We recently connected with Katie Curtis and have shared our conversation below.

Katie, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Alright – so having the idea is one thing, but going from idea to execution is where countless people drop the ball. Can you talk to us about your journey from idea to execution?

In college, I wasn’t sure what to major in. I remembered always having my camera on me through adolescence and I’d directed many videos with my sisters and cousins, so I had decided, ‘What the heck? I’ll do video’.

Now, I didn’t end up graduating with a degree in videography; however, since I had started it, word got around. It was the dawning of video as marketing in the mainstream and my dad’s business was on the cutting edge. So he and his entrepreneur friends would use my beginner services over the next few years while I worked in my dad’s construction business.

For three years I built pools and built the realization that I really did like making videos and could see that being what I wanted to do. On January 1st, 2017 I entered into business full-time, with no clear prospects, no consistent clients and no idea what it would mean to be in business for myself for reals.

The first half of that day I spent in bed wondering, “What the heck have I done? Should I just ask for my old job back? I have no idea what I’m doing.”

But the second-half of the day I sat down, started brainstorming and making plans.

Five years later I’m still not sure I totally know what I’m doing, but it’s been one heck of a time and every time I even consider the idea of getting a “job”, it only makes me more focused to push the boundaries and make what I’m doing work.

Katie, 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?

The word “inspired”, according to Google, means “of extraordinary quality, as if arising from some external creative impulse”. “To inspire” is to “fill (someone) with the urge or ability to do or feel something, especially to do something creative.”

Anyone can make a video. It’s so easy these days and that’s great! It’s amazing to have this art be so accessible. However, just because someone has the tools to do a thing doesn’t mean that thing is good or exciting or effective in and of itself.

What I’ve become quite proud of with Inspired Video Marketing is our ability to capture the essence of the story, the flavor of the words, and the message of the subject to reach through the medium that is camera and screen and touch the hearts of the viewers. With inspired videos, we inspire watchers to dream bigger, do better and to go out and love on the world.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The best moments are those moments of flow where I’m filming or editing or doing some part of the business and I’m in the zone. It’s just magic when an edit or several work and I feel myself getting caught up in the video instead of on the structure of the video. It’s wonderful when I get a random “I should be working!” thought and then I realize, I AM working. And it’s wild to realize that people pay me to hang out with them, to create projects with them, to have fun with them.

Granted, it’s not always like that and the blessing is also the curse, but every time I wonder if I’d be better of with a job, my whole body stops me mid-thought and tells me a resounding, “NO.”

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

Ohhhhhhh yes. Reading is one of my favorite activities and my list of recommends is long.

E-Myth Revisited: on the importance of systematizing and organizing your business
Systemologty: on the HOW of systematizing
1 Page Marketing Plan : the system and plan for the marketing portion of your business
The Science of Getting Rich: on staying laser focused on your goals
The Charisma Myth : on improving confidence
Deep Work : on focus in a world of distractions
Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up : This seems like a weird choice for business, and I don’t mean this for your office space, although that works too, I’ve found, through spending years with the KonMari method that I’ve tidied up more than my possessions. I’ve tidied up my activities, my relationships, my desires and my thoughts.

There. That’ll get you started.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://inspiredvideomarketing.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/inspiredvideomarketing/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/InspiredVideoMarketing/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katieacurtis/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/katieacurtis
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/KatieCurtisInspiredVideo
• Other: Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@inspiredvideo