Remembering Kate

AS I CONTINUE TO STRUGGLE with the news of Kate Peterson’s tragic passing last month, I have—like many of you—spent time reflecting on our enormous loss. Ironically, it’s times like this when Kate would know just what to do or say. I would have leaned into her guidance.

I was lucky enough to know Kate for nearly two decades, and I wish it were more. She was generous in her brilliance and understanding in her teaching. There are few existing educational programs within RJO that don’t have Kate’s magical touch ingrained in them. She helped refocus our hosted European buying trips, she was a leader in our Next Gen Experience and Succession Experience weekends, she was a popular presenter at our Buying Shows, regularly overseeing multiple Education Seminar sessions, and she even became a meme of sorts within our Facebook portal, with numerous replies to challenging topics including some form of “This is one for Kate.”

She was a mentor (pushing me to be better), a friend (understanding when things were difficult), and a collaborator (always willing to share all she had with this group). She was adaptive and dynamic, always able to shift on a dime. It was a privilege to watch her facilitate anything and everything.

Kate was many things, but one-dimensional was not one of them. She always had a well-thought-out and understandable answer, but she also would search for a different perspective. She relished moments when a new thought or idea was presented to her. She understood the importance of communication, and she presented the most thought-provoking course on Marston’s DISC Assessment; it was a fan