In the heart of Northern California's redwood country, Christine "Chris" McHale, CEO of SPK and Associates, a woman-owned engineering & IT services company, has spent over two decades proving that tech companies can thrive while prioritizing quality of life and inclusivity.
In this conversation, she shares her insights on leadership, fostering inclusive tech cultures, and supporting women in the industry.
Bio
Chris McHale co-founded SPK and Associates over 25 years ago, driven by the growing need for IT services tailored to software and product development teams. Her approach combines a deep understanding of product development with the technical expertise required to optimize engineering systems.
Under her leadership, SPK has built strong partnerships with industry leaders like AWS, Atlassian, and Microsoft Azure while serving clients such as Medtronic, J&J, and Moody’s. The company remains committed to helping teams streamline their processes, and improving how they build, test, and release products.
Beyond the tech sector, Chris channels her entrepreneurial spirit into social impact, particularly through initiatives supporting women and girls in rural Ethiopia. Through SPK and her advocacy efforts, Chris combines business acumen with a focus on fostering inclusivity and opportunity.
The Conversation
Thank you for joining HERpower, Chris! Can you introduce yourself and share a bit about your journey?
Chris McHale: My name is Christine McHale, but everyone calls me Chris. I live in Felton, California, a small town near Santa Cruz surrounded by redwoods and nature—perfect for me. I’m the founder and CEO of SPK and Associates, a tech company that provides solutions for product and software development engineering teams.
We’ve been around for over 20 years, and I’m proud to say we’ve built an incredible team of 30-35 people located around the world.
Can you tell us about your journey to founding SPK and Associates?
Chris McHale: I had quite an unconventional path. I grew up across Asia, Africa, and Europe, and initially worked in small business development and microlending for NGOs in West Africa. When I decided to put down roots in the United States, I began my tech career at Ashton Tate before moving to HP, where I truly found my footing. I spent about five or six years there, working in the field organization, providing professional consulting on HP’s computers. I loved it—it was exciting, and I learned so much.
But I wanted to deepen my technical skills, so I transitioned to Unix consulting. After training in that area, I worked for a company for a while, then decided to go solo. For the next four or five years, I provided Unix and networking consulting to clients as a “solopreneur.”
After a while, I started to feel the pull to grow something bigger.
When I co-founded SPK, it was driven by a mix of motivations. I wanted to build and grow a business that could truly make a difference in the IT services space. At the same time, I recognized a significant gap in representation, especially for women in leadership roles within technology. There was very much a ‘bro culture’ in the Bay Area, and many talented people felt trapped in an endless cycle of job-hopping. It seemed like the only ones benefiting were the founders and those controlling the capital, and I knew that needed to change.
I wanted to create something different—a culture where people actually wanted to stay, where there was a real sense of team, and where people could grow in their understanding, knowledge, and capabilities. Looking back, I feel we’ve accomplished that. Some of our team members have been with us for almost 20 years! Building a company where people genuinely want to stay has always been a cornerstone of my vision.
What’s your approach to leadership, and how do you maintain such a strong company culture?
Chris McHale: Leadership starts with imprinting your values on the company—not just through words, but through your actions and how you treat people every day. I believe in transparency—my team knows how the company is performing—and I make sure people feel valued. Whether someone is solving a technical issue or cleaning the office, their work matters.
Having been in the trenches myself, I understand the challenges that come with technical work, which helps me connect with my team on a deeper level. I also encourage people to learn from their mistakes. We’re all human, and as long as we’re learning, mistakes are just stepping stones to progress.
What were some of the most significant challenges you faced while building SPK and fostering a supportive company culture?
Chris McHale: Starting this company was about more than just the work—I wanted to create something meaningful. In the beginning, I wore every hat—there was too much work, not enough resources, and not enough time. Growing organically was a deliberate choice, but it made things slower.
Then there were the biases. I’d often be the only woman in the room, and I had to prove myself over and over. There’s a story behind why I go by “Chris.” Early in my career, I found that people often made assumptions based on my name. In a male-dominated industry, using a gender-neutral name helped remove some of those biases, though it’s sad that it was necessary. I remember funny moments, like when hardware technicians would arrive at a client site expecting “Chris” to be a man. Their surprise when they realized I was the one who called for the repair was both amusing and a reminder of the work we still have to do. You see that less now, thankfully, but it was quite common back then.
Cash flow was another challenge. Unlike a software product company, where you take in capital and make your money back on scaling, service companies are different. You could take on capital, but you lose control of your company when you do that, and it might become something you don’t really want. I preferred to grow organically with our own money and time.
I was talking to somebody just this past weekend at a business coaching community about the early days of starting and running a company. He said, only somewhat jokingly, “You haven’t lived until you’ve had to put payroll on your credit card.” We’ve all been there. Those cash flow challenges really test you, but they also teach you a lot about resilience and resourcefulness.
But I’ve always been driven by the belief that building something meaningful takes persistence.
What do you think women bring to the table in tech?
Chris McHale: In the tech community, women who are technically skilled make amazing consultants. They often have excellent relationship skills, care about people, and are naturally nurturing. They want to understand more than just the technical problem they’re solving. In any technical role, you’re working with other people—you’re solving a problem that includes people and process in addition to the tech. Even as a programmer, you’re interacting with others, discussing what’s going on. Women often excel at this aspect, which makes them fantastic consultants and managers.
Speaking of management, women who have been mothers often make particularly effective managers. Not because employees are like children, but because they bring that nurturing mindset of wanting to help people grow and develop.
When there’s a gap in someone’s resume from being a stay-at-home mom, that shouldn’t disqualify a candidate. Yes, tech evolves quickly, and it’s easy to fall behind on the latest trends, but we’ve hired women returning to the workforce, and they put in the hard work to catch up. In fact, the fast pace of tech can be an advantage—they can dive into the latest developments and become experts in areas that no one else has mastered yet.
Every mother I’ve hired has been fantastic at managing their responsibilities. They might take off to pick up their kid from school, but they come back and get their work done, whether that means working extra at night or early in the morning. They just get it done, and I’ve never had any issues. They work really hard to make sure there are no issues because they value the flexibility and opportunity.
What’s your take on work-life balance, especially as a business owner?
Chris McHale: In the early days, balance was tough. With a small company, I found myself working through vacations and juggling multiple roles. But as we grew, I came to understand the importance of creating systems that didn’t rely solely on me.
We joined a business coaching community early on that really helped us with this. It was about creating an owner-independent, founder-independent company, and that requires humility. You have to be okay with creating something where you are not personally the reason why it’s successful. A lot of founders struggle with this – it’s their baby, right? But that’s not good for the company or the people who work for you. What happens if you get sick and can’t work for a month? Everybody’s out of a job, your business will fail.
I viewed it as a responsibility to create something that could stand on its own two feet and not need me. As the company grew, I was very specific about putting those systems in place and making sure there were leaders in charge of each area.
Now, I can step back, and I encourage my team to do the same. Burnout doesn’t help anyone. We prioritize flexible hours and remote work, ensuring everyone can find their balance. Twice a year, we bring the whole team together for offsite events to maintain a sense of connection.
How do you maintain company culture with a remote team?
Chris McHale: We bring everybody in twice a year for big offsites just so everyone can get together because that’s really important. It’s definitely harder to replicate that in a virtual or remote environment. I’m a big believer in the synergy you get when people are in the building together, and anybody who says that’s not true hasn’t had that experience. But since we can’t all be in one place all the time, we’ve found other ways to ensure our remote and virtual teams feel connected and part of something bigger.
This flexibility has been particularly beneficial for working parents. Whether it’s mothers or fathers needing to pick up kids from school or attend events, our knowledge workers make it work—they get their tasks done, whether that means starting early, finishing late, or adjusting their schedules. I’ve never had any problems with this approach—people work hard to make sure everything gets done, and that’s what matters most.
What advice would you give to young women starting their careers in tech?
Chris McHale: Two things that might seem contradictory but work together. First, don’t be afraid to try things just because you think you don’t know them or can’t do them. When you see those confident people in the room raising their hands, raise yours too. You’ll probably do the work really well, even if you’re scared inside.
The other side of that is realizing there’s always so much more to learn. Coming out of college, you don’t know everything about business or workplace culture yet. Be humble and willing to learn. It’s perfectly fine to admit when you don’t know something. Meld these qualities together – be humble and willing to learn, but also have the confidence to take on tasks and say yes, even when you’re not sure you can do it.
Finally, what’s something you love about where you live?
Chris McHale: I’ve lived all over, so it’s hard to call one place home. But Northern California, where I’ve built my life and business, feels special. There’s a stereotype, maybe more about Southern California but California in general, that people aren’t as serious or thoughtful about things. I don’t think that’s true. It’s definitely a different culture—very much an outdoor culture, which is lovely. There’s a pretty balanced approach to work-life integration here, which I really appreciate.
What I love most about California is that people are very open-minded about different ways of living and thinking. They don’t subscribe to tradition as much as other places. They’re very open to considering new things, and I find that to be very charming and a nice environment to live in.
Connect with Chris
If you wish to connect with Chris and learn more, seek advice, or share similar experiences, feel free to reach out to her via LinkedIn.
