Katherine Young discovered early on how to bridle her enthusiastic nature and competitive spirit. A competitive athlete as a girl, she played soccer, tennis, and lacrosse in her native Connecticut. By age 16, she was teaching tennis.

            Now Katherine is a senior vice president at one of the world’s most prominent consulting and training companies, Lee Hecht Harrison, where she develops and manages business partnerships with such clients as TECO, Walter Industries, Tech Data, HSN, Sykes, Publix and JP Morgan Chase.

            A self-proclaimed “born salesman,” Katherine earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology simply because she has always been “fascinated with psychology and philosophy.” But all that people knowledge has come in pretty handy for someone whose job is based on building relationships.

            The funny thing is Katherine thought she wanted to be a stockbroker. After pounding the pavement in Boston’s financial district (after college) to no avail, she went to an executive recruitment firm for help in getting placed. Instead, the recruiting firm convinced Katherine that stockbrokering was not for her but recruiting was and they hired her. Thus began her path in the world of corporate outplacement, support and counseling; leadership development; and executive coaching.

            She feels like she is making a positive difference in people’s lives in her work, but she still does what she can in the community, too, as does her company. Katherine serves on the board of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Tampa Bay and also supports the efforts of her company’s involvement with Jobs for America’s Graduates, Inc. (JAG), a school-to-career program implemented in high schools, alternative schools, community colleges and middle schools across the country. JAG is America’s largest and most successful school-to-career transition and drop-out prevention program for at-risk and disadvantaged youth.

Katherine has a history of being recruited for jobs with the industry’s leading companies: Right Management Consultants, Scott-Wayne & Associates in Boston, Learning International, and Korn/Ferry International. Before joining Lee Hecht Harrison in Tampa, Katherine worked at Korn/Ferry in Miami, where she carried forth her already established personal history of consistently exceeding sales volume targets. Indeed, Katherine prides herself in having a strong orientation to bottom-line results and an even stronger commitment to customer service. Her secret to such success? “I am very genuine with people and I make myself vulnerable – that’s just the way I am.”

        To take care of herself, Katherine works out daily at the gym, runs, and plays tennis and golf. The job and her daily exercise regimen are constructive outlets for the “fire in my belly.” Knowing she risks sounding clichéd, she still has to express what she believes: “I love to get out of bed in the morning. You know what they say about your work, that you should love it so much you would do it for free? That’s how I feel.”