Ep 18 | Kara Thompson - From Small-Town Ambition to Industry Leadership

In this episode, I sit down with Kara Thompson, a powerhouse in project management who has carved an impressive career path from Australia to London.

 

Born in Australia, Kara was a natural overachiever — school captain, competitive athlete and eldest of four siblings. Despite excelling in science and psychology at university, she quickly realised her degree wasn’t her calling. Instead, she entered the workforce in administrative roles, starting with the Red Cross Blood Bank before transitioning to the technology and project management sectors.

 

Her career took off when she joined Incoll in 2009, later acquired by Savills, where she thrived in affordable housing and public sector projects. A two-year overseas work experience plan led her to London in 2012 — arriving in a year of grand celebrations, including the Olympics and the Queen’s Jubilee. Initially planning to stay for just a couple of years, Kara found herself drawn to the challenges and excitement of life abroad, eventually spending a decade at Savills.

After a career-defining sabbatical where she hiked the GR20 solo, Kara took a leap into a new challenge at Gleeds. Just six months into her leadership role, the pandemic hit, forcing her to manage a 30-person team remotely whilst securing a £400 million mixed-use development. Her resilience paid off, as she continued to grow, innovate and push industry boundaries.

 

Fast forward to 2023, Kara joined FACTION to launch the UK team — a firm redefining project management by hiring only the top 1% of professionals. With a selective client base and a focus on expert advisory, FACTION is setting a new industry standard. Now, as she looks ahead to 2025, Kara remains determined, balancing perseverance with optimism in an ever-evolving market.

 

Tune in to hear how Kara’s competitive nature, relentless drive, and bold career choices have shaped her success — and how she’s challenging the status quo in project management.

I can't wait to hear your thoughts.

See you next time,

Steve

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This podcast is sponsored by Fidgens, providing cost-management services for commercial projects in London. 

And finally, connect with me on LinkedIn where I share my thoughts on industry insights and updates.

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Guest: Kara Thompson

You can follow Kara on LinkedIn here.

FACTION are one Global community, who are redefining the Global standard. We are defined by our values — Value Creation, Challenger Thinking, Passion and Collaboration.

These values are the guiding principles and behaviours that drive our approach and execution in everything we undertake. Our international community is the driving force behind our distinctiveness. We provide our clients the invaluable advantage of accessing a vast network of global talent that can rapidly scale to meet the ever-changing demands of their projects or organisations.

Our difference is in our approach. We listen, identifying solutions and tailoring our service to deliver the best outcome for our clients. We go beyond the norm by providing a comprehensive, fully integrated lifetime value service offering and a single point of accountability. We love talking to people about how we are different, get in touch to learn how our community can benefit you, your organisation or your project.