Taking a Seat at the Table: Katy Brown

Name, title, and organization: Katy Brown, Brand Director at Evanta, A Gartner Company

Responsibilities: I oversee our sales team for our flagship line of peer-driven regional business events serving chief information officers (CIOs) and chief information security officers (CISOs) of Fortune 1000 companies.

Graduation year and class: 2016, Oregon Executive MBA Class 30

Three tips for women to succeed in business

don't listen to anyone who tries to tell you what you can't do.
Be professionally persistent.
Allow yourself to fail and learn from your mistakes.

Personal mission statement: I'm going to get there, or I'm going to die trying.

Favorite quote: "Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever."—Gandhi

First job: Selling drinks at the golf course near my house, which wasn't a very successful business venture as I quickly learned that adults didn't enjoy grape Kool-Aid as much as my 10-year-old self did.

Guilty pleasure: Eggs benedict and a bloody mary on a Sunday morning.

Best live concert experience: Alanis Morissette followed by Billy Joel on back-to-back concert nights at the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas, where my friends and I randomly ended up at the table next to Joel's bandmates and celebrated with them post-concert.

Favorite tradition: I have two traditions that both involve our family heritage. My husband is Norwegian and, in memory of his mother, we host his family every year to make lefse—a traditional soft Norwegian flatbread—for the holidays. At Christmas, my mom and sister and I dust off my late great-grandmother's ravioli machine to make raviolis from scratch for our family dinner.

Favorite Portland restaurant: An oldie but goodie—El Gaucho. My husband and I reserve it for our most special occasions and always order exactly the same thing: escargot, tableside Caesar, filet mignon with mashed potatoes, and mud cake for dessert.

Best weekend activity: Friday family night with my husband and eight-year-old daughter, which starts with happy hour at one of our favorite local eats and ends cuddled up together under a blanket for movie night.

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