This Is Your Window: Kate Gallego on Betting on Herself When Life Was Falling Apart

What if your opportunity arrives at the exact moment you feel least prepared to take it?

When Kate Gallego considered running for mayor of Phoenix, she was pregnant, navigating a highly public divorce, and watching deeply personal details of her life become national news. From within that experience, it felt as though everyone was watching… and judging.

Her friends saw something different. They told her this was her window, reminded her why she was the right person for the job, and built the support system that made saying yes possible.

In this episode of Carry As You Climb, Kate joins Nan Whaley for a candid conversation about stepping into the spotlight before life feels neatly resolved, learning that voters cared more about what she could build than what had fallen apart, and allowing a painful season to shape more compassionate public policy.

Her lesson: leadership does not require a perfect life or complete self-sufficiency. Sometimes courage means betting on yourself - and letting other people help you carry what comes next.

Conversation Highlights

• Your hardest season does not disqualify you: Kate shares how friends helped her see an opening she was prepared to dismiss because her personal life did not look the way she thought a candidate’s should.
• The story feels bigger from inside the bubble: what she learned after months of reading coverage of her divorce…and discovering that Phoenix voters were far more interested in what she planned to accomplish.
• Asking for help can make you a stronger leader: why becoming mayor as a new mother forced Kate to release the expectation that she should solve and carry everything herself.
• Personal experience can become public purpose: how one extraordinarily difficult year influenced her work on paid parental leave, early-childhood investment, cancer care, and women’s health.

Resources Mentioned:

• Accelerator for America
• The United States Conference of Mayors
• EMILYs List
• Berkeley Institute for Security and Governance — the UC Berkeley center founded and led by Janet Napolitano
• Phoenix's $50 million investment in ASU Health, home of the John Shufeldt School of Medicine and Medical Engineering
• "I Hope You Dance" — Lee Ann Womack
• "Standing Outside the Fire" — Garth Brooks

About Our Guest: Kate Gallego is the mayor of Phoenix, Arizona, and the second woman elected to lead the city. After joining the Phoenix City Council in 2014, she resigned her seat to run for mayor and won a 2019 special election before securing reelection in 2020 and 2024. Her leadership has included investments in early-childhood education, paid parental leave, climate resilience, bioscience, and expanded medical education. She co-chairs the Accelerator for America Advisory Council, previously chaired Climate Mayors, and holds degrees from Harvard University and the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

About the Host: Nan Whaley is a longtime community leader and public servant. She's currently the CEO of Planned Parenthood of Southwest Ohio. She served as Mayor of Dayton, Ohio, from 2014 - 2022. Nan has also presided over the United Conference of Mayors. She's a feminist, daughter, aunt, sister, and friend.

About the Show: Carry As You Climb focuses on elevating the voices of women in leadership from Ohio and across the United States. The podcast features guests who give special attention to not only busting through doors to lead but also holding the door open for more women behind them. In other words, they carry as they climb. We focus on leadership development and leadership lessons. Plus, we share personal experiences to inspire the inclusion of more diverse leaders in business, government, and the nonprofit sector.

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Produced by: Collective Change Communications - Kelly Sakalas & Jeni Keeler

Note: The opinions expressed by host Nan Whaley on this podcast are hers alone and do not represent any organization with which she is affiliated.