Testimonials
What They’re Saying
“While Silicon Valley may still be the hotbed of innovation, the professionals and experts who present the hottest android apps often sound like androids themselves! I just heard Kathy Klotz-Guest give her talk about making high tech products human. We should all take a lesson from Kathy on how to present compelling, useful information with that rare combination of rapid-fire intelligence and great levity. Kathy wakes you up to brand new thinking and ideas, especially for those of us who think we already know everything… Kathy is the whole package! Not only did she make my pulse come back — in spades — I walked away with at least 3 solid ideas for my clients after her 30 minute talk. You cannot afford NOT to have Kathy come in and present her ‘humanizing products’ program. At the very least you’ll re-oxygenate your blood and release endorphins just from laughing!!” – Shelly Gordon, NorCal PR Roundtable Director and Principal, G2Communications Inc.
“Kathy engaged our sales team with great breakout sessions that were immediately applicable to our business. From communications to adding customer service value and innovating new product and services with existing assets – we gleaned a lot of great info and she brought out the funny sides of our people with some of the activites. Our sales team had great take-aways and a lot of fun, too. Kathy makes laughing and learning a collaborative effort with great, practical ideas that are easy to implement after the workshop, and that make a difference. Thanks Kathy for a great day!” – Jeanne Beachman, CEO Delphon
“Kathy provided our organization with a workshop on Storytelling and I highly recommend it to others. Kathy, you were responsive to our specific needs, and gave our staff important frameworks and “tools we can use” that will allow us to tell our story better. And you did it all with clarity and humor. We were fortunate to have you with us!”
– Larry Olmstead, Vice President Organizational Development, United Way Silicon Valley
“Kathy’s style is engaging, relevant and inspiring. Thank you, Kathy!”
-Jane LeFevre, Director, United Way Silicon Valley team
“Kathy uncovered invaluable insight as to how clients see me and my brand, and she gave me personalized recommendations for marketing strategy that have already grown my business. Kathy also left my customers with great experiences in the process. In fact, several customers indicated that the questions and ideas got them thinking about their own possibilities! They wanted to hire Kathy to do the same for their businesses. Kathy will see things you don’t that make a big difference for you.” - Michelle Mendoza, Connect to HR
Hear and see in this video what Diane Hunter of After Autism had to say about working with Kathy.
“Kathy delivers! The value she generated to my top-line exceeded my expectations. The clear distinction is that Kathy makes the process of getting your story out painless by understanding that success is about investing in people and the return. For my emerging companies lacking internal marketing expertise, Kathy operates as your Marketing Executive and understands what it means to convey your story so that it generates a return on your investment.
She is an excellent listener; clarified the process in the beginning, helped me understand the steps, and allowed me – a numbers-driven CFO – to clearly and successfully hit my target market and my budget.”-Janet MacAulay, CFO Chrysalis Consulting Services
“Kathy’s deceptively simple approach to improvisation for product professionals is like Red Bull for your team’s ability to innovate and create high-value products.”
–Ellen Grace Henson, Marketing Mechanics
“I attended Kathy’s workshop on video marketing and telling your story. In short, it was excellent! Her practical tips, energetic style and subject matter expertise was outstanding. I have been videotaped before, but I left with a complete new set of tools and ways to approach developing content that will more likely grab the audience. It is well worth the investment!
-Carol Piras, Managing Director, The Piras Group
“It’s one thing to be told to Silence Your Inner Critic. It’s something completely different when you are led through activities and exercises that help you to (a) understand just how ridiculous your inner critic is, and (b) overcome the limitations you (often unknowingly) put on yourself.
I had the pleasure of attending a fantastic half-day workshop entitled “Shut Up to Speak Up! Silence Your Inner Critic and Unleash Your Inner Superwoman”, and was amazed at what I had learned. Kathy and Francine led us through a morning of exercises and improvisational activities that helped us understand what holds us back from taking risks, and why. Once our inner critics were identified, we had a quick laugh at how ridiculous most of them were. Then, we learned how to eliminate their impact on both our personal and professional decisions. We did all of this in a fun, supportive, non-threatening morning filled as much with realizations as with laughs.
I can recommend this session for all types of people. You’ll walk away both with techniques for more effectively working with others, and most importantly a renewed confidence in yourself.”
-Lisa Strand, Principal of Brookside Consulting, Women in Consulting (WIC) Workshop Chair
“On behalf of the Dublin Parks and Community Services Department, I want to thank you for providing our staff with an excellent, informative and down-right funny presentation at our summer training on June 15 2011. The staff really enjoyed your energy, expertise and humor! If you want facilitation and training that is full of exercises, fun, and collaboration that will have you laughing and learning, Kathy is your ticket.”
–Robert Beasley, City of Dublin
“Simply put, Kathy is one of the best marketers I’ve worked with. Whip smart, strategic at every turn, Kathy can size up a marketing problem and solve it with alacrity. Not afraid to get her hands ‘dirty,’ Kathy doesn’t stop at the strategy, she deftly delivers the end-product. A rarity. And, last, but certainly not least, Kathy doesn’t take herself too seriously. She makes marketing fun. See for yourself, hire her!” – Jeannine V., Autodesk
“As the marketing communications lead and expert at Intermolecular, Kathy was my primary contact and collaborative partner. Together we developed and ran a global, integrated marketing communications program for the company. Kathy’s industry knowledge and strategic insight were instrumental in the success of the campaign. Her professionalism, ability to problem solve by uncovering cost-effective strategies, attention to detail, and creativity were outstanding. Kathy has deep marketing expertise and would make a stellar addition to any organization.” - Jen A., Loomis Group
“I really enjoyed the break out session where we practiced the skills learned in the session and shared a few workplace stories with colleagues. Kathy is knowledgeable, fun and innovative in her approach. I would definitely recommend her to colleagues.”–Nancy W., IBM
“Kathy tells great stories and creates an environment of fun and support for learning. The games were helpful and gave us ideas on how to incorporate more spontaneous fun into our meetings, interactions with other organizations, and as a way to manage stress. I only wish we had more time.”–Deepak, Cisco
“Having worked in startups for 22 years, I know what can go wrong in a diverse place like Silicon Valley. Companies can grow quickly and if they do not address cultural and organizational issues, they quickly die. Kathy helped us focus on the issue of team building using humor and respect for boundaries in our early stages.” –Cynthia J., PowerGenix Systems
“Our company is comprised of 15% US-born and 85% mixed ethnic cultures (non-US born). Having worked in many large/medium/small/start-up companies I have seen that most companies lack the investment it takes to teach diverse cultures what is and what is not acceptable in the US corporate world. Kathy was able to get these important issues across using a very unique methodology, their understanding of cultures and their ability to disseminate the information using a light, humorous approach.”–Jeff P., PowerGenix Systems
“I took Kathy’s class in order to learn how to use humor in my profession as a lawyer. She taught us that humor is so much more than jokes – it is about storytelling and the element of surprise. I learned that there are many ways to express humor and you do not have to be a comedian to do it. Humor is about universal connections with others. I really enjoyed this class and would take another one with Kathy!” –Debbie M., DeAnza College
“She made the topic simple, doable, and fun. Anyone can learn to use humor in their presentations.”–Cynthia N., Insiders Connection
“Kathy doesn’t tell you how to do it; she shows you. That’s credibility.”–Stanford University
