We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Kate Grasso. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Kate below.

Alright, Kate thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s start with important influences in our lives. Is there a historical figure you look up to?

Almost all of my creative work is deeply rooted in the history of the Disney parks and the brilliant Imagineers who created them. And many are well-known, like Walt Disney, Tony Baxter, Marc Davis, and Joe Rohde. But my favorite stories are those that don’t get mentioned nearly as often: The women of Imagineering.

One of my personal heroes is Alice Davis, who was the wife of Marc Davis but who you don’t often hear much about. She was the principal designer behind the costumes of Pirates of the Caribbean and It’s a Small World, as well as the creator of the reference footage costume for Sleeping Beauty, among others.

But Alice didn’t want to be a costume designer. She wanted to be an animator. After WWII ended, however, men were returning to work and they got first priority in the animation program at Chouinard Art Institute, which had a two-year waitlist. Alice was told that she simply couldn’t be an animator, but she could go into the ink and paint department with the other women if she wanted. She balked at that because, as she put it, it was basically glorified tracing and coloring in others’ work, but there was no other way forward.

Well, that was true at least until someone walked in and told Alice she was going to join the costume department. And so she did. And she was the most brilliant costume designer, rising to the highest ranks of all the companies she worked for as she became known for her unique talents with exotic fabrics and pattern-making skills. And now her work is seen by millions of people every year, in some of the most beloved Disney attractions.

I find this so inspiring because I was once told I shouldn’t bother being a Disney creator because the only ones who are successful are men or are paired with a man. And at the time, when I looked around, that was unfortunately true. But Alice found a way to do what she loved, even if she had to find a unique niche in which to share her talents with the world. If she could do it, it gives me hope that someday I can, too.

Kate, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

When I first thought about becoming a Disney writer and content creator, I almost chose not to simply because the field felt so over-saturated. There are thousands of creators reporting every day about the latest merchandise, food, events, and happenings in the Disney parks, many of them doing so extremely well, and I didn’t want to just be another voice in the crowd. I knew I had to contribute something unique or not do it at all.

And so I thought about my target audience. People who love Disney but are tired of the same old stories and fun facts that have been recycled over and over. People who are craving a deeper understanding of why they love Disney so much, and how it connects with their everyday lives. People who find inspiration and intangible value in the brilliant designs the Imagineers created within the microcosm of Disney.

In short, it’s people that are my focus. All of my content not only focuses on providing obscure stories about Disney history from my 15+ years of study that most people have likely never heard before, but it is also designed to help people see the parks they love from a new perspective. My hope is that people will connect with these stories in a way that is healing, enlightening, and thought-provoking. It’s not just Disney history I am presenting to the world, it’s a roadmap to each person’s own human experience through the stories of others.

The word “cicerone” literally means a guide, someone extremely knowledgable about a subject that can give you deeper insight than what you would see on your own. And so through my creative work on social media, my Distory with Kate & Kirk podcast, my blog at disneycicerone.com, and a book that will be released in the next year, I endeavor to not only provide a place of deep thought and insight for Disney fans, I also hope to build a positive community in the process, because we need others to help us see parts of ourselves we can’t recognize on our own, and remind us the truth about who we are when we forget.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

Honestly, it’s the people who have shared stories with me about how my words have impacted them. I had a mother who had lost a child share with me how one of my social media posts helped them through their grieving process. The posts I make that come from my own deep places of contemplation aren’t the ones that go super viral, but they are the ones where people respond with “I needed this today” and it reminds me that the numbers don’t matter, it’s the heart and souls of people that I get to speak to that needs to be the focus. I don’t want to create for simply myself or what I can get from people (money, fame, etc)… that’s all fleeting. I believe what matters most as a creative is how we connect with people and give them something of value to take from their interaction with us, impacting their lives in a positive way.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

When it comes to social media, the key is to be authentic to who you are. You can only pretend to be someone you’re not for so long before it catches up with you, either in professionally or personally (or both). People can sense if you’re not genuine, especially these days as social media platforms encourage more organic, in-the-moment content rather than the perfectly polished and curated content that was popular in the past decade. The market is shifting to a place of people wanting to see your mistakes, wanting to know that you’re a regular human just like them, and those that can’t adapt or aren’t willing to be vulnerable will be the ones who fall behind. You have to find a way to show people the real you.

Contact Info:

• Website: disneycicerone.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/disneycicerone
• Facebook: facebook.com/DisneyCicerone
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClNjZHDiBguynoq4ixaQAiw
• Other: TikTok – tiktok.com/@disneycicerone Email – [email protected]