2013 Honoree

Kathleen Finch

President, HGTV & DIY Network

“I have three daughters and my constant advice is (and the caps are intentional): SPEAK UP! Tell people what your goals are, ask for a mentor, toot your own horn on occasion. For whatever reason, boys are raised to be bold and girls are raised to be good. ‘Good’ takes the form of sweet, polite, and helpful, but young women need more than that to compete. Add a dash of ‘bold’ to those traditionally female traits and you’re someone to be reckoned with!”

What city best describes your personality?

I am a native New Yorker, but I think Los Angeles best describes my personality. It’s a hard charging media center wrapped in a sunny exterior, which is how I like to imagine myself.

What is your best read? What book would you want to be a character in?

My favorite read of all time is The Ice Storm by Rick Moody. It’s a thought-provoking, beautifully told story of seemingly perfect families going off the rails. I love novels that capture the everything-is-not-as-it-seems dichotomy of American life. I’d most like to be a character in The Boys on the Bus, the non-fiction account of reporters covering the 1970s presidential campaign. I started my career as a journalist and in my heart I still think of myself as one.

How do you define power? Do you enjoy it? How do you live with your success?

Power is the opportunity to help others achieve success. I enjoy having power when I have a great team alongside me, that’s an invigorating combination. I live with success by keeping it in perspective, and for me that means valuing my role as a successful mother before being a successful executive. No matter what I achieve in business, nothing will ever make me feel more powerful than seeing the people my three daughters are becoming.

When do we stop asking questions about gender equality? When will it be Power People instead of Power Women? Is gender more important than politics?

We’ve made incredible strides in gender equality, but we still have a very long way to go. I think every woman in business has a responsibility to keep the conversation alive and do her part to help the next generation. When I was a little girl, my mother–the only female VP in her company–used to make a point of correcting anyone who referred to her as “Mrs.” to instead use “Ms.” Decades later I find myself needing to do the same, but hopefully a lot less often than my mother.

What do you think of social media?

I am fascinated by the power of social media. Its ability to impact millions of people quickly, cheaply, and without filters is changing the media business faster than anything ever has before. Social media’s grass roots nature gives voice to a generation of content creators who know no barriers, and I’m excited to see where they take both the business and society.

What’s one place you’ve always wanted to visit on your travels?

I’ve never been to Greece and have always wanted to go. The food, the history, and the incredible beauty have it high.

When sending a child out to see the world for the first time, where would you send them?

I think it’s incredibly valuable to expose young people to places completely different than what they know, whether it’s different standards of living, different languages, different lifestyles, or simply a different climate. A global perspective is more important now than it’s ever been, and the next generation needs to be able to move seamlessly throughout the world.

What advice would you give to a young woman starting out?

I have three daughters and my constant advice is (and the caps are intentional): SPEAK UP! Tell people what your goals are, ask for a mentor, toot your own horn on occasion. For whatever reason, boys are raised to be bold and girls are raised to be good. “Good” takes the form of sweet, polite and helpful, but young women need more than that to compete. Add a dash of “bold” to those traditionally female traits and you’re someone to be reckoned with!


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