Hi Katherine, where are you talking to us from right now? I’d rather be talking to you from the beach a few miles away but the WiFi isn’t that great there and the waves are loud, so I’m in my house near Jacksonville, Florida. I share my home office space with my husband, so lucky for me it is a big room and we have a great view of the neighbourhood activity
What is a typical working day like for you? My husband and I often joke about our “daily commute” to the office when we get delayed by the cats causing a traffic jam in the hallway! One sleeps in a basket on my desk most of the day too. Back to work – because of where I am in the world, my mornings are spent communicating with our teams in the UK and the US, then, as needed, my evenings are when I can connect with our Australia teams. When I was doing more events planning, I had days that had me talking to people in so many time zones I was not sure when lunch was!
What are some of the differences of working for ZAP versus other companies you’ve worked for? This is the first international company that I have worked for that I actually interact with co-workers around the world on a daily basis vs. just knowing we have an office here or somewhere else out there! Despite the miles between us, I feel closer to my teammates and am far more productive than in jobs where we have all been in the same office space.
What is a common question you get asked in your job? Can you send me the link to this or that event (which is taking place typically in the next 5 minutes!)?
What do you like most about being US Marketing Manager? I have amazing teams I work with! Despite the miles between us, I love the level of collaboration we have in all our projects. It is so rewarding to be the connection between our Sales and Marketing teams where I can see that the hard work Marketing has done, directly reflected in the deals closed by Sales!
And what do you get up to when you aren’t working? I work so I can get rest between our local adventures! I love to learn as much as I can about the area I currently live in. I’ve moved very often during my life and the first thing my parents use to tell us to do was learn to live like a local. Despite the touristy locations we lived, I always find unique, amazing places to eat, shop, and visit that are not geared towards the “one size fits all” perspective.
What are you into on the sports and music front? My summers are spent beachside watching Surfing while I am waiting for College Football season to get started! Saturdays during the winter you will find us watching college football all day at one of our favourite sports bars! I honestly watch football and the ocean at our beach club during the cross-over in Autumn!
Historically I was a punk-turned-grunge-turned-alternative kind of girl through the 80’s and 90’s (yes, I dressed towards my music passion as well) which has since mellowed a bit but not much! I got married in 2015 and while I skipped the Doc Martins with my wedding dress, I did walk the aisle to “Nothing Else Matters” by Metallica and the San Francisco Orchestra! Did you know there is a 9-minute version?!
And leaving the best to last.. we’re coming round for dinner tonight. What’s on the food menu, and what’s on the Netflix menu? You are in for an amazing meal that is for sure! My husband does the cooking in our house and honestly, he should be a chef! Tonight, he tells me that we are having a simple meal – grilled salmon, rice, and sautéed spinach – and I get to pick the wine!
We are almost grateful right now that filming for weekly TV shows has slowed down because we like quite a few! We can control our binge watching to one show at a time and its typically in the Sci-fi/Action Adventure categories such as the Marvel or DC Comic series.
