Kathy is the newest addition to the Floricane team. Last week we shared what she will focus on as our Insights Community Specialist, and we promised to share her own gossip about her first two weeks at Floricane. Read on to learn more about Kathy!
Hi, Kathy here! I’m excited to tell you more about myself. I moved to Richmond from NYC almost exactly 5 years ago, right after graduating from law school. I moved for a dream job working at the ACLU of Virginia, directing the organization’s women’s rights and reproductive freedom programs. In past lives I’ve been a teacher, lobbyist, community organizer, project manager, policy analyst, and communications specialist, to name a few. In some ways working at Floricane is a big transition, but actually the organizational development field feels like coming home because I can incorporate a number of my passions, namely facilitating, connecting and developing people, and building community. I thrive on building new programs and new networks from the ground up, and helping people develop skills and achieve their dreams. The past two weeks I’ve observed and absorbed, skilling up to facilitate workshops and beginning to brainstorm what an "alumni program" might look like for those who have engaged Floricane’s Insights offerings.
Floricane Q&A
1. Do you want to rock n’ roll all night or party everyday?
Both. I want no sleep ‘til Brooklyn!
2. Which President would you most like to have a drink with, past or present?
I’d like to be first in line to have a drink with whoever becomes our first female President one day.
3. If you were not doing this job you’re doing now, what job would you be working?
This is hard if I’m constrained by reality, so I’ll say be Ina Garten and/or dominating a cross-continent karaoke awards show circuit. To be clear, in real life I can neither cook nor sing.
4. Pie or Cake or Neither?
Pie! Strawberry Rhubarb, to be precise.
5. Do you have a favorite Sharpie color?
Mint color sharpie, always and forever.
6. Your favorite place for dinner?
In an ideal world, I would never cook (see above). Seriously, I have a Chinese food delivery restaurant programmed in my phone’s favorites. The rapidly growing Richmond dining scene is awesome, so it’s nearly impossible to choose a favorite place for dinner. Some new faves are Belle and James, Maple and Pine, and Pizza Tonight.
7. What do you most value in your friends?
Sense of humor; boundless love; and a slight cynical streak that speaks to my New Englander nature.
8. What is your idea of happiness?
Jet-setting to exotic locales (with an itinerary I laboriously put together in a detailed, color coded Google Doc).
9. Who are your favorite writers?
Oof, this is hard. Joyce Carol Oates, Joan Didion, John Irving, Alice Munro, and Barbara Kingsolver. I most recently finished Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng and openly cried throughout the ending, on a crowded train.
10. Excluding your work at Floricane, who was your best boss, and why?
A personable supervisor and professor in law school who trusted me to learn by doing, which ensured I had a sense of ownership over my projects.
11. What are three things you love about Richmond?
The growing food scene. All of Church Hill. Wineries and breweries everywhere.
12. If we looked at your Facebook page, what might surprise us?
That one woman can post so many kitten pictures/videos and not actually have a cat.
13. And lastly, what are the things that excite you most about Floricane, its clients and the community as we approach 2016?
I’m excited to ask a million questions and listen to what our clients have enjoyed most about, and would like more from, our Insights offerings. I’m inspired by bringing together diverse clients in a way that creates a family who learns, creates, and problem-solves together.