It is my honor to serve as a champion of Arizona’s creative community.
Why is honoring achievement important? How does it impact our business community?
I would first note the traits of someone who has accomplished something of significance. This could include vision, commitment, skill, discipline, confidence, creativity, courage and perhaps more.
Personally, I believe a person who possesses even some of these traits sounds immediately interesting, thoughtful, intelligent and inspiring.
In Arizona we are surrounded by these inspiring people, and honoring achievement brings them into the light so that we may recognize them, learn from them, and celebrate what they’ve done for our community.
What is the single most important thing you have learned throughout your career that would inspire others/other women?
The most important thing I’ve learned is something my Italian mother said in the simplest of words: Try.
I was fortunate to have parents who believed I could do anything. Being a female was never viewed as a weakness or less than. If anything, it came with a special set of gifts: keen insight, creativity, empathy, resiliency; and with these gifts came a responsibility to put them to use for the benefit of our world.
Try. Put in the effort. If you attempt to do something meaningful, and it doesn’t work out, keep going and try again. Success will come because you believed in yourself and you put in the work.
What do you think we can do – now – to make a difference for young people/women in Arizona?
Continually educate on where we’ve been and how far we’ve come. Recognize how a significant number of women have shaped Arizona’s history.
In A Few Words
- What was the last course, certification or training you took to improve yourself professionally? An Artlink workshop
- What would you say is a single characteristic OTHERS might attribute to you that defines your success? Passion
- What is the one thing you feel you could work on professionally to be a greater success? Breathing
- What is the one professional skill you have that has gotten you where you are today? Loving
- What is the single greatest issue facing Arizona today? Lack of funding for the arts.
About Me
As Artlink president and CEO, Catrina Kahler leads with a mission of connecting artists, business and community, which has led to more than $1 million in arts commissions and sales directed to Arizona artists.
These accomplishments are in collaboration with a spectrum of arts and culture stakeholders, business leaders and advocates who recognize arts and culture as integral to the development of our Valley and state.
An Arizona native, Kahler currently serves on the board of Hance Park Conservancy and on the board of Phoenix Community Alliance as chair of its Arts, Culture & Public Life Committee.
