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YPWA Member Spotlight January 2025

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We loved seeing so many of our members at our mid-season event earlier this month! And if you haven't met her yet, you may have met Kate, who is the Membership Director for the YPWA and our January Member Spotlight. This is Kate's second year serving on the board. Kate wears many hats, including licensed therapist, life coach and photographer. Kate also hosts full moon circles at a local yoga studio. Keep reading to learn more about Kate and how her personal journey of healing inspired her work today.


Name: Kate Lally Kusz

Pronouns: She/Her

Where did you grow up? I grew up in Hebron, CT

When did you move to Worcester?

I moved from CT to Worcester for grad school almost 20 years ago! 


Local Recommendations/Favorite Hot Spots


Favorite place for coffee/tea:

Nu Kitchen. Their tumeric latte is a favorite winter pick-me-up to help beat the seasonal blues


Favorite place to go with family:

A WooSox game! Great for all generations.


Favorite place to treat yo self: I'm a huge fan of sushi. Yama Zakura in Northboro always hits the spot. (Also, shout out to Redemption Rock, which was a former favorite spot but recently closed. RIP.)


Tell us about your work in the world. What do you do?


Occupation: I am a Licensed Therapist, Life Coach & Photographer - I wear a lot of hats!


What do you enjoy most about your work? No matter which role that I'm in, I get to be a mirror for people to help them see themselves more clearly. It’s incredibly rewarding work. Therapy puts my 16 years of experience to use as I help people heal and shift generational patterns. Coaching calls on my skills as a catalyst to ignite women into their power and potential in work, life and business. Photography allows me to capture joy, love and connection. What’s not to love??


How did you get started? I started out as a therapist and worked at a non-profit for 9 years, which I loved and it gave me such great experience to start out working with various populations. In my early 30’s, I entered therapy and began my own self-healing journey, which opened my eyes to what traditional talk therapy was lacking, which led me to life coaching. Around the same time, I met my now husband who was a photographer. Together, we put our skills together and now run Seeking Spirit Photography. 


What is your favorite part of your job? And least favorite? I love connecting with people and offering them a new lens to see themselves through. It’s my most natural skillset and I have a knack for putting people at ease and making them feel seen. My least favorite part of any role would be any sort of paperwork and organization. I can do it, but because I have ADHD, it bores me really easily and takes a lot of extra effort on my part to stay organized.


How would a co-worker OR client describe you in three words?

I get a lot of feedback often about how intuitive I am from clients. I've also had many people tell me that I come across as unapologetic, which is a huge compliment! I've worked hard to be this version of myself. I've also had many people say that they appreciate how authentic I am, which they admire. (It's taken a lot of inner work to get here!)


  • Is your current position one that you expected and were working towards, or did a different path lead you there? I definitely thought when I started out that I would just be a therapist for the duration of my career. My own personal breakdown to breakthrough that led me to break outside the model of traditional talk therapy and led me onto a spiritual path. Since then, I’ve broken through a lot of boxes in order to become who I am today. I have always been creative and had an artistic side, but never thought that I would ever be a photographer. It’s really cool to think, “What’s next??” because so much of the last decade of my life hasn’t been planned, but has just unfolded really organically.  

  • Tell us about one of your most rewarding experiences at your job. It’s really hard to narrow it down to just one when you’ve seen countless people take charge of themselves and completely transform their lives. I’ve had clients shift careers, end bad marriages, find new love, connect to their WHY and find work that truly lights them up. It takes courage to face yourself and change, but it’s SO worth it. 

  • What do you do outside of work? I run, for fun. Yup, I’m one of those crazy people. I love my running groups in the local community and have really committed to it as a personal practice that keeps me sane and channels my energy in a healthy way. I have some of my best ideas and new insights when out running!  

  • What do you think is key to maintaining a healthy work-life balance? From the wise words of Julie Bowditch: “Work hard, play hard, REST hard.” I’m still working on getting better at the rest part! 



Where to connect with Kate:


Thanks so much, Kate for sharing your story with us!


If you'd like to nominate yourself or a friend for the member spotlight, we have a few spots left for the 2025 season. You can do so here. We thank all of our outstanding members that have shared their experiences, tips, and love of the Worcester area with us this season!


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