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The ONE Thing

435. From Hostess to COO: The Meteoric Rise of Kat Cole

The ONE Thing

NOVA Media

Entrepreneurship, Business, Careers

4.6 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 15 January 2024

⏱️ 50 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Are you in search of a leadership style that combines empathy, decisiveness, and continuous personal growth? Kat Cole, the dynamic President and COO of Athletic Greens, is a testament to the power of such an approach. Her journey from working as a waitress to leading major corporations is nothing short of inspirational.

Growing up in challenging circumstances, Kat learned the importance of hard work early on. This experience instilled in her a blend of humility, empathy, and a relentless drive for success. Her story is a reminder that your beginnings don't dictate your future, but your choices and actions do.

Kat introduces us to the "hotshot rule," a unique self-assessment tool. It involves imagining a highly competent person in your role and asking, "What would they do differently?" This practice encourages us to step out of complacency and strive for continuous improvement. Whether you're leading a team, managing a project, or just starting your career, applying this rule can ignite a transformative journey. As Kat says, "Every decision is a chance to learn." Let her insights inspire you to embrace growth and make decisions with empathy and courage.

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit: the1thing.com/pods.

We talk about:

  • The value of seizing opportunities and learning as a currency
  • The power of saying ‘no’
  • Empathy, customer focus, and decision-making skills in leadership roles.
  • The 'Hotshot Rule': A self-coaching practice for personal and professional improvement.
  • 'Ask, Answer, Act' Framework: A method for continuous personal and professional development.

Links & Tools from This Episode:


Produced by NOVA Media

Transcript

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0:00.0

Hey everyone and welcome back to the one thing podcast. I have a guest that personally I am just so so so

0:10.0

so excited to have here. Kat Cole is President and C-O-O- and Board of Directors of Athletic Greens,

0:17.5

a Gross Stage Wellness Consumer Brand,

0:19.7

and one of the fastest growing nutrition companies in the world, Chris and I are also huge fans,

0:24.1

personally, and she was previously president and CEO of Focus Brands, the Global Owno Franchizer

0:29.6

and operator of Schlotsky's Carvel, Cinebun, Mo's Southwest Grill, McAllister's Deli, Auntie's, and Java Brands

0:36.7

doing billions in omnichannel annual sales across over 70 countries.

0:41.4

She's also an angel investor in over 70 early stage companies and

0:44.4

advisor to grow stage founders and funds. Welcome, Kat. We're so excited to have you.

0:48.9

Thank you for having me. I have to say getting through that bio just makes me very very hungry.

0:54.6

I'm just going into holiday in craving mode now. Well like I said

1:01.5

Chris and I are big fans of the of AG one of the actual

1:05.3

product itself. We've both been using it for a long time and and I know prior to

1:10.1

prior to this you have sort of an unconventional rise, meteoric rise to the top from an

1:16.4

executive perspective and I'd love if you could share that I'd love if you would just share

1:19.9

for those that don't know you if you just share a little bit of your story.

1:23.2

Sure, the very short version is I grew up in Jacksonville, Florida, I'm the oldest of three girls,

1:29.7

I have two younger sisters, but I was nine years old, my mom and my sisters and I left my dad. He was an

1:37.6

alcoholic, great person, terrible husband and father. Both sides of my family were very poor it was incredibly difficult my mom fed us and we did leave my mom

1:45.8

fed us on a food budget of ten dollars a week for three years she worked multiple jobs

1:51.1

I started working at a very young age as soon as I, well even before I legally could, anything I could do to earn money, you know, around the neighborhood and then once I could legally be employed, I started working. I cleaned gym equipment at the age of 10. I became a mall

2:06.0

sales clerk at the age of 16.

...

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