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Kathryn Mahady
Attorney with Aspey, Watkins & Diesel, PLLC Kathryn “Kate” Mahady is another one of our bright 20 Under 40 stars in the legal field. She taught seventh grade social studies in Tucson Unified School District for seven years before enrolling in law school. She earned an M.A. degree and was awarded two Fulbright awards to travel to Turkey in 2005 and to South Africa for the full school year of 2007. While teaching was very rewarding and inspiring, the continual intellectual challenges that practicing law offers drew her more strongly to that career path. “I pursued a career in law in the hopes that I could do work that would be helpful to others, while also providing myself with continual challenges and areas for learning and professional growth,” Kate says. “Fritz Aspey, my partner at Aspey, Watkins & Diesel, has told me that, even after over forty years as an attorney, he is still learning new things every day. I find this challenge exciting and inspiring and I am looking forward to a long career in law, during which I will continue to learn every day.” Aspey, Watkins & Diesel, PLLC is the largest general service law firm in northern Arizona. It offers legal services in nearly every area of law and has been a member of the community for 41 years. “The biggest challenge that I face as an attorney is also the greatest inspiration that I have as an attorney, which is the great variety of work that I am able to do in my law practice,” Kate shares. “In this position, I have been able to represent people in a wide variety of circumstances, including women seeking orders of protection against abusers, U.S. citizens seeking to immigrate their spouses, criminal defendants seeking to set aside their convictions and move forward with their lives, companies seeking protection for their intellectual property, individuals and families who are completely overwhelmed by debt and many other people who have found themselves in many other situations.” Kate also loves living and working in Flagstaff, which she explains has a “small, respectful legal community that provides nearly all of the opportunities that a larger market has” and active, friendly population that pushes her to active in the outdoors. “I moved to Flagstaff five years ago and could not imagine living anywhere else,” she says.
Chad McCutchen Vice President of Omni Channel Digital Technology/Deckers Brands
Chad McCutchen is a Flagstaff Under 40 professional whose role is global in scope. Given his Vice President role with Deckers Brands, he oversees 39 employees who operate the global digital business for a portfolio of footwear brands. The current brands are Ugg, Teva, Sanuk, Hoka One One and Koolaburra. Their responsibility includes operating the direct-toconsumer websites and creating digital experiences in the company-owned stores. They currently have digital business operations in the United States, Canada, Europe, Japan and China. “I started with Deckers as the eCommerce Business Manager in September of 2007,” McCutchen says. “That year the eCommerce business consisted of the ecommerce sites for Ugg Australia, Teva and Simple Shoes in the United States. We finished that year with ~$44 million in eCommerce sales. By the end of our most recent full fiscal year we had grown the eCommerce division to operate in Canada, Europe, Japan and China. Through that expansion we had reached ~$250 million in global eCommerce sales. The space between that $44 million and ~$250 million is where my career has been built.” McCutchen explains there have been countless long nights, a lot of calculated risks, hundreds of thousands of miles in the air and urgent problems requiring immediate solutions. But he gives much credit to his team. “I’ve surrounded myself with brilliant and hard-working people and have tried my best to keep them motivated towards achieving what I know we can achieve,” Chad says. “This career would not have been possible had I not had great parents who instilled a relentless work ethic in me. I also have an amazing life partner in my wife. Her dedication to our family, her wisdom and the workload she carries to manage our household are monumental. Any career success I have belongs as much to the team I work with, my parents and my wife as it does to me.” While tackling a big job that’s global in range, Chad appreciates being able to call this mountain town his home. “Flagstaff is the kind of community where my wife and I want to raise our children,” he says. “I travel a lot for work. But every time the wheels touch down at Pulliam Airport, and then I step out onto the tarmac, that burst of mountain air and the serene surrounding of pine trees remind me of why, no matter where I travel, Flagstaff is my home.”