Catharine Gately
Simplicity Consulting C-level Communications Strategist & Executive Personal Brands
I work with C-level tech executives and global luminaries to discover, strategize, create, and deliver their most powerful narratives to drive business results and inspire audiences to action. I believe Narrative is a strategy, Storytelling is a skill, and everyone is a storyteller whether they know it (yet!) or not. I teach and leverage my brand narrative methodology to help leaders shine.
Throughout my career, I have worked with senior executives worldwide at global corporations, including Microsoft, Amazon, Starbucks, Cisco, Amgen, Facebook, Google, and more. For several years, I served as speaker advisor for AnitaB.org’s Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing. I also have worked with TEDx speakers worldwide and was the speaker advisor for The Human Rights Foundation’s Oslo Freedom Forum in 2014—life-changing experiences.
I have 20-plus years of experience in: persuasive corporate public relations and public affairs communications; speechwriting and TED-like talks for global platforms; executive personal branding; organizational storytelling; media relations; and diversity and inclusion. I love entrepreneurs and bring that innovative spirit and energy to everything I do, having created my own Storytelling business, The Narrative Co. I am currently Storytelling Lead, Simplicity Consulting. Earlier in my career, I was a vice president at Ogilvy PR Worldwide (Chicago), and a bipartisan press secretary in both the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate (Washington, D.C.). I also have been honored to serve as corporate Storytelling faculty and a fellow for the University of Washington’s Communication Leadership Graduate Program (UW CommLead), where I have taught my graduate-level class The Strategic Art of Organizational Storytelling: Connecting Through Creative Engagement. Today, I take this show on the road to empower executives (yes, you can do this!) by teaching my Storytelling workshops at global corporations.
I earned my Master of Science in Journalism (Print and Broadcast) from Northwestern University/Medill, and my Bachelor of Arts in American Studies (Literature and History) from Yale University. Now a proud empty nester after a decade as a single parent, I recently relocated (with my sweet puppy, Jazz) after 20 years in Seattle to Scottsdale. Sending positive light to the Women in Tech in Seattle. You got this, keep shining!