Kat Dunn Interview - Protecting Your Energy Levels As A Leader
This is the first episode in our Energised Leader Series, and boy, is it a good one!
We chat with Kat Dunn, a humanitarian capitalist and CEO of Grameen Australia, a social business that advances a new form of capitalism that values altruism and generosity just as much as financial gain.
Kat started her career as a banking and finance lawyer at top tier law firm Clayton Utz and a corporate mergers and acquisitions (M&A) lawyer at national firm Sparke Helmore Lawyers.
From 2013, she was appointed to lead the regulated fund establishment team for listed company, Perpetual Corporate Trust, and over an 18 month period led over 40 deals with total funds under management in excess of $3 billion.
In 2016, Kat was appointed the youngest executive to serve on the senior leadership team of Perpetual Limited, charged with building a group-wide cultural improvement program. She served on Perpetual’s Diversity Council and was awarded a CEO Mobius Award for outstanding client leadership.
Among other industry roles she has advised the Financial Services Council and Commonwealth Treasury, and most recently served as Chief Operating Officer of tech media company, Ideapod. She’s also a board member of food innovation catalyst, Food Frontier, which promotes protein-rich foods that are healthier for people and the planet.
On top of that, Kat is the creator of F-OFF: Fear of Failure Forum a movement to say "F-OFF to your fear of failure and grow your potential". She also coaches CEOs and high achievers on connecting profit with purpose.
Kat has her private pilot’s licence and is passionate about running long distances, stand-up comedy and empowering humans rich or poor to grow their potential.
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Episode Highlights:
- Kat’s background and how its shaped her today
- Trying to live a life of value but feeling powerless
- Realising her path wasn’t what she thought it would be or necessarily wanted - quitting her job, getting divorced
- What keeps Kat on her path and keeps her going - following her feelings and making decisions appropriate for her nature
- Kat’s worries that she would lose her friends and identity and never make the same kind of money after quitting her job as a senior leader in 2016
- Realising that when she connected more authentically with who she was, Kat felt like she belonged more and could never lose her identity because that is who she is
- Learning about social businesses and coming across Grameen Australia
- Professor Muhammad Yunus - how Kat feels being a part of his sociopreneurship
- Making an impact in third world countries and developed countries like the USA and Australia
- People’s relationship with business vs people’s relationship with money
- Feeling shame from money and how that can reduce your immune system
- How Kat feels when she has low energy - feelings of fear and realising that financial security is a mindset
- How Kat felt powerless because she wasn’t acting in accordance with her nature
- The importance of being honest when you’re feeling depleted - taking away the judgement and creating an environment for it
- Three habits that keep Kat energised as a leader - meditating, journalling and getting enough sleep
- How Kat has changed her self-talk and what she’s learned from that
- A look at women’s strength - being the foundation is also to be the very base of where everything starts
- Being brave to go to sleep - the importance of giving yourself permission to rest and Kat’s journey
- When women know how to operate and get into their rhythms they can get more done, even by doing less
- What gets Kat out of bed each day - human connection
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