Podcast Summary: "You Achieve Your #LifeGoals… Then What? A Conversation With Special Guest Kate Bartlett"

Becoming You with Suzy Welch | September 23, 2025
Host: Suzy Welch (NYU Stern Professor)
Guest: Kate Bartlett (Content Creator, NYU Stern student)

Episode Overview

In this episode, Suzy Welch explores what happens after you reach your "life goals" with special guest Kate Bartlett—a social media influencer turned business school student. The conversation dives into Kate’s story of early passion for fashion, achieving influencer status, and then reassessing her path by returning to school for new challenges. Together, they break down how to navigate pivots, the evolving meaning of success, the role of values in life choices, and the reality of continual self-discovery.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

Kate Bartlett’s Journey: From Fashion-Obsessed Teen to Influencer

[03:36–08:22]

• Early Obsession: Kate grew up in Orlando, Florida, always knowing she wanted to work in fashion. The pivotal moment: "I think I watched Devil Wears Prada once. Yeah, that was it. That was all that I needed." (Kate, 04:08)
• Starting Before “Influencer” Was a Thing: At 15, she started a fashion blog, with daily outfit photos shot by her mom—despite classmates not understanding.

  “Everybody thought it was weird...But I found so much joy in it. It was so fun." (Kate, 05:07)

• Persistence Before Payoff: For years she posted for a tiny audience, only to see TikTok eventually skyrocket her reach.

Going Viral and Building a Career in Content

[07:47–10:29]

• Pivot to TikTok: During Covid, Kate leveraged her blog skills to make lifestyle videos ("How to live in New York for dirt cheap"), quickly gaining 100,000 followers overnight. Her TikTok now boasts 1.5 million.

  "I woke up to 100,000 followers overnight." (Kate, 08:25)

• Turning Hobby Into Business: Monetization wasn't immediate and only took off once brands caught on and she hired a manager.

  "That is when my business really took off." (Kate, 10:29)

Why Go Back to School After Achieving “#Goals”?

[10:50–11:38]

• Looking for the Next Challenge: Success brought financial transformation and dream opportunities, but Kate yearned for more.
• Motivation for Further Education: Sitting with industry leaders, she felt compelled to understand the business side, leading her to NYU Stern's luxury and fashion business program.

  “I want to be as educated as possible about what’s going on behind these businesses that I get to work with so intimately in a social media capacity. But I don’t really know anything about the business behind them or how they work.” (Kate, 11:38)

Experience at NYU Stern and the Reality of Pivoting

[12:52–13:40]

• Academic Interests: Kate is drawn to consumer behavior and AI, less so to finance (“even people in finance don’t love finance” – Suzy, 13:20), and feels business school is helping her clarify long-term goals.
• Embracing Uncertainty: She underscores that her path changes yearly and remains committed to exploring options.

The Values Bridge: Understanding Motivation and Authenticity

[14:00–23:01]

• Suzy introduces the Values Bridge, her tool for identifying core values, aptitudes, and authentic interests. Kate’s top values:
  • Radius: Desire to impact systemic change ("make the world a better place").
  • Non sibi: Desire to help others, especially her predominantly female audience.
  • Luminance: Striving for fame and renown.
  • Work centrism: Deep love of working; self-care ranked lower for her than for most Gen Z peers.
  • Eudaimonia: Self-care and leisure (ranked lower than for her peers).
• Authenticity Gap: Despite high values in “radius” (systemic impact), Suzy points out that Kate’s authenticity gap is 54%—she desires to do more good than she currently does.

Notable Quotes

• "I just want to be, like, the best person for them to look at. And it means a lot to me to be a good influence on the women that follow me." (Kate, 15:53)
• "I love to work. It’s my favorite thing in the world." (Kate, 17:52)
• "I’m lucky, but you’re good. And you worked hard." (Suzy, 19:03)

The Reality of Values Tradeoffs—Romantic Love vs. Ambition

[20:51–23:32]

• Belovedness (Romantic Love): Newly added value, but for Kate, it ranks low.

  "My priorities are just in so many other different places...I have a lot of goals that I want to accomplish before I start a family." (Kate, 23:01)

• Suzy’s Wisdom: Attempting to pursue both high-impact work and a relationship as central life goals forces challenging tradeoffs.

Navigating Life by “Default, Deliberation, or Design”

[23:32–27:01]

• Three Ds Framework: Suzy introduces living by Default (reactive), Deliberation (beginning to consciously shape life), and Design (truly living according to one’s values).

  “You’re a fascinating person because you’re kind of in design right now.” (Suzy, 25:58)

• Kate’s Reflection: She remains open and acknowledges she’s a work in progress, seeing business school as a further step in designing her future.

Boundaries, Sustainability, and Social Media’s Evolution

[27:13–28:41]

• Longevity as a Creator: Kate maintains clear boundaries between public and private life for mental health: “Social media right now really rewards oversharing…that’s just not something that I really want to do.” (Kate, 27:53)
• No Desire to Design Fashion Herself: Kate clarifies she’s more interested in the business side than launching her own brand (“that’s not necessarily something that is a goal of mine,” 28:20).

"Alpha Omega" Exercise – Kate’s Answers

[30:05–32:43]

1. What do you want people to say when you leave the room?
   "That I’m kind and hard working." (Kate, 30:19)
2. What did you love/hate about your childhood?
   Loved family’s support; disliked the limits of her hometown, but found value in coming to NYC as an outsider.
3. On her 75th birthday, what would make her regretful?
   "Not following truly what my heart wants—in all decisions." (Kate, 31:45)
4. Role Models: Right now, inspiration comes from successful women in business.

Memorable Moments and Quotes

• On Influence and Authenticity:
  “You’re lucky, but you’re good. And you worked hard.” — Suzy (19:03)
• On Values Tradeoffs:
  “There are opposing values that require trade-offs, and if you have high goals around achievement and radius, it’s really hard to have radius...while also making a relationship the organizing principle of your life.” — Suzy (23:32)
• On Business School:
  “Things that I thought I wanted to do, maybe I talk to them about what they do day to day, and I’m like, okay, I actually never want to do that.” — Kate (28:47)
• Looking Forward:
  “I think my interest has always been to work in fashion...Hopefully merge into something with business. I don’t know exactly what that looks like, but I think, you know, when you don't know these things, educate yourself as much as possible.” — Kate (27:55)

Key Timestamps

• 03:36 — Kate’s origin story: starting young in fashion, blogging, family support
• 08:11 — Going viral on TikTok, transition to influencer
• 10:50 — Full-time content creation and decision to pursue an MBA
• 14:00 — “Values Bridge” explained and Kate’s values discussed
• 17:52 — Kate on why she loves work
• 20:51 — Conversation about peripheral values and “belovedness” (romantic love)
• 23:32 — Suzy’s “Three Ds”: Default, Deliberation, Design
• 27:13 — Boundaries in social media; sustainability as a creator
• 30:05 — “Alpha Omega” future self-reflection exercise

Tone and Vibe

Conversational, engaging, and unguarded. Suzy draws out Kate’s authentic self-assessment with a mix of humor, empathy, and sharp insights, staying true to her irreverent, thoughtful style. Kate is open, grateful, self-deprecating, and honest about both achievements and ambiguity regarding her next steps.

Episode Takeaways

• Even after achieving your “dream life,” self-discovery and evolution continue.
• Values, authenticity, and thoughtful self-examination are key to meaningful pivots.
• Success rarely brings lasting satisfaction without ongoing growth and alignment with personal values.
• “Becoming you” is an ongoing process, not a static endpoint.

For anyone navigating big life decisions or wrestling with “now what?” after hitting big milestones, this episode offers fresh inspiration, honesty, and practical frameworks for the journey ahead.