Meet Kate
Every company has a story, but what happens when the one that got you here won’t get you where you need to go? That's where I come in. For three decades, I’ve worked with CEOs and executive teams to shape brand stories that sharpen relevance, strengthen market position, and create new opportunities for growth and leadership. The challenge is as energizing today as it was when I stepped into my first CMO role.
Her 30-Year Career Includes
- Serving as CMO at VMware, Citrix, Riverbed, Polycom, BEA Systems, and Veeam.
- Providing strategic marketing consulting to Digital Ocean, DataRobot, Informatica, Deepwatch, Symantec, Iteris and many others.
- Spearheading brand transformations that multiplied market opportunities 10X, propelled rapid revenue growth, and established market leadership in new categories.
My View on Branding
For me, brand isn’t window dressing. It’s a strategic growth engine. A powerful brand story opens doors and shortens sales cycles. It creates buzz, and it gives your team a clear, compelling message that wins customers.
A true brand transformation is a CEO-driven reset that aligns vision, strategy, and culture. My approach is to start at the core: your vision, strategy, and product roadmap. Then I work side-by-side with your executives, product leaders, and engineers to shape a story that inspires your employees, fuels growth, and earns you a commanding place in the market.
I’ve seen this process change how the world sees a company, and I’m confident it can do the same for you.
“ When Kate Hutchison joined Riverbed…we had significantly expanded our portfolio but were still seen as the WAN Optimization company. Kate led a Strategic Brand Transformation that repositioned us as the leader in Application Performance Infrastructure. Her leadership helped set the stage for the acquisition of Riverbed for $3.6 billion by private equity."
Former Chairman and CEO of Riverbed Technology
The Masterclass:
A Framework Born from Experience
After decades of leading brand transformations in tech, I created the Strategic Brand Transformation™ Masterclass to share the exact framework I know works.
This isn’t theory. It’s the strategic process I’ve used to help companies regain momentum, become market leaders, and create lasting growth. You'll leave ready to lead with your brand and equipped to tell a story that builds trust, wins customers, and reframes your value in a crowded market.
I’m confident that you’ll be ready to lead your brand’s next chapter of growth.
My Story: An Unconventional Path
My journey to marketing leadership wasn't a traditional one. It started with sharks.
My path began as a marine biologist, where I studied shark longevity and published peer-reviewed research. The youngest of 5 daughters from a humble upbringing in Binghamton, NY, my father famously told me, “Kate, marine biology is something the Kennedys can pursue. If you like science, be a nurse.” I smiled, nodded, and kept right on chasing my own path.
In my twenties, I grew algae for Merck’s natural products pharma program. My science education and experiences taught me to see systems, patterns, and possibilities. These would be the same skills that would later make me just as comfortable in an engineering meeting as in a marketing one.
In 1988, I turned on an Apple computer and was hooked. A biotech marketing role fell into my lap, and suddenly I was writing user guides for software supporting the Human Genome Project. When my manager chose documentation over marketing, I got the marketing role and never looked back.
From there, my career took an unexpected turn. John Sculley, Apple’s former CEO, hired me to join his startup called Live Picture. That opened the door to my big break when Bill Coleman, the “B” in BEA, hired me as VP of Marketing. I was the least qualified of 15 candidates. His advice? “You have promise. I’m hiring you. But don’t f*ck this up.” I didn’t. And I learned more in those first 90 days than I ever thought possible.
Since then, I’ve led teams through turnarounds, acquisitions, and periods of extremely rapid growth. My teams and I have proved again and again that marketing can be the strategic force behind business transformations that have a profound impact on a company’s growth and success. This work fuels me, and I’m confident in my ability to deliver results.
Today, I split my time between the East and West Coasts. I still volunteer with reef conservation projects in Thailand. And my proudest role? Mom to a Southwest Airlines pilot. Watching him soar (literally) never gets old.
If you’re ready for your brand to lead the next chapter of your company's growth, I’d love to explore it with you.
