Kate Doerksen is a 2005 graduate of Ball State who, as a Cardinal, excelled on the court and in the classroom. As a star on our women’s basketball team, Kate earned several MAC Honors, as well as a spot in our Athletics Hall of Fame.
While majoring in entrepreneurship at Ball State, Kate was empowered by her professors to believe she had the grit and the passion required to start her own business. And while she was earning her MBA from Stanford, she did exactly that as the founder of Ditto, an e-commerce website for glasses.
In this episode, Kate shares what drew her to Ball State and what she enjoyed most about playing Division 1 basketball followed by her short stint in the WNBA.
Kate also discusses her career path from Wall Street to wanting to become an innovative leader in the retail industry, providing valuable insights into why being an entrepreneur is “not for the faint of heart.” And Kate shares why she remains so involved with her alma mater, most notably in her new role as a member of the Ball State University Foundation Board.
If you enjoy this episode, please leave a review to support the show.
Kate Doerksen is a 2005 graduate of Ball State who, as a Cardinal, excelled on the court and in the classroom. As a star on our women’s basketball team, Kate earned several MAC Honors, as well as a spot in our Athletics Hall of Fame.
While majoring in entrepreneurship at Ball State, Kate was empowered by her professors to believe she had the grit and the passion required to start her own business. And while she was earning her MBA from Stanford, she did exactly that as the founder of Ditto, an e-commerce website for glasses.
In this episode, Kate shares what drew her to Ball State and what she enjoyed most about playing Division 1 basketball followed by her short stint in the WNBA.
Kate also discusses her career path from Wall Street to wanting to become an innovative leader in the retail industry, providing valuable insights into why being an entrepreneur is “not for the faint of heart.” And Kate shares why she remains so involved with her alma mater, most notably in her new role as a member of the Ball State University Foundation Board.
If you enjoy this episode, please leave a review to support the show.
[GEOFF MEARNS]
Hello, I'm Geoff Mearns, and I have the good fortune to serve as the president of Ball State University. On today's episode of my podcast, I will have a conversation with Kate Doerksen. Kate is the newest member of the Ball State University Foundation Board. She also happens to be a proud and very accomplished graduate of our University.
During her years as a Cardinal from 2001 to 2005, Kate was a star on our women's basketball team. She earned several MAC honors, as well as a spot in our Athletics Hall of Fame. After graduating from Ball State, Kate parlayed her basketball skills into a brief stint playing in the WNBA. She then pursued several professional opportunities that gave her the confidence to pursue her dream of becoming an entrepreneur.
While earning her MBA at Stanford University, Kate launched her own business Ditto, which is an e-commerce website for glasses. Today, she serves as head of revenue for Luna, a company that helps eyewear retailers, brands and doctors modernize the customer experience for their clients and their consumers. Kate, welcome and thank you for joining me for the first episode of Our Call to Beneficence in 2023.
[KATE DOERKSEN]
Thank you so much for having me. I'm truly honored to be here.
[GEOFF MEARNS]
Great. Well, so why don't we begin at the logical starting place by having you share a little with us about your childhood? Where did you grow up? And tell us about your parents and your siblings.
[KATE DOERKSEN]
Sure. I might live in Northern California now, but I am a Hoosier. I was born in Indiana, and I grew up in Evansville, Indiana. My mom is a special education teacher. My dad was in business, started in sales, and worked his way up and eventually ran a plastics manufacturing business in Evansville. I have two sisters, so I'm the middle of three girls … much to my father's chagrin, I'm sure. Still very close to both of them—one in Evansville, one in Nashville, Tennessee now. So I'm back multiple times a year to see my family. And, you know, I think it's really a product of having such an amazing, charmed childhood. The culture in Evansville and in my family, in particular, oriented a lot around church, a lot around sports and a lot around family.
And we were just playing outside. And it's kind of like what I think of when I think of my childhood. I can remember playing outside with the neighborhood kids. So it was dark out my mom yelling it was time to come in. And I can remember truly endless hours, it feels like, playing basketball with my dad in our driveway.
And so those are the memories that I kind of hold with me. Just an absolutely amazing childhood in Indiana.
[GEOFF MEARNS]
Yeah. So you said to your father's chagrin, he had three girls. Was that because he was hoping to have a son?
[KATE DOERKSEN]
I think so. I, you know, I remember when my older sister was born, they gifted her dolls and books and they thought I was going to be a boy, I guess, from a bad ultrasound. And when I came out, someone goes, “You might just want to start playing sports with one of them.” So I guess that was me. So he got his, I guess, sports enthusiast which probably checked the box.
[GEOFF MEARNS]
So, sports kind of runs in your family. And as you say, that love of sports, that passion for sports was instilled in you at a young age. Tell us a little bit more about playing basketball in the driveway with your father and how that became such a passion and a source of pride for you and for your family?
[KATE DOERKSEN]
Well, it's kind of funny. My first sports love was actually gymnastics, and I was really serious about it. And I watched the Olympics and thought I was going to be an Olympic gymnast. And I started to be able to hit the ground on the uneven bars in the first grade. And I can remember kind of being sat down and them going, “I don't think this is going to be your sport.”
So, I remember being crushed and then sort of emerging from this going, now it's going to be basketball. So it was probably in the first or second grade that I really got the bug for basketball. I had played in boys leagues actually starting in kindergarten when there weren't girls’ leagues, which makes me sound very old because now the girls start really young too.
But so I had always played. I always really enjoyed it. And my dad had given me these Pistol Pete basketball videos. They were like VHS tapes. And one was on dribbling and one was on shooting. And I think I wore those things out. I really became obsessed with Pistol Pete. I tried to get my family to call me Pistol Kate.
[GEOFF MEARNS]
How did that work out? Not so well?
[KATE DOERKSEN]
That never caught. Yeah, that wasn't a catchy name … but I was determined to do 501 flips in bed every night for basketball. It was just such an integral part of my growing up.
[GEOFF MEARNS]
So for some of the folks who are listening, who maybe don't know who Pistol Pete is, maybe you want to explain who Pistol Pete is or was.
[KATE DOERKSEN]
If you don't know who Pistol Pete was, what are you doing?! He was amazing. He was a phenomenal basketball player, really known for probably being a little bit flashy on the court. He was very much dribbling between his legs and passing behind his back and really fun to watch. Phenomenal player. I think he actually passed pretty young, but made these VHS tapes for me before he went. So the legacy continues ….
[GEOFF MEARNS]
Yeah, Pistol Pete Maravich. I remember watching him as a kid as well. Great college and great pro basketball player. Yeah, so tell us where you went to high school and high school basketball and why you decided to come to Ball State?
[KATE DOERKSEN]
Yeah, so I was a highly recruited student athlete in high school for basketball. And truthfully, at the time, I had my heart set on going to Notre Dame. They were number one in the country. I was going to Catholic high school. It all felt like the stars were aligning there. I suffered a back injury my junior year and had to sit out about 15 months and lost dozens, if not hundreds of scholarships.
And I remember that Ball State had started recruiting me early and consistently and they just did everything right in the process. I felt really supported by them through the injury. How they reacted to that meant a ton to me, and I haven't forgot that. I really felt a sense of loyalty to how they showed up. And even though I had other options, I ended up choosing Ball State because I really felt like it was a great home for me. It was a great fit. I just so appreciated how they handled everything. So maybe the values of the university were showing through even then, and that was really a calling to me.
[GEOFF MEARNS]
So, tell us a little bit about your career here at Ball State. It was a pretty extraordinarily successful career.
[KATE DOERKSEN]
It was a great run. I have such fond memories of it. I played four years, still very close with many of my teammates on those different groups throughout the years, but we were ranked in the top 25 and went to the Mac Championship a few times. I regret to say we never got into the NCAA, but we did make it to the NIT pretty far a few times. So it was a great run and I was really proud of the fact that we were able to take sort of a mid-major team and really kind of punch above our pay weight for those years. And I felt really proud of how good we were.
[GEOFF MEARNS]
Yeah, and I understand you scored a few points during your years here at Ball State. Brag on yourself just a bit here.
[KATE DOERKSEN]
Well, I did score a lot of points, but my family loves to remind me that I still hold the record for shot attempts and not the scoring record. So maybe they're trying to keep me humble. But yeah, I was lucky enough to be captain for three years and was an All-American both academically and athletically, which was one of my goals.
[GEOFF MEARNS]
Yeah, quite an achievement. And so, speaking of that transition to academics, what did you major in and were there any professors that you recall who had a particularly meaningful impact on you as a student and maybe you as a, now as a successful businesswoman?
[KATE DOERKSEN]
Ball State was attractive to me not only because the basketball program, but because of the entrepreneurship program. So, my great great great grandfather was an entrepreneur. And in Evansville, Indiana, started a grocery store and later a vinegar factory that ended up being a multigenerational business. So maybe it was in the blood. Or maybe I've just always been entrepreneurial, but my sisters would tell you that I sold their clothes and belongings throughout grade school without their knowledge. So maybe always finding a side hustle was always there.
But in high school I taught basketball lessons and then started a basketball camp. And so, I had been doing these entrepreneurial things and really built some confidence. So, I was very excited by how accomplished the Ball State program was. And I was lucky enough, on my recruiting visit, to meet Dr. Don Kuratko. So he was lovingly known as Dr. K and really was one of the pioneers behind Ball State’s phenomenal entrepreneurship program.
He now runs the Kelly School of Entrepreneurship at IU, and we're still close, but he really sold me. And I remember meeting with him and listening to what that program is and how you actually have to start a business as you go through it. And I love Ball State’s emphasis on the experiential learning and, like, actually doing it—it's not just theoretical, it not really spoke to me. And also, when you have a guy like Dr. K kind of leaning in and kind of looking in your eyes and going, “I think you got what it takes,” you know, you kind of start to believe it. So certainly he was super influential. There was also a professor in the Honors College, Dr. James Rubel, and I have really fond memories debating with him and getting excited to go to his classes and engage in a juicy debate with him.
So, you know, there are these personal connections that 20 years later still feel extremely vivid. So, I think maybe that's part of the magic, too. It's just finding a few really strong personal connections. And I always felt extremely cared for at Ball State.
[GEOFF MEARNS]
And Professor Rubel was not a business professor. You were debating other topics, is that right?
[KATE DOERKSEN]
Yeah, it was a humanities class actually. So, I like that too. I like that it wasn't all one note at Ball State for me.
[GEOFF MEARNS]
Yeah, pretty well-rounded as an athlete and as a student. So, after you graduated from Ball State, you played for a short time in the WNBA for The Connecticut Sun before you launched your business career. Tell us about that experience playing pro sports.
[KATE DOERKSEN]
Brief. That's what I would say. [laughs] It didn't last very long. I truly did not expect to get—I didn't expect to get drafted. I remember getting the call Saturday morning and truthfully, our season had been over for a few weeks and I was living it up, enjoying the tail end of my senior year, and got the call, you know, you've been drafted, can you be out here Monday? And I hadn’t touched a basketball in six weeks. So, I remember the first thing I did was like, call my team and go, “Hey, can you meet me at the gym? Like, now? I have to get the rust off of this really quickly. And then I left sort of in a blur the next day and my parents had to come up to Ball State and move out of that apartment. I'm not sure they forgiven me for that one … in the state that I left that. But once I got to Connecticut, I really just was acutely aware of what a tremendous lifetime opportunity I had. In retrospect, I was like trying a little too hard and ended up sort of injuring myself. And I remember a lot of that as well. But Diana Taurasi, who's one of the best WNBA players of all time, was training with us at the time. Lindsay Whalen was on my team. So I just I have such fond memories of even being in their presence for the short time that I was there, but they never got into a game.
But like I said, I'm proud I got the shot. I'm proud I was on the roster at all. And it was also really weird because the Mohegan Native American tribe owns the Mohegan Sun and the Connecticut Sun WNBA team. So they actually had a stadium at the casino. So the whole thing was just bizarre and awesome and kind of a funny memory at this point.
[GEOFF MEARNS]
Yeah. And so it was after that experience that you turned your focus to business. Tell us a little bit about where you went next.
[KATE DOERKSEN]
Well, I remember debating whether I should go back to Indiana and continue to run the business that I had started through the entrepreneurship program, but with full intention to do that as my career after graduation. It was an online recruiting platform for college sports. You kind of do what you know, and I had some investments and clients, and I was going to go back and run that business from Indianapolis.
But through the AD at the time, who was Bubba Cunningham, or someone on his team had actually sent me an invitation to participate in a job fair in New York. And it was like, all expenses paid. So at the time, I was broke and just wanted to go to New York. Wasn't taking the job fair part too seriously.
So my roommate and I went out to New York and I think something got a little bit crossed there because it wasn't a job fair. It was investment banking interviews, which are notoriously tough. And I remember going into the first few and just getting chewed up so badly, I had no idea what investment banking was or what I was doing. [laughs]
But about halfway through the day I realized, man, this is going to be a long day if I continue on this trajectory. So I just stopped and I asked this woman, I said, “You're not going to hire me because I literally don't even know what investment banking is. But can you please tell me some of these answers because I have a few more of these,” and as fate would have it, I ended up getting one offer the last one of the day to go work at Citi.
And so, I spent two years on Wall Street doing mergers and acquisitions. And I'm really glad I picked that because I think it really just sort of broadened my horizons. I started having friends that were from all over the world. I was doing deals with big companies all over the world. I think it really also gave me a lot of confidence. I wasn't sure how I would stack up against the Ivy League kids that were also in that program. But I realized I actually know accounting and finance from my business degree, so it worked out pretty well and I felt really competitive there. And I think, too, that also propelled me to think a little bit bigger about what my entrepreneurial ambitions might be. And so that's kind of how it all got started.
[GEOFF MEARNS]
And so, as a result of the confidence that you had from that experience, that professional experience, coupled with the confidence you built as a student and an entrepreneur and an athlete, you applied to Stanford for the MBA program. What prompted you then to seek an MBA from that, you know, pretty prestigious institution?
[KATE DOERKSEN]
Well, part of it was I had to get out of finance. Finance was grueling. I was working 100 hour weeks. It was, it just wasn't my calling. I learned a ton. I'm grateful for the experience, but I knew I had to be an operator. So I figured it was time. You know, when you're in your mid twenties, it's kind of a great time to start a company because you don't have dependents, you don't need a lot of money for a while. So I definitely felt called to try to start something, and I figured if I could get into business school, what a cool opportunity to start something while I'm there and was lucky enough to get into Stanford. Obviously that was a dream for an entrepreneur to be able to go to the West Coast and be just enriched with stories upon stories of people that had started businesses.
And so I went to Stanford to start a retail tech company that solves some of the issues that I had been studying from these groups that I had been working with. And I hit the ground there pretty determined to leave with a funded business, partially because I didn't have enough money to pay back Stanford and not have a salary for a while. So I knew that I had to kind of get both of those done at once. So I moved all my classes to a few days and really worked on my business seriously while I was there and started it in between my first and second year of business school.
[GEOFF MEARNS]
So tell us about that company. What was it called and what did you do through that business?
[KATE DOERKSEN]
So, at Citi and then through a private equity job that I had before business school, I had worked with a variety of retail businesses and had just this sinking sensation that many of their problems could be solved with technology. And so I got really interested in retail tech and went deep on that in my first year of Stanford and ultimately focused on the idea that the categories where fit is really important to the purchase were the worst PALs— profit and loss, like it was a tough business to actually make work because they're hard to sell online. If someone's not sure if they have the confidence around the fit issue, returns are really high. So, we wanted to build the first 3D augmented reality technology to solve for fit. And the original pitch was let's start with glasses and then let's move into shoes and women's apparel. And as the story goes, it was a wild ride and we never got past eyewear 11 years later. But we did build the best technology to see if glasses fit you online and we can analyze your face and tell you your measurements and one of the reasons that’s so key is because you can get so much better value if you are able to buy glasses online. And the more I got to know this industry, the more I realized how crazy it is that glasses cost as much as they do and how little accessibility there is around vision care, which is such a necessity for a good life. There are over a billion people in the world that need simple glasses to be able to see better and don't have access to them.
So these … the more I learned, I just felt like, wow, I have got to do something here now. So I started that business with two incredibly talented engineers, Sergei and Dmitri. We were kind of an odd trio, but there you have it. And really, if you would have asked me that, I would have said, “We're going to be on the very traditional startup journey. We're going to raise a lot of venture capital money and we're going to grow like crazy and we're going to be a billion-dollar unicorn.” I probably would have used all that obnoxious language, but what really happened is right after launch, we got hit with several lawsuits, including patent troll cases that really kicked us off of our trajectory that we were on and we weren't able to fundraise properly.
Truly, that's a story that probably needs a beer and a couple hours. But needless to say, we hung in there, we fought like crazy, we ultimately turned Ditto into a success and I was able to sell the business last year.
[GEOFF MEARNS]
So for those of us who are English majors, what is a patent troll and how were you able to overcome that challenge to making your business viable?
[KATE DOERKSEN]
A patent troll, in its most classic sense is a non-practicing entity, meaning a lawyer that doesn't actually represent clients who goes out and acquires patents for the purpose of suing—usually a lot of people at the same time. So they'll get a very broad patent and then sue hundreds of people. Usually it's an extortion game, where they'll be happy to settle with you for slightly less than what it would take you to beat them in court.
And so the more you learn about this, honestly, the more frustrating it becomes. And so much so that I spent time advocating for patent reform and had the opportunity to lobby in Congress. And some of those changes have now been enacted; some of them have not. The other one was a company in our sector that really did not want to see us succeed. So we were kind of getting it on both sides.
And, you know, it's brutal for entrepreneurship. This is why entrepreneurship is not for the faint of heart. You do not control all the variables and things can happen that are completely outside of your control. But I remember sitting in the car with one of my co-founders, Sergei, after a pretty brutal meeting with our attorneys, where they recommended we give up. And I could just remember crying. And, you know, we had already poured two years into this thing, and we had hired this amazing team and we were so thoughtful about the culture and the product. And we really felt like we were on the cusp of something. And I just remember we kind of looked at each other and decided, “Well, we're not going to go down without swinging.”
And so, we just decided to be super scrappy. So, I ended up not taking a salary for two years. There were some immigrants on our team, and we knew that it wasn't really a safe … we could go out of business at any moment, so we helped them find other jobs that were safer. We started a Kickstarter that said “I beat trolls” and we sold t-shirts, so we made $20,000 in t-shirts that said “I beat trolls.” We pivoted our U.S. business a few times, including to, like, the first subscription program for glasses. So, we raised money in weird ways for ten years, including from strategic ambassadors—so our clients, basically. And in exchange for the money, we would give them exclusivity in their geography. So, we really bobbed and weaved our way through this. And I learned so much. I mean, I don't know if it was the commercial success I would have dreamt of at start, but it was a very rich experience. I wouldn't change for anything.
[GEOFF MEARNS]
Yeah. So you mentioned just a moment ago, so what do you think are the lessons that you learned that maybe you would want to share with other people who are listening?
[KATE DOERKSEN]
You've got to keep fighting for what you believe in. I was able to rally our team around this issue and, you know, nothing unites like a common enemy. That's certainly helped. But also, I think we really felt like what we were building was special. We were able to create that sort of culture magic where we were passionate and gritty and making it work.
And I do think it is, at some point, just about a willingness to stay in the fight and survive long enough to outlast everybody else. I think one way that I was able to last so long also was detaching my own self-worth from the day-to-day success of a company, which is so hard for entrepreneurs to do. But I was not afraid to fail. And I think that, too, also helped me avoid founder fatigue or the burnout that often can accompany such a rollercoaster ride. And, you know, I think too, we found creative ways time and time again to move forward. And I learned so much about negotiation. I learned so much about how to weave through obstacles to make it to the other side and survive another day.
And a lot of times it is just about market timing. And again, we lasted long enough and the pandemic was actually very good for our business because stores closed and people needed to move online, and our business really started taking off through the pandemic as we were able to capitalize on those macro trends and ultimately, you know, sold the business.
My whole team is still working there. I’m now leading revenue for a global team that is comprised of my company, Ditto … they [Luna] also acquired a technology company in Israel that has the world's first online refraction, which is another pain point if you're trying to buy eyewear online, you don't know your prescription and you don't know if they're going to fit.
So we just realized that we could change the whole industry if we kind of combined forces. And so I was more focused on changing the industry than I was necessarily having to be the one in control.
[GEOFF MEARNS]
Yeah. And so the company you're now with is Luna and you're the head of revenue. What is head of revenue? What is—what does that entail?
[KATE DOERKSEN]
Running a big sales team. So, we sell our technology to other retailers, doctors that sell glasses and contacts and vision care. So, we have a big global sales team. We have a global—we call it client success, but it's sort of like account management. We do marketing and partnerships. So that's kind of the scope of what I work on now.
Although at a company that's fast growing and technology driven to do all those things, you are deeply embedded into product and you are deeply embedded into engineering. And most of those people were on my team before. So it is a transition for me personally, but I'm enjoying just having new challenges and I feel like I've had a lot of growth in the last year as I manage a global team for the first time and some of the way to go through a merger, it's just it's been really interesting, really fulfilling. And so I plan to stick around for a while longer.
[GEOFF MEARNS]
Yeah. So in addition to a pretty busy business life, professional life, you're also the mother of two young children. Can you tell us a little bit about your young family?
[KATE DOERKSEN]
Yes. I have two beautiful, healthy children, so I'm so lucky. My daughter Grace is six. My son Calvin is four. So my husband and I, we went out to dinner the other day and it was actually enjoyable and we kind of high fived afterwards. And we're like, “We made it! We've made it! We're through the diaper era!” So I'm trying to be very cognizant that these years are limited and they'll go fast. And we're just, like, in a wonderful sort of sweet spot now. But certainly young parenthood is a lot of work, any way you slice it or dice it.
[GEOFF MEARNS]
Yeah, how do you balance it? How do you make sure that you're present not just physically present, but emotionally present when you're around your children, when you have such a busy, you know, career and responsibility?
[KATE DOERKSEN]
Well, like probably most working mothers, sometimes better than others.
But I think the family is so important, and that's how I was raised that I do prioritize family dinner and I want to have great relationships with my children. I want to coach their basketball teams. So that's really important. And you make time for what's important, that’s just what it is. But sometimes that means you are working weird hours and doing all sorts of crazy stuff. I'm also, I have to say, extremely privileged. I have an au pair from Columbia who lives here and helps me, which is tremendously helpful as I travel. So that's certainly part of how to make it all work is a lot of help.
[GEOFF MEARNS]
So did you save the Pistol Pete Maravich, you know, VHS tapes for your two children?
[KATE DOERKSEN]
I absolutely still have them. I do not have a VHS player anymore, so I will have to figure out how to get them streaming. But yes, Grace and Cal will be well versed on Pistol Pete before it's all said and done.
[GEOFF MEARNS]
That's wonderful. So and you also said earlier you stay in touch with your own family and your friends back in Evansville. And in fact, recently just in November, you were back here in Indiana on our campus for your first meeting as the newest member of our Ball State University Foundation Board. And grateful that you said yes to that invitation.
What made you decide to say yes to that request to serve here at the university?
[KATE DOERKSEN]
I am always fascinated by well-run organizations and in my experience of Ball State, both being there and as an alum, Ball state is just well-run. It's got great fundamentals, it's got great value, great culture. I'm super impressed with you and your team and how you've managed to execute a plan for growth through hard years and through a pandemic.
So all of that just was inspiring. I felt like this is an organization I want to continue to support with my own talents. I also think I can learn a lot, so I'm so grateful to be asked to be on the board. It was an easy yes.
[GEOFF MEARNS]
Great. Well, thank you for your kind words and thank you for your service. And that really leads to my final question. And as you know, it's… because you've listened to a couple of the podcasts … it's the question that I ask all of the guests who've graciously agreed to serve here, you know, and it's about Beneficence, which is our institutional icon, and it's a tangible, visible reminder of our university's culture and perhaps more importantly, our enduring values, the enduring values that have distinguished Ball State for more than 100 years.
And it means the act of doing good, of serving others. So, Kate, would you tell us what does beneficence mean to you?
[KATE DOERKSEN]
I think beneficence is about great values. It's about working hard. It's about working honest. It's about trying to use whatever skills I was given— talents, gifts, great family to make a difference in the world … trying to be better over time, not being complacent. I think on a personal level, it's about building an organization that can change an industry for the better.
It's about trying to make vision care affordable for everyone. I'm involved with our nonprofit, which we call Vision to The People, where we give away our technology for free, and we partner with local NGOs in the developing world to make sure that we can provide refractions and glasses for the billion people that have visual impairment and where a pair of glasses would utterly change their life. So that's something I'm very passionate about.
I also think it's just simpler than that too, and it's about building a company with a great culture where we do our best to do things right and to care about people that work on our team so that they can have a good life and provide for their family and create that good ecosystem of what a really healthy Silicon Valley company and culture looks like.
I know, you know, I read and I don't know how much all of that's true since I haven't been on those teams, but there's certainly a perception of a very “bro”-y culture of, you know, and I think we're watching some of that play out in the news here about what that leadership looks like. And I'd like to believe it can be done differently, even at scale.
And so that's something that really motivates me, in terms of what would it look like to do this in the healthy Ball State-ish kind of way? And I also think it is even when you're busy, even a mom with little kids, it's about prioritizing other people outside of your immediate circle. So I've been a big sister with Big Brothers Big Sisters since I was 19, and I got involved with that actually in Muncie. And my little sister still lives in Muncie, and I try to donate my time and my money to organizations that I believe can make the world better, one of which is Ball State.
[GEOFF MEARNS]
Well, that's wonderful. So, Kate, thank you so much for sharing your Ball State story, your experience with us. And thank you again for your service to the University and to our Foundation. Thank you.
[KATE DOERKSEN]
Thank you so much for having me. It’s an honor.