Alumna Katherine Grill ’10 Speaks to Saints About the Power of Pivoting

At Canterbury, students think a lot about their futures. Where do they want to go to college? What do they want to study there? What career aspirations are they going to work towards? It’s wonderful to have a plan. But alumna Katherine "Katie" Grill ’10 wants teens to remain open to every possibility and have the courage to define success on their own terms.

“These are two things I really believed when I was younger, and they had a big impact on my mental health,” she told students in a recent meeting with the School’s Active Minds Club. “The first is that your career path should be linear, and the second is that success is the key to mental health.”

Katie, a Canterbury die-hard, received an M.S. in Art Therapy from Springfield College and an M.A. in Psychology from American University. By the time she was 20, she had entered a PhD program studying Behavioral Neuroscience. On the outside, everything about her life was on track, but that belied an internal struggle she felt about her career.

“Something didn’t feel quite right,” she said. “Like a puzzle piece that didn’t fully fit. I followed a particular path, even though it didn’t feel aligned with what I really wanted to do. I felt a lot of anxiety about my future.”

In 2017, Katie left academia, moved to San Francisco, and launched a successful mental health startup, Neolth, which raised venture capital and earned awards. Despite this outward success, she once again felt a growing disconnect between her work and her personal values. In 2023, she pivoted again—moving to Los Angeles, starting a consulting firm, and focusing on making mental health education accessible while encouraging young people to embrace unexpected paths.

Katie now works to make mental health education more accessible for young people through conferences and a YouTube series made in partnership with the New Mexico Department of Health. She hopes students can see her career trajectory as proof that the path to success isn’t always straight.

“Over time, I’ve realized that mental health and happiness are tied to having the courage to redefine success,” she said. “What feels right at one stage of life may not feel right later. People often think pivoting means starting over, but it’s really about building on everything you’ve already learned.”

Thank you, Dr. Grill, for taking the time to remind our Saints that success is not always a straight line, but an ever-changing journey. As students continue to explore their own paths, Katie’s message endures: stay open, stay curious, and don’t be afraid to redefine success along the way.