during an interview with "soap opera weekly", ward cited anna wintour as inspiration for the character, an "older woman who's had a long career", but she wasn't "of that age yet". of inspirations for the character, she further said: "i draw from aerin lauder, estée lauder's granddaughter, who runs the estée lauder company, and a well-known interior designer named kelly wearstler, who was one of the judges on bravo's top design. what i loved about her was every week she had a completely different look." ward relates more to connie, a "smart girl" who knew what she wanted, than kate who is a "creation" and a "manufactured identity". she stated that "what's sad about connie, and she's learning that as we go along, is she might have been wrong that she had to be kate howard to get where she is. that's what sonny represents for her. you have to be strong and ambitious to accomplish great tasks, but you don't necessarily have to be purely kate howard."