The people are the company.

At Passport, we strive to hire employees that not only fulfill our role requirements, but those who embody our core values on a daily basis. As the Vice President of People Operations and Partnerships at Passport, Kristin Gatter, handles employing candidates that reflect Passport’s core values; respect the individual, carry the torch, all hands on deck, learn from adversity, open your mind, and be an evangelist. Get to know Kristin’s background, her role at Passport, and how she got into the tech industry:

Q: Tell me a little about your background?

Kristin: I grew up in Philadelphia and I really wanted to move to the south. After completing my bachelor’s in philosophy at the University of Georgia, I moved to Jacksonville, FL to go to law school. After law school, I moved to Charlotte, passed the North Carolina bar exam, and started working as an attorney. For 3 years, I ran my own law firm and worked mostly on protecting intellectual property. During that time, I took the South Carolina bar and realized I really enjoyed working with startups. For about 10 months I moved to San Francisco and was a consultant for startups. I ended up moving back to Charlotte and then started here at Passport.

Q: What’s your day-to-day role at Passport?

K: As the VP of People Operations & Partnerships, I handle human resources. I handle recruiting, writing offer letters, and developing the current employees. Because of my legal background, I work a lot with the procurement team. I make sure RFPs go out on time and they’re compliant, as well as determine ways to make the process as efficient as possible. I also work with legal – sending out contracts and providing a second eye of checks and balances.

Q: Why are you passionate about what you do?

K: I really enjoy working at a company where I can make an impact. I’ve only been working at Passport for 5 months, but I’ve already taken on a lot of responsibilities. It’s rewarding to see results and the work come to life, as opposed to working and never seeing results.

Q: What was the deciding factor in choosing Passport?

K: The people and the culture really set Passport apart. Khristian Gutierrez, our Chief Business Development Officer,  was extremely impressive and I loved the questions he asked me during my interview – they were the type of questions I wanted him to ask.

Get to know the rest of the team at Passport and find out about our latest job postings.