Biography of Kat Cole as a leader in all parts of life, written by Wharton MBA student for a course on leadership from the point of view of the whole person.

1. MGMT671 Leadership
Biography: Kat Cole
ANAGHA PRASAD

2. Early Life: Resilience and Hard Work
• Began working in high school to
support single-parent, single-income
household
• Worked at Hooters through college
• Started as hostess and began training
others
• High performer asked to open
Hooters locations around the globe
• Eventually dropped out of college
given her success at Hooters

3. Career Progression: Rapid Growth
Age 17: Became Hooters hostess
Age 19: Opened her first overseas Hooters
location (Australia)
Age 26: EVP, Hooters
Age 31: President, Cinnabon, Inc.
Age 32: Georgia State’s first eMBA
candidate without an undergraduate degree
Age 36: Group President, FOCUS Brands

4. Integrating Domains through Service
• Community investment: Board of Directors,
Women’s Foodservice Forum
• Mentoring: Global Entrepreneurs Council
(UN) & Young Global Leader (World Economic
Forum)
• International development work:
Humanitarian aid work in East Africa
• Intersection of self, community, work, and
home domains through the pursuit of these
activities
• “Balance between heart and hustle”

5. Takeaways & Key Lessons
• Resilience
• Gratitude and its
limitations
• Seizing opportunities of
all shapes and sizes
• Balancing humility
• Reflection and self-
awareness

6. Sources
https://www.fastcasual.com/articles/kat-cole-gives-advice-to-women-looking-to-lead/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/katcole/
https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/227970
https://qz.com/648389/cole-profile/
https://www.forbes.com/sites/bogardandhoffman/2016/12/19/on-resilience-how-kat-cole-rose-from-hooters-hostess-to-president-of-cinnabon/2/#1f5070842035
https://www.forbes.com/sites/deniserestauri/2016/09/06/kat-cole-knows-how-to-stay-positive-and-let-go-of-failures/#4bc78d5a1097
https://www.fastcasual.com/articles/kat-cole-gives-advice-to-women-looking-to-lead/
http://www.stephgrantphotography.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/BurningManWedding_StephGrant_Tea-102.jpg
http://www.stephgrantphotography.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/KAT-COLE-BURNING-MAN-WEDDING-720x260.jpg
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/db/6c/09/db6c09ea46fe5ca4b4a1f24f402611e7.jpg
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4a/Kat-Cole_227970.jpg/220px-Kat-Cole_227970.jpg
http://blogs.pb.com/corporate/files/2015/01/Kat-Cole-315-304.jpg
https://www.realsimple.com/sites/default/files/styles/rs_horizontal_image_4/public/kat-cole.jpg?itok=C0oLkk-Q