Catching up with Kate Kernan Doerge '92

As Principal of Kate Doerge Consulting, Kate ’92 helps private equity firms unlock value, revitalize, and build prestige brands. She is a proven business leader, brand strategist and trusted advisor, driving organizational transformation and delivering impactful results. She is highly regarded for launching, building and revitalizing consumer lifestyle brands for prestige clients including iStar/Safehold, Esteé Lauder, H&M, Kate Spade, Tag Heuer and MAC Cosmetics. Previously, Kate was senior vice president of marketing at iStar, New York, leading their branding and communications efforts. Kate helped iStar play a central role in the revitalization of Asbury Park, N.J., leading the creation of the “Asbury Park Now” brand campaign, in conjunction with the opening of the Asbury Ocean Club, the first 5-Star residence and hotel which had record-breaking sales, including the first ever $6 million penthouse condominium sold there. Previously, Kate was a Partner at Paul Wilmot Communications, a premier consumer and lifestyle public relations firm. During her tenure, she led the firm’s Fashion, Beauty & Wellness, Accessories, Culture & Lifestyle divisions, launching and growing a range of luxury and lifestyle brands. 

In 2015, after 6 years as a Board member, Kate was appointed vice chair of the board of advisors of the Hospital for Special Surgery, the country’s top ranked hospital for orthopedics and rheumatology. She sits on the HSS Pediatric Council and Raising Awareness sub-committee as well as the development committee. For the past 14 years, Kate has co-chaired HSS’s largest and most successful fundraiser for the Pediatric Pavilion, raising more than $20 million to date. Kate’s additional philanthropic interests include membership on the board of Glam4Good, a non-profit & empowerment platform that creates social impact through beauty & style, as well as Board member of the Glen Cove Boys and Girls Club. Kate graduated with honors from Hamilton College in both communications and art history. She lives in Glen Cove, NY with her husband, Chad and three children, Henry, Penny and Frankie. 

I reached out to Kate to ask about her latest endeavor as an entrepreneur, Kate Doerge Consulting, which launched last summer, and to hear a bit more about the challenges she has faced, and what has inspired her throughout her career.  

Q: After 25 years in public relations and marketing, you decided to start your own brand consulting company last year. What inspired you, in the midst of a pandemic, to become an entrepreneur?  

It’s a great question… I just had this feeling that, after 25 years, I wanted to do something different, challenging, and for myself. Having worked for corporations for all those years, it really took Covid to have the realization that life is short, you need to take chances, and you must follow your true passion. Taking all the skills I had acquired over those years I realized I can do this for myself. I can have the flexibility to work from home, and not commute daily to an office in New York City and most importantly, only work on projects that inspire me - I knew I could have it all. So, I decided during Covid that this was the time to do it. I took the leap of faith, and it was extremely scary, but I jumped in and launched my own consultancy business just a year ago on June 7th. It’s been terrifying and rewarding all at the same time, but I think that’s when you know you’re doing the right thing, when you have those moments of questioning yourself and allowing yourself to grow stronger and better because of the fear.

Q: What challenges have you faced as a female leader in a mostly male-dominated space and how have you overcome those challenges? 

It’s interesting because I worked in the fashion, beauty, lifestyle, and entertainment industry where there was a range of very powerful female designers and male designers and not as much segregation. Certainly, to get to the top, you had to be competent, smart, driven and passionate about the industry regardless of gender. After those 21 years, that’s when I pivoted from strictly PR/communications and began working for a REIT (real estate investment trust). Coming from fashion, I walked into the real estate industry and they were like ‘who are you and what are you wearing!?” I had to prove myself. I had to take all the skills I’d learned about communications, launching brands, doing brand turnarounds and relaunches, and apply those skills and bring some of my connections to this new world. It took some time, but I dug in and had the confidence and drive to prove that I had as much of a right to a seat at the table as the male dominated C-suite I’d joined. The industry was completely new to me, but that was the most rewarding thing – making that pivot from the comfort zone and challenging myself. Recognizing that I could take all the skills I’d learned and apply them to any industry gave me the confidence it took to launch my own business.  

Q: We hear a lot about the need for PR/Marketing consulting these days, but not a lot about the details of the work. What’s a typical day like for you?  

Every day is different! My days always start early (6AM), getting my 3 kids off to school, taking care of our 3 dogs, giving myself some time to work out and do my thing, and then focusing on my clients. I’d say there is no ‘typical day’ because clients’ needs change. I may have one client who’s planning to open a store or launch a new collection, or I may have another client who is looking to do an investor raise (looking for introductions), so I take a look at the week/day ahead and plot out ‘what do I have coming up and what do I need to do to be prepared? What is my strategy for each client?’ And that’s what I’m most interested in, having a diverse portfolio of clients because it keeps my life interesting and my thinking fresh.  

Q: You’ve worked with well-known lifestyle brands like L’Oréal, H&M, Oscar de la Renta, and Kate Spade as well as the turnaround you did for the city of Asbury Park, NJ.  Is there a particular project that you’re especially proud of?  

Yes, so many! After 21 years in PR, I feel like I’ve launched every celebrity brand out there from J. Lo., to Beyoncé, to Puffy (as P-Diddy), to Justin Timberlake’s denim brand – you name it. I’ve put on over 500 fashion shows in cities like Milan, Paris, New York and London. But one of the most rewarding experiences was when I was tasked with the challenge of changing the perception of Asbury Park, NJ, which most people know as the home of Bruce Springsteen. When I was approached with this opportunity by iStar, the REIT, Asbury Park was their largest land asset, and the CEO had this vision that Asbury Park could be the next big luxury destination on the New Jersey shore. When he came to me, all I knew of the Jersey Shore was Snooky and the Real Housewives, so I had to be convinced as well, but I thought, ‘If I can change the brand perception for consumer brands, I know I can change the perception of this city.’ So we created the brand, “Asbury Park Now,” which included a boutique hotel we opened called The Asbury; we opened a bowling and music venue called Asbury Lanes, and brought Bruce Springsteen in to do our opening. The culmination of building this foundation of a hip, luxury destination on the Jersey Shore was the opening of Asbury Ocean Club, a five-star hotel and 130 condominiums, which had never been done on the Jersey Shore. We were able to sell penthouses for $6 million and that was all because we had changed the perception of the city itself as the “go-to destination.” It was a very successful project that I’m proud of because it was so far beyond what I thought I was capable of, and the results were so rewarding. Check out Asbury Park if you have never been there! It is well worth the trip, I promise.  

Q: What projects that you’ve worked on have been most challenging?  

Again, the most challenging are probably the ones requiring a change of people’s perceptions. One of my earlier projects was for Lane Bryant, a plus-sized women’s fashion brand. Ten years ago, plus-sized women did not have the same clothing options as smaller sized women. We were tasked with bringing on designers to create collaborations for plus-sized women so that they could feel as sexy and fashionable as women of smaller sizes. We created a campaign called “I’m No Angel,” which was a direct response to Victoria’s Secret’s Angel campaign. It was incredible because we were in the face of “normalcy” or what people thought women should look like at the time, and here are women who are beautiful and voluptuous and can own their curves and rock them in the same way as angels. We hired the female band Salt-N-Pepa, and did a media tour bringing awareness to the campaign, and brought in different designers like Christian Siriano, Lela Rose and Sophie Theallet, who created these incredible designer capsules. It was challenging in the sense that it had never been done before and we changed perceptions and really made a lasting impact.

Q: You’ve really figured out the work/life balance! You run your own company while also dedicating time for personal fitness and well-being, philanthropy, and spending time with your family. Beyond “good time management,” you seem to be inspired and energized by each area of your life. Is there a secret to this?  

Well, I am fortunate because I have a lot of energy and I did grow up with a mother who was a Jazzercise instructor, so movement is in my DNA! And of course, I have an incredibly supportive family. When I was commuting into the city every day, my husband and I would trade off who would get the kids to school. We have always wanted to do it all and be present for their recitals and plays and strike that balance of homelife and work. You can do it all if you’re efficient with your time and plan in advance. For me, it’s all about the balance and I’m a better mother because I have my work as an outlet, as well as the charitable organizations I support because, at the end of the day, I want to make an impact. I’ve been given a lot in my life, I’ve experienced a lot, and I want to give back and make a difference, whether that’s with my children, a brand, or the different foundations I am fortunate to work with. 

Q: You’re involved with a number of charities (Hospital for Special Surgery – Co-chair, board of Advisors; Chair of Pediatric Council and annual fundraiser – Development Committee; Glam4Good – board member; Glen Cove Boys and Girls Club – board member). What guides and inspires your philanthropic work?  

My parents. They always instilled in me the idea that it’s important to give back and the need to make an impact in life. Growing up in a household where they were always involved in community organizations and incredibly generous with those organizations, really instilled that in me. I know I can make a difference when it comes to helping different organizations with marketing or communications, or celebrity relationships, because I have those connections. I want to help others and it’s been really rewarding to see the results over the years. 

Q: Is there a certain Tabor faculty member, class, or experience that prepared you for this career or inspired you to pursue it?

I think the most important thing I learned at Tabor was to believe in myself. Coming in as a young freshman I learned early on that I could do anything, whether that was on the field or the hockey rink, being a proctor, or a tour guide, or challenging myself to go for that college I didn’t think I could get into. I was constantly being told by teachers that I should believe in myself because, ‘If I put 100% of my energy, focus, and passion into something, I can do anything.’ Joanna Nelson, who was my hockey coach, lacrosse coach, and dorm parent, was a consistent cheerleader for me, along with Joe Doggett, who was my advisor. Mr. Doggett said to me, ‘You want to go to Hamilton College? Go for it! Let’s do it!’ That’s what I’ve taken with me, the idea of just going for whatever it is that I want, to challenge myself, get out of my comfort zone and take a leap of faith. Honestly, this is what I have done my entire career, and certainly now that I am running my own business. I really thrived at Tabor and I’m so grateful for everything I experienced there, the gifts that were given to me, and the incredibly life-impacting lessons I learned.  

Q: What advice would you give to a Tabor student considering a similar career path? 

I would say challenge yourself, don’t settle for anything. Believe that you can do whatever it is you want, set that path and go for it! Make those calls, connect with people. Tabor has such a deep network of contacts in different industries and being able to lean in on alumni and faculty for those connections is important. You never know what conversation will lead to an opportunity. Take every meeting, conversation, and discussion because it could be the one that leads you to your dream job.

Read more about Kate at katedoerge.com.