If you’ve spent any time around Kathy Green, chances are you’ve left the conversation feeling a little more curious, a little more energized, and wondering, “How does she do it all?” Kathy, a longtime Enatai resident and recent TEDxBellevueWomen speaker, runs a tech startup focused on the chemical industry, mentors young professionals, raises kids, leads with optimism, and still finds time to volunteer in the community. Her story, like many of the best ones, starts quietly in the middle of the prairie. 

She was born in Western Kansas where her father repaired railcars filled with wheat and her mother, one of the few women in town with a college degree, worked outside the home. When the railroad shut down, the family moved to the Nebraska Sandhills. Her parents bought two acres and built a garage to live in while waiting to sell their Kansas home. They had no running water. Her dad dug a well, and her mom boiled water to fill a wheelbarrow where Kathy and her younger sister bathed. They called it “Little House on the Prairie.” It was simple, creative, and deeply formative. Kathy attended a two-room country school, where she was the only student in her grade. The quiet and wide-open land around her gave way to a lifelong curiosity about the natural world. She spent hours on the prairie observing grasshoppers, seasons, and the rhythm of nature. 

When she was nine, her family moved to Denver. The change was stark. Her new school had over 30 students per class. The high school had a 50 percent dropout rate and an onsite daycare for teen moms. After a few years, realizing how much they missed their home on the range, the family moved back to Nebraska. Kathy went on to earn a double major in Communications and Chemistry and spent summers nannying in Connecticut, often visiting New York City on weekends. The contrast of prairie life and big-city energy helped shape her world view. 

After graduation, she took a job in a lab at a Wyoming mine but soon realized that solitary lab work didn’t suit her social nature. She moved to Houston, working in international logistics and strategic account management for a multinational chemical company. She thrived in the fast-paced, global environment. She met her husband there, and in 2001, they moved to Bellevue’s Enatai neighborhood to build a life closer to nature. 

The biggest shift came in 2009, when Kathy and her husband moved their young family to Shanghai. What started as a relocation turned into a transformational chapter. “Shanghai was where I really saw what was possible,” she says. The energy, optimism, and entrepreneurial spirit were contagious. People believed anything was possible and worked hard to make it happen. Kathy paused her career, focused on her kids, and volunteered for the first time. She became a Girl Scout troop leader, practiced yoga, and discovered civic engagement as a source of joy and connection. 

The family returned to Enatai in 2014. Her children, ages 10, 7, and 4 at the time, had to start fresh after growing up in China’s international school system. Luckily, Enatai Elementary—with its rich diversity and strong traditions—offered a familiar sense of community. Kathy appreciated the warm welcome from PTSA parents and soon launched the Passport Club, a PTSA program to help kids learn about world cultures. She also co-chaired the Reflections Art Contest. 

Professionally, she returned to strategic account management in the chemical industry and was surprised to find how little the technology had changed during her time away. Paper processes still dominated, and information gaps across the supply chain created real risks. That realization sparked her next chapter. Today, Kathy is the founder of CargoCheck, a chemical-transport tech company. Her work blends her global experience, scientific training, and entrepreneurial spirit into a business designed to make chemical logistics safer and smarter. 

In October 2025, Kathy delivered a TEDx talk titled “Aim Anyway: A Formula for Progress in an Imperfect World.” Her message focused on the courage to act, even when conditions aren’t ideal. She believes people often hold back out of fear of failure or looking foolish—but real growth comes when you take the risk anyway. In her talk, she offered a method to help others move past fear and into action. 

One of her favorite quotes is from a Diane Ackerman postcard that reads, “Don’t just live the length of your life, live the width of it.” That’s exactly what Kathy is doing. She’s not just moving through time, she’s filling it with purpose, curiosity, and impact. She reminds us that life’s richest chapters don’t always start loud or fast. Sometimes, they begin with a wheelbarrow bath and a field full of grasshoppers—and grow from there.