Credit: E Michael Wolf

Kate wears
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Nataša wears
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In the spirit of TAG Heuer’s Link Lady campaign, GRAZIA recently embarked on a mission to celebrate the virtue and nuances of strong working relationships between Australian women. In a series of conversations, we brought together women from disparate walks of life to discuss the merits of mentorship, strategies for never cracking under pressure, and how to navigate the journey toward success in spectacular style.

For Kate Peck, the model turned television host, the road less travelled has always been the more interesting – and often the only – one.

“When I was younger I always wanted to be a pilot,” Peck recalls in conversation recently at Sydney’s QT Hotel, “So I learned how to fly a plane before I could drive a car.” That approach is largely indicative of Peck’s all-terrain career trajectory, which has seen the once-teenage Search For A Supermodel alumna and noted motoring enthusiast parlay an early brush with life in front of the camera into a career as one of Australian media’s most affable on-air talents. Considering the temperament of the local media landscape, that’s certainly no small feat.

Peck credits much of what she has achieved over the last decade to persistence, preparation and failure, an unexpected trifecta from which she has gleaned a great number of invaluable life lessons. “The advice I would give my younger self is to stand up for myself and others a bit more,” says Peck. “It takes a lot of confidence and courage to do that, so I would tell myself to buck up and say what you’re thinking as opposed to just being a wallflower.”

It’s that style of no-holds-barred advice that Peck is now dispensing in a much greater capacity thanks to her role as a mentor and creative director of I-Manifest, a charity founded four years ago by Jo Pretyman that aims to start a creative education revolution through building “a school of the future”. The NGO’s founding mission is to advance the empowering of underprivileged youth looking to foster careers in the creative industries for whom conventional education frameworks – traditional classrooms and curricula – are no longer resonating. I-Manifest links eager Australian youth with a community of mentors and industry leaders to deliver students with applicable ‘future ready’ skills as identified by the World Economic Forum – think curiosity, leadership, and keen sense of cultural and social awareness.

“I love mentoring because I can impart some of what I’ve learned over the years,” says Peck. As part of her involvement with I-Manifest, Peck’s has been linked with her new protégé, Nataša Drača. Through their ongoing collaboration, Drača has taken the first steps toward learning the fundamentals of on-air presenting through the most effective means possible: practice, and the invaluable experience that only mentorship can provide.

“I didn’t have a mentor when I was younger,” says Peck. “I still don’t have one and I’d love one. So if I can be that to someone else then that would be really special.”

Tell us who inspires you and you could win a work of art. Head here for more information.

VIDEO PRODUCTION:
Motion and imagery: E Michael Wolf
Talent: Kate Peck and Nataša Drača
Location: QT Hotel Sydney CBD

Tile and cover image: Don Arnold/WireImage
Produced in association with TAG Heuer