Kate Endress Doerksen, Ceo And Co Founder, Ditto

Kate Endress is the founder ofDITTO,a 3D technology that allows you to virtually try on eyewear. Kate and her new startup have been featured on both Marshable and Techcrunch and today, Kate is sharing her startup story, as well as a few entrepreneurship advice for new entrepreneurs. DITTO.com is an eCommerce site for designer eyewear with patented technology. But when I spoke to Endress yesterday, she sounded optimistic — she noted that not only has partnering with Spangenberg given Ditto more resources for its legal fights, but it has also freed the Dittos team’s time to actually focus on building the business again.

I’d love for companies to take steps to fundamentally change the structure of the workplace to give better options to working mothers. I hope as DITTO scales, we can be a model for a company that can recruit elite female talent and offer flexible structures like 3 and 4 day working options for mothers. Seek out opportunities that might give you a second look because you are female, but don’t depend on that to get the job done. I’ve had several female engineers apply to my company, and I was rooting for them. But at the end of the day they weren’t as good on merit, and they didn’t get the job. Be self aware about your weakness and take advantage of online and local courses to improve everything from your coding to your public speaking skills. Deep down, you know when you are really good at something, and this competence is the crux of the confidence that will make you successful.

As the vice president of communications and broadcasting, the man has other responsibilities. During the season, which lasts from late October to the end of April, Fic gives a two-minute, daily IceMen update to 14 radio stations throughout the Tri-State. On WEOA-AM 1400, often, he says, on zero to three hours of sleep depending on the previous weekend’s schedule. I’m a fan of Sheryl Sandberg and love the discussion her book has reignited. She’s inspiring women to be strong and courageous and many of her stories resonate with me directly. That said, I do believe that it’s unrealistic for every female to have an extremely helpful spouse and the financial flexibility to have around the clock daycare when needed.

• Just a stone’s throw from the USDA Agriculture Lab that first developed mass-produced penicillin, stands Advanced Medical Transport (AMT, as it’s known locally).
• “Many of the designer frame manufacturers inventory their products in the Midwest,” Kate Endress says.
• Farther from home, he has conducted bat research in the Amazon rainforest canopy and in the caves of Kentucky, and around 20 of his nature photographs have been published in a guidebook for Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
• During her junior year Endress developed a serious stress fracture on her vertebrae causing her to miss most of the season.
• Wolter, a full-time haunted-house designer, has produced haunted attractions every year since 1980 and currently operates the Olde Courthouse Catacombs and the House of Lecter in Downtown Evansville.

Just a stone’s throw from the USDA Agriculture Lab that first developed mass-produced penicillin, stands Advanced Medical Transport (AMT, as it’s known locally). While the lab changed the course of modern medicine, the private not-for-profit ambulance provider’s forward view has earned national recognition in the areas of safety, technology, cardiac arrest resuscitation, and, most recently, its response to the pandemic.

Kate Endress Doerksenlinks

A two-time All-MAC First Team selection, Endress ended her career as the second woman and one of only four players, male or female, in Ball State history to reach the 1,800-point scoring plateau. Her 1,843 points placed her No. 2 on the school’s all-time scoring chart and No. 11 in MAC history. In addition, Endress’ 663 career rebounds made her one of only three players, male or female, in Ball State history to surpass the 1,800-point and 600-rebound milestones in a career. As a senior, she received honorable mention on the 2005 Kodak/Women’s Basketball Coaches Association All-America Basketball Team. As a senior, Endress was a 2001 Indiana All-Star in basketball, averaging 25.9 points and 8.4 rebounds. She also ranked in the top five percent of her class and was elected class vice-president. During her junior year Endress developed a serious stress fracture on her vertebrae causing her to miss most of the season.

Instead of focusing on an opportunity lost, I decided to be the driving force in building a stronger women’s basketball program at Ball State. I was the first three-year captain in the program’s history and, despite playing at a mid-major university, I was still able to garner All-American status, was named the Academic All-American Player of the Year, and was drafted by the WNBA. That was when Endress says she first fell in love with entrepreneurship. “After I did that project, I pretty well knew that I wanted a career in start-ups,” she says. Her plans to pursue that start-up were halted when she was drafted into the WNBA post-graduation. After a short stint with the Connecticut Sun, Endress went to New York City for two years as an investment banking analyst at Citi, followed by another two years as a private equity associate at Wind Point Partners in Chicago.

But months and months of grueling hours becomes counterproductive and founders fatigue is real. Take care of yourself by getting 8 hours of sleep per night and working out regularly.

Why Bringing Ems Billing In

But in the past seven years, I have reached out at least once a month to female bosses, leaders and entrepreneurs and only once to date has the recipient not been able to fit me in. I’m often touched at how openly and warmly they share experiences both professionally and personally. Ask about their management styles and their tactics for achieving the elusive work/life balance. It is through these meetings that I have honed in on my vision for the kind of female leader, mother and wife I hope to someday become. Endress doubled as an academic, graduating summa cum laude in 2005 with a business plan already underway. 1)Our innovative, interactive 3D video try-on technology lets customers see if the glasses actually fit them before they buy.

Having served as the school’s principal for three years prior to becoming executive director, Dickel ought to know. The new structure removes most of those non-academic areas from the principal’s role. In the summer of 2010, the single governing body of Evansville’s two Catholic high schools, Mater Dei and Memorial, was dissolved, and a separate board of trustees was established for each school to be led by its own executive director.

All photos appear on this tab and here you can update the sort order of photos on memorials you manage. To view a photo in more detail or edit captions for photos you added, click the photo to open the photo viewer. It is the essential online bookkeeping source of information and ideas that make sense of a world in constant transformation. The WIRED conversation illuminates how technology is changing every aspect of our lives—from culture to business, science to design.

This lead to her missing out on high profile universities that might have wanted to recruit her. Endress played professional basketball in the WNBA, and founded the startup company, DITTO.com. AMT had teamed up with the Peoria City and County Health Department in the spring of 2020 to roll out and staff mass testing facilities throughout the community. Included was one drive-through site on AMT’s campus that offered free 15-minute rapid testing to all police, fire and EMS personnel in a tri-county area. On a busy day, this site handled up to 100 tests for frontline responders who may not have had access to testing otherwise.

I remember one day watching a coworker excitedly zip through a financial model for a potential investment and remember thinking “Wow, I just don’t feel like that about this work”. I became jaded that we did more financial engineering than true value creation, and I was craving soul-satisfying work that involved getting my hands dirty and building something valuable. I decided I needed to be a hands-on operator and build a product I believed in. Even though I could be making a whole heck of a lot more money with less risk in finance, I have never looked back once. Kate Endress is an athlete turned investor turned e-commerce entrepreneur. After graduating from Stanford Business School in 2011, Kate cofounded DITTO.com, an ecommerce site selling designer sunglasses and eyewear which features cutting edge new video “try-on” technology. While admittedly I’m pretty new the game, I’m often asked if I have any advice for aspiring, young entrepreneurs.

In 2003, members of the Indiana Ghost Trackers visited the catacombs and grew thoroughly spooked when their compass began to spin in a complete circle. Digging into the dirt floor directly beneath the compass, they found only an old whiskey bottle filled with crumbling, 1920s-era newspaper clippings — all detailing brutal murders. Not even a minute into a mid-November hockey game at the new Ford Center and Terry Ficorelli’s cheeks already were damp. Ficorelli sat down only two times during the 20-minute breaks after the first and second periods. Oblivious of his surroundings, he updated at-home listeners on the Evansville IceMen’s lead against the Dayton Gems. Take advantage of a growing number of organizations and resources dedicated to promoting women in technology. Lindsey McPheeters is the co-founder of Ivy Podcast Discovery, a podcast discovery service and player that allows listeners to follow over a million topics the same way they would follow podcasts on other platforms.

Ditto Picks Up $3 Million From August Capital, Others For Its Virtual, 3d Eyeglasses Sales Site

His tools of the trade include battered coffins, fake blood, and high-tech monsters, and his employees are a bloodthirsty clan of vampires. He keeps his work under wraps for 11 months of every year, but on fall weekends at the Old Courthouse, spectators wait outside in the chilly evening air, eager to see what Wolter’s dreamed up this year. Wolter, a full-time haunted-house designer, has produced haunted attractions every year since 1980 and currently operates the Olde Courthouse Catacombs and the House of Lecter in Downtown Evansville. Dedication to education in the Catholic high school setting comes from family influence. His mother teaches art at a Catholic school, and his father is a member of the Creighton University education department faculty. As the first person to hold the newly created position, Dickel stresses efficiency as a major benefit of the school’s new governance structure.

I spent time each day reflecting about what is really important and I prioritize those items relentlessly. I’ve noticed many women do themselves a huge disservice by raising the inflection of their voice at the end of sentences. It makes everything sound like a question and gives others the perception of a lack of confidence. Along the same lines, don’t start an introduction with a wimpy handshake. You don’t need to have an Arnold-grip but make eye contact and shake hands like you mean it. By registering with CaringBridge, you will join over 300,000 people a day who are supporting friends and family members. Starting a company requires an inhumane amount of hours and you are often so excited about it, you’d rather work on it than do other things.

I got some great advice early in my career by a female colleague who told me to find the women I want to emulate and get to know them by offering kate endress to buy them a cup of coffee. At first, I was a bit nervous to pick up the phone or write the email, because I knew they were busy women.

High School

His career plan shifted, but Bohleber — a practicing attorney for 35 years — never lost his passion for the natural world. The citizen scientist has conducted bat research in the Amazon with a team from the Smithsonian Institution, played with pandas in China, and had a newly discovered species — Bohleber’s water bear — named after him in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. His proudest accomplishment is his role in a quest to document all forms of wildlife in the park, which straddles the border between Tennessee and North Carolina. The ongoing project will serve as a model for other scientific surveys and could lead to astounding medical breakthroughs — but it could be in danger of ending before it’s complete. After graduating from the University of Southern Indiana with an art degree, Wolter, an Evansville native, was hired to design a haunted house on the Evansville State Hospital campus for a fundraiser. (He has designed shows for Evansville Civic Theatre and area high schools.) With costumes, lighting, makeup, blocking, and special effects, “haunted houses are just another form of theater,” he says.

I admire my sole female investor, Sonja Hoel Perkins, who worked her way up to the top of her venture capital firm without a female peer group and then turned around to start Broadway Angels, to back women in information technology. I admire Anne Bonaparte, CEO of Xora, and Jessica Herrin, CEO of Stella & Dot, for being two great examples of women who prioritize their life very well. I noticed that many of the incredibly impressive women in my Stanford business school class even speak with an upward inflection at the end of their sentences giving their statements less uumph and giving off the impression they were unsure or asking a question. I always smile when I see a woman speak articulately and with conviction, confidently ask for raises and promotions, and raise her hand to run a project or lead a team because she knows she’s the best person for the job. The worst moments have been learning the patience associated with building real technology and being sued by two patent trolls. It’s definitely been a wild ride but I’ve learned to love the fact that I’m never bored. It’s hard to ignore the wave of successful startups with strong female customer bases.

I hope I look back in a few years and smile knowing I’ve led DITTO with purpose and passion. My experience as a leader on the court gave me the confidence to be one in the business world. I decided to start a company because I love working closely with a group of talented, hard-working people to achieve something against the odds like having an undefeated season or building a virtual try-on technology that others said couldn’t be done.

Herby:  How Many People Are Currently Using This Platform And How Do You Plan To Keep Growing?

Ken Schultheis — a Jasper, Ind., native — was named Memorial’s executive director, taking on similar responsibilities for the East Side school. Tad Dickel, who began his education career as a music teacher, now serves as the executive director of Mater Dei High School. In 1973, 18-year-old Fic began his career in broadcasting at Michigan State University, his alma mater, calling games for the school’s hockey team. Over the next 38 years, the man now known as the “Voice” of the Evansville IceMen became a legend in the sport, going on to broadcast more than 3,300 consecutive hockey games. That is, however, not counting the play-by-plays he performed as a child for his parents in their Detroit living room, or the made-up games he created in the nooks and crannies of their old colonial home. I am not a fan of the term “work/life balance” and the discussion of “having it all”. I am a fan of talking honestly and openly about trade-offs that make sense for your specific family and situation.

Public health officials agreed that the EMS model was perfectly suited to take the vaccine doses on the road. AMT was the first in its region to pilot mobile integrated healthcare in 2015.

Although her brush with the professional women’s basketball league was a short one in 2005, it’s one of several impressive accolades attached to the 29-year-old’s name in a quick Google search. Most recently, Endress has joined the big leagues in the business world as the CEO and co-founder of virtual fitting site Ditto.com, which allows customers to capture video of their face to digitally try on eyeglasses. Launched this past April, the new company head has been busy finding an operations site, hiring customer service employees, and acquiring top-of-the-line eyewear brands including Ray-Ban, Hackett London, and Persol for her online store. Part of the reason is because I’m 6′ tall, and the other reason is because my parents taught my two sisters and me to be strong, independent, confident women who can articulate thoughts with conviction and “thrive in a man’s world” as my Dad would say. To me, greatness is about being competent and hard working enough to be respected, passionate enough to inspire our team, our vendors, and our customers, and smart enough to build a team of people that is even smarter. The last three years that I’ve been working on DITTO have been an incredible learning opportunity for me and the road to greatness is still ahead. I love reading books about great leaders and seek out advice and feedback of how I can be better.

“But if they would have just called me before filling a lawsuit against us, they would know we applied for those patents for defensive purposes, not offensive ones.” For the study, conducted earlier this year, Santa Clara University School of Law Professor Colleen Chien surveyed about 300 venture capitalists and venture-backed startups. Seventy-five percent of the VCs said their portfolios had been on the receiving end of patent actions, and that rate rose to nearly 90 percent among VCs that deal specifically in digital tech. The rate among individual startups surveyed was much lower percent — but the impact on those that were targeted was sometimes severe.

Endress finished last season on the All-MAC first team and has been named the MAC Player of the Week a league-high three times this season. Use the feedback button ledger account at the bottom right corner of any page to send us your thoughts. Thanks for using Find a Grave, if you have any feedback we would love to hear from you.

Author: Justin D Smith