We recently connected with KATIE DRIVER and have shared our conversation below.

KATIE, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you share a story about the kindest thing someone has done for you and why it mattered so much or was so meaningful to you?

Regarding my business and professional life I think the kindest thing anyone ever did for me was respond to an email I had sent asking them for an informational interview! Let me explain…

When I was in college I thought I knew what I wanted to do after I graduated. I was ALWAYS the kid that said I knew what I wanted to do. But an incredible internship and a trusted professor changed my perspective. I went from wanting to pursue full time residential interior design to pursuing work in the film industry as a prop stylist. The only thing was I knew NOTHING about working in the film industry. So I had to do some work. I spent my entire senior year researching, calling, texting, and emailing people who were already in the industry. I came across a name of a woman who led jobs in the art department. Her name was Terri and from what I could tell from her website and bio… she did what I wanted to do. So I emailed her. I literally sent her a email asking to have an informational interview. I wanted to ask her questions. I wanted to pick her brain. With little hope of ever hearing from her I hit “send”.

24 hours later I received an email back with words I’ll never forget…. the most important word being: YES. Yes, I’ll chat with you. Yes, I’ll tell you more. I remember beaming with joy after that email. It was the first of many breakthroughs to get me into the film industry. I still see Terri every now and again… seeing her always reminds me of the simple act of kindest that changed my life forever. It is my hope that throughout my career I can be that YES for someone else.

KATIE, 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?

My story starts back at the end of preschool. My mom asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up… I said an artist because at that time I loved to color. But fast forward 27 years… I am living proof you can truly live out your childhood dreams. I fell in love with “interior design” at a young age watching Trading Spaces on TV. I was obsessed with how their designers transformed spaces and created opportunities for people to love their homes. I also loved the idea of owning my own firm one day and being my own boss. So, I went to UW Stout for residential interior design and business administration. I had the best experience and received the greatest education but found out my love for what I thought was interior design wasn’t exactly reality.

Through a wonderful internship my junior into senior year, I realized traditional residential interior design wasn’t for me. I wanted something a bit more hands-on and something that would allow me to create/make on a daily basis with a shorter project timeline. It was during an off-the-cuff conversation I had with one of my interior design professors that we discussed how I could use my degree in a different avenue of design. I found out that the film production industry had this department called the art department. It is a group of creatives that style sets and props, create custom props, create the look and feel of a production, and shop/source props for film productions. My mind was blown. That’s really a thing? I was SOLD. The last thing that came out of that conversation was that if I wanted to get my foot in the door of that industry… I was going to have to work at it. Nobody was going to do that for me. So I spent my entire senior year researching, digging, and uncovering all the names and contact info I could find of people who worked in the MN film market. I called, emailed, texted, messaged, and reached out to anyone and everyone who was involved in the art department.

By the grace of God, it was through consistent effort that I made a few connections and things just started to fall into place from there. I opened my LLC the month that I graduated in 2012, and 10 days after I left campus I was on my first TV commercial set assisting in the art department. It was for a FingerHut commercial, and I’ll never forget that first day on set. It was one of the coolest things I had ever been a part of. I was in awe, I was hooked, and I was all in. That one job rolled into another, and then another, and another. My business began to build and I started working for huge companies as an assistant in the art department. I was learning and growing everyday as a new business owner and assisting the top art department workers in Minnesota’s film market. About 2 years into my work in prop styling, a friend of mine asked me to do decor for her wedding. It was through that experience I learned that the film industry and the event industry are very similar in nature. One thing led to another and I began offering event decor services for private events, corporate events, benefit events, and weddings.

In 2014, I renamed my company and brought all of our clients, projects, and work under one massive umbrella… The Uncommon Creative Studio LLC. Today, after almost 10 years of business, we continue to focus on prop styling for the film & print industry, decor & planning for the event industry, and we have a rental inventory to support that work. We also recently started feeding film crews in the craft services department of film and have absolutely loved diversifying our work in the industry. This business of mine is built on a simple idea that we want to use our God given gifts and talents everyday to serve others and make them feel loved. I look back on all of this as I am typing and truly can’t fathom the provision from the Lord… God is good!

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

I think the most rewarding aspect of being creative is the JOY that comes from using my gifts and talents to serve others. I think Walt Disney said it best… “That’s what we storytellers do. We restore order with imagination. We instill hope again and again and again.” I believe all creatives are storytellers whether you tell stories with words or graphics or food or animation. Creativity for me unlocks all restrictions of the ending to a story. There are no limits as to how I can serve others with my creativity. The response we get at Uncommon makes my heart swell and eyes water. What we do is fun, exciting, and always full of surprises.

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

Honestly, I think there are multiple things that non-creatives wouldn’t understand. haha It comes with the territory… we, creatives, are cut from a different cloth. :) All jokes aside, I think the thing that comes to mind right away is creating even if no one will ever see it, read it, hear it, experience it, etc. Whatever your craft or creativity may be… do it anyways. There have been several things over the years we have tried and we failed on paper but looking back we weren’t losing because we were learning. We spent time, money, & energy on projects that were a total bust. I know a few of my non-creative friends/family members definitely questioned my decisions because things didn’t add up. But a couple of those things were some of my favorite memories in my career!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.uncommoncs.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uncommoncs/
• Other: Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/uncommonCS/

Image Credits
Halloween Photo (bird’s eye view): Erica Riley Safari Baby Shower Photo: Erica Riley NYE Photo Booth Photo: Erica Riley Halloween Photo (tablescape vignette): Samantha McDowell