Kate Henderson has come a long way since winning a Year 13 Scholarship to study for a Bachelor of Business Studies at EIT.

Since then Kate, who was known as Kate Smith, has graduated from EIT’s School of Business, married partner Jacob and got a good job with a Hawke’s Bay digital marketing company.

Kate, who grew up in Hawke’s Bay and attended Taradale High School, credits her degree for putting her on track for her career and says that one of the reasons she chose EIT was because she won a Year 13 Scholarship. The Year 13 Scholarship covers one year of tuition fees including any course related costs which have been approved to be included as part of the scholarship. When combined with the Government Fees Free initiative, Year 13 Scholarship recipients are studying fees-free for the first two years of their degree.

“The Year 13 Scholarship was one of the reasons I chose EIT. I did a Bachelor of Business Studies majoring in  marketing and communications, which I finished last year.”

“It was awesome because it wasn’t just all theory and I actually got to be involved with businesses around Hawke’s Bay. It worked really well for me because it was a mix of books and actual practical learning.”

It was that practical learning, or work experience, that led Kate to her current role. As part of the degree programme, students gain work experience at local businesses and are required to complete a project there. Kate’s work experience was at local marketing agency Tracta.

“Tracta is a full service agency, so I was able to get experience in each facet of marketing, which is where I got my excitement for digital marketing.”

“My project was a social media digital strategy for Tracta themselves, which was really fun.”

Kate says that her current role came about because of the contacts she made at Tracta.’

“It was actually  kind of cool because EIT always pushed us to develop our networks, so I ended up getting connected in my second year with someone called Tom Young.”

“I met him at Tracta and then he started his own company called FizzyPop. He called me up and asked me if I wanted a job. So here I am, working alongside Tom.”

“At FizzyPop, we use economic modelling to assist in identifying problems and the development of media strategies. We believe this approach provides the best return on investment for clients. The aim is to build on ‘through-the-line’ thinking with a strong digital influence.”

While Kate has not ruled out further postgraduate study, she is keen to continue learning at FizzyPop, which is where she sees herself staying for quite a while.

Apart from her work there and with Tom’s approval, Kate also does some contract work and has a side-line job that gets her out in the countryside.

“I do some work for a company called Hound Hikes, where I will take a group of dogs for walks off leash in the Hawke’s Bay countryside. It is more of a hobby, but I love it.”

Tom Young says: “Having Kate on-board has been one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. When you start a business the most important factor is finding someone your trust, I was incredibly fortunate that with Kate I could combine that trust with someone that has genuine creative flair, who can also analyse data, think critically, and present that information clearly.”

“Without Kate I don’t think we’d have been as successful as we have been this early into our inception and I genuinely hope we’ll be working together long into the future.”

EIT School of Business lecturer Dr Surej P John says: “I have known Kate from her first year of studies. I was the lecturer in her very first course here at EIT, as well as her very last course in the degree. She is very pleasant and hard-working and always surprised me with her ‘can-do attitude.’. Good luck, Kate.”