We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Kate Orlando a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Kate , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Going back to the beginning – how did you come up with the idea in the first place?

Travel has always been a passion of mine. During Covid-19, like many others I was temporarily laid off from my job, which forced me to sit and figure out what I wanted my life to look like. As an extreme extrovert, nothing excites me more than stepping into a city and getting to explore it the way that locals live; the best cafes, bars, and secret underground spots that get overlooked and are 100% worth the visit. Since Covid-19 hindered world travel, I took to my own home base of Los Angeles, thus bringing Kate’s Best Day Ever to life.

Before creating Kate’s Best Day Ever, I only had the same 8 or 10 spots. Now utilizing my guests who come on the show, I get to experience the thrilling expansion of my world. Each episode my guests come on and we do their favorite activity and dining excursion. The greatest part is that because we are visiting their most loved places, I’ve yet to have a bad day. When you travel through the eyes of a local, you can’t go wrong.

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?

Travel looks so different for everyone; based on your age, race, sex, and sexual orientation, there can be many ways to experience the same destination. Some travel to relax on a beach and enjoy a leisurely day of drinking and others wish to wander museums and try local bites and get lost. Covering all of that is what makes my brand unique.

Not only do you get to see how wonderfully inclusive and exciting Los Angeles can be from season to season. Getting a true experience that comes from different vantage points and opinions and the discovery of the new is what is most exciting.

Since I’ve been working in travel content creation and blogging, I’ve become very adept at video editing utilizing apps like InShot and WordPress for my blog. Continuing to grow using addons like Keywords Everywhere and SEO has ensured the steady and quality growth of my following.

I think what I’m most proud of is that I am committed to telling a narrative about travel. Gatekeeping local hot spots and small businesses doesn’t even factor into my equation. Everyone should be able to enjoy the bounty of entertainment that Los Angeles has to offer. While luxury travel is wonderful for some, I want the beautiful City of Los Angeles to be represented for everyone to enjoy!

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

Pre-Covid I was working full time in high octane restaurants and was wildly unhappy. Not only did the last night hours not sit well with my natural sleep rhythms; the stress of unhappy customers and triple seating moments were eating away at me. The fitness industry came in to save the day.

I had been taking classes at a local studio and they were hosting a pilates teacher training. I signed up and was hooked and kept on growing and challenging myself as the fitness industry met me with arms wide open! I’m now employed at two fabulous studios; Hype Fitness which was just named Best Studio of the Southlands in the LA Times, and Trufusion in West Hollywood. Both spaces host the most wonderful and welcoming trainers so that you feel comfortable as you workout. My gentle reminder is that you workout because you love your body, not because you hate it.

Now as I expand my Travel Brand, I find that the fitness industry has helped me so much in growing those connections, learning new tools, and even having a client recommend how to open an LLC. I will be eternally grateful for everything that the fitness community has given me.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

You’re never too old to pivot and realign how you want the next decade of your life to look. I’ve started to look at my existence not as one big novel from beginning to end, but as a collection of short stories of the person I once was and the ever growing individual I am becoming.

Change is scary, but I’ve now rebooted my life enough where that period of growth doesn’t scare me anymore. I embrace it. If there is something you’ve always wanted to do, you can! If you fail, get back up and continue learning until you get to where you want to go. If you tell yourself you can’t do something then of course you can’t do it, but if you tell yourself that you are fully capable, the possibilities are endless as you move forward.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://katesbestdayever.com
• Instagram: k8sbestdayever
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kate-orlando-26b35b141/
• Other: TikToc: @k8sbestdayever

Image Credits
Kelly Ridgeway