We recently connected with Kat Padlan and have shared our conversation below.

Kat, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Are you happy as a creative professional? Do you sometimes wonder what it would be like to work for someone else?

As an artist, I don’t think I’m ever really satisfied in my work enough to constantly be happy, but what I do as an artist does make me joyful and happy when I do it. That’s the hard part about any artist, we dream and dream about being big, but it also takes time. My regular day-to-day job has nothing really to do with music, but as a creative, it lends itself for me to be able to get creative in my everyday at work. I have always approached the path of having a regular job with pursuing my music on the side…mainly for the bills. However, I think I prefer where I am. I meet and get to network with so many people I don’t think I would if I was in the music industry. Working for a coffee roastery brings in people from all around the world and I get the pleasure of meeting people who I get to share my music with as I see them everyday. For a moment I was full-diving into the music scene, but for me I think in this season I’m enjoying building connection while writing and making music in my personal time..

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

So I am an aspiring music artist in the genre of jazz, soul, and some r&b. I’ve been playing my guitar and writing music for 15 years. Through my music career and adult life, I’ve primarily been in the coffee industry and hospitality industry keeping busy as many of us musicians do. My fiancé and I own Lucky’s Coffee Roasters and I am the Operations Manager for the company. We roast our coffee at our cafe/roastery space in Claremont, CA and have other locations in Upland and Downtown Los Angeles.

Sometimes people say I live a double life where I joke that I’m your coffee barista by day, and musician by night. Somewhat Hannah Montana vibes, but I love it. Working in coffee allows me the freedom and flexibility to go to the studio and write music while working with some amazing people. At Lucky’s, I handle a lot of the networking and partner brands. We love working with other companies or brands that focus on making coffee more exciting, innovative, and a whole lot of fun.

Recently we partnered with a church called Abundant Living Family Church in Rancho Cucamonga, CA, where Lucky’s was able to donate over 2,500 bags of coffee to families who didn’t have all the means to afford a thanksgiving dinner or turkey. They donated hundreds of food and turkeys to families who needed it, and it was such a pleasure for us to be a part of. We want to do more than just sell coffee on the day-to-day, but really make a difference and have purpose to what we’re doing.

It can get really easy to get into the headspace that work is just work, which is true to some extent, but I can add value to that with my artistic ability and creativity, as well as bringing something more to the table. I do that by getting to host open mics and creative events at our roastery that really allows us to be in the space of artists, creatives, and musicians as well. All the people I meet on my journey, I try to give them opportunity to shine and showcase through my day-to-day job. Not everyone has the ability to do that, but I’m grateful that I do.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

When it came to music, there was a time back around 2017 or so where I was visiting head and executive A&R’s of so many different labels like Universal, Republic, Colombia Records, and so on. During that time I felt like I was on fire and nothing could stop me. I almost got signed a few times with my manager, but I didn’t have the numbers and wasn’t anybody to the labels for them to bring me on. Then I got hit with some health issues I had to take care of, and unfortunately it set me back and discouraged me. I had to get a lot of work done that affected my ability to sing, and it was a really confusing and dark place, even up until the last 2 years or so. During that time, I was already working in coffee, had my own apartment at the time, and just decided to write a lot of music and focus on just making money.

Eventually, I put all my headspace and motivation into learning more about coffee and just figured that if God, the universe, or this life really wanted me to be in music, it would happen. I would just keep writing and doing my thing, continuing to make connections, and work toward it even if I couldn’t see it. Fast forward, I’m working at Lucky’s and I have gotten to travel and meet so many people through the work and time I put into my craft that wasn’t music. I really focused on trying to meet people and serve them while music wasn’t a huge priority. Mind you, I’m still dealing with a lot of health issues that affect my ability to really sing, but it doesn’t stop me. But because of not giving up and taking every good opportunity that would propel me into my dream when it came, I met the people I needed to.

I ended up meeting a producer and being great friends with him and his wife. He’s a grammy-nominated producer in Jazz and has worked with a lot of famous musicians and artists, evens some I love. Now we’ve been making music and I’ve had the honor of meeting some highly influential people in the music industry I don’t think I would have if I didn’t just step out and take the risk. I have even gotten to release some music with a good friend of mine Kubota, who I wouldn’t have met if I wasn’t taking action to get to my dream, even when I had my own stumbling blocks with my health. And honestly, the quality of work and results I have gotten today because of not giving up wouldn’t have been the same if I decided to stop because I didn’t see the results right away. It takes time to sow the seeds, water them, and watch them grow. But now I can say I’m seeing the fruit, and it’s pretty crazy.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

Right now being invested in the business and the coffee shops, it does take a lot of time away sometimes from my ability to be creative in music. However, my goal that drives me to continue pursuing my career is that I still want to write music that one day the whole world could enjoy and listen to. I know that’s exhaustingly cliche, but like any artist, that is a dream of mine aside from continuing to grow in coffee. I have quite a few friends who travel the world who are big names or who work with other artists, and the journey of it always inspires me. I guess that’s why the coffee industry is so great. Although I may not be traveling, I get to meet so many faces and share my music with the people I get to know overtime. The more realistic goal is that I want to put my music I’ve written the last 15 years into life and onto streaming platforms so people can hear it. That’s the only way. And I’ve actually have a plan for my music come 2024, so I’m pretty excited about what that will look like.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @katpadlan and @luckyscoffeeroasters
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@katpadlan