Her Story
About Katya
My journey has taken me from London, England, where I was born, to becoming a passionate advocate for at-risk youth in Las Vegas. I'm Armenian and moved to the United States, where I attended a private Armenian school in Los Angeles and later earned my bachelor's degree in journalism from Cal State Northridge. My original goal was to become a public relations spokesperson for the LAPD, like Lieutenant Gascon during the scandals of the 90s. I served as a police officer for about 6 years before moving to Las Vegas and transitioning into education. I started guest teaching with Clark County School District and became a reading interventionist, eventually becoming one of the first people to open up a Zoom reading center for K through 12 English language learners. After moving to Reno, I continued similar work with Washoe County School District. I also spent time in human resources for WestCare, a national detox company, where I became the National HR Coordinator within months despite having no prior experience. For the past 5 years, I've been with Clark County Acceleration Academies, where I've found my true purpose as a graduation candidate advocate for at-risk youth. I've graduated over 150 students and consistently maintain 100% metrics every week with caseloads of 140 students. I was diagnosed autistic when I was 3, and I believe this helps me connect with students in a unique and magnetic way. I've taken every single thing I've learned, whether in HR, the LAPD, or teaching, and put it all together in my current role. I now serve as a lead advocate, training our 27 other advocates to be successful. What matters most to me is the purpose and mission of serving others, and I can say with goosebumps that the most important job I have right now is where I am today. This company has really made me believe in myself and helped me become the person I needed to have when I was little.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Katya
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to never giving up and being relentless in what I do. A lot of people look at me and say it's just me, that I'm different, but I don't think I'm different. I just won't give up, and I'm relentless. The real difference is that I do what I do out of love. There's no 9 to 5 for me. If a student needs me and it's 5 in the morning, I'm there testing the student. That doesn't matter to me. There's a big difference when you have somebody at work who's passionate, and you can never beat that. My expertise is really in kindness, transparency, authenticity, and empathy. I choose kindness, I involve parents, I'm not scared of parents. I love them. I check on them as well as the students. My expertise is in those relationships that I make. I believe nothing can replace the human relationship, and I message and call my kids every day. They know who cares and who really doesn't care. They're used to everybody else giving up on them, so I do the complete opposite. Whoever I have in my life, I treat very specially.
02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Never give up. It's really simple for me. I've just kind of never given up, so I would say not to give up on any of their dreams and make sure that it's what they want. A lot of people tell me I'm different, but no, I'm not different. I just won't give up, and I'm relentless. Maybe that's the difference in me. I'm relentless. I would say not to give up, but do what you love. That is the difference between me and other people, is that I do it out of love. I love what I do, so there is no 9 to 5 for me. If the student needs me and it's 5 in the morning, I'm there testing the student. That doesn't matter to me. There's a big difference when you have somebody at work who's passionate, and you can never beat that.
03What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
I worry that we're losing the human connection a lot. If you had an automated message sending students a message, versus me messaging and calling my kids every day, they know the difference. They know who cares and who really doesn't care. They're used to it. They're used to everybody else giving up on them. We need more human connection to make more relationships. That definitely is something I see kind of whittling away a little bit with everything gone digital. That's definitely one of the challenges. What I do to overcome that is the complete opposite. Whoever I have in my life, I treat very specially. Whoever I see, they treat really well. The one thing is, nothing can replace the human relationship. Simon Sinek says it, and he's so right. I tell the advocates this too when they're sending messages: there is nothing like a live voice.
04What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Kindness, transparency, authenticity, and empathy are really my core values. I choose kindness in everything I do. I involve parents, I'm not scared of parents, I love them. I check on them as well as the students. My expertise is in those relationships that I make. What matters most to me is the purpose and mission of serving others. I just want to spread around kindness. I love reading about being better, about ways of being kinder. A lot of my work involves going to random places and seeing what they need and supplying them with things. I just want to spread around kindness. I can say with goosebumps that the most important job I have right now is my purpose and mission where I am now. I've taken every single thing that I've learned, whether it was in HR, whether it was in the LAPD, whether it was in teaching, and put it all together. This company has really made me believe in myself and helped me become the person I needed to have when I was little.
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