The Women Who Read the Script and Then Rewrote the Rules

Somewhere late at night before an earnings call, there's a script being marked up for the tenth time. Numbers are being checked. Language tightened. Every word is a deliberate choice about how a company will be understood by the people whose job is to scrutinize it.

For a long time, the person writing that script was often a woman. The person reading it — to investors, to analysts, to the room — was almost always a man.

That dynamic is shifting. Slowly, but unmistakably.

To mark International Women's Day, we spoke with six women working across investor relations — from biotech startups and aviation giants to consumer brands and defense contractors — about how they found their way into the profession, what it cost them to earn their seat at the table, and why they're still fighting for more chairs.

Their paths are entirely different. The themes that shaped them are not.

No One Plans for This

Investor relations is not, generally speaking, a childhood dream. It doesn't come with a movie or a mentor program or a clear highway on-ramp. Most people who end up there took a series of unexpected turns.

Shrinal Inamdar, Vice President of IR at Zymeworks Inc., put it plainly: "IR isn't usually one of those jobs most people dream about as a child. Honestly, I still believe most people don't really understand what it is." Her own background spans psychology, marketing, communications, and business development — a combination that prepared her, she says, to do the thing IR ultimately requires most: bridge the gap between what a company means to say and what the market actually hears.

KC Katten, VP of Investor Relations and Corporate Development at e.l.f. Beauty, came up through biotech investment banking and equity research. “My career has always been grounded in numbers,” she said. “A colleague once told me that ‘Excel is one of my love languages,’ and I firmly agree.” What energized her most, though, was distillation, translating complex earnings reports and market developments into the few insights investors actually needed to understand.

Jennifer McCaughey, CFA, F.CIRI, Director of IR at Calian Group, built her foundation across Deloitte, sell-side research at Sprott Securities, and corporate finance before landing in IR and recognizing it as the precise intersection of everything she'd been drawn to. "Looking back," she said,"investor relations chose me as much as I chose it."

Kimberly Esterkin, VP of IR at ASGN Incorporated — soon to rebrand as Everforth — started in management consulting during the Great Financial Crisis, running asset-backed securities studies in what she describes as a crucible for developing thick skin. A brief detour into trading at a private wealth firm confirmed what she already suspected: she was built for analysis and human connection, not a terminal. IR, she said, "blended my love for financial analysis with my long-standing interest in research and writing."

Danielle Collins, Head of IR at Southwest Airlines, spent years in traditional finance roles before realizing what actually energized her wasn't analyzing performance; it was explaining it."Career progression is not always linear," she noted. "Sometimes the most important step is recognizing where your strengths truly align and being willing to pursue that path intentionally."

Denise Pacioni, Head of IR at AeroVironment, arrived through Boeing, where investor relations existed as a formal leadership development rotation. A signal, she says, of how the function should be valued. Of every role she's held, IR stayed with her. “IR requires strong financial acumen along with strong conversation and communications skills; one of the only professions that requires you to excel at both,” she said. “And the reward for being able to successfully manage both allows you a high-level company perspective that sets you up for success in future leadership positions.”

The Script Was Hers

Early in her career, while working at an IR agency, Kimberly accompanied a senior colleague to a client's office for an earnings call. When they arrived, the male CEO asked her to wait outside the boardroom. Her colleague — a man — stayed inside.

The CEO read his script. Kimberly had written it.

"When we left," she said, "I told my colleague I would never return unless I was given my rightful seat at the table."

It's a story that would be almost too neat — too perfectly illustrative — if it weren't so familiar to the women who've spent their careers in capital markets. The competence is never the question. The presence is.

Danielle has her own version. At an investor event roughly a year ago, she walked into a room of approximately 200 people. Five were women. Three of those worked for her company.

"Moments like that make the imbalance hard to ignore," she said.

Industry research backs her up: women hold roughly 30 percent of senior IR roles in North America, about 37 percent globally. The profession at large is relatively balanced. The leadership ranks are not.

"Authority is often projected loudly," Danielle observed. "Credibility is built more quietly."

She's also experienced the more mundane version of the same dynamic: senior leaders offering unsolicited advice about how she should dress, or commenting on the height of her heels. "Often framed as helpful, "she said. "Still unnecessary."

Jennifer stepped into a new role as Director of Investor Relations in the middle of earnings preparation — not exactly a gentle onboarding. During a meeting with the CFO and VP of Communications to finalize the press release, she flagged a specific sentence that she believed should be removed, outlining her concerns clearly and professionally. The CFO and VP of Communications disagreed and chose to leave the language in.

When the draft was later reviewed by the Board, they requested that the exact sentence be removed, citing the same reasons Jennifer had raised.

“I didn’t say ‘I told you so,’” she reflects. “But in that moment, I gained instant credibility and respect. It reinforced that our role in investor relations is not just to execute — it’s to protect the company’s narrative and build trust with the market.”

Moments where expertise quietly reshapes the conversation show up in many forms across investor relations.

KC has encountered her own version of that test. As the IR lead for a beauty company in front of a largely male investor audience, she once fielded a question about what a concealer was and why women needed it.

"Moments like that felt discouraging initially," she said. "But I've learned to see them as opportunities." At the CAGNY Conference last year, speaking to more than 500 investors, she reframed the narrative entirely. "Cosmetics have existed for more than 8,000 years, dating back to Cleopatra! Beauty is not a trend. It's a deeply rooted, enduring category."

The room moved with her.

"In a male-dominated industry," she said, "preparation, credibility, and confidence are powerful equalizers. When you know your numbers and believe in your story, you can lead the room — no matter who's sitting in it."

The Art of Using Your Voice

Once credibility is established, something else becomes possible: influence. And the women in this field have developed their own frameworks for wielding it

Jennifer's is almost philosophical. "I've never been a 'yes' person,"she said. "My role is to provide thoughtful, candid input, even when it differs from the CEO or CFO. Listen to my perspective, then make your decision. Once my viewpoint has been heard, I will fully support it."

It is, she suggests, a form of respect — both for herself and for the executives she serves.

For Shrinal, influence often starts with a question rather than a declaration. In biotech IR, the audience isn't only investors. It's patients, key opinion leaders, and employees, too. "One practical way I add value is by asking questions from different vantage points," she said. "It helps us think more carefully about how the story will land given these audiences co-exist in a digital world where all stakeholders have access to the same information.”

Danielle learned to use her voice in environments where silence wasn’t an option.

Before aviation, she worked in the energy sector at an operating site where nearly 90 percent of the workforce was male. It was the kind of environment that forces you to learn quickly how to hold your ground.

“Investor Relations is not a role for wallflowers,” she said.“You need resilience. You need confidence. And occasionally you need to push your way into the conversation.”

Overtime, she’s learned that credibility does most of the talking.

“When you know the business, understand the numbers, and speak with clarity and conviction,” she said, “that’s what people remember.”

Denise thinks about influence through the lens of relationships. Her company currently has 19 sell-side analysts covering the stock. She knows every one of them. "I really focus on building the relationship with each analyst so that we can have a very fair dialogue," she said. "I'm very responsive. I deeply care about the story."

In a role that's often described in terms of financial credibility and strategic communication, she's not wrong to name something quieter as her edge: the trust that comes from showing up, following through, and bringing genuine care to the work. "I think women bring a compassionate vantage point to the role," she said.

Kimberly carries her mother's example into every room she enters. Her mother spent 35 years as an investment banker, beginning her career in the thick of the Wolf of Wall Street era. "From my mom, I learned that women could break the glass ceiling," she said. "She ignited in me a relentless drive to stand up for myself."

Now, as the VP of IR at a company where her CFO, CAO, CLO, and CHRO are all women, she's become the example for someone else.

"Even now, there are times when I am the only woman in the room," Kimberly said. "Rather than seeing this as an obstacle, I view it as a source of strength. I standout. I am seen. And because I am present, I will use my voice and share my perspective."

Because It’s 2026

When the newly elected Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau introduced a gender-balanced cabinet in 2015, a reporter asked why it mattered. His answer was famously brief: "Because it's 2015."

Danielle borrowed the framework for this piece and the title of her contribution. Why should more women be in IR?

"Because it's 2026."

The case, of course, is more substantive than a punchline — even when the punchline lands.

IR professionals sit at the intersection of strategy, finance, and communication. They shape how companies are understood by the market, which means the perspectives they bring into those conversations have real consequences for how value gets defined and communicated.

KC points to e.l.f. Beauty's board — 60 percent women, 40 percent diverse, a composition shared by only 16 of the approximately 3,700 public companies in the U.S. — and notes that the company is also one of only six public consumer companies (out of 516) to have grown for 28 consecutive quarters while averaging at least 20 percent sales growth per quarter.

"We don't think it's a coincidence that inclusive leadership and strong financial performance go hand in hand," she said.

Shrinal frames it in terms of overall impact:"Having diversity of thought improves both the clarity and impact of that story. More diversity in IR makes the field stronger, smarter, and more effective."

For KC, the argument also lives at home. She has two daughters, ages 7 and 4. "I want them to see that leadership in finance, capital markets, and corporate strategy isn't reserved for one type of person."

What It Takes

The collective advice from these six women is worth taking seriously.

Danielle is direct: "Investor Relations is not a starter role. It is most effective when built on a real foundation. Spend time in the business first. Understand how money is actually made. Understand operations. Understand trade-offs."

She adds a note that rarely appears in career guides: "The role requires being in the market, meeting investors, building relationships. That reality is not always conducive to every family dynamic, and it is important to be honest about that."

Denise points to financial fluency as the non-negotiable. "You need to have a strong financial backbone before you move into one of these roles. The communication part will come."

For Kimberly, communication is not secondary to the role. “For women considering a career in IR, my advice is the same I’d offer to anyone interested in the field: first, you must truly love to write,” she said. “Every quarter is like finals week in college.”

Jennifer’s advice is to spend time working in capital markets, whether as a sell-side analyst or in institutional sales. "Understanding how the market thinks and operates is invaluable in IR.”

Shrinal's advice is perhaps the most transferable to anyone just starting out: "Follow your curiosity. Recognize that your unique experiences are a strength, whether that comes from communications, science, business development, or any other background. Embrace learning and don't underestimate the impact of building peer networks."

The women who are shaping investor relations today built their credibility the same way everyone else does: preparation, command of the material, consistent judgment. What's different is that they did it while also navigating rooms that weren't always built for them.

And then they started building different rooms.

Thank you to Kimberly Esterkin, Jennifer McCaughey, Shrinal Inamdar, Denise Pacioni, Danielle Collins, and KC Katten for their time and candor. We encourage you to connect with them on LinkedIn and continue learning from their perspectives on the evolving role of investor relations.

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