The Ashcroft Terminal executive not only oversees the company’s commercial strategy, but also business development, stakeholder & client relations. She is a shareholder in Ashcroft Terminal and sits on the company’s board, and on the boards of two industry groups.

She is also CEO & President of her family’s investment firm and a mother of two active children.

And still Kleo finds time to give to community organizations close to her heart.

For someone who started her first business when she was just 8 years old, it’s not only second nature but in her nature.

“In general, women are quite excellent at multi-tasking,” Kleo says. “We can analyze and strategize because we’re used to applying different lenses and look at issues from different angles. That’s part of what we bring to the table.”

Kleo’s no stranger to being the only woman at the table, “where you have to believe in who you are and can rely only on you.”

Her chosen industries have traditionally been dominated by men. And while she says she has been “surrounded by terrific people” throughout her career, “it’s up to each individual to power through the glass ceiling and leave glass all over the floor.”

She lists her mother, a marine biologist and commercial pilot, and Shell Canada President Susannah Pierce as female role models in a list of supporters that also includes her father and previous bosses.

Kleo says she is proud of the “superstar” female members of her Ashcroft Terminal team, and supports them to balance career, family, with other demands.

In terms of getting more women into her business and others in a way that is both meaningful and authentic, she says we need to start from a place of equality.

“We have to apply the fundamental lens of equality, whether it’s at the board table or the dinner table.”

She adds: “The best chance we have is influencing our children at the dinner table and ensure the next generation sees people – all people – for who they are. On systemic issues, we need to look at making generational gains. This is the long game.”