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Kate Merker '98 Woman's Day Food and Nutrition Director What do you do for a living? I run the food department at Woman's Day magazine. It's among the oldest national women's lifestyle magazines still being published, with over 20 million readers each month. I oversee all of the editorial content related to food that appears in the magazine, on the website, and other platforms. Were you always interested in food and nutrition? I have always been interested in food, but I didn't know I wanted to make it my career until my junior year of college. Growing up, everything important in my family happened in the kitchen or at a table, eating—food was always involved. I took an anthropology seminar at Yale, and as we spoke about how one could determine the hierarchy of a group of people by understanding the serving and eating of a particular meal, I realized that food was not only my family's connecting thread, but so many others' as well. I decided then and there that I wanted to work in the food industry. e next step was simply figuring out where and how. What are your main responsibilities? What is your favorite part of the job? I oversee the conception and execution of all of the food pages that appear in Woman's Day each month. is includes developing and editing recipes and story text; overseeing the test kitchen; coordinating freelance writers, recipe testers, registered dietitians, and nutritionists; and prepping food stylists for our food-related photography. My favorite part of the job is where our recipes end up—on someone's table. e idea that there are families all over this country sitting down to dinner together and that I may have played a small role in their meal through a recipe is by far the best part of my job. It's what drew me to this field in the first place. What does a typical day or week look like? I get asked this question by every person I interview to join my team, and I say the same thing each time: No day ever looks the same. Because we work three months ahead of time to meet deadlines, it means that we are working on two to three issues at a time and things can change direction at any moment. On a Monday, I may spend half the day in the kitchen developing a couple of recipes, followed by attending an art meeting to discuss an upcoming cover idea. Tuesday I could be on a photo shoot and Wednesday could be filled with reporting and editing. Monthly tasks repeat themselves because that's what each story requires, but no one day is the same as another. You were a highly regarded athlete at Trevor. In fact, Mirko Cavar has a photograph of you in his office. What sports do you like to play or watch? Athletics are a huge part of who I am and why the philosophy of a team is so important to me. at all started in the after-school programs at e Day School. I grew up playing many sports, but soccer, basketball, and softball were—and still are—among my favorites. Besides those three, however, there is one other sport that really makes me smile. Mirko helped me secure one of the highest paying jobs I ever had as a student. Because of his curriculum (and the fact that I could remember it), I became the lead team handball instructor at a summer camp. Truth be told, there wasn't much competition, but knowing that such a game existed got me the interview! What is your proudest achievement? My son is my best creation. It wasn't until I became a parent that I really understood what pride and joy felt like together. And it is an incredible feeling. As a new mother, you must be very busy with Julius. Do you have any passions or hobbies you like to participate in when you get free time? I played basketball until I became pregnant, and while I haven't hit the court on a team since then, I have a few invitations to join some leagues. Danielle, my wife, and I love to hike, climb, and just be outdoors. If we can throw some music into the mix, it's

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