Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Kate Gaffney. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Kate, appreciate you joining us today. Have you ever had an amazing boss, mentor or leader leading you? Can you us a story or anecdote that helps illustrate why this person was such a great leader and the impact they had on you or their team?

Emily Rex is a Creative Director from San Diego who changed the trajectory of my life and showed me what actual leadership should look like/be. She is a wonderful boss and was the first (and only) female boss I have had that empowered me, gave me autonomy, and REALLY let me be creative. I was working in advertising in San Diego (too scared to move to Los Angeles for acting at that stage) and Emily had an enormously important client pitch for one of the largest businesses in San Diego. I was fresh out of college and she knew my ambition was to go to LA and make a career out of acting, not be an advertising professional. Even still, she saw something in me and not only had me do the entire set up for the pitch, but also came to my desk immediately following the pitch and said in front of everyone, “YOU! YOU made that happen! YOUR creative work put our pitch in the running for the contract.” It was the most seen I have ever felt and the most believed in I have been, professionally. Emily is the person I have modeled all of my aspirations of leadership after working for her. She wants me to win. I’ll never stop being grateful for her.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

As a girl from the Midwest who had a dream that she was laser-focused on, I am most proud of actually getting after that with zero connections and no help that was here before I was. It has been a JOURNEY and (minus a few missteps) I feel as though it as unfolded exactly as it was meant to do.

For me, I think my work ethic that rides right alongside of my gratitude for each and every chance I am given to be a channel for creativity is what sets me apart. I neither feel owed anything nor do I feel entitled to any moments.

I offer loyalty, dedication, willingness to be taught, a keen listening ear, and honesty, above all else. I work rigorously to maintain integrity and discipline. My parents instilled a life-long set of ethics in me that I strive to keep each and every day. This sounds really generic, but the longer I am gifted days on this planet, I see that fear is the guiding principle of most humans and it can make people act in other-than-ethical ways. I’m so grateful to have enough peace in my life today that I don’t have to choose that path.

TLDR – I work my ass off and am teachable

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

That every goal/dream I have will always be just out of reach because I am never the exact, perfect fit as I am today in this exact body, at this exact age.

The currency of entertainment is fear coupled with lack. So many people are trying to get work and so it is easier to have our lizard brains explore the “why” something didn’t work out as opposed to the acceptance that all we can do is prepare, the rest is out of our hands. I think my fear of success needed to give me an excuse to never be the person I aspired to be, so it was easy to say I was too fat, too young, too old, too untalented, etc. It gave me the excuse to never put myself out there and take a risk. This came from (unsurprisingly) relentless bullying when I grew up from all facets of my life, not just school. I am SO grateful for that chapter (or chapters) of my life now, but putting myself out there meant I could be made fun of again, and I just didn’t want that feeling (ironic and somewhat hypocritical for an actor, I recognize). I had to do the inner work on my own worth before I would let myself ACTUALLY go after opportunities.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

There have been so many helpful tools handed my way, so I’ll just dump them into a boring list here because I could go on and on and ON about what they did to change my brain. I am a female, so this list might appeal to those that lean more into the feminine identity (so keep that in mind if you seek out these resources) –

1. Women Who Love Too Much by Robin Norwood
2. The Gift of Fear by Gavin de Becker
3. Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell
4. Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
5. I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy (I love my mom a lot, read the book to see why I picked it – it’s about entertainment)
6. Everything is F*cked by Mark Manson
7. The War For Late Night by Bill Carter
8. Bossypants by Tina Fey
9 Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
10. The Pursuit of Happyness by Chris Gardner
11. The Storyteller by Dave Grohl

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.thekategaffney.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thekategaffney/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thekategaffney/
• Other: My podcast can be found here – https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/service-from-hell/id1492766188

Image Credits
The main image (in the green) was shot by Baha Danesh- https://www.bahadaneshphotography.com The winking photo in the purple sweater was shot by Monique Hernandez (IG – iturnmycamera0n)