Kate Forrester is the Director of agile marketing agency kafandco, helping brands grow with strategic marketing, public relations and creative content.
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1) To kick things off, could you tell us a little about your career background and current role?
I have worked in marketing and PR for over 15 years, both brand and agency side. Experience includes Camilla, Penny Skateboards, Myer, Australia Post. I started kafandco in February 2015, to help lifestyle brands grow with strategic marketing, public relations and creative content. I’m currently the Director of kafandco.
2) What does a day in the life look like for you? Can you take us through a recent workday?
Sure. It’s a lot more flexible these days. I start the day early, from about 6am with a run or yoga. I’m usually in the office from 9am. I clear my emails and then I begin client work, working with our team of specialists to implement.
I travel a lot for business, with an office in Byron Bay, Melbourne and Sydney. Meeting face-to face with prospective clients and mapping out a successful marketing strategy is what I love doing the most. I love to help brands grow.
3) Does your current role allow for flexible or remote working? If so, how does that fit into your life and routine?
Yes it does. I can work from anywhere and I believe it’s important for my team to have this flexibility too. I learn a lot and source a lot of inspiration when I travel and meet with clients at their HQ. We all work differently, so I have created a business that allows my team to uncover where and how they best work, to keep the quality of our work high.
4) What does work-life balance mean to you and how do you work to achieve that goal?
I do what I love. Having the flexibility to do this from anywhere in the world is wonderful. My business is a direct reflection of where my energy is at. I can dial up the hours or scale it back and change this throughout the year as I need.
5) In the past 12 months, have you started or stopped any routines or habits to change your life?
I like doing a lot. My iron levels dropped at the start of this year so I had to pull back the number of hours I worked and reduce my exercise to recover.
I found this pretty challenging at first, however I was able to learn that I can still deliver quality for my business and my body if I focus on value, instead of the number of hours I put in.
6) Do you have any favourite books, podcasts or newsletters that you’d like to recommend?
I go through phases with books and podcasts. It’s either all on, or all off. I listened to Abraham Hicks every morning last year for 15 mins, which changed a lot in my life. I’m currently reading Sapiens (something completely unrelated to marketing and PR) which I’m enjoying.
7) Are there any products, gadgets or apps that you can’t live without?
My laptop.
8) If you could read an interview about work-life balance by anyone, who would that be?
Steve Jobs. Although I don’t think he had any. I admire his success. Or the co-founders of the Mindbody app.
9) Do you have any last thoughts on work, life or balance that you’d like to share with our readers?
Find what works for you.
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