Bart Liechty
COO & President | Kadince
How have you leveraged your position as a C-suite executive to influence business dynamics in Utah?
I cannot claim to have moved the needle on Utah business dynamics in some big way. What I try to do is show up. I will meet with any friend running a company, any founder I have crossed paths with, any partner we have worked with. My goal is to keep my ego out of the way, stay humble, stay curious and have real conversations with real people.
I have spent time with the Utah State sales program talking to students about what it takes to perform in a professional environment, and watching some of them later apply at Kadince has been one of the more rewarding experiences I have had. Leadership is not about being in charge. It is about doing what is right and finding ways to be persuasive about that, one conversation at a time.
What do you consider to be one of your most significant achievements and why?
I am proud of the steady, consistent path that got me here. I came into my first sales job with zero experience. I paid a company to write my a résumé because I knew I needed every advantage I could find. I worked hard, earned the trust of the people around me, and, at one point, my colleagues advocated for me to step into a role I had not yet earned on paper. That kind of vote of confidence changes you, and it still shapes how I lead today.
The other thing I am proud of is what we have built at Kadince. One of the principles that guides us is consistently doing the right thing over a long period of time. We are not just a company that has grown in value. We are full of people who are becoming better versions of themselves, and that matters more to me than any number on a page.
What challenges have you overcome to get here today?
The honest answer is that the job itself is the ongoing challenge, and it never really stops. Being responsible for the direction of a company means carrying a lot at once: developing your team, trusting them to execute, hitting your numbers and making sure the people who have invested in you see the growth they are counting on.
Learning to delegate well and let go of control in the right moments is a discipline we may never fully master; you just keep getting better at it. More broadly, life is hard for everyone for various reasons. Setbacks happen. There are very few circumstances that truly limit our ability to grow. Challenges may change our trajectory, but if we focus less on being a victim and more on staying engaged, we tend to land on our feet.
