The Power Of One

Kath Koschel has faced injury and heartbreak, but she wouldn’t change a thing about her incredible journey, she tells Tiffany Dunk.

- Tiffany Dunk

Walking on stage to deliver the opening speech at a packed conference in Los Angeles last April, Kath Koschel wasn’t feeling particularly nervous. But as she started to share her personal story of love, loss and recovery – which had led her to found not-for-profit charity, Kindness Factory – she stumbled for a minute when she realised who was in the crowd.

“I looked off centre and thought, ‘Wow, she looks a lot like Michelle Obama’,” Kath, 31, recalls of the opening minutes of the 2018 PTTOW! Conference, an annual gathering of inspiring CEOS, CMOs, entrepreneurs, artists and thought leaders aiming to change the world.

“And then I went, ‘Oh yes, it must be because that’s Barack sitting next to her.’ Then I looked to the left and I saw all this yellow and red and I’m like, ‘That’s the Dalai Lama. Holy sh*t, where am I? I’m from a small place in Australia – what am I doing here?’ I had no idea of the calibre of people who would be there.”

It had been a long journey from her humble start back in Oatley, a small suburb in Sydney’s south, where she grew up with three older brothers who shared her passion for all things cricket. Back then, says Kath, she only had one ambition – to play professionally. And in 2010, that dream came true when she was not only recruited to the NSW Breakers, but in a blistering national debut in Adelaide in January the following year, was named player of the match. At 24, Kath was at the top of her game at the only thing she wanted to do in life. But while all the applause was raining down, privately she was facing a terrifying battle.