My Approach

I seek to understand, assess, integrate and activate.

Understand
Seek inspiration outside and find answers inside. I go on the inside with my clients to understand the current state of them as people, their business and their challenges. I ask a lot of questions and listen even more – to what’s said and unsaid. This inside journey uncovers untapped potential and reveals a new path for success.

Assess
There’s no substitute for experience. My multi-faceted career, hands-on experience and hybrid toolkit enable me to quickly understand and assess the opportunities and obstacles for organizations, executives and teams.

Integrate
Powerful ideas are strategic and creative, insightful and intuitive, intellectual and emotional. Inspired by the power of these dualities, I use a yin/yang approach that is both holistic and pragmatic: proven methodologies and frameworks (pragmatism) and a process that taps into the hearts, minds, and instincts of people (holistic). The results are relevant, unimagined possibilities.

Activate
Magic happens with powerful thought partners. I am an experienced strategic thought partner, idea generator, and collaborator. I ask big questions, facilitate the tough discussions and activate new action. You are the co-creator and owner of the new action – your ownership is fundamental to sustainable results.

Clients and Collaborators

My experience spans wide and the work always entails collaboration and co-creation. My collaborators to date include:

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Kudos 

Here are some kind kudos from a few of my collaborators:

“When I called Katy to lead the branding/marketing portion of [a] project, she told me she had 20 hours of capacity since she was traveling extensively for another project. I told her I thought it would require 40 hours/week but I was willing to take 20 hours of Katy over another person. My preference for Katy was well-placed since she seamlessly and respectfully “herded the cats” of four very different brands, managed the outside creative agency in New York, and acted as a liaison to production, digital and legal teams. In addition to keeping the project moving quickly (on-time and budget), she contributed her brand savvy experience, strategic thinking and trademark curiosity.  She was also flexible, organized and personable in her working style and made it easy to get the work done. I hope to hire or work with Katy many more times in the future. I enthusiastically recommend her.”
– Shelley Bransten Perelmuter, Vice President, CRM Marketing Gap Inc. Direct

“I had the great privilege of having Katy as my coach for some months last year. The work was very deep and quite challenging for me. Katy pushed me in areas that surprised me, and the result was really great. It may be Katy's vast experience working with large teams in highly successful companies that makes her approach to one to one coaching very powerful. It may be her intuitive nature, or it may be that she is so dedicated to her purpose. Whatever it is, she has some kind of magic going on. Her process and my experience of Brand Coaching was transforming. She's fantastic.”
– Anne Chambers, CEO at RED212 and Bright Future Foods

“I often describe the Discover Collection project as 3 companies, 11 months, 50+ sku's, 6 disciplines, and no shortage of passion or opinion. These were the things that made the project both great and a great challenge. Throughout all this, Katy was my partner in building and finding common ground to achieve uncommon results - and they were uncommon. In an industry where it takes an average of 12 - 18 months to launch a single fine fragrance, our collective teams took on launching 5 fine fragrances and robust body and home lines - in under a year. Her knowledge of branding and of her business were of course great, but what impressed me most was her ability to connect with people - as a marketer, as a project manager, as a translator and diplomat (see above). On top of it all, she helped keep the process and yes, even the disagreements, fun and functional. That was no small task. She is, of course, a terrific field marshal. She's also a terrific partner. You would be fortunate to count her as yours.”
– Renee Peet, Group Director, Strategy, Siegel & Gale

"I have known Katy since the late 90's when we were colleagues at Retail Planning Associates (RPA) and where we worked together on various brands including Eastman Kodak. From the moment I met Katy she was one of the most diligent, thorough and hard working consultants in the business. Since that time however she has also become one of the most knowledgeable and expert brand strategists with a specialty in divining brand personalities and essences.

But perhaps Katy's most interesting strength is her unique perspective on executive coaching and brand consulting which she weaves alternately and seamlessly throughout her engagements. Whether as a coach or a consultant Katy can help your brand, team or personal development - all delivered by one of most comfortable, relaxed, insightful and professional people you'll ever engage with!"
– Mike Bills, Executive in Residence & Senior Lecturer at The Fisher College of Business, The Ohio State University

“I met Katy when she was a client of mine at Banana Republic. My first impressions of her are still my experience of her – smart, talented, driven. Since Katy and I have now partnered in creating and delivering of Vida Journey, a personal development program for executive women, I would add that she now brings her passion and soul to her work. Of course, her depth and diversity of experience brings a level of expertise and pragmatism to everything she does, but when she brings her heart and wisdom of her soul – it is magic. If you were to…hire her to help you with your brand – you will watch yourself and others transform for the better.”
– Anna  Beuselinck, Principal at Partners in Performance, LLC

“In addition to providing insightful recommendations for Banana Republic, [Katy] set a strong standard for how to lead a project and build support for it along the way. She (and those she worked with) had a lot of fun doing the project, despite high stakes and tight deadlines. Since Katy left Gap, Inc, I’ve recommended we hire her on several occasions as an independent consultant. These additional projects, coupled with the work she did as a full-time employee, have made me a huge fan.”
– Chris Nicklo, VP Marketing, Banana Republic

“Katy was hired as an associate right out of law school and began assisting me and our other partners in handling important legal affairs for business clients. In her time with us, Katy demonstrated several key qualities essential to being an effective professional: diligence and determination; intellectual nimbleness and curiosity; the highest integrity; a precise and persuasive communicator; and a facility for earning the trust of those she advised. She also brought a sense of fun to her daily tasks. Clients loved working with her, as did firm colleagues. She was learning her trade well when a career in marketing called. Our firm and the profession lost a talented young attorney, but she carried her energies and skills to her new field.”
– David Johnson, Managing Partner/Columbus, Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP

"Katy is an activator of potential...for brands, projects, people, and anything she puts her attention and focus on. I have rarely seen someone who can so quickly add value or so uniquely position herself to create the kind of impact towards results that is imperative to running effective programs. As a brand coach, these skills are put to their best use as she can join (or start) a project of varying scope to quickly understand the needs and develop a strategic approach and clear and manageable tactics to solve for areas of opportunity. Her ability to work with a variety of properties and people adds to her credibility as she can flex to work within just about any environment. Beyond her marketing and strategic acumen, Katy brings a personality to her work that is at once disarming, likeable, and confident. Specifically, in my work with Katy, I have had the great fortune of having her personal mentorship on projects like speaking engagements and strategic planning to personal development and positioning myself to achieve my goals. On projects at Gap Inc that we worked on together, she very quickly could synthesize large amounts of information from varying sources to create tactics and tools for teams to not just achieve goals, but to see challenges from a new lens to exceed expectations. She has intellectual horsepower wrapped in a personality that makes working with her so enjoyable.
– Shannon Dean, Strategic Partnerships, Banana Republic

“Katy Mooney is far and away one of the most intelligent, strategic, empowering and enlightened managers and mentors I've ever had. She consistently strives to exceed client expectations - internal as well as external - while fostering a work environment that encourages creativity, collaboration and innovation…I highly recommend Katy to anyone - she's truly a world class brand and marketing strategist, creative thinker and an all around pleasure to work with.”
– Sheila Shekar, Director Global Advertising, Gap

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