Katie is the woman, warrior, and wellness activist behind WANT: Women Against Negative Talk, a website and initiative that helps women move forward in their lives by giving them tips, tools, insight and inspiration to crush their own negative talk patterns.
WANT was founded out of the realization that there were zero places for women to not only receive inspiration, but actual tools and resources to change their limiting negative talk patterns in a lasting way that works very personally and specifically for them. WANT is what Katie wished she would have had early on when she was first starting to navigate the highs and lows of being human.
Katie is a lover of cinnamon, kale, frosting, and popcorn. She lives and breathes for the expression of love, in all forms. Most recently, Katie was a founding editor of The Chalkboard Mag by Pressed Juicery, one of the leading wellness destinations online. In addition to WANT, Katie’s past life includes performing off-broadway and regionally, recording with Disney, and appearing in both feature films and television as well as national print campaigns. She serves as a proud mentor in the Chrysalis Women’s Empowerment Program to help homeless and underprivileged women in Los Angeles take control of their lives via employment opportunities.
Tell us a little more about W.A.N.T. And why you created it.
WANT is a platform that gives women tips, tools, insight and inspiration to shift around their negative self-talk patterns. WANT was born out of the realization that there were zero outlets that gave women these kinds of solution-oriented tools and resources related to their negative self-talk patterns in a holistic sense. Not as a side note to support someone’s coaching business, not just honing in on body image (although there’s a lot of negative self-talk that shows up around our bodies, and some great people and brands addressing that!) – a platform that recognized the ways that negative self-talk shows up around our bodies, yes, but just as much around our relationships, our communities, our work, and our world.
What were some of your more memorable milestones on your own personal journey?
Oh, so many. Professional milestones like launching WANT 8 years ago, launching it AGAIN in this incarnation. Milestones like getting my indoor cycling certification – which helped me find myself – and getting hired by Equinox – which helped me take OWNERSHIP of myself (and helped me save myself on numerous occasions). Emotional milestones like realizing I cannot tie my worth and purpose to anyone else but myself – no matter how much you love someone, you ALWAYS must come first. The first time I stood up for myself for real. The first time I realized I could do and be everything I ever wanted to do and be. I could go on forever.
Milestones, for me, always seem to come when I pivot from the path I’ve been on and simultaneously say yes to something that scares me. When I was a kid, I thought I was going to be a visual artist – an animator for Disney, to be exact. I saw Les Misérables when I was 13, and it changed my life. I knew being on a stage was my path. I just didn’t realize at the time that a THEATRICAL performance wasn’t the only way one can be on a “stage,” so to speak. My through-line (find yours here on WANT!) is using my authentic voice to inspire change in others and help THEM find their own – so what I’ve realized is that, for me, being on a stage is synonymous with using my voice and connecting others with theirs.
Another thing that’s helped the milestones happen? “Meeting the universe halfway.” What I’ve learned is that we can’t just wait around for opportunities – personal or professional – we need to mix a very refined cocktail of proactive forward motion and pure old trust. Everyone I’ve ever met and anything good that’s ever happened to me has been because I took enough action to set things in motion and actively seek out whatever it is my soul craved – and then let go of the outcome just enough to allow for whatever was supposed to happen, to happen.
BUMPS IN THE ROAD: What have you found most challenging and what has helped overcome those challenges?
I get in my own way by feeding my “recovering people-pleaser” tendencies and waiting to check ideas with others to get going. It’s not validation I crave, per se, it’s someone else telling me that it’s okay for me to get going. I’ve always been a cautious person, which works to my advantage at times, but in these kinds of instances – that trepidation works to my disadvantage. Because of this, I can be slow to start or take way smaller baby steps than I’m capable of. When I recognize this happening, I tell myself that my job is to do it now, think about it later. I give myself full permission to sit and dwell on how scared I felt, how hard it was, how big and ballsy and possibly overly bold I had acted…later. This one simple shift helps me stay in the moment, move forward fearlessly, and make peace with that cautious side of me – because really, it’s only trying to help. I just don’t need it’s help in the moment.
What has been instrumental in navigating your own journey and what advice can you share with our community when it comes to maintaining a ‘healthy’ balance?
I am highly, highly attuned to not just my gut instincts, but to the energy I feel when I walk into a room or even just the true intentions behind an idea proposed to be. Whenever I listen to those feelings, I end up doing what’s right for me – and when I don’t, I get myself into uncomfortable scenarios or find myself surrounded by people who want to leech from me in some way (such an awful feeling). I’m not perfect, and I don’t choose listen all of the time – the trick is not to beat myself up when I don’t, and instead use those instances to help me become more aware of who I am at my core and how I want to interact with the world. We can learn so much from our uncomfortable missteps if we choose to see them as teachable moments instead of getting lost in the self-flagellation.
What’s on YOUR HTW mixtape?
Kanye West (old school Kanye, to be clear), Jay Z, CHVRCHES, Royksöpp, Sia, Robyn, Jenny Lewis, Beyoncé, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Susanne Sundfør, Phantogram, Moby, Muse. I tend to gravitate toward music with darker or more anthemic undertones – so much so that Spotify recently “recommended” a station for me called “Deep Dark Indie.” #predictable
What does your bumper sticker say?
I’ve got two:
FEAR/LESS = When The Fear Is Less Than The Faith
and
Fight For It, Not Against It
Gas Station guilty pleasure…
You know those coffee stations in the back of the convenience store? With, like, six different kinds of sub-par brewed coffee, and then a “specialty drink” machine that makes stuff like instant hot cocoa or super-sweetened cappuchinos or whatever? My guilty pleasure is filling a coffee cup 2/3rds of the way with regular coffee, and the additional 1/3rd with whatever (probably sugar-laden, probably artificial AF) “specialty drink” sounds good. Usually hot cocoa. Somehow the ratio helps me convince myself I’m striking a “healthy balance.” LOLZ
Find Katie’s Podcast at womenagainstnegativetalk.com and learn more about the W.A.N.T. Movement! Listen to Kirsten and Katie chat about POUND, self-love, and being ok with taking things slow HERE!