We were lucky to catch up with Kate Rufener recently and have shared our conversation below.

Kate, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

When I was a teenager, I used to write journal entries that felt really unfulfilling. It was kinda this popular thing to journal for healing, but I just found no joy in it. A particularly meaningful night at the theater led me to re-think how I was journaling. I got a spontaneous vision of myself 20 years in the future and I suddenly wanted to talk to that future person I could possibly become. I wanted to ask her how she got there. That’s when I felt inspired to begin writing scripts to my future self as my journal entries. I’d ask my future self her viewpoints and thoughts and from that, I was able to envision her giving me compassion and love alongside clear advice for how to face my life’s challenges. It was while writing to her that I realized how much I loved writing and wanted to pursue some creative path related to storytelling.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am the head writer for The Reclaimers Podcast. This fiction podcast tells the story of a group of empaths who want to help confront all forms of hidden abuse and stop it from happening. It’s part entertainment, part education, and part therapeutic self-help, all wrapped in a story that offers hope. I got involved in this project because a group of survivors I’ve met over the years had the idea to form a coalition and create tools to help other survivors leave toxic/abusive relationships.
We’re on our fourth season of the podcast and it’s been an incredible experience to participate in creating the tools that go into the story and hear from survivors all over the world that the story has helped them as they’ve walked the path of healing.

Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

I wish I’d known the power of just asking. I’ve asked for many things along my creative path with the podcast, and each time, I’ve found that friends and colleagues are often eager to help; they just need clear and specific ideas for how they can help using their unique set of skills and talents.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

I met Kari* when she was in her last year of marriage. She had only been married to her husband for 7 years, but he had already put her in the hospital 9 times. I struggled to understand how she could continue to go back to him. And though she wanted to believe those around her that their relationship was bad for her, she also struggled because she wanted to defend him to those who would say that he was a bad person.

Two decades later, I now understand how grooming and coercive control start. I understand how deeply society blames victims, and I understand how impossible it is for survivors to get resources and support for actually leaving for good.

My mission is based on this understanding: to ensure that people are educated about red flags and consent, to provide the Karis of the world with the tools and resources needed to leave, and to bust up the credibility complex that blames and shames survivors, instead of putting that blame and shame on abusers.

*real name used with permission.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.empowering.tools
• Instagram: @youradvokate
• Other: www.thereclaimerspodcast.com

Image Credits
All photos taken by @tayandbaystudios