Kate Rau has a plan to take Flow Cape Town to new heights. The unflappable Kate recently joined the Cape Town team as its manager and, in true Flow style, walked in with her sleeves rolled up.
A journalist by profession, Kate’s first job was as a reporter for Alex News, a newspaper that is distributed in Alexandra, Johannesburg. One of the reasons she studied journalism was because of her insatiable curiosity.
“I have a deep desire to know,” she says. Over the past four years her desire to “know everything” has led her from being a content writer to an ever-expanding role in Flow, dealing with clients and making sure they are satisfied with the services we provide.
Coming to Cape Town was a natural progression for Kate, after honing her skills at Flow HQ in Johannesburg. She ended up managing a range of clients, including the Nelson Mandela Foundation, Maropeng, Fair Trade Tourism, the work with the travel trade Flow does with South African Tourism and Jaci’s Lodges. Her clients will be pleased to know that she will continue working with them, with the help of her fellow Flowstars.
Kate the Great – as she is known – exudes calm, says Flow strategist Kevin Collins. He says Kate has grown into her position at Flow “like a sunflower, with brightness and a calm radiance”.
Kate’s calm manner and enthusiasm have already manifested in Cape Town, says Flow’s Cape Town project manager, Leanne Pohlmann.
“We are delighted to have Kate the Great as our new manager, a perfect fit for our Cape Town team. We love her solution-driven approach to issues and adore the fact that she wants us to eat organic vegetables,” Leanne says.
Kate is one of the healthiest Flowstars. One of her great passions is yoga and earlier this year she qualified as a yoga teacher. A brave, restless soul, she does yoga to balance herself, she says.
Leaving Johannesburg was difficult because she was leaving behind communities, colleagues, work, home and yoga. But she is looking forward to belonging to communities in Cape Town.
Kate says she knew that for further growth, she had to apply for the position of Cape Town manager, a decision she says was the correct one, even though she waited a few days after the ad went up before applying. “I wanted to be sure, because if I was going to apply, getting the job was going to be the only option for me. I felt and understood that I had to do this, that this would be a good fit for me.”
She describes working for Flow as like being back at school, with constant learning and incredible growth. She equates the amount of learning to when she spent four years completing her degree in journalism at the University of Johannesburg.
Because the company prioritises people (Flow stands by its value that people are its most important asset), it grows from the inside out. So when this opportunity became available, it had to be someone in Flow, Kate says.
“I love Flow. Flow is like a relationship; I have had times of support and growth,” she says.
Her plans for the Cape Town office include getting new business. The city has many niche sectors and, when compared to Johannesburg, it is an emerging market with many possibilities, she says. “We are an agency that has the ability to cater to Cape Town. We offer tailor-made communications and innovative activations. We have the ability and the skills.”
Kate sees Flow Cape Town as ever-evolving and able to service a niche market. The opportunities in Cape Town are endless, she says. “The infrastructure for growth is great.
“I moved to Cape Town. That is how much I believe in this city.”
