As part of a series featuring women in the equipment rental industry, Rental has queried a few individuals to represent various aspects of the job and share their points of view on the industry. One of those is Jenny Smith Price, President of Sales and Operations at KATO Compact Excavator Sales (CES).
KATO-CES is a family-owned and operated business committed to distributing high-quality equipment to dealers and rental companies throughout the US and North America. Her father co-founded Compact Excavator Sales LLC in 1994. Now known as KATO CES, the company celebrated 30 years in operation in 2024 while continuing to grow in the industry. Rental connected with Price in February 2025 for a few questions to share her insight.
Q. Were you always interested in getting into construction equipment?
No, not on any level, and I have no problem saying that. I did not necessarily choose this path, but I absolutely love it. I have worked at KATO since I got out of college in 1999 on some level, I did all the warranty for many years, all the advertising, and for 25 years I put the shows together. One thing that this company has allowed me to do was it allowed me to raise my children. I’ve been in this role almost 6 years with a great understanding of every department. One thing that I’ve done for all my employees is treat them as my partner.
I figured out that there is an absolute place for me here – that there was a place for me to be able to grow the business with the set of skills that I have.
Q. Has being a woman in the industry affected your role at all?
Yes and no. I’m really not going to let that be a factor. You should be measured on your merits. Are you making a difference? Are you changing the landscape based on your ideas and your goals and how you present them? Not necessarily because I’m a woman. Not necessarily because I’m blonde or short but if I’m bringing fresh ideas that are relative and making a difference. That’s really important to me.
Are there a lot of women in my industry? Absolutely not. For the most part, those that you do see are in roles that typically tend to be dominated by women. They tend to be in marketing, which is great because I think women are great at marketing but I don’t meet a whole lot of women in my position.
Q. How have the challenges of years past changed to modern times?
One thing that is super important when you’re talking about rental stores is what that store looks like. Is it a mom and pop? Do they have three locations? Who works there? There are independent rental stores that corporate ladder with 100 or 200 employees – but a lot might have 25 and family owned where there’s no ladder. You are thrown into it from the very beginning and learning your way through it. I think that I’m a representation of that.
There’s no corporate ladder here. I didn’t work my way up. I’m here because we’re family, owned, and operated and I’ve continued to stay here because I’ve made good decisions and try to every day. I’m not a trailblazer, but every day I wake up hoping I continue to be where I am and eventually be a trailblazer because of it.
Q. How can women in the rental industry make sure their perspective is heard?
Be sure of what you’re saying. You are the first person that’s going to take yourself seriously. Once you take yourself seriously, I think that that says a lot. You have to walk in the room and act like you’re somebody because you are – your opinion matters.
Put your opinion out there and continue to do the right thing. Continue to bring great ideas. I think it’s really important to be a team player.
Q. How do you find confidence? It’s a struggle for a lot of people.
I think it’s important to find a good mentor, to have a strong family, to have a really strong person that’s behind you. That’s what it comes down to. A lot of women don’t feel confident in what they have to bring and I think that’s where we – as women in this industry – need to help cultivate that.
Q. What kind of efforts are happening to get more women involved in equipment rental?
I think the American Rental Association (ARA) is doing a fantastic job with its “Born For This” campaign. They are also going into high schools and colleges and having these conversations. I do think that’s making a difference, which I love.
I try to do those things as well. We go to our local high school and do interviews with high school students and talk about who they need to be to make their dreams happen. I think it’s really important that we all get involved locally, whatever that looks like.
Q. How is the perspective of a woman in rental different than someone else?
Being a woman in rental is unique because you don’t see a whole lot of us. But there is no reason why there’s not more and there should be. There should not be a reason that deters anyone from joining the industry. There is absolutely a place for us; it’s happening every single day.
I encourage all women to take the leap, figure out where they fit into this industry. There’s a lot of money to be made. It’s a great living. It can be very hard and very time consuming but it’s also ultra rewarding.
I think women, in general, see things in a different light and bring a different perspective. Whatever that might look like. From a sales perspective, one feedback that I get from a lot of my customers when they’re putting women in the field is that they’re killing it because they’re super organized. They’re putting them in general management positions and finding out that women are really dominating those roles. I think that’s really interesting. In general, we’re more organized and we’re looking at the bigger picture – women are bringing a broader look.
What I am seeing is that people hiring are bringing women in that know nothing about the industry. They’re recognizing that it’s less about the nuts and bolts – which are super important, I don’t want to take away from that – but they’re looking at the customer as a whole. For example, I figured out a long time ago that what I need to do is cultivate a relationship with my customer. I ask, “What can I do to help you?” If don’t know, I have no problem saying that someone will call and help.
I think the industry is realizing that women are great at organizing those roles, making things happen, and bringing in other people.
Q. What was the best piece of advice you’ve ever received in your career? How has that helped?
My dad said the best advice he ever received is that you treat people the way that you want to be treated. He founded our business on that and we have continued on that. I think it makes a difference. I treat my employees the way that they want to be treated. I treat my customers the way that I expect to be treated. It’s created relationships across the board that are strong because there is a mutual respect for everyone’s achievements, their questions, and their disagreements. If they disagree with me, I absolutely want to hear it and I want them to tell me why.
Q. What advice would you give to independent rental stores and the women of those businesses?
Create a relationship with your customer where they know that they can always trust you and what you say. If they trust you, they’re always going to come back to you. They’re not going to go anywhere else. That’s really, really important – create an environment where your customer doesn’t want to go anyplace else. Internally, create an environment where they respect you.
Hire people who are on the same page with you. People who are going to represent you and your company in the exact same fashion. They’re an extension of you. If your customer is talking one employee, they need to get the exact same answer and the exact same customer service from everyone. I think that’s really important – valuing your employees so that they create an environment that your customers want to come back.
Be open minded. The first thing you need to look for is a little bit of hunger. If they’re willing to get out there and push themselves no matter what, that’s a great salesman. You can cultivate that person any way that you want, but they’ve got to be willing to do that.
Look at their character, who they are, and what they’ve been doing before. Be willing to take the risk, put them under your wing, and mentor them. Don’t get yourself in a box of “he or she must have sold this, this and this,” or, that it had to be industry related. I don’t think that’s true.
Be willing to pivot and surround yourself with good talent, no matter what that looks like.
Q. What research or innovation caught your eye recently?
I do use AI a lot, which I’m surprised – I think AI in general will make a difference. But that being said, I think a personal touch is always going to be important. With any new technology, it’s a balancing act. You need to use technology to your advantage, but you don’t need to let it take the place of common sense and a handshake. That’s never going to go away. People want to feel seen, heard, and loved. You can’t get that with AI. That’s you going to visit your customers or making the phone call hearing your voice.
With anything, I think AI has a place, but it’s going to change the landscape. There’s no reason not to use the tools to our advantage.
View the original article and our Inspiration here
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