Ruth and her friend Kathi Bankes are seen celebrating at last year’s Athena Awards. As the recipient of the 2020 Athena Award, Ruth will present the 2021 Award to Kathi at The Greater Wyoming Valley Chamber’s Epic Awards on Tuesday.
Submitted
Click here to subscribe today or Login.
As the recipient of the 2020 Athena Award, I will present the 2021 Award to Kathi Bankes at The Greater Wyoming Valley Chamber’s Epic Awards on Tuesday. The Athena honors women who excel in their chosen field, devote time and energy to their community, and help other women attain their full potential.
Kathi is extremely deserving of this honor. She is someone I’ve always admired and cherished as a friend. Although we grew up in different parts of the state, we have similar backgrounds and our paths have crossed many times throughout our careers. I always respected her strong work ethic, family-first mentality, and can-do attitude.
Kathi came from a huge family. She is the oldest of nine children. Because of the sheer size of her family and her status as the oldest, she naturally took the role of caregiver to her siblings. As I only had one sibling, she definitely had a tougher upbringing than me and I’m sure lost many carefree childhood years to caring for her family.
Kathi and I both had a “tough love” style upbringing. She once told me the story of coming home from school one day in a bad mood. At dinner, her dad asked her, “What’s your issue; you have had a miserable face on since you walked in the door.” Kathy told him she was sad because a girl at school had a different pair of shoes to go with each outfit. He told Kathi, “So do you. You have one outfit and one pair of shoes, so be thankful for what you have.”
Today, Kathi is thankful for all she has, and she focuses on the positive every day.
Kathi and I both started working when we were 12 years old, me delivering newspapers and babysitting, while she started out washing dishes and babysitting. By the time I was 14, I was getting up at 3 a.m. to walk downtown to our local doughnut shop to help finish doughnuts, before opening the shop to customers and working the register from 6 to 7 a.m. Then, I would walk home to shower and run to school.
I haven’t stopped working since. My jobs have run the gamut from working as a shoe sales clerk, a waitress, a bartender, in retail security, as a bank teller, and much more. As I began to build my career, I worked my way up through banking into marketing. In 2000, I started my own marketing company, Corcoran Communication. I also opened a restaurant, Cork, which I operated for 10 years, before selling.
Similarly, Kathi has worked non-stop from a young age. Through her high school years, she worked before and after school for the unemployment office. Her career path includes working in every aspect of the restaurant business, working for Nestle, as a sales rep for Anheuser-Busch, where she became the first woman locally to run a route and eventually become national accounts manager, working as director of sales for Genetti’s, and finally accepting a job with Metz. She now holds the position of Director of Catering and Events at Culinary Creations by Metz & Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse.
In addition to her love for her work, Kathi’s love for the community is apparent. This is another thing we have in common. She works tirelessly on behalf of many non-profit organizations, volunteering, raising funds, serving on boards and committees, and helping to organize events. Kathi is a go-to when you need a hand. “No” is not in her vocabulary.
Kathi and I are both proof that hard work and focus will help you reach your goals. Neither of us has a formal degree, although I’ve taken a ton of college courses on everything from information systems to marketing, and even law enforcement. I always preferred the school of hard knocks and learning handson through work as opposed to sitting in a classroom. Kathi is the same. While she took some hospitality-related courses, she never had the opportunity to attend college, but that has not stopped her from achieving.
We were also both divorced young mothers who had to work multiple jobs while raising our children on our own. We both worked full-time while working odd jobs on the side to make ends meet. I had a gift basket business that I ran out of my home to help earn extra cash, while also working both full and parttime jobs. Kathi had her own twirling and dance studio on the side while holding down other jobs as well. It was through hard work and determination that we both overcame the obstacles and persevered.
Kathi is the proud mother of three great kids and a grandmother to five with a sixth on the way. We may seem unlikely award-winners, because we are not highly educated CEOs; however, no one is more deserving of the Athena Award than Kathi. It will be my great pleasure to hand it off to her, because she deserves the accolades for a lifetime of hard work and giving back. I am proud to call her my friend.
***
Ruth Corcoran is a professional marketer, former restaurant owner, and community advocate. She resides in Bear Creek. Readers can reach Ruth by emailing [email protected].