Entrepreneurial Storyteller: Mary Katherine (’15)

“My father, maternal grandfather, and paternal great-grandfather were all entrepreneurs,” reflects Mary Katherine (’15). “I grew up with front-row seats to the exciting heights and valleys their respective ventures produced. I was always attracted to the freedom and creativity involved in entrepreneurship.”

Three years ago Miss Katherine followed in the footsteps of her entrepreneurial forbears by co-founding New Eve Media, where she serves as executive producer. Based in San Diego, the company specializes “in producing high-quality video content, as well as building and managing websites to distribute the content,” she says, for “mission-oriented organizations.”

The young company has already worked with a wide range of clients, from law firms to software developers. Among its notable clients to date are the Classic Learning Test, the Institute for Catholic Liberal Education, the University of San Diego, and the Order of Malta Western Association. “The common denominator is the presence of compelling stories and people of goodwill,” Miss Katherine says. “We view each project as a partnership.”

While still a student at the College, Miss Katherine and some friends attended a poetry reading in Los Angeles hosted by Communion and Liberation, where Dana Gioia — then California’s Poet Laureate — was the featured poet. “Through that meeting, I ended up working as an archivist for Mr. Gioia over the summers while I was at TAC and for a year after graduation,” she recalls. “He and Mrs. Gioia shared a wonderfully rich perspective on the arts as well as business.”

At New Eve, Miss Katherine finds that “independent thinking and adaptability,” both fruits of her liberal education, are essential to her work. “We enter into our partner’s world and need to quickly assimilate into the culture and learn their internal language, in order for us to translate it into media,” she says. “Analysis, synthesis, and the ability to identify the heart of a story are all critical components to my work as a producer. My experience at TAC primed me in a multitude of ways to help build New Eve. I’ll be forever grateful for the education and the community I received at TAC.”