theLAKER | 13 “I trusted my mentor” After graduation, Kate quickly found work as a medical secretary and transcriptionist with St. Ann’s Home in Irondequoit. There, she found a role model for compassion and professionalism in the medical director, Dr. Jim Wood. A few years later, she became a medical transcriptionist at the Lipson Cancer Center at Rochester Regional Health. Working in the presence of cancer patients further developed her sense of compassion. “I took it very seriously, and I was so glad that I trusted my mentor,” Kate explained. “Some people might say, ‘Oh, transcription, how boring. You’re just typing what people say.’” At FLCC, she explained, “We were taught to understand what medical terms meant. A lot of transcriptionists that I met along the way just went through the motions.” Kate tried to understand the cases she was recording. “I am thinking, ‘Well this is happening here and that’s happening there.’ What do I think the diagnosis would be?” A break, a new direction Kate stopped working as soon as her son, Noah, came along. “His presence has been my strength and motivation never to give up,” she added. Still fascinated by medical diagnoses, she wanted to return to the workforce in a wellness profession. Kate enrolled in the Onondaga School of Therapeutic Massage, finding use again for her FLCC medical terminology class. “Most students struggled with medical terms, but I understood all of them,” she said. After passing the state licensing exam in 2008, Kate set to building her brand. She was on the road all day. She rented space in Irondequoit and worked per diem in salons in Greece and Pittsford. She also gave corporate chair massages on the 13th floor of the Clinton Square Building, though she is no fan of downtown Rochester traffic. “This is how literally driven I was,” she joked. “I never, ever even went to a bank to ask for a loan. I started with 50 bucks and a big leap of faith.” In 2013, Kate had accrued enough experience and funds to open Gold Leaf Spa in the Laurelton Professional Building on Helendale Road. A “mompreneur” Kate’s goal in 2026 is to finish the book she started writing a few years ago about her career journey and starting her own business. “It’s all about being a mompreneur,” she said, using the term for moms who are entrepreneurs. “I never gave up on keeping my practice going and it’s just flourished.” The biggest lesson for her, and she hopes, for her future readers, is to stop and reflect. Let your accomplishments serve as the foundation for the next goal. “Over the years, survival mode can become a bad habit. Go ahead and pat yourself on the back, give yourself credit for all the hard work that you’ve done. You have to be your own cheerleader. Nobody loves your business more than you do, right?” Thinking in broader terms, Kate marvels at how her life and career journey have brought her to a place of fulfillment. “I was able to use all of the skills that I learned along the way, as far back as what I studied at CCFL,” she added, referring to the College’s original name, Community College of the Finger Lakes. “Initially, I went to school to get a degree in art, and the outcome is better than I ever could have imagined. I am exactly where I’m supposed to be.” – Lenore Friend Gold Leaf Spa LLC was an Irondequoit Chamber of Commerce featured business of the month in 2022. For more on Gold Leaf Spa, see the Lakers Mean Business feature on the next page.
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