EP+Co President Kat Shafer is surprised anyone knows she not only helped launch Clemson University’s first varsity rowing team — eventually earning a full scholarship in the sport — but also was Clemson’s first-ever All-ACC women’s rower.
It all seems so long ago for someone whose career took her from Clemson, where she graduated in 2002, to Greenville for a brief stint doing marketing work for a financial services firm, then on to EP+Co as a junior account executive, a move that eventually took her to the agency’s New York City office.
“I started at the bottom and just worked my way up. It only took 20 years,” she says, laughing.
In that time, Shafer remained on the account-management track. After earning an executive MBA from Clemson in 2006, she rose in 2016 to managing director before joining the C-Suite as chief client officer in 2020, a post she held until September 2024. That’s when her mentor, EP+Co founder and former president Allen Bosworth, chose her as his successor.
But while it is now firmly ensconced in Shafer’s past, rowing remains deeply rooted in her heart, molding the ethic that, as EP+Co president, shapes an entire ethos.
“Rowing for Clemson taught me that the best kind of leader is the one who lives by example,” she says. “Even now, I want to stay on the pitch, be in the room, and always be available. It comes down to fully committing to something and consistently working toward the objective.”
Shafer, whose roots extend from Greenville, through Clemson and into northeast Georgia, says the 16 years she spent in EP+Co’s New York office were both fascinating and challenging. And when she returned to Greenville, she enjoyed seeing how the place had grown, and changed.
“I’ve been gone 16 years — eight in Manhattan and eight in New Jersey — and life has changed a lot, as has Greenville,” she says. “It’s a great place to raise a family.”
EP+Co sweet spot
EP+Co, the agency of record for a host of heavy-hitting brands such as Planet Oat, John Deere and Michelin, boasts about 130 employees between its Greenville and New York offices with another 30 in remote roles, Shafer says.
And as tectonic forces continue working on advertising business models great and small, she says EP+Co has found a sweet spot between traditional agency-of-record work and the rising demand for a more transactional, project-based approach demanded by a growing number of clients.
“In our industry, we’ve obviously seen a lot of internal hiring in marketing departments, but that still leads to project work, because those internal teams still outsource aspects of that work,” she says. “It’s more ‘madness’ than ‘Mad Men.’”
Shafer says about 40% of EP+Co’s work is on the project side, with the traditional agency-of-record space taking the other 60%.
“It’s a good, sustainable model for us,” she says.
Today’s marketers, Shafer says, want multiple experts working on different parts of the business, and given EP+Co’s remarkable retention rates (the average executive tenure is 14 years, while employee retention is six years), the agency is built to deliver on every client need.
Shafer says a top priority for her is positioning the agency name — and work — for continued success.
“By the end of 2025, I hope our name is more recognized nationally as we continue delivering for clients in unexpected ways, particularly in the evolving landscape now shaped by (artificial intelligence.)”
As she continues growing into the role of president, Shafer embraces the challenges still found in the everyday work.
“It’s never dull, never boring, and I’ve loved being part of our continuous evolution and transformation,” she says. “And I think of the people here as extensions of my family.”
