flexible.  She recalls, “in the early years, it was me working during the week, and him busy on the weekend. So, we were tag teaming.”  It was challenging, especially when she added travel to it.  “There is no such thing as work-life balance… it was all hands-on deck!”  

 

HONK is also incredibly supportive of their employees’ commitments outside of work. This allowed Kacey and her family to make work and family happen.  Kacey found time for herself in this setting as well, pursuing health and friendship, “seeking balance,” somehow.   

 

Finally, Kacey specializes in supporting people.  At home, she supports her two young adult daughters who are “strong and brilliant and beautiful.”  They are a close family and have a lot of fun together.  At work, “I love taking care of people, making sure they’re happy.”  In her role as Senior Vice President of Account Management, she loves to help solve her customer’s problems with HONK’s products.  

 

Her circle of family and work colleagues and her own giftings enabled Kacey to show up and do hard things, always knowing they had her back.    She not only has support but also grit.  

 

TOUGHNESS

  

Kacey’s toughness is not loud or showy; it is the quiet practice of continuing to show up, adjust, speak, learn, and build, even when the path is unclear.  She resiliently reinvented herself more than once as she navigated her career.  She was willing to start from scratch at HONK, creating spreadsheets, making phone calls, and going door-to-door to convince parking operators that mobile payments mattered.  She kept going after each “no,” pursuing the operators until the market caught up.  She, Michael, and the HONK team have had to pivot many times as they changed technology teams, focused on Canada first, shifted from NFC to QR codes, and now navigate frictionless payments and AI.   

 

Kacey has also learned to be patient.  Parking sales have long timelines, especially working with cities and universities.  Kacey remembers, “I had to learn how to quiet down a little bit, how to listen, how to be more patient. I wanted everything right away.” 

 

Finally, because she is often the only female in the room, she has learned to navigate this male-dominated industry.  Being the odd one out means working harder for acceptance and credibility – a reality that demands grit.  She has had to learn to stand her ground, use her voice, manage her presence, and protect her comfort level when situations felt uneasy. “I had to find a lot of good friends and I did - a lot of wonderful men and women both, honestly.” 

 

Together, these experiences have grown a leader who is resilient, flexible, and has grit. 

 

SOUNDNESS    

 

I have only known Kacey for one hour, so it’s hard to say this for sure (😊), but her career, friendships, and 25-year marriage are evidence that Kacey is balanced, wise, and steady – qualities that attest to her soundness.  Building HONK was “a risk…and a lot of work,” and she had “to dig in.”  She understands effort and uncertainty from experience.  She is wise to stay focused on the key issues – HONK had been “flying by the seat of (their) pants” but later built more processes which “made a big difference.” While she keeps a “watchful eye” on what’s happening around her, she also trusts her gut which suggests steady, practical discernment instead of impulsiveness.   

 

This is not to say she doesn’t like a loud, rowdy, shout-your-opinion brainstorming meeting, though.  She remembers, “a co-worker came to us a little while ago and he said, ‘Can we get back to this like once-a-week meeting where we just yell at each other in a room and figure some things out?’ I’m like, ‘I love that idea.’ So it’s like my favorite meeting of the week where we just dump everything.”   

 

Part of being steady is knowing who you are.  Surprisingly, Kacey had to overcome a lot of insecurity.  “I knew I was this ‘personality’, I knew I had it in me, but I didn’t know if the world would ever give me the shot to prove myself.”   Now, she “does recognize what we’ve done and that it’s pretty awesome,” and feels successful and thankful to have been a part of it.   

 

Kacey’s presence in the workplace is shaped by the strength of her supports, the strength of the grit to keep showing up, and the strength of the soundness of her work.   This has given her a voice in the industry.   

 

FINDING YOUR VOICE 

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At the heart of Kacey’s leadership, she is very firm about women needing voices and equity and says “hatred has no place” and that men and women still need to work together and elevate one another.   As she grew and found her voice, she realized that she needed to see herself as another person in the room, no different than anyone else, and that at the end of the day they were going to decide if they respected her or not.  She knew she could only control her own behavior and that she needed to control her own energy, “take a deep breath, express (herself) with clarity and just feel strong.”  She sat up straight, held herself well, and dressed to impress.  Readers, this is something we all can cultivate and grow in! 

 

She does know of situations that still occur when men will say inappropriate things to women at work.  However, she also knows some “wonderful, wonderful men, especially in this parking industry, who have been my guides, my brothers, my saviors, my referral sources, my mentors,” and overall feels that we’ve come a long way. 

 

Her advice to young women and others in the parking industry is: 

• To trust your gut, trust your intuition.  It’s usually right. 

• Speak your truth.   

• Work hard, stay the extra hour, offer your suggestions even if they get rejected. 

• Find your personality and the things you love to do. 

 

IN CONCLUSION 

 

Supported by her community, Kacey has made her mark in the parking industry.  Her toughness kept her moving, and her soundness kept her seat at the table.  She found her voice in the room and now uses it to encourage others. She is cheering us all on!   It was a pleasure interviewing her and we at TPN appreciate her advocacy and enthusiasm for parking! 

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What does Kacey add to my Leadership 101 list?  See #’s 10 and 11.   

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1. Be curious and invite feedback.  

2. Lead with a clear sense of purpose for yourself and for your customer.  

3. Work hard, work hard, never give up, work hard, work hard.  

4. Lead with respect and tailor motivation to the individual. 

5. Invest in your network and industry involvement. 

6. Be proactive in client relationships for long-term success.   

7. Pay attention to the details as they drive cost and performance. 

8. Being a valet is a legitimate pipeline to success.     

9. Take on roles that stretch you.  

10.  Build a strong support network. 

11. Trust your gut and find your voice.