Today I am talking to mezzo-soprano Kathryn Hannah who first studied fine arts and then went on to having a multi-faceted career as a singer, a fragrance expert and is now a leading merchant in oriental rugs. In our chat Kathryn draws on her professional experiences as she highlights various transferable skills that her work has taught her. For Kathryn, perhaps the most important skill she has learned is the ability to connect with people through storytelling.
Kathryn originally has an art background with a BA (Hons) in Fine Art before working in music. She is here to talk about her career journey and how she entered into the fascinating world of oriental rugs after becoming an accredited Fragrance Expert for a global company over two years ago. In her work heritage and storytelling abound while her technical knowledge keeps aflame, and link, her artistic interests across the board in many fields.
Equally passionate about excellent customer experiences, Kathryn has a strong affinity with retail and worked part time for several years in a sheet music department and piano shop whilst studying singing privately. In her career as a freelance mezzo-soprano she worked with many regional and national companies as chorister, soloist as well as covering roles. Kathryn relishes the varied groups of people in the music world she met and the varied situations and places she has performed and rehearsed! She exercises appreciation in expanding skills and abilities into other fields (as well as learning new ones) either concurrently or linearly in order to allow her to develop by transitioning to exciting new career pathways. Whatever career journey happens in life, she believes in humility and that respect and empathy towards others in every workplace is vital.