How To Build Community As A Chief of Staff with Cathy Rong
Episode summary:
Cathy Rong, Chief of Staff for Questlove and Founder of Cat Darling Agency, shares how Game Night became a pop-culture phenomenon, why community building runs through everything she does, what it takes to thrive as a Chief of Staff in the entertainment world and how to get a Chief of Staff role in it. Enjoy!
You can connect with Cathy on LinkedIn here!
FULL VIDEO
You can watch the full video of this A Chief of Staff podcast episode here
Episode highlights:
The episode is brought you to by Affinity Travel Co. You can connect with CEO Katherine here to learn more!
01:00: Entering the Chief of Staff World Initially Though A Corporate World & Getting Headhunted
02:30: How to Start a New CoS Role
05:15: Building a Niche Agency at Cat Darling Agency for High‑Net‑Worth Talent Teams
10:00: How To Break Into The Entertainment Sector
16:00: Operational Consulting: Fixing the “Invisible” Systems work through her agency, Cat Darling Agency
20:15: Working on Game Night
23:30: Designing Safe, High-Touch Community Experiences for Talent
28:30: Belonging, Access, and Expanding the Game Ecosystem
30:30: Non-Negotiables, Red Flags, and Self-Advocacy
Episode overview:
In this A Chief of Staff podcast episode, David Nebinski speaks with Cathy Rong, Chief of Staff for Questlove and Founder of Cat Darling Agency, about building a career at the intersection of talent, operations, and community.
Cathy traces her path from the corporate media Chief of Staff world into the entertainment Chief of Staff world, describing seven years across both environments. After being promoted internally to Chief of Staff in corporate, she was ultimately headhunted via a cold email for her role with Questlove, a move she attributes to being loud and clear about wanting a CoS role in entertainment and making herself visible.
She contrasts corporate structure with the messier, more intimate reality of supporting a high-profile artist and a small, 15–20 person mixed professional/personal team. Her first three to six months were intentionally dedicated to learning the industry’s nuances before attempting to optimize anything. Throughout, she emphasizes transferable skills like emotional intelligence and adaptability.
Seeing repeated gaps in how support roles around talent were hired and onboarded, Cathy launched Cat Darling Agency, an ultra-niche firm that only places roles she’s personally done: Executive Assistants, Personal Assistants, and Chiefs of Staff for multi-hyphenate, high net worth individuals. She prioritizes quality over volume, runs mostly on referrals, and often says no to unclear roles or clients with poor reputations. Beyond recruiting, she offers training for both leaders and assistants and stays involved post-placement with one-month check-ins.
Cathy also shares how she and Questlove transformed his informal game nights into a recurring, bi-coastal, celebrity-filled experience, complete with brand partnerships, thoughtful game curation, and highly intentional gift bags all designed to create a safe, camera-free space for genuine connection in entertainment.
Connect with Cathy
You can connect with her on LinkedIn and Instagram and learn more about Cat Darling Agency here.