Kate

Kate Buckley

Founder & CEO

Kate has 30 years of experience in marketing and business development, and has worked in the domain space since 1998—developing deep expertise in selling and acquiring ultra-premium domains, branding, naming, strategy, and storytelling.

Her background includes big agencies (Gray and Landor) as well as monetizing and developing ultra-premium domains. She is an expert at premium domain consulting and representation, specializing in buying and selling ultra-premium .COMs. She consistently racks up top domain sales on the DN Journal Sales Chart, including multiple 7 figure sales. In 2019, she brokered the 7-figure sale of Chocolate.com; in  2021, she sold eBike.com for 7 figures and continues to make chart-topping sales, both publicly and privately (most high-end domain sales are under NDA). She founded Defining.com (formerly Buckley Media) to provide a new standard of professionalism, expertise, ethics and results within the domain industry.

Kate excels at analyzing an organization’s critical requirements, understanding both who a brand is now, and who they want to be when they grow up—devising the resources, stories and strategies to bridge that gap. She’s a strong communicator who can identify deficiencies and opportunities, and develop innovative, creative and effective solutions for engaging consumers and enhancing competitiveness.

Kate graduated with honors from the University of Kentucky with a BA in Advertising/PR/ Communications. She also holds an MFA in Creative Writing (Spalding University), and is a Certified Professional Coach and Corporate Trainer (LCIOC), Public Speaker (AMA), and accomplished artist, award-winning poet and author.

She’s a regular speaker and panelist on the domain industry and branding, including keynoting NamesCon Global; has been published by The Business Journals, Forbes, and other key publications, and has been interviewed or profiled by DNJournal, Domain Name Wire, Domain Sherpa Review, Domainer Show, Hooked on Startups, Internet Commerce Association (ICA), Kickstart Commerce, TheDomainShow.com, and more. 

Kate is also a member of the Forbes Business Council and was most recently named to the Forbes Next 1000. A proud member of the ICA, Defining.com is also a member of ICANN Business Constituency where Kate serves on the Credentials Committee.