Tomorrow's Business Leader - Spring 2020 - 5

Meet Kat Perkins 2020 NLE Keynote Speaker

Motivational Speaker, Entertainer,
Humanitarian and Rising Star
Foundation Founder
Former FBLA State Officer
@katperkinsmusic

Kat Perkins grew up in Scranton, North Dakota surrounded by a
family of musicians and quickly knew at a young age that performing is what she wanted to make her life career. After seeking
as many opportunities as she could, including spending several
summers as a main act on the Medora Musical stage, Kat followed her undeniable drive and passion for performing and
moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota to pursue music on a more
professional scale. She quickly gained the attention of the local
Twin Cities music scene by taking stages in the several projects
and bands she formed over the years. The most successful being
her rock band, Scarlet Haze, which went to open for Bon Jovi,
amongst working with some of the music industry's most well
known acts.
After a hiatus from performing due to vocal surgery, Kat made
a musical comeback in 2014 by auditioning and appearing on
season 6 of NBC's The Voice. Kat turned 3 chairs during her blind
audition, charted in the top 5 on iTunes several times with her
stand-out performances on the show, and sailed to the finals
with help from her coach, Adam Levine. Being on The Voice
brought new platforms of success and opportunities Kat's way.
She has since gone on an average of two military tours per year
to perform for the troops overseas, sold out venues across America with a variety of themed performances and tours, and began
going into schools to speak to students about following their
dreams, living a Fearless life, and making a positive impact on the
world. The praise Kat received from these presentations even led
her to begin a nonprofit foundation, The Rising Star Foundation,
providing scholarships and opportunity for aspiring musicians
while also giving back to the local community.

5 Tomorrow's Business Leader | Spring 2020

FBLA-PBL: This year's FBLA theme is "A World of Opportunity." Considering your own journey, what does theme mean
to you?
Kat: This is a great theme! My motto has always been "dream it,
do it," and what I mean by that is we truly have a world of opportunity in front of us and I absolutely think that we can take
advantage of all of the opportunity if we remember "if we can
dream it, we can do it." Work hard, stay focused, and step over
the lines of self-doubt. Keep yourself surrounded by people
that support you and lift you up. Be brave and take the risks that
make sense in the opportunities that present themselves.
FBLA-PBL: You are a speaker, an entertainer, a humanitarian,
and a foundation founder. In what ways have business skills
played a part in your professional and personal growth?
Kat: It took me awhile to realize that I would need more business
skills than I ever thought in order to be successful in my journey
as a singer, entertainer, and public figure. Facing the challenges
that I do in the entertainment industry has been significantly
easier when I put simple business skills and knowledge to use.
Never underestimate the power of simple business plans, accounting knowledge, and priceless leadership skills that drive
success!
FBLA-PBL: Is there any instance when you didn't expect
something to be so "business-minded" that might also surprise someone else to learn truly is?
Kat: Absolutely! One of the great aspects of the entertainment
industry is selling merchandise. In actuality, it can be the biggest
money-maker in an entertainer's life. Now if you know anything
about marketing, this can be a huge success very quickly. With

http://www.twitter.com/katperkinsmusic

Tomorrow's Business Leader - Spring 2020

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