Favourite things
THE AGE Sydney Morning Herald / Good Weekend Journalist: By Dani Valent

July 14, 2007

Kate is dressed by Hugo Boss. Photo: Sharyn Cairns

Kate Kay
Shoeshiner

Barber Chair
Late one night in 2005, Kate Kay decided to start a business. She was seven months pregnant with her second child and worked as a recruitment agent; she'd previously cared for dying children and trained as a sign language interpreter. Shining shoes wasn't on the radar - until her midnight epiphany. "I can't be the only person who loves getting their shoes shined," thought the fastidious footwear fiend. Six months later, the 1950's Belmont chair became the centrepiece of her shoeshine shop in Melbourne's Rialto Towers. She spotted the vinyl and chrome beauty in a nearby clothing store and fawned over it so enthusiastically the owner offered it to her. CEO's, developers and bankers - 95% of them men – sit in the chair to get their shoes renovated while Kay soaks up their advice ("Don't do business with bad people") and the gossip. "It's like a confessional," she says. "Wait for the book!"

Donald Trump books
“Some people think it’s hilarious that I have his books, but I’d never run a business in my life. I feel like I have a lot to learn,” she says. She likes the way many of Trump’s decisions are instinctive. “I run my business that way, too, so it’s quite an affirmation.” How to Get Rich taught her to get things down on paper, to cross your T’s and dot your I’s”. Now Trump 101 is helping Kay with speaking skills and personalising her pitches. Would she like to meet The Donald? “You bet,” she says firmly. “I’d ask him if he’d like his shoes shined.”

Briefcase
Her shoes are immaculate but Kate Kay’s leather briefcase is battered and scratched. It belonged to her grandfather, Ronald Kay, a rep for Schweppes and Tarax soft drinks who died when she was six. The briefcase lived in Kate’s father’s study and, when she was 12, he gave it to her. “I thought it was so beautiful. I hid it from my brothers in case they carried on about it,” she says. It got an airing the next year when she applied for a paper-round job. “I had to go to the newsagent to hand in my CV or something. Can you imagine?” She’s carried it to every job interview or presentation since as a practical good-luck charm and treasured connection to her grandfather. GW