Kat Paye was raised in Traverse City and had an active role in the National Cherry Festival since 1990 when she became a Junior Ambassador and assisted the Wheel Chair Mile with Director Jeff Nash. Over the past 30 years, she has served as Junior Ambassador, Intermediate Ambassador, Ambassador, Event Director and Board Member before becoming the Operations Director in 2012. In 2016 she accepted the position as Executive Director. Prior to her current role Kat has worked at Hagerty Insurance as a licensed agent and claim adjuster, House Manager of the City Opera House and Event Planner with Passageways Travel. Kat attended Lake Superior State University from 2000-04, and holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from Davenport University. She is a proud member of several organizations including the Rotary Club of Traverse City, Founding Board Member for Impact 100 TC, Michigan Festival and Events Association and the International Festival and Events Association (IFEA) where she is currently a member of their Foundation Board. Kat received her designation of Certified Festival and Event Executive in 2015 from the IFEA.
As the Executive Director it is her job to lead the daily operations, strategic direction and financial management of the Foundation and its events which include the National Cherry Festival, CherryT Ball Drop and the Leapin Leprechaun 5K and most recently the Iceman Cometh Challenge.
Kat has a son, Andrew, who is 5 years old. In her spare time, she enjoys volunteering in her local community planning events, serving at Bayview Church in youth ministry and teaching Andrew about cherries and the world around him.
First off, tell us a little bit about yourself and how you got to where you are professionally as the Director of the National Cherry Festival in Traverse City, MI?
I grew up in Traverse City and graduated from TC West Senior High in 2000, spending every summer since I was eight years old volunteering at the National Cherry Festival. I started with my mentor, Jeff Nash, assisting at the Wheelchair Mile in 1990. After years of working as an Ambassador, I became a volunteer Event Director working in Operations, which then led to becoming a National Cherry Festival Board Member. In 2012, a staff position opened for the Festival’s Operations Director. I applied and was hired putting all of my volunteer experience to work. After four years on staff, the current Executive Director stepped down, opening the Executive Director position. I again applied and was chosen, out of a field of very qualified executives, to become the Festival’s Executive Director, which later turned into CEO of the Festival Foundation.
What originally brought you to Lake Superior State University?
Rachel McDermott was my first introduction to LSSU in 1998 when she visited my high school. I started reading more about attending LSSU and decided I wanted to major in Elementary Education so I could have summers off to work in events. My first exposure to campus was orientation and meeting Sean McDade. Sean later became a great friend and mentor in advising me that I should join two great organizations on campus SAILS (Student Alumni Involved in Lake State) and HIS House Student Ministries.
What led you to pursue a career in event management?
I have always loved events. I guess I would say the career chose me as much as I chose it. I never intended to go into events for a career, as my major was Elementary Education; however, I realized in my early college years that events could be a career and what excited me the most.
How did your experience at Lake Superior State University shape your career path?
My time at Lake State was spent helping create events for university students. I was active in Student Activities Board, Inter Greek Council, Alpha Kappa Chi Sorority and SAILS. Over the years, I learned many skills like being certified in balloon arch making, cleaning bowling shoes for glow bowling, creating winter carnival activities, including making bowling pins into penguins and many other wild crafts. I worked on the annual Alpha Kappa Chi Teeter Totter-athon raising money for Epilepsy Foundation. While executing event marketing strategies and learning how to fundraise has really helped in my current role, learning the importance of continuous learning and personal growth were my biggest takeaways, as well as my time in SAILS. The Student Alumni group was where I was given the opportunity to be an ambassador for the university, give campus tours, call alumni and ask for funds for scholarships and attend conferences where I was able to expand on leadership, event organization and personal growth.
Were there any specific courses or professors at Lake Superior State University that influenced you significantly?
While Mark Jastorff was not a professor, he was one of the greatest professional influences in my college career. During my time with SAILS, Mark opened his office and sometimes even home to the students and welcomed everyone to come and talk about anything. Mark, along with Holly Johnson, made sure all of us had a place to go for the holidays if we did not go home, or had storage for our mini fridges during the summers, as well as teaching us life lessons greater than those in the classroom. My greatest memory of Mark was telling me that I was not supposed to rent and operate equipment on university property, however he was impressed I took the initiative to problem solve, rent the right equipment, and submit for reimbursement. I have taken that lesson to every arena of my life, problem solving is key and knowing who owns the land before you build anything in just as important.
Next to planning events, my next favorite is event budgeting, and no one taught me more about this than Suzette Olson. While Suzette was the Advisor of the Activities Board, I think of her lessons often on “it’s all about the bottom line not necessarily each individual line”. My current Board of Directors at the Festival Foundation can thank Suzette for why our budgets look the way they do and how I continuously feel it is important to have a rainy-day fund.
Did you participate in any extracurricular activities or clubs that helped develop your skills for your current role?
I participated in SAILS, Activities Board, Inter Greek Council, Alpha Kappa Chi Sorority. Being a member of these organizations helped build my confidence, problem solving, active listening and leadership skills. One of the skills that I never thought I would use again is mascot management, while in SAILS I had the honor to be Seamore the Sea Duck at LSSU. Now in my current role I have had the privilege to be and manage several mascots in our events and the most notable is Super Cherry, who I occasionally still get to be. Management of the mascots branding, costume maintenance and volunteer recruitment are just some of the pieces that I have taken from my college days to the professional career environment.
What aspects of your LSSU education do you find most valuable in your current role as National Cherry Festival Director?
Lake State offered me the opportunity to grow as a person due to being on a smaller campus with personal attention from professors and mentors. I was able to learn in an environment that allowed me to join multiple student organizations, while still attending classes with professors who saw the importance of education, not only in the classroom but realizing real world experience was just as important.
How has your background and experience prepared you for the unique demands of managing a multi-faceted, large-scale event like the National Cherry Festival?
My background in events as a child growing up in Traverse City to attending Lake State has helped create the event professional I am now. At the Festival Foundation, we make the National Cherry Festival, Iceman Cometh Challenge, Leapin’ Leprechaun 5K and the CherryT Ball Drop happen for our community. Over the last seven years, we have added two of those four events and continue to preserve traditions in our community that are an important part of the fabric of Traverse City. Realizing the importance of events in community and knowing that events are economic drivers was instilled through my lifelong work in event planning. The challenges of multi-faceted events are the same as if you are running a single one day 5K – just slightly less work than the National Cherry Festival which boasts over 150 events in 8 days. Once you have a strong foundation in understanding how events are run and the mission behind the event, it’s all about the execution and teamwork. Building a great, effective and hard-working team is what it takes to manage large scale events, delegation to the right people makes all the difference.
Can you describe a typical day as the Director of the National Cherry Festival? What are your responsibilities?
There is no such thing as a typical day in events. I might start my day working on some employee benefit items, to parade Grand Marshal discussions, to wave placement for the Iceman race in November, then back to Airshow line up and budgeting for National Cherry Festival, to discussing our next economic impact study and finding our next office space, or the purchase of our next trailer to house our fencing. Every day is an adventure, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. My responsibility is to make the decisions and to support the best team. We have 9 staff, 2 interns soon to be 6, 150 volunteer Event Directors, 11 Board members and over 3,000 volunteers. My job is to support them in various ways daily. They are all amazing and giving of their time and talent to our organization and I am forever grateful they all help make our events solid for generations to come.
Can you share any memorable experiences or challenges you’ve faced in your role as the National Cherry Festival Director?
More than I could list, in the last seven years as Executive Director, we acquired the Iceman Cometh Challenge, which is the largest point-to-point Mountain Bike Race in the County, and the CherryT Ball Drop, a Traverse City New Year’s Eve celebration. We survived COVID and had no income in 2020 and most of 2021. In 2021, we planned as much as we could with a 43-day planning window to make a truncated Festival happen, all while our organization has had to continually defend our unique relevance for our community – often through economic impact studies and various agreements with City and County officials for all our events. The challenges we face are faced industry wide, we are all fighting to continue to have celebrations for our community.
Were there any memorable moments or experiences from your time as a student that still impact you today?
My most memorable experiences and moments are with the people that I made lifelong friendships with and that I still talk (sometimes daily) to this day. My time at Lake State helped shape the person that I am, while only four years, it was deeply impactful.
How did your education and the culture at Lake Superior State University contribute to or influence your approach to leadership, community engagement and collaboration within the National Cherry Festival organization?
Learning from friendships and mentors, I learned the importance of active listening skills, how to approach negotiations and professional interactions. As a freshman, I was having breakfast with the President of the University which taught me that everyone is approachable, giving me the ability to build my confidence in a professional setting.
What do you enjoy most about your job with the National Cherry Festival, and how does it align with your passions?
My passion is serving the community and getting to do that as the Director of the National Cherry Festival is my greatest honor. It’s a privilege to serve in this capacity and I am extremely grateful for that opportunity.
What advice would you give to someone aspiring to become involved in an event like the National Cherry Festival? Specifically, what advice would you give to current LSSU students aspiring to pursue a career in event management?
The best advice I can give to someone who is looking for a career in a large community event is to practice active listening, play an active role in the community, lead by example and remember to make a decision and own it. Whether the decision is the right or wrong one, make it and own it. Sometimes making mistakes is part of the journey but learning from them is the greatest growth experience you will have.
