Shantel Kalika drew a straight line between her time on the racetrack and her role as CEO of Cornerstone Insurance. “Racing taught me more about leadership than any textbook ever could,” she said. The high-pressure, split-second calls that defined her sport shaped how she approaches high-stakes business decisions with speed, preparation and adaptability.
Kalika (pictured immediately above) has raced for 15 years, starting at 20 – late by racing standards, where many begin as children. “In a race car, every second counts. Every decision is made under pressure… I literally had to make split-second decisions,” she said. Success, she learned, was not about perfection. “Ultimately, it comes from preparation, trust in the team… and the ability to adapt… in real time.”
That process carried into her leadership approach. When faced with a critical call, she relies on what she described as “muscle memory.” “I gathered the information, trust the prep work, make the call and adjusted if I need to,” she said.
Kalika recalled racing in Montana earlier this year, her first event in the United States, where she finished 10th against strong competition. Just days before, she had secured first place in the feature at her home track, her first ever feature win in the pro late model division.
The results both in Saskatchewan and in the USA, reinforced her belief that balance mattered as much as ambition. “I thought I always had to win every single thing. Along the way, you realize you enjoy the ride and have fun with it too,” she said.
Her racing experience also shaped how she viewed team dynamics. “I might have been the one behind the wheel, but without my crew, my family, my sponsors, I don’t even make it to the start of the race,” she said. “Business is no different… if I wanted people to perform under pressure, I needed to create an environment where they trust each other and feel safe to make calculated risks.”
Since stepping into the CEO role in November 2023, Kalika had pushed to keep creativity alive while scaling Cornerstone’s operations. “Creativity didn’t have to be sacrificed. It just needed to be structured,” she said. The brokerage included frontline staff in decisions such as revamping renewal workflows, a process she described as a turning point. “Innovation honestly lied in the conversations between the ones who worked on the front lines and the ones who were steering the operational changes,” she said.
With four locations in Saskatchewan and staff working from other provinces, maintaining what she called “small team energy” took deliberate work. The company holds regular one-on-one check-ins, weekly huddles and monthly team on times designed to connect staff and keep curiosity alive in a regulated industry.
Kalika said her approach to inclusion was “less about policies and more about presence.” Accessibility, listening to all voices – not just the loudest – and acting on feedback were central. “Inclusion doesn’t work if you’re on operational results but also on trust, team growth and whether different perspectives were welcomed and acted on,” she said.
Humility was part of that culture. “As leaders, we don’t always get it right. I know I don’t … Being able to acknowledge when you need humility, to model openness, seek feedback, and show vulnerability… that’s when the magic happened,” she said.
Kalika admitted she had fallen into the trap of mistaking delegation for empowerment. “Telling somebody that they owned something, but then not giving them the context, support or authority as you assumed they knew… it’s kind of a setup,” she said. Instead, she slowed handoffs, explained the “why” behind tasks and coached rather than dictated.
She seems to resist stepping in when challenges arise. “Almost everything is fixable at the end of the day,” she said. This approach, she believes, gives people ownership of outcomes and greater satisfaction in success.
For her, culture and operations needed to move together. “Empowerment truly comes to life when culture and operations coexist,” she said. A strong operational framework combined with trust, collaboration and shared purpose, she argued, allows teams to perform under pressure – whether on the racetrack or in the business.
