We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Katie Dalebout. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Katie below.
Katie, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Before we talk about all of your success, let’s start with a story of failure. Can you open up about a time when you’ve failed?
You asked about a recent failure so this may be a stretch but I broke my leg a few months ago. It was a twist in my plan that at first I didn’t see it as anything but painful. But now I see it led to a much needed rerouting of my life.
As someone who is constantly over scheduled and on the go, my summer break felt like I’d been grounded. I’d been craving more solitude to finish old projects, and catch up on work I’d gotten behind on. And once I did that, I used the remaining time alone to reflect on where I was in my life, relationships, and career. I’ve been thinking about death and aging and how temporary this all is, so I better figure out where I want to go and what I need to do to move in that direction.
Since I couldn’t walk or drive, it forced me to temporarily remove most of my distractions like: running errands, wandering a grocery store, and even most socializing. Like an elimination diet for my life, most activities I do each day had to be forcefully removed. I’ve slowly started to reintroduce each element of my life and I’m starting to notice what each part gives and takes away from me energy wise.
It is showing me I need to re-prioritize what, who, and where I want to focus. I’m bracing myself for returning to a more filled schedule because I learned to love the quiet solitude I was forced into. I can’t stay here, it has to end, which means another transition…
Every failure is an opportunity to apply lessons learned from past mistakes to new circumstances. The sooner I can pivot and restart after an unexpected twist, the sooner I can keep making progress. My friend Serena’s dad says, “Success teaches you nothing.” He’s one of the most successful people alive so it makes me believe in using failure as a teacher.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I’m Katie, I spend most days walking and talking to friends or strangers. I’m an interviewer, writer, and podcast producer. Since 2013 I’ve hosted the weekly interview podcast, Let It Out, I also co-host Spiraling, a humorous mental health show. I’ve written for various publications, published a book in 2016, and now consult for brands and individuals on independent podcasting and creative strategy.
I grew up in Michigan and watching the news as a kid, I wanted to be a TV news reporter. I studied broadcast journalism, where our prerequisites to TV curriculum were radio classes. Eventually I started a podcast that I’m still doing now!
I taught yoga and wrote a wellness blog all through college, then moved to Detroit, then to New York and right before the pandemic, I packed up my apartment in Brooklyn to travel for a few months.
I planned to miss a New York winter and return by spring, but I landed in LA from Australia a few days before the first lockdown. I didn’t plan to move here, but I ended up shipping my belongings and I’ve been here ever since.
What’s been the best source of new clients for you?
Word of mouth, every client has come from someone recommending me or my work. I’ve gotten jobs this way, freelance projects, sponsorships, and opportunities. I think just listening and getting to know people without expectation of anything in return. I try to fully understand the person in front of me, getting to know who they are, what their perspective is, and how I could help them, or if I can help them, or if I have anything to offer them. Sometimes that leads to avenues to collaborate in some way down the line, or perhaps you know someone you can recommend, regardless you’ve made a friendly acquaintance, who may become a friend, or gotten to know a neighbor. To me genuine relationships, not networking but actual friendships are the most important thing to just exist and remain content in the often bleak and lonely world. Good does come from getting to know people and sometimes part of the goodness that unfolds is work related, sometimes it is not, but either way is great.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
I’d had to pivot so often I recently just made a zine called PIVOT. I always have an abundance of ideas but executing them is challenging. Most recently, earlier today I had to decide a substack I had been attempting to write for 3 weeks wasn’t going anywhere and I had to scrap it. Despite how long it took me to write this, I have to start over with a new topic. I’m terrible at scoping how long tasks, especially writing, will take so I kept thinking I was done when I wasn’t. And spending so much time on that took away progress on time sensitive projects, admin work, and even social plans. It was frustrating, but I know it is the correct call. And maybe I’ll go back to it, or maybe I won’t but I have to just look at it as part of the process, even though it feels frustrating.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://letitout.substack.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/katiedalebout/
- Facebook: https://www.instagram.com/letitouttt/
- Linkedin: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/let-it-out/id669216566?mt=2
- Youtube: www.katiedalebout.com
- Yelp: https://www.instagram.com/letitouttt/
- Soundcloud: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/let-it-out/id669216566?mt=2
- Other: substackwww.letitouttt.com
https://www.instagram.com/letitouttt/
Podcast
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/let-it-out/id669216566?mt=2
Image credits:
Abbey Moore
Jamal-Akil Marshall
Alexa Rae Vitug
Christina Stoever
Lauren Lotz
Lauren Santos