Women In Design feat. Cat How

Meet Cat How, the Founder, CEO, and Creative Director at How&How—a global branding agency with offices in London, Lisbon, and LA. Cat is a former journalist, a Central Saint Martins alumna, and a champion of salary transparency and gender pay equality. She’s a mentor for Women in Tech, a judge for Design Week and ADC*E Awards, and a speaker at universities, summits, and conferences worldwide

The purpose of article series ‘Women In Design’ is to feature, showcase and share the reality of being a woman in design. We gather and showcase stories, career journeys, as well as advice and wisdom. 

Could you please introduce yourself as well as your background?

Hey! I’m Cat How. I’m Founder, CEO and Creative Director at How&How—a global branding agency with offices in London, Lisbon and LA. I’m a former journalist; and studied at Central Saint Martins and set up How&How in 2020. My agency works with climate-tech brands, champions salary transparency and gender pay equality. I have set up pro-bono climate initiatives, such as GetSet, and am a mentor for Women in Tech. I have judged Design Week and ADC*E Awards, and have spoken about entrepreneurship, creativity and running your own business at Universities, summits and conferences around the world. I also love to wear ginormous earrings.

What are 5 “stand-out things” you’ve learned that you’d like to pass on to your peers as well as the future generation of talent within your sector?

Good question! So I would probably say the following…

1. When starting out: create the work you want to do in the future. So, in other words, be your own first client and produce the work of the sort of client that you want to work with in the future. Then you start to craft, shape and curate your folio of work that is bespoke to you.
2. Work hard and be nice to people. Nuff said.
3. Simplicity is key. It’s important to always cut the faff wherever you can. A simple idea (that is difficult to get to), instead of 10 other ones that are easy. If you add something in your business (a meeting, a new process etc), then you should always look at taking something away. Streamline wherever possible.
4. Ambition shapes reality. You do have the power to build the future of your company, of your life…. It is not handed to you. I really believe that you get out what you put in. Bill Gates once said that “success is 1% dreaming and 99% doing”. That is a mantra of mine.
5. Never forget to make people laugh. It’ll do wonders for your work… and your personal life 🙂

If you’re inspired by the stories and wisdom shared in our ‘Women In Design’ series and would like to contribute your own experiences, we’d love to hear from you. Creatives at all levels, please email Olivia and your story could be the next we feature.