INTERVIEW words by JOEL NICHOLS | photos by ROY INMAN
Kansas City Proud. If you’ve been to a big-time event in Kansas City, say a Super Bowl parade or a World Series celebration, then, you’ve seen just a bit of Kathy Nelson’s work. She has been president and CEO of the KC Sports Commission for a decade. At the start of 2022, she added president and CEO of Visit KC to her business card. There’s no other way to say it: You ARE Kansas City! I have so much pride in Kansas City. It’s an honor to be able to showcase everything our city has to offer. Hearing people say they had no idea how amazing this place is or “My gosh I need to move my family here,” or “I can’t wait to come back.” I graduated from Winnetonka High School in the Northland. My dad worked for TWA. My mom worked for Western Auto in that iconic building. I ran up and down Grand Boulevard before there was really anything there. My dad was a huge basketball fan and so we were at every NAIA Champi-
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onship. My brothers and I would tear around Municipal. My entire career has been in Kansas City. You cannot get more Kansas City than that. That personal connection must resonate with you in your work. In 1985, for the World Series parade, my brothers and I got to throw ticker tape out of the window of my mom’s office at Western Auto. I remember the smell of that ticker tape. Some people today have no idea what ticker tape was! We had been to most of the home games that year. Seeing my dad’s excitement was special. Then, in 2015, 30 years later, my dad had passed a couple years before, but I carried some of my dad’s ashes in my pocket for that parade. All I could think of is how proud my dad would have been. Carrying his ashes in my pocket as I jumped on my golf cart and headed down Grand passing the Western Auto building … very emotional for me that day, thinking about 30 years before.
