Chief Financial Officer, HP Inc.
Leading With Head and Heart With 2025 Woman of Achievement Karen Lynch Parkhill
In today’s episode, Mindy Tucker has the opportunity to speak with fellow Theta Kappa sister from Southern Methodist University, Karen Lynch Parkhill—leader in business and finance and one of Tri Delta’s 2025 Women of Achievement. As the Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of HP Inc., Karen is a powerful force in the corporate world. We’ll hear about her journey from finding her path in finance to overcoming challenges as a woman in leadership. She shares valuable insights and down-to-earth advice on resilience, confidence, and what it means to lead with both head and heart.
About Karen Parkhill
In March 2025, Karen Parkhill, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of HP Inc., was recognized as one of Tri Delta’s 2025 Women of Achievement. On the organization’s podcast, she discussed her leadership philosophy, stating that she leads “with my head and my heart.” She attributed this approach to her dislike of “hard-nosed, tough bosses that didn’t seem to have a heart,” and cited a quote from Eleanor Roosevelt: “To handle yourself, use your head. And to handle others, use your heart.” Parkhill also reflected on her career, recalling that in the late 1980s she was given a coffee mug listing keys to being a successful businesswoman: “Dress like a woman, act like a man, and work like a dog.” She said she agreed with two of the three points but “never acted like a man and I never will.” She encouraged more women to pursue careers in finance and STEM, advising that success in demanding fields involves “pick[ing] the right place and be[ing] an open book at work and at home so people give you grace and will cover for you.” Parkhill noted that after her current work at HP, she intends to retire from her regular job and join additional corporate boards while continuing her philanthropy.
Transcript (45 segments)
M
Mindy Tucker0:10
Hello Tri Deltas and welcome to the Let's Talk Tri Delta podcast. I'm Mindy Tucker and I serve as Tri Delta CEO. I have the privilege of sharing so many stories of our amazing members and offering you an insider perspective and a chance to really get to know them here on the podcast. Each year, Tri Delta recognizes a few women who are extraordinary and really exemplify Tri Delta's values. Women who are paving the way for the next generation of women. These are our Women of Achievement. And today I am thrilled to be able to introduce you to one of our 2025 Women of Achievement, fellow SMU Mustang, from the same chapter as me, our Theta Kappa chapter at SMU, Karen Lynch Parkhill. Let me tell you a little bit about her before I introduce her in. She is the Executive Vice President and CFO of HP Inc. She oversees the company's global finance organization and all aspects of financial operations. She has about 30 years of experience across healthcare and financial services. She's held roles at really prestigious organizations including being the CFO of Medtronic and Comerica Incorporated. Busy woman. Over the years she's also been recognized as one of the 25 most powerful women in banking, top 25 leaders in medical devices, and even CFO of the Year in 2021 by the Minneapolis St. Paul Business Journal. She serves on several boards including American Express and has been recognized as one of the top women leaders in banking and healthcare technology. She has a BBA in business administration and mathematics. Wow. From Southern Methodist University and an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Karen, we have so much to learn from you and I'm so excited to welcome you to the podcast today. Thanks for being with us.
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Karen Parkhill1:56
Oh, thank you, Mindy. I'm so excited to be here and so honored, actually. So, thank you.
M
Mindy Tucker2:03
Well, I want to start with your journey into college and how you ended up at SMU and then subsequently chose to join Tri Delta.
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Karen Parkhill2:14
Yeah, thank you. So I, you know, I had an idyllic upbringing in central Illinois, but I wanted to stretch my wings and go a little bit further from home and so that's why I ended up at SMU. Plus, the show Dallas was really hot on TV at the time, and SMU had won the championship football game the year before. But, you know, I'm thrilled that I picked SMU. It was an amazing four years and lifelong friendships from there. But I'd say that most of my lifelong friendships really came from Tri Delta and really excited that I was able to be a part of that amazing sorority. I went through Rush my freshman year and I honestly was cross-cut freshman year but I didn't give up because I really wanted to be a Tri Delta and I pledged sophomore year. Tri Delta was always my first choice. At SMU, it was a house full of nice, fun, well-rounded, and high-achieving young women. And I just wanted to be a part of that sisterhood.
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Mindy Tucker3:17
I love that. You know, I have a similar friend with a similar story. One of my dearest Tri Delta friends was cross-cut her freshman year and came back and joined Tri Delta as a sophomore and ended up having a fabulous experience. So, I love that you share that because, you know, we don't all come into this in normal ways in sort of the natural path. So, it's good to hear that you were still able to have a great experience even with maybe a setback in your first year at college. Do you have any standout moments as a collegiate member that maybe helped form the foundation of your career today? Was business and finance always something you were interested in?
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Karen Parkhill3:53
Yeah. No, I would say honestly standout moment absolutely and to be honest it was when I was cross-cut. You know, I was devastated. But I decided to hold my head high and try again. And I would say it was the first major life disappointment that I had, but it instilled in me resilience, strength, fortitude, all of honestly which have been foundational for my career. So there have been many more setbacks and hurdles that are, you know, much different than that one. But throughout my career and each time I face those setbacks, I regroup. I double down. And I ultimately work to prove that setback wrong.
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Mindy Tucker4:34
I love that. You're right. You know, life is full of challenges and hurdles and setbacks and you only get the strength to go through them by going through them. You have to sort of live them to grow. A gift. They're a gift in certain ways.
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Karen Parkhill4:51
Yeah, they are.
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Mindy Tucker4:55
So, were you always interested in business and finance?
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Karen Parkhill4:57
You know, oddly enough, I started at SMU in pre-med. My dad was a doctor. I was going to follow in his footsteps. It was really what I knew. But I'd say despite the fact that medicine is an amazing and admirable career, when I was being totally honest with myself, I had to admit that I didn't love being around blood or sick people. And so I had an amazing academic advisor at SMU who I admitted this to and he started talking to me about what other interests I had and I love math and I love numbers and that advisor helped steer me to further explore the possibility of a degree in math and a degree in finance for me and that's what started it.
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Mindy Tucker5:46
Okay. Being honest with yourself about what you want to do. Do you have any lessons learned from your Tri Delta experience that you've carried into your career, your approach to business?
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Karen Parkhill5:59
Oh, for sure. For sure. I'd say first and foremost, lean on your sisters. I often give advice to others on self-confidence as I do believe it's one of the most important ingredients to success. And I would say especially early in my career, I struggled with doubt, which is obviously the opposite of self-confidence. And so I now share with other women how important confidence is. And how when you feel it slipping is actually when you need it the most. And there's no better antidote to get it back into you than to spend time with your cherished girlfriends and have them pump it back into you. And so, you know, I'd say lean on your sisters, lean on your girlfriends, especially when you feel your self-confidence slipping.
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Mindy Tucker6:48
You know, that's so funny. One of the threads I will point out from almost every interview I do on the podcast is, 'I didn't believe I could, but my sister signed me up or my Tri Delta sister encouraged me to do this or they saw something in me or they nominated me.' And it's so true. It's such a common thread that is so important to us. That's what we do for each other. That's part of our sisterhood is encouraging and giving the confidence when it's not there.
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Karen Parkhill7:12
Absolutely. Yeah.
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Mindy Tucker7:17
I love that. So, let's talk a little bit about your career journey. You've had such an impressive path. You started in investment banking at JP Morgan.
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Karen Parkhill7:27
Correct.
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Mindy Tucker7:28
Okay. And then tell me how you sort of made the transition and what do you think the keys have been for you growing and succeeding sort of into different positions and into different roles?
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Karen Parkhill7:37
Yeah, I would say some of the keys to success are really staying true to myself and working for companies that enabled me to be who I am. You know, when I started my career back in the late 80s, I was given a coffee mug that was keys to a successful businesswoman. And there were three things on that coffee mug. Dress like a woman, act like a man, and work like a dog. And I'd say they got two out of the three right. Dress like a woman and work like a dog, but I never acted like a man and I never will. And you know, I'd say being true to yourself and who you are is really important. And joining organizations that enable you to be true to yourself. I would say investment banking where I spent the first 20 years of my career is not an easy path. But ensuring that you're at an organization and I chose to join JP Morgan where I didn't have to act like a man. And I could still be successful with who I am. And I think that's super important. And another key to success is always, you know, grit and resilience during tough times. We all have them. And never giving up is super important, I think.
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Mindy Tucker8:58
Yeah. I'm glad you called that out. You know, I think so many times we see people in leadership positions, especially if you're a woman, you're seeing a man in a leadership position and you think you have to step in and be that and rather than stepping in and just being yourself. So I think that's great advice. What challenges have you hit along the way?
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Karen Parkhill9:19
You know, I'm often in my career have been the only woman in the room and you know, I'd say so the biggest challenge I had in that was lacking the confidence to really be powerful and speak up and speak my mind. And I had to gain that and learn that over time. And I think that, you know, just being a woman is super powerful and when we do speak, it's often with great thought and a lot of substance underneath. And so I think in rooms where you might find yourself being the only woman in the room, to speak with the authority that we should have because we have an important voice that needs to be heard and I just think having that confidence is so important.
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Mindy Tucker10:20
Yeah. Is there a moment that you would point to where you faced something or you made some decision that really shaped you into who you are today as a leader?
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Karen Parkhill10:31
You know, I would say there were many, many moments but probably not one defining moment. But I would say something that shaped me and who I am today is, you know, probably because I didn't like hard-nosed, tough bosses that didn't seem to have a heart. I live and lead by the words of Eleanor Roosevelt, 'To handle yourself, use your head. And to handle others, use your heart.' And so, you know, I definitely lead with my head and my heart.
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Mindy Tucker11:05
I love that. That's great advice for people when you are faced with tough decisions. You know, I think and when you get to an executive level position, all the easy decisions are made by someone else. I always used to joke about that in politics, like when it got to the level of the president, like he only got the hardest and worst decisions to make. And I feel like it's the same as I'm now in the CEO role. All the easy stuff gets done by somebody else. They bring you the really, really tough decisions. What lessons do you have there? What advice do you have there when you're faced with a tough decision? What comes into view for you? What are the factors you look at? How do you deal with tough decisions?
K
Karen Parkhill11:42
Yeah, Mindy, I think you're spot on that the easy decisions get made by others. And so the tough ones are where you need to really step in. And I would say, you know, when I'm making tough decisions, I consult with others. And I pray about it when they're super, super tough. And I would say, you know, when you don't have to make them immediately in the moment, sleeping on it is always a good thing. Because I've often found that things are much clearer in the morning when you've had a chance to digest and really think. So that's what I would say on tough decisions.
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Mindy Tucker12:24
Sleep on it. Your brain around that and that your brain does transfer information sort of back across like over to one side and back across. Is a process that your brain goes through sleeping overnight. Yeah. Through information and decisions. So that's great. Yeah. Taking a little time is always if you don't have to rush into a decision.
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Karen Parkhill12:46
Right. Right. Sometimes you need to make them fast, but when you don't, sleeping on it always helps. Never let them age long though. Because problems never age well.
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Mindy Tucker12:58
That is in our staff values at Tri Delta to not let problems sit. They don't age well. So I had the chance recently to have a dinner with the executive officer team at our chapter at SMU and several of them were going into finance. So I would be interested to know what advice you would give to young women today who are looking to pursue a career in finance.
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Karen Parkhill13:19
Oh well I would say go for it first of all. We need so many more great women in finance and honestly all the STEM fields. And I would say if you're hesitant because you're wondering if you can have it all in a demanding field, I would say my trick has been always two things. One, pick the right place like I talked about earlier and two, I've always been an open book at work and at home. You know, I've juggled career and family and kids and aging parents and all the things that many women deal with and my trick has been be an open book. So where my friends and colleagues at work know what's going on with me at home and sometimes even the toughest most private problems they know about it so that when you can't be your full self at either work or at home people give you grace and they want to cover for you. They want to have your back. And I'd say that trick honestly enables you to manage it all in your life.
M
Mindy Tucker14:34
Yeah, it's great to hear you say that. I don't think all cultures are set up for that. We do that at Tri Delta. Like we're all people first and we've got families and kids and things and all of that's going to affect your work. I love that you have that culture mindset. And I think it's really important to women in general because we do have so much on our plates that we're juggling.
K
Karen Parkhill14:54
Agreed. And I think when we share what's going on, it makes us real. It makes us authentic and people want to help us.
M
Mindy Tucker15:06
Yeah, I agree. So, you get this call that you're going to be named a 2025 Woman of Achievement. How does it feel to receive this honor? What does it mean to you?
K
Karen Parkhill15:16
Uh, it's a wow. You know, I'm incredibly humbled because I'd say there's no greater honor than to be recognized by your peers. And in this case, it's not just my peers, it's my sisters. And I have the chills just saying those words. Because it is such a huge honor. Thank you, Mindy.
M
Mindy Tucker15:37
Oh, we are just excited to celebrate you and all of your accomplishments. I'm curious what Tri Delta looks like in your life today. How do you keep in touch with sisters? Is it still part of your life?
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Karen Parkhill15:51
Yeah, absolutely. I would say my best and lifelong friends are many of my Tri Delta sisters. You know, they're the ones who make me smile, make me laugh, keep me grounded, keep me pushing for the stars, but humble me when I need to be humbled. They're just so special. And so I'd say my favorite times, especially over the last 10 years, have been when we can gather and be together. Whether it's just one other or two others or a whole group. You know, I'd say five or six years ago, when my husband and my kids were traveling on a trip, I decided to have an SMU Tri Delta reunion at my home. And I'd say probably 20 of us gathered. And it was super awesome.
M
Mindy Tucker16:41
That's terrific. I love that. I hear so many stories like that of people that just still every year get together and they're connected to that group that they joined with. Such a special friendship.
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Karen Parkhill16:51
Yeah, for sure.
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Mindy Tucker16:54
Another big part of what we do in Tri Delta is service. And I think I'm sensing you have taken that on as well as part of your life. I'd love to hear about your philanthropy work and how you give back.
K
Karen Parkhill17:04
Yeah, thank you. You know, I often tell my children to whom much is given, much is expected. And I know that I have been richly blessed for a reason. And I want to use my talent and my treasure to help make this world a better place. So I am continually focused on helping and mentoring others, particularly women. I firmly believe that the world will be much better off when we have more women in more powerful positions influencing and impacting. And so, I have a passion for helping have more women in whatever powerful positions they want to be in, whether it's politics or business or government, church, whatever. We need more women. So, I'm always focused on helping and mentoring others. And then from a philanthropy perspective, I am focused on women, but I'm also focused now on supporting things that are important and meaningful to my children and my family. So, for example, my daughter is adopted and lives with type 1 diabetes, which is an awful 24/7 disease to manage, and one of my sons serves in the military. So, I now support organizations that are working on a cure for type 1 diabetes. I support organizations that help enable adoptions and also help support veterans. And so, I've taken on my children's causes as well.
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Mindy Tucker18:39
I love that we do that as parents, don't we? We learn how and I can't let that go without telling you both my boys are adopted, so we have that in common as well. So, I love people that talk about that often and normalize that also. I think there was a day and time where adoption wasn't as normalized and so I love that people now talk about it.
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Karen Parkhill19:03
Yeah. Agreed. I say especially for women out there, if you want to be a mom and you're meant to be a mom, there's so many different ways you can do it. Adoption is just one of the amazing ways that you can do it.
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Mindy Tucker19:20
So, what's next for you in your career, in your life? What's coming up for Karen?
K
Karen Parkhill19:24
Yeah. Well, I would say career-wise right now I'm focused on making an impact at HP. I've been at HP less than a year now. I recently made the move from Medtronic to HP and super excited to make an impact there and help set this amazing company with an amazing brand and history, set them up for the next best era. That's what I'm focused on. And when I'm done with that, I intend to retire from my regular day job and I'll probably join another corporate board or two and definitely continue on my impact and philanthropy work.
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Mindy Tucker20:04
I love it. I love it. Well, we could not be more thrilled to celebrate you. Thanks for coming and joining us here today and sharing more of your story. It's just fun to get to know you better and to let all of our Tri Delta women celebrate you being named a Woman of Achievement. We're so proud to have you in our sisterhood.
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Karen Parkhill20:22
Oh, thank you, Mindy. I'm so honored and really appreciate spending time with you today, too.
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Mindy Tucker20:29
So many thanks to Karen. Love having her here with us today. You may know of an impressive woman like Karen that you want to recognize from Tri Delta, and you can do that by submitting a nomination for a Distinguished Delta on the website. We have a Distinguished Delta's page. You can go there and figure out how to do that. We hope you will like, subscribe, and rate our podcast. We have three stars in our crescent, but we love those five-star ratings. Thanks for joining us today. Until next time, Delta love.