Exceptional Women Out West: Kate Jeffers, managing partner & owner, Venables Bell & Partners - a podcast by TheDrum

Kate Jeffers grew up in Oahu, Hawaii and went to the same school as President Obama. It must be a school that breeds success because Jeffers went from competitive outrigger canoe paddler to partner and managing director at Venables Bell & Partners in San Francisco, making stops along her path in Madrid and Paris to develop a positive world view.

Jeffers has been with VB&P – working with Audi, Reebok, Intel and other top brands – since 2004 and before that was with Saatchi & Saatchi Paris and Goodby Silverstein & Partners.

Part of her success has come from making sure everyone on her team has clarity regarding the end goal, but having flexibility in how to get to that goal.

“I think it's super exciting to have to figure out a new way at something, a new way to solve something,” she said.

Her positive-yet-pragmatic nature is built from diverse experiences, which gives her perspective. She believes in business and life you should do things that scare you while having empathy for those you deal with, and her advice to others is to take time to understand who you’re working with and what motivates them.

She also advises that everyone live in another country to put themselves into uncomfortable situations and realizes that the older she gets, the less she sees how little she knows, which is why she is always learning.

Her unofficial motto is “leave people better than you found them.” Considering her ongoing success, she has no doubt done that throughout her career.

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