We were lucky to catch up with Katelyn Carano recently and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Katelyn thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Do you think your parents have had a meaningful impact on you and your journey?
I never realized that my parents had given me the gift of being able to follow my creative passions until years after I was already doing it. It wasn’t until my mid-twenties, when I started speaking with others my age, that I realized how unique my situation was.
It wasn’t that my parents ever pushed me to have to “follow my dreams” or gave me one concrete action. You better believe they spent uncomfortable nights supporting me- driving me to Mexico for my first show, coming even to the raunchy burlesque shows. But the real gift was in in everything they didn’t do.
I was never told I “had” to do anything. (Besides finish college.) I was given space to explore, to mess up, to come home, to go back out. When I felt anxiety, they would hold space without judgement.
Never once did they worry I might fail or express that my path seemed untraditional.
To me, this path is the only one I’ve ever known. And my parents gave me the beautiful gift of feeling supported and “normal” in my journey.
Katelyn, 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 am a dancer, an aerialist, a fire dancer, and an LED performer.
I am an instructor by weekday, performer by weeknight.
I began with a love for hula hooping in 2012, and it has since blossomed into a full time career. It is beautiful, scary, amazing, hard, monotonous, rewarding, energizing, exhausting, and it feeds me constantly with new inspiration.
It has taught me to trust the process. Trust that if you work hard and put out quality work, work will come. Having a professional presence and knowing your value as an artist is everything.
I have had incredible opportunities and met amazing artists. Truly the people I meet in this industry blow me away.
Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?
You do not need to start working at the trade level. If you are putting out a service as a creative and your work is good- do not offer your services for free!
Apply to established entertainment companies – do not try to start your own. Rubbing an entertainment company is a huge amount of work and takes large time investment to create. Instead, apply to work for entertainment companies & get back to doing what you really love – training & performing!
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
Having someone in the audience, or someone who has seen my work, tell me it inspired them to start dancing, using a flow toy, or start aerial. For me, performing is a way to can channel those emotions we all feel as human beings. It’s a way for all of us to connect by experiencing an energy or emotion together.
In this day and age, it’s an honor to have any audiences attention for a few minutes, and I want to make sure I make the most of that honor!
Contact Info:
- Website: Katelyncarano.weebly.com
- Instagram: Www.Instagram.com/kitcatkatelyn
- Facebook: Facebook.com/kitcatkatelyn
- Youtube: @kitcatkatelyn
Image Credits
FTPhoto Underground Exposure Porchlight Studios