INTERVIEW

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 Championship. 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.

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Has the importance of family coupled with your clear passion for Kansas City made finding a work/life balance difficult?

I think it’s more work/life integration. I tell our staff all the time: family first. When your kid has a dentist appointment or you need to take care of a parent, you do that first because I know the work will get done. I hire great people. The philosophy of work/life integration has made me a better parent and a better leader. When my kids were still in school, if my daughter had a junior varsity basketball game at 4:00, I would leave by 3:30 that day because that came first. If we have an event on the weekend, I do everything in my power to make sure the families of our staff have access. Maybe they’re volunteering at an event with us or maybe we get our families tickets so they can be there.

You need to have an ongoing sense of optimism to do your job so well, don’t you?

You always hear about the successes: the continuation of the Big 12 or the NFL draft. You hear about our success. What people don’t hear about are the lost opportunities. So, you do have to be an optimist. Always think we’ll get the next one. Playing sports taught me how to win and how to lose. It’s okay to lose sometimes. Losing can be more educational than winning because you take that loss and use it. Figure out why we were told no and make it better for next time.

Before the KC Sports Commission you worked at WDAF-TV. What did life in a newsroom teach you?

Learning how to tell a story has really been valuable in my career. Being succinct yet passionate. Getting the point across with a very short window of opportunity. Being a storyteller has been critical to what I do on the Sports Commission side and will continue to prove critical on the Visit KC side, as well. The newsroom also taught me never to feel overwhelmed.

Two distinct entities, KC Sports Commission and Visit KC, but one person at the helm. That sounds like a lot of pressure.

Pressure is a privilege. The pressure of being a mom. The pressure of being a CEO. The pressure of planning a Super Bowl parade. That pressure, I see as a privilege and that helps.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Joel Nichols has been interviewing fascinating people from Kansas City and around the nation for 35 years. Today, he does freelance work for a number of area organizations, as well as emcee events in our town. Please, visit Joel Nichols Communications, online.

Michael Stern,music director

PERFORMANCE PERFECTION

Conrad Tao Gemma new

Symphony POPS Concert Sinatra and Friends

Thursday, April 7 at 7 p.m. Friday, April 8 at 8 p.m. Saturday, April 9 at 7 p.m. JACK EVERLY, GUEST CONDUCTOR CAPATHIA JENKINS, VOCALIST TONY DESARE, VOCALIST

As the undisputed stars of their era, they ignited the stage when they joined forces. Relive the magic of Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald with their classics “The Lady Is a Tramp,” “They Can’t Take That Away From Me” and so many more. Tickets from $40.

PRESENTED BY

Symphony Classical Concert Miraculous Mandarin

with Rachmaninoff’s Fourth Piano Concerto

Friday & Saturday, April 22-23 at 8 p.m. Sunday, April 24 at 2 p.m. PAOLO BORTOLAMEOLLI, GUEST CONDUCTOR CONRAD TAO, PIANO COPLAND El Salón México RACHMANINOFF Piano Concerto No. 4 KODÁLY Dances of Galánta BARTÓK Suite from The Miraculous Mandarin

Tickets from $25.

Special Concert Event Windborne’s The Music of Queen

Friday, May 20 at 8 p.m. Saturday, May 21 at 7 p.m. Sunday, May 22 at 3 p.m. JASON SEBER, DAVID T. BEALS III ASSOCIATE CONDUCTOR BRODY DOLYNIUK, VOCALIST

The genius of Freddie Mercury comes alive with high-energy versions of “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “We Will Rock You,” “We Are the Champions,” “Another One Bites the Dust” and many others. Tickets from $40.

Special Concert Event Saint-Saëns’ Organ

Symphony, World Premiere of Rogerson’s Violin Concerto

Friday & Saturday, June 3-4 at 8 p.m. Sunday, Jun 5 at 2 p.m. GEMMA NEW, GUEST CONDUCTOR BENJAMIN BEILMAN, VIOLIN JAN KRAYBILL, ORGAN RAVEL Mother Goose Suite CHRIS ROGERSON Violin Concerto

(world premiere, Kansas City Symphony commission) SAINT-SAËNS Symphony No. 3 “Organ”

Tickets from $25.

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