Finding Your True North through Teamwork, Kindness, & Integrity with author Katy McQuaid
“We all have a story that defines who we are in life.”
Author, leadership consultant, and former undercover CIA agent Katy McQuaid discusses events of significant loss during her young adulthood, and how those events shaped the core values she lives by.
She talks about the traits that most great leaders seem to embody, and the importance of being a team player. Katy also offers her advice on how we can thrive during time of change, and waxes poetic about the things we can learn from dogs, especially from Grace - her beloved Finnish Lapphund who inspired her to write children’s stories about love and courage.
Meet This Episode's Guest
Katy McQuiad
Author and leadership consultant Katy McQuaid spent more than three decades in the CIA, including 12 years living abroad. Her work in communities all over the world and the endearing, unconditional love of her four-legged muse Grace inspired her to write the “Everybody Loves Grace” series of illustrated books, which has been honored with a Nautilus Silver Award for Children's Literature: Fiction. Parents, kids of all ages, executives, and organizational leaders hail the series as a beacon of hope and inspiration for anyone navigating change or challenging circumstances.
Katy went to Penn State University on a full athletic scholarship. She achieved her Bachelor of Science degree in Finance while swimming for the Lady Lions. Katy was a top finisher in the Martha Vineyard Open Water Swim and successive 4.2 mile Chesapeake Bay Bridge Swims.
She is a graduate of the Vanguard Executive Development Program at Duke University and the Executive Leader Program (PINNACLE) at Kellogg’s School of Management.
Serving as a Senior Executive in the Central Intelligence Agency, Katy was the developer and an adjunct instructor for Executive Skills for Today’s Leaders. She was awarded the Intelligence Commendation Medal for Manager of the Year, multiple Meritorious Unit Citation awards and the Career Intelligence Medal.
In her spare time, Katy serves on the North American Board of Directors for Dorcas Aid International and holds office as their Chair. She enjoys going to the theatre and hiking near her home in Denver, Colorado.
