CAREER

Kate White: Say Yes and Figure It Out

In Episode 20 of the Coffee Break w/ NYWICI podcast, we caught up with Kate White, Author of  The Gutsy Girl Handbook: Your Manifesto for Success, and the former editor-in-chief of  Cosmopolitan. Kate White’s resume is long, impressive, and illuminates her impeccable ability to recognize opportunity. From her start in magazines to her turn as a bestselling author, this iconic and inspiring woman is full of brilliant, candid advice, along with some fascinating stories from her career. 

Say yes and figure it out

Transitioning from one job to the next can be terrifying—even when you’re Kate White. She didn’t think she was ready for it, but took the opportunity anyway—and when the sales numbers came in, she found she was more than capable of tackling the challenge. “You’re a better fit than you realize,” she says. “You don’t have to be 100-percent ready.”

Listen to Kate’s interview at Coffee Break w/ NYWICI

Shake it up

Know something that’s always been done the same way over and over at your job? It’s time to destabilize, White says. She recognized that there was a market for cheeky magazine content and decided to take Cosmopolitan in that direction before their subscribers started to drop. Instead of waiting for a problem to pop up, she found a way to keep the publication from becoming outdated—and her boldness was rewarded on the newsstand.

Be smart with your finances

It can be expensive to work in fashion, where you have to keep buying new clothes because the trends are constantly changing. To save money, White decided to buy just a few quality, timeless pieces and not worry too much about what was in style. Instead, she invested in art, which felt like a better use of her money and made her happier in the long run.

Your day job should be #1

Side hustles are great, but make sure you aren’t cheating on your actual career. “They’ll smell a rat,” White says. “You’ll be distracted and you won’t be all in.” The best thing to do? Tackle a little bit of your side project everyday without letting it become overwhelming. And if eventually the time comes to quit your main job and commit fully to the side gig, trust your gut.

Thanks to Kate White for being part of the podcast! To listen to all the episodes of Coffee Break w/ NYWICI, visit nywici.org/podcast.

—Lexy White