Why the Best Leaders Move Faster on Tough Decisions with Georgina Kirby General Manager at Kari Traa

About this episode

Georgina Kirby discusses her leadership journey in founder-led businesses and the complexities of decision-making and work-life balance.

The reality of building a career in founder-led businesses and then stepping into leadership yourself. Today’s guest is Georgina Kirby, General Manager at Kari Traa. Georgina is an experienced outdoor industry leader with over 20 years in premium brand-led businesses. She’s built her career across fast-growing, founder-led brands and now leads the instantly recognisable base layer brand, Kari Traa, part of the PE-backed Active Brands. Her background spans senior marketing and general management leadership roles at brands including Icebreaker, Le Chameau, and Bradshaw Taylor, where she has worked across strategy, brand development, and commercial delivery. We talk about working with founders, the energy, the pace, and the freedom that comes with it, but also the challenges that sit underneath that, and how those early experiences shape the way you lead. People and decision-making, especially hiring, getting it wrong, spotting it too late, and what it costs the team. As you move into more senior roles, expectations increase, the environment becomes more structured, and imposter syndrome doesn’t really disappear even at a senior level, but instead becomes something you learn to…

People in this episode

Host: Dan Trapp

Guest: Georgina Kirby

Topics covered

• leadership
• decision-making
• career development
• work-life balance
• founder-led businesses
• imposter syndrome

Keywords

• leadership
• career
• decision-making
• founder-led
• work-life balance
• imposter syndrome
• outdoor industry

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Kari Traa, Active Brands, Icebreaker, Le Chameau, Bradshaw Taylor

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