Coaching

Kat’s Approach to Coaching,
in Her Own Words

I love people.

I love creativity.

I love listening.

For 30 years these qualities served me well in my career as an Advertising Creative Director. During the most recent decade, I founded a diversity movement aimed at changing the stubbornly white male leadership at the top of creative industries. The 3% Movement helped raise women in creative leadership from 3% to 29%.

Serving as the leader of 3% exposed me to unbelievable stories. Uphill battles of women, creators of color, older creatives. Epic misses of corporate leadership that assumed company culture meant uniformity over authenticity. And also stories of triumph of people who refused to abandon themselves and paved the way for genuine expression in others.

The key to my success? Coaching.

The impact of 3% has been beyond my wildest dreams. Women serving as nearly a third of creative leaders, gender-equal creative juries and pay equity, cultural competency on the rise. My big, audacious dream earned me Advertising Age’s Visionary of the Year award and recognition from Business Insider as one of the 30 Most Creative Women in Advertising.

I attribute much of my success to the coaching I received from Jen Ostrich and Rob Schwartz. Without their guidance, I believe I would have lost the thread of my own wisdom in a world that never stops talking. I invested in coaching for myself because I believed I should bet on myself if I expected others to bet on me. Yet I saw very few women doing the same due to some major misconceptions about what coaching is and who it is for.

Many people perceive coaching as being sent to the principal’s office. Like they’ve done something wrong and need an authority figure to set them right. Nothing could be farther from the truth. When you enter coaching, you are the principal. You’re staking claim to your inherent agency and authority, ensuring that you operate from places that are true to your values and goals. Rather than shape-shifting to fit in environments that likely weren’t built by or for you, you change the environment to accommodate and celebrate you.

By becoming clear on what you want from life, you have a distinct advantage over the 99% of people who don’t invest in coaching.