Caitlin Tye and the GSC Executives Team
12 March 2026
46m 3s
PTSD in the Boardroom: Leading Through Trauma, with Katherine Hernandez
00:00
46:03
The GSC Executives Podcast
"I came to and I was in intensive care and it was awful. I remember every single second, feel and smell, emotion."
Six years ago, Katherine Hernandez had emergency open heart surgery. Nobody warned her about the PTSD that followed. For 18 months, she worked through clinical depression and anxiety whilst running a regional portfolio of 14,000+ homes—and told no one at work. Then she started talking about it. Things got lighter.
In this episode, Katherine pulls no punches about what actually happens when you lead with ADHD, recover from major trauma, and try to convince politicians that housing isn't charity—it's infrastructure with a proven £2-for-£1 economic multiplier.
You'll hear about:
- Why Katherine's never had a five-year plan (and how ADHD turned out to be her competitive edge, not her limitation)
- The hospital discharge pilot that cut NHS stays by 99 days and saved £1.4 million—then lost its funding anyway
- What her team did when colleagues couldn't get to work during the 2024 riots because they were people of colour
- The real barriers to DEI conversations (spoiler: it's fear, and Katherine's got a strategy for it)
- Why "customers are at the heart of everything we do" is usually bollocks, and what it actually takes to mean it
Katherine grew up in social housing. Later, when she needed it again, it was there. That lived experience shapes how she leads—from her management team to her board seat at Railway Housing Association, where they're gunning for #1 in UK tenant satisfaction.
If you've ever wondered whether you can be a regional director with ADHD, whether vulnerability belongs in the executive suite, or why housing keeps getting politically sidelined despite the numbers, this conversation will give you answers. Uncomfortable ones, sometimes. But Katherine's not here to make you comfortable.
Perfect for executives in housing, construction, property development, and anyone building leadership cultures that actually work for humans—messy, complicated, brilliant humans.
Read more about Katherine on our website:
https://gscexecutives.com/insights/
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