Kathryn

Kathryn is serene. She’s so serene in fact, she walks around the office like a ghost. You can’t hear her coming, she seemingly glides over the carpet without so much as a rustle. She exudes calmness and a sense of control. In her company you feel that everything is going to be OK, because she brings that sense of perspective which can sometimes go missing when things get stressful in the workplace. If an earthquake were to occur, she’d be the one I’d turn to.

Kathryn is Executive Assistant to our our Executive Director. I could imagine how people might instantly make some sort of assessment about her personality and lifestyle, that she leads a comfortable life, devoid of chaos and spontaneity, perhaps something that’s stereotypically characteristic of her role. She’s got an unobtrusive personality that watches, absorbs, distils information and she has the memory of an elephant. Kathryn is smart.

You only need to dig a bit deeper to know that this woman is extraordinary. She leads a jam-packed, fulfilling life and the 7 and 1/2 hours she spends at work is only one part of her day. She spots me outside the office having lunch one afternoon and asks if I mind her joining. Of course I’m delighted. She asks a couple of probing questions that are astute, that signal emotional intelligence. I start blurting out responses but then I realise she’s already got my number. She knows how I think and feel about matters but she’s engaging and indulges me accordingly.

We catch up again after she generously agrees to be part of this blog. It’s difficult to know where to start. Career-wise she’s done it all. She has a long and varied CV with roles that range from working in education, for the public service and independently as a consultant to name but a few.

Kathryn started out as a ‘junior, junior’ at a stockbroking firm, where she went to TAFE and acquired secretarial skills. These qualifications enabled her to become a professional temp working as a senior EA. She worked for a high profile magazine with the challenging task of wining and dining clients (where do you get a job like that?). She’s also lived in Port Douglas where she mentored women in small business and trained others in office skills and business management. She’s a self-described ‘course-junkie’ having completed courses on book publishing and editing. Why? Because she’s interested and has an enquiring mind. She’s been a member of the Defence Reserves as a musician in a semi-professional capacity playing an instrument which she describes is something akin to a tuba. My eyebrows raise as she tells me she has played during half-time at the State of Origin - as you do.

By now you’d be forgiven for thinking we’ve reached the peak of Kathryn’s achievements. Far from it. Like the Demtel ads, ‘wait, there’s more’. She used to be an aerobic instructor, went on to manage fitness centres and even trained a former Mr Australia. Just as I start to feel even more inadequate, she relays how she ‘fell’ into education. She used to advise on strategic matters within a private school and ended up becoming the conduit between the school and the city of Sydney. Through this experience, having built up her extensive networks, she then became a Vice Regal Protocol Officer. She is adept at gently navigating stakeholders through the minefield of etiquette one must adhere to when greeting their Excellency and partner, no matter how grounded their Excellencies are!

The aspect I’m most interested in however, is her passion for swimming. Kathryn is a swimmer and by swimmer, I don’t mean just a few laps of Sydney’s city ABC pool. She’s an ocean swimmer and usually swims before her 8.30am start-time, sometimes sporting the shadows of goggle rims under her eyes. She says some of the challenges of swimming can be remembering that you are out there in the elements and you need to be able to get yourself out of sticky situations. That could be jellyfish or staying the course when shadows seemingly lurk from the depths below. She says one of the greatest challenges is learning how to control your mind in the murky water beyond the Gap. It’s important thoughts don’t wander. She swims up to nine times per week and does this so she can fundraise for cancer research, which is fitting given she’s currently working in the sector.

I still hold this belief that Kathryn operates by stealth of an evening. As someone partial to a control-room, I’m willing to bet she works for ASIS and heads up covert operations, deploying teams across the nation to combat terrorism outside her standard working week.

In summing up, Kathryn describes herself as ‘just a mature woman’ who is an ‘average’ swimmer. My response is as instant as it is natural. I throw my head back and laugh. If that were her by-line you’d probably skim over it and keep pursuing the bios of others. The reality is that Kathryn is a fascinating, extraordinary and generous woman who is a role model for all. She doesn't judge, adapts to her surrounds (in every respect) and thrives on learning and development.

She is Kathryn by day, Bumblebee before and after hours. Make no mistake, there is more to Kathryn than meets the eye.