Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Christine Csencsitz. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Christine, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Are you happier as a business owner? Do you sometimes think about what it would be like to just have a regular job?

As with any job, there are pros and cons to being a business owner. What is important is that the pros outweigh the cons.

The independence that owning my business gives me, for one, is a major advantage, especially as a creative. Relatedly, the flexibility it gives me in regards to my own time — that is, time spent working on Cats & Coffee, time spent running errands or managing daily life, and the time I have strictly to myself — is something that I could never have with a traditional job.

With any creative endeavor, it can be hard to force the work on a timeline. Good ideas don’t care about deadlines or what management wants. While owning my own business as a creative certainly requires time management and organization, it still offers me the freedom to shift focus if a project really isn’t coming together, rather than pushing through with blunt force because a boss says it needs to be done by Friday morning. For me and for the way I like to work, that freedom is the most important thing.

Would it sometimes be easier or less stressful to have a regular paycheck, direct deposited every two weeks? Sure. But would my life be better for it? No, not necessarily. This is true especially when considered in light of the lifestyle differences between the two paths.

There are things about the predictability of a “regular job” that are certainly appealing, but even a 9-5 office job isn’t a guarantee anymore. With layoffs and knee-jerk responses to economic shifts, the promise of a steady salary isn’t what it used to be. And I’m not someone who does well in a 9-5 office position. Sometimes I wish I were, but I’m not, and that’s something I (and many other creatives) have had to grapple with. It’s not a failing, or a fault, and if your interests lie elsewhere and you have the interest to give it a shot…. Well, life is too short not to try it out.

On the whole, the pros outweigh the cons for me. Relying on my creativity in crafting a business that fits my life, and establishing balance between the two, has given me the space to be a happier and healthier person, and I am certainly better for it.

Christine, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I started Cats & Coffee in 2018, while I was studying for the Bar Exam working with survivors of domestic violence at a Legal Aid Society. I’ve always loved to write and I’ve been a blog reader since undergrad. My site started as a creative outlet, something that took my mind away from the stress of studying or the emotional legal work I was doing. After pivoting to being a creative full time, I began to scale Cats & Coffee, alongside some freelance social media and writing work.

The work felt less like work than anything I’d done before, and I found I enjoyed learning the new skillset that bloggers and content creators need to operate a successful website and lifestyle brand. It was interesting to see that some of the skills I was using were pulled in the parts of law school I enjoyed — the writing, research, and analytical frameworks — while I simultaneously embraced my more creative side.

Since then, Cats & Coffee has continued to grow and evolve as I have grown and evolved. My topics have shifted over the years, from a broader range of lifestyle themes to more nuanced pillars of books, style, cats, and the like, but I still have the freedom to write about what I want. I’m so glad that my interests have resonated with my readers, and it has been so much fun to carve out my little corner of the internet for likeminded individuals!

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

Social media is a double-edged sword for creatives. With Instagram in particular, these platforms are essential for outreach and communication with readers and followers. The biggest issue with them, though, is that you (the creative) do not own the space. You have no control over it.

Lamenting the algorithm sounds tedious and a bit like passing the blame at times, but there’s a reason so many content creators complain about it. “The algorithm” is almost short hand for all the intangibles about social platforms that users cannot control or don’t have transparency with. You have followers, sure, but that’s not the same as an email newsletter subscriber. You can share links via stories or in your bio, but who is to say how many of your followers will even see that slide or that call to action?

I’ve always been a big Instagram fan. I started my catstagram (@kinglouisthexvii) when I adopted my first cat, and I credit this with my interest in social media. But the Instagram of today is nothing like the app I started @kinglouisthexvii on. Honestly, it’s nothing like it was when I began Cats & Coffee in 2018!

It can feel a lot like shouting over others in an effort to be heard, which, as an introvert, is pretty much my worst nightmare. And I know a lot of fellow creatives feel the same way. It can already be hard to put one’s self out there and share our work, so feeling pushed to perform (see, e.g., TikTok and Reels dances) just to *maybe* get a slightly higher reach is disheartening, to say the least.

My point in this is to say, audiences on social platforms are fickle and ephemeral. That is not because the followers themselves are fickle, but because the platforms themselves are. Numbers only mean so much when the whole system is out of whack, and growth on Instagram today is leaps and bounds harder than it was even five years ago.

Don’t be afraid to be repetitive. Creating content takes time, and it’s really discouraging to see something you’ve spent a lot of time on completely flop for no apparent reason. Instagram (and any platform, really) doesn’t show content evenly, so, chances are, followers won’t see you re-post something days or weeks later. Reuse content, don’t reinvent the wheel for these platforms. Give your audience the chance to actually see you online, because once they do, there’s more of a chance *The Algorithm* will continue to show them your work. Build that momentum, and don’t put too much stock into numbers.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

In relation to the social media growth question above, one thing I’ve had to unlearn was my reliance on numbers. In a perfect world, all content creators want a huge follower count. The reality is, though, that having 100K followers doesn’t mean you have found your corner of the internet.

Don’t wait to hit an arbitrary bench mark in your head before committing to the work. Don’t discredit the couple dozen/hundred/thousand people who liked what you had to say enough to hit follow in the first place. Sure, some brands are stubborn about only wanting to work with big accounts, but they’re missing out on the community that smaller creators can build and nourish. That mindset is shifting in the industry, but the change is incremental at best. Just keep on keeping on and try to focus on the positive interactions you have on the app, rather than the number on your profile page.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://catsandcoffee.me
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/catsandcoffeebycc/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/catsandcoffeebycc
• Other: catstagram: https://www.instagram.com/kinglouisthexvii/ https://www.pinterest.com/catsandcoffeebycc/ https://www.shopltk.com/explore/catsandcoffeebycc

Image Credits
Carter Fish Photography