Every Monday on the journal, we'll share a short format interview with one of our wider Gather community members. Just a handful of questions with a generous helping of everyday inspiration to tuck into over your morning cuppa. This week, meet Kate.
Kate Scott
"...he’d used the skills I’d taught him to save someone’s life."
What part(s) of the world do you call home?
Australia, the UK, Hong Kong and France. I’ve not lived in France (yet!) but it’s where the core of my family is – my mother, sister and two nieces. What is your industry, hustle, current project or passion?
I have a few! Two current projects are doing social media ads for a charity in New Zealand and website strategy for a social movement around older people in the workforce, mostly based in Australia.
My main ‘me’ passion project is my writing – I’m having a seriously good go at writing one (hopefully more) novels. It’s fun, challenging and I’m learning a lot! For example, my first drafts have generally good dialogue but I need to slow down and describe things. What’s an important moment that signified a first step towards where you are today? There are so many but I think a key moment is when I took six months off work to study in Copenhagen. It proved I could adapt and live happily anywhere, and gave me the confidence to step into a bigger world, directly leading to a move to Hong Kong. What is a moment you are proud of? I’m taking this in a different direction. While I lived in Sydney, I was a surf lifesaver and a surf bronze medallion instructor. I ran the youth programmes and am still in touch with a few of the then-teenagers I taught.
While I was in Copenhagen, one of those teenagers, sent me a Facebook message. He’d gone on to study nursing and was on practical in a hospital in Broken Hill and wanted to tell me that he’d used the skills I’d taught him to save someone’s life. That was ten years ago and I still get goosebumps. He’s now a theatre nurse and works on organ transplants.
More recently, yesterday I finished the first draft of my first novel. There’s a long way to go yet, editing is going to be huge but OMG!!!!!!!
What advice would you give your younger self today?
1. Ask for what you want.
I asked my boss for six months off to go and study on the opposite side of the world. I got it.
2. Put your case out into the world and let it work for you in the background. Yes, you need to be proactive in getting to where you want to go, but don’t forget the value of where you’ve been. The role with the NZ charity came when a member of their board got in touch. She’s a former colleague, so knows what I do, and had seen my LinkedIn post about having time to help out if anyone needed it. In one word, what is the most important thing to you in life?
Relationships. I’d say family but with the reminder that there are certain friends who are chosen family.
In addition to those nieces mentioned above, I have six godchildren and I think the sun shines when they smile.
Where can we find you?
Pieces of my first drafts are on Thednaofstories.com
Katescotthk on LinkedIn
Most other places you’ll find me under @kesabeth
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