Meet Kattie! She works at Pat McGrath Chrysler Jeep Dodge RAM Fiat and is one of our Emerging Leaders!
Kattie is from a tiny town, Stockton Illinois. She graduated in 2006, moved here in 2007 to study business at Kirkwood, which she ended up switching majors to Theater because she absolutely loved performing in high school and college! Her family is still back in Illinois so she tries to visit as much as possible. She has one adorable, stubborn, 16-year-old cat, named Jewels. Kattie loves reading true crime books. Half Priced books and her get along very well! She’s fairly crafty so when she has time she loves to make jewelry. Recently, she has started to teach herself to bake. Sunday Funday, for her, involves a completely messy kitchen, but super tasty treats in the end!
When Kattie isn’t working she is baking, making bracelets, earrings, key-chains, and a few necklaces. She thoroughly enjoys reading and actually has a goal to have a mini library in her home. A little reading nook with a big comfy couch/chair, a fuzzy blanket-perfection in Kattie’s eyes!
She wanted to be part of Emerging Leaders because she always thought she struggled with understanding how to motivate others and thought maybe that is because she isn’t the greatest at motivating herself. With her recent promotion to finance manager she thought it would be a great opportunity to learn and develop not only herself, but others. She wants to learn how to be someone others can look up to, and reach out to for advice or guidance. She is excited about all the knowledge this program will provide.
When asked who is a leader she admires, she said she really developed a ton of trust and admiration for her sales manager, Justin Bergmann. He had ways to push her way out of her comfort zones. He had a great balance of telling her exactly what she was doing wrong and how to accomplish what she needed to do. He tells a person like it is, which can be a large pill to swallow, but if one can take that and turn it into a positive and apply his advice there is no reason to not be successful. Now that he is no longer her manager she still goes to him for advice and the push she needs at times.
“It’s pretty amazing the amount of leaders I have met working for the company. They all bring different ingredients to the recipe, looking forward to learning from them all!”
Take a deep breath and do your job. This is a piece of advice that Kattie was given that she applies to her life every day. She said, “As simple as that sounds it has really been useful in many different situations. It always will be.”
