at globalization by an American manufacturer, and succeeded at finding several new foreign customers. Today, nearly three quarters of the company's sales are international. She made a second European trip to represent the company at the Paris Exhibition of 1900, and remained chief salesperson until her exit from the company in 1913. A misconception arose that she, not her father, had invented the company's bevel planer, and was promoted by her acquaintance Henry Ford. Fred H. Colvin described Gleason in his memoirs as"a kind of Madame Curie of machine tools […] Kate spent her youth learning her father's business from the ground up, both in the shop and in the field, so that when she branched out for herself about 1895 as a saleswoman for her father's gear-cutting machines, she knew as much as any man in the business." In addition to her depth of knowledge, Gleason attributed her success in sales to her uniqueness in a male-dominated profession:"In those early days I was a freak; I talked of gears when a woman was not supposed to know what a gear was. It did me much good. For, no matter how much men disapproved of me, they were at least interested in seeing me, one distinct advantage I had over the ordinary salesman."She paid careful attention to her dress and public habits as well, often choosing outfits to emphasize her femininity, and claimed that customers would recall a dress or hat she wore during a sale years later. James Gleason, a later CEO of Gleason Corporation, credited most of the company's global expansion to her work as its representative. The company's expansion necessitated larger facilities, and Gleason Works built new headquarters in 1904 and again in 1911. Gleason contributed to the design of both buildings and developed an interest in construction. Later career Due to conflicts with her family, Gleason left Gleason Works in 1913. She joined the Ingle Machine Company on January 1, 1914, when she was appointed the receiver of bankruptcy for the company, the first woman to be appointed to such a position by a bankruptcy court. Under her guidance she restored the company to profitability and repaid their outstanding debts. The company was returned to the stockholders before the end of 1915. In 1918, Gleason was appointed the president of First National Bank of East Rochester when the previous president enlisted to serve in World War