“You don’t have to have it all together to be the best.”
– Kathy Thomas
Her Story of Success…
Kathy Thomas never let lack of experience stop her from taking bold leaps to new career paths. After taking a fashion retail job to supplement her income, Kathy worked her way up through the industry to become a high-level operation and talent acquisition expert for Lucky Brand Jeans and Louis Vuitton. She then left that career path to start her own business as a completely self-taught photographer. Today, Kathy Thomas Photography is an internationally published brand, and Kathy has traveled all over the world to shoot weddings, corporate events and family portraits.
As a small business owner and a mom, Kathy realized early on that working from home made it difficult to establish a healthy work-life balance. After moving to Nashville and struggling to find the right coworking space for her business, Kathy decided to build her own. With Collective615, Kathy created the first coworking space for women in the state of Tennessee.
In her roles as a business owner and mentor, Kathy is often asked how she became so confident, but she believes her real motivator is actually fear. She joins Leah for a conversation about how she uses that fear as fuel that drives her to take calculated risks, and she shares some of the biggest lessons she’s learned throughout her unique career journey.
In This Episode:
Kathy explains how she’s learned to repeatedly take big leaps in her career, working in multiple industries to achieve her goals and do work she enjoys. She also describes her motivation behind creating Nashville’s first coworking space for women, and she explains how she’s empowering her daughter to believe she can reach her biggest dreams and goals.
Episode Highlights:
- Why working from home is difficult for women, and Kathy’s experience that inspired her to start Collective615
- Kathy’s story of working her way up in fashion retail to become an executive at Louis Vuitton
- Turning fear into a motivational force and taking calculated risks
- How Kathy built a global brand as a self-taught photographer
- Building an office space to help women thrive
- Kathy’s passion for showing her daughter that she can achieve her dreams
Non-Profit Spotlight: YWCA is one of the oldest and largest women’s organizations in the nation, serving over 2 million women, girls and their families. They’re on a mission to eliminate racism, stand up for social justice and empower women.
Sponsor: This episode is sponsored by Insperity, an HR company that makes a difference. Insperity combines first class service and robust technology so you can focus on your people.
