Dr. Karen Peesker wins Canada’s Most Powerful Women: Top 100 Award

After a successful global career in sales, Dr. Karen Peesker returned to school to pursue a career in academia, sharing her knowledge with the next generation of sales leaders. Now her work in sales leadership and education is being recognized with one of Canada's most notable awards for female leaders.  

The Assistant Professor of Hospitality & Tourism Management and Director of the Sales Leadership Program at the Ted Rogers School of Management has been named a Women's Executive Network (WXN) 2022 Canada's Most Powerful Women: Top 100 Award Winner (external link, opens in new window) .

This is the country's most recognized award for the highest-achieving female leaders in the private, public and not-for-profit sectors. It was created to recognize the incredible accomplishments of women, develop a community of support and increase the visibility of strong leaders to inspire future generations.

Dr. Peesker was selected in the award's Professionals category, which recognizes women who are professionals in practice and play a leadership role within their organizations. She joins an influential community of over 1,400 powerful women who share a passion for the advancement and empowerment of women.

Global sales career

Dr. Peesker began her career in sales at IBM Canada Ltd. and Lexmark International Inc. where she was recognized for leading sales teams, building partner ecosystems and winning over customers in China, India, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan, Korea, Australia, New Zealand, United States, Canada, Denmark, France and Ireland.

After over 16 years of working in global sales and marketing roles, she transitioned her career to provide consulting and sales training services while raising her two young children. "It was a great decision to take this time to prioritize my family," she explains. "I had always wanted to be a professor and knew that would be my future." 

Making the transition to academia

When Dr. Peesker's family moved to Europe, her sister, Dr. Susan Boehnke (Neuroscientist & Assistant Professor at Queens University), called her and said, "Now is the time!" She encouraged her to apply for her PhD and transition to academia.

"I had always dreamed of being a professor, and since I did not have a Visa to work in Europe, it was the perfect timing," Dr. Peesker says. "I started running marathons and was thrilled to get into Cranfield University, one of the best university programs in the UK, under supervisor Professor Lynette Ryals, who is an inspiration." She went on to obtain her PhD in Marketing and Sales in 2017.

Dr. Peesker was interested in teaching at a university because she wanted to make a positive impact on the future generation of Canadian leaders. She attended Ivey at Western University for her undergraduate and master's degrees and had exceptional professors who positively impacted her life, and she wanted to make that same impact on young people.

In 2018, she became an Assistant Professor at the Ted Rogers School, hired by the Hospitality and Tourism Management department (Director, Dr. Frederic Dimanche) and the Ted Rogers Leadership Centre (Chair, Dr. Brian Segal), to help students develop their sales and customer engagement skills. Her primary teaching focus is marketing, sales and organizational behavior, and she infuses her extensive corporate and global sales and marketing experience into every course. 

Dr. Peesker uses an engaging, interactive coaching approach with a blend of real-world experience and leading-edge research to excel in the classroom and teach effectively. She was recently recognized for her work by receiving the 2020 Dean’s Teaching Award and the 2022 Provost's Experiential Teaching Award at Toronto Metropolitan University.  

In addition, she has published numerous peer-reviewed articles on sales leadership in academic journals, including the Journal of Business Research, Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, Journal of Business and Industrial Marketing, Journal of Selling, as well as an award-winning article in the Leadership and Organization Development Journal, and has a particular focus on researching and publishing on women in sales.

Developing the next generation of sales leaders

In her first year at the Ted Rogers School, Dr. Peesker founded the Ted Rogers Sales Leadership Program (SLP), which has generated tremendous student and industry interest. This program prepares students with the skill sets they need to succeed in sales and meets a 'real need' in Canadian business. The Ted Rogers Undergraduate Sales Team (TRUST), which is part of the program, had success right out of the gate, beating out 22 top schools from the U.S. to win the Northeast Intercollegiate Sales Competition in its first sales challenge. 

Dr. Peesker was inspired to launch the SLP after 16 years in the sales industry and after seeing similar sales programs at universities in the United States and England. "Our brightest and the best talent in Canada is going to university and college, and we must teach this generation sales leadership skills for the future of the Canadian economy," she says. "The universities in the USA and Europe have embraced sales education. Canadian universities need to teach sales education and prepare our young people for careers in professional sales to address the skills gap."

"The Ted Rogers School has done an exceptional job leading this in Canada," Dr. Peesker adds. "We hosted the SSHRC-sponsored conference with Dr. Wendy Cukier (Founder, Diversity Institute), our partner universities HEC Montreal (Dr. Maria Rouziou) and Ivey (Eric Janssen), and industry sponsors to focus on advancing sales education and research in Canadian universities. We brought in 10 universities from across the country, and we are thrilled with the progress that is being made to advance sales education in Canada."

"The SLP also aligns with the Ted Rogers School's mission to provide students with a unique and innovative learning experience and shape socially conscious leaders with an entrepreneurial orientation," she explains.