We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Katie Runnels. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Katie below.
Katie, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.
Imperfect Beauty Revolution:
When I started therapy in my early 20s, I realized that without self-love and self-acceptance, I could not move forward and evolve. It was a very difficult journey because I grew up in a very authoritative, religious, and critical family. I felt like I could not only never measure up to the expectations of my parents, but I also felt like I never measured up to society’s expectations of me. Over time, I learned to be comfortable in my own skin and comfortable with my own imperfections. Over the years, I continued to write songs and perform, but my biggest passion was being an educator. I found amazing fulfillment in inspiring at-risk youth to persevere through hardships and not give up on their dreams. After my divorce, as I was searching for the next right step in my life, I couldn’t help but shake this vision I have had for over 20 years: promote self-acceptance and mental health resources among young women. So, a couple of years ago, I started recording the song “Imperfect Beauty.” My vision was to not just record a song–it was to start a revolution. I want young women to learn to first love themselves before they seek validation from the outside world. This project is big, and it is still in the works, but I completed one big portion of it: The Imperfect Beauty PSA. In this PSA, I give statistics on the current mental health issues of young women, and I promote unconditional self-love. I also give resources for those who are in a mental health crisis. I am really excited about helping young women who have self-doubt and who struggle with mental health issues. I am super excited about the future! I know deep within my soul that I am touching the hearts and minds of young women who need support and inspiration.
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?
Music can heal the world. Beauty can come from pain. And, it is never too late to chase your dreams. Here is my story. I hope it inspires you.
I started playing the guitar and writing songs when I was 14 years old. It was both a passion and a personal outlet. It was my dream to be a professional singer-songwriter from a very young age. That said, it is a tough industry, and for many years I lacked the confidence to follow my dream. I loved working with kids, so I became a teacher and hustled teaching, music, and side jobs to make ends meet. Eventually, I recorded my first album, “Reality Cloud.”
However, by the time I gained enough confidence and financial means to start pursuing music more seriously, I wanted to get married and start a family. I met my ex-husband when I was 33 years old, and I didn’t want to lose the opportunity to have children, so building a family became my primary focus for about 9 years. Sadly, we were unable to have children and we ended up getting divorced. I tell you this because while my divorce and not having children was a tragic disappointment to me, the silver lining is that it pushed me back to my dream of music. In revisiting my passion for music, I am not only reviving a lost and dying part of myself, but I am also using it to make a positive difference in the world. Music has healing powers, and my goal is to not only heal myself through music but to heal others. Also, I want people to know, that if in my 40s I can chase a childhood dream, so can you. You are never too old to go after what you want in life.
Another dream I am revisiting is serving in The Peace Corps. I am not sure what will come of it (especially given the current climate of our government right now), but I am proud of myself for being open enough to go after it again! The simple yet courageous act of facing your fears and taking steps toward your dreams gets you on the road to new adventures. While we don’t know the outcomes of what we are going for in life, we can be sure that taking steps toward something grand gets us unstuck. The journey is not easy, nothing rewarding is ever easy! As I get older, I realize that the heartaches that once kept me stuck are now threads in a beautiful tapestry called my life. And these threads, these IMPERFECT yet BEAUTIFUL threads are now foundational in how I can make a positive impact in the world.
One of my favorite artists is Van Gough. What I love about his story is that he not only emotionally struggled throughout his life, but he was also barely noticed. He was not appreciated as an artist until after he died. Beautiful art is born out of authenticity and struggle. And just because the masses don’t see and appreciate it, does not mean it is not meaningful. His art now, over a hundred years after his death, is inspiring far more people than it did in his lifetime. This is significant to me as an artist and educator: sometimes I wonder whether my art, my life, my voice, and my guidance as a teacher are making any sort of difference in the world. Upon reflection on Van Gough, though, I realize that is not the point. The point is to keep creating, keep taking risks, keep seeking, keep loving and inspiring. Keep doing things for the right reasons. And maybe, just maybe, like Van Gough, history will look back on Katie Runnels and say: she made her mark in the world. My song “Dreams” from my first album “Reality Cloud” depicts this personal desire of mine: “And I hope they can write on my grave, she did not keep she only gave, and I hope everyone can say, ‘she never belonged in this place anyway.'”
By supporting me as a musician, you are also supporting the role I play in education, the environment, and the mental health crisis among young women. I have recently been called to be a mentor to young women–encouraging them to foster self-love and mental and emotional healing.
I am not just delving back into music for the sake of being popular or famous; I am delving back into music to be an inspiration and make the world a better place. In addition to my music and video production projects, my company also creates educational resources that help students with ADHD. As a veteran educator (20 years), I observed how my students with ADHD struggled to stay organized and focused. As someone who has struggled with ADHD, I realized I had the tools to create resources to help students with these struggles. I am currently working on several different resources, such as personalized notebooks and journals that help students stay organized (and release their pent-up anger). Some of the notebooks have a built-in table of contents, calendars, and brain breaks. I just finished a journal called “A Safe Space for Your Angry Thoughts” where people can process their anger in a healthy way. I am working on promoting these notebooks through my new tutoring company called 5 Star Tutoring. Also, the notebooks not only help students stay organized, but they reduce paper waste. I started an organization to educate students and teachers on how they can reduce our carbon footprint by simply staying organized and not using so many worksheets! I HATE WORKSHEETS! Educational organizations are responsible for the unnecessary waste of water and trees. It is estimated that 10 reams of paper require 6 trees. Facts and statistics vary, but you do the math! How much paper have you seen on the ground in the trash at educational institutions? It is truly pathetic! These notebooks have built-in space for worksheets and activities so educators are not just mindlessly wasting paper. To support any of the causes I am promoting, please visit the following websites: educatorsgogreen.com, 5-star-tutoring.com, amazon.com/Books-Katie-Runnels, and katierunnelsmusic.com. Lastly, if you love music, please add my music to your playlist so the streams can multiply! I will take as many fans as I can get. (https://music.apple.com/us/artist/katie-runnels/379997106).
How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?
Our society needs to educate the whole child. Our educational system is producing little robots who stare at screens. We need to foster creativity first in children. We need to allow children to play outside, explore, and take creative risks. As things stand right now, many parents and educators (and I say this with 20 years of experience in the public education system) foster “success” and “winning” and “competition.” Because of this, children are growing into adults who care more about money and “success” than the richness of the heart and soul: art. In addition to rrevolutionalizing our educational system, as a society, we need to collectively tap into our hearts and what creates lasting fulfillment. We are creative beings, and when are allow ourselves to tap into deep and lasting fulfillment, we naturally have a paradigm shift. If each person starts “tapping into” true peace and fulfillment, there will be a ripple effect in our society. I see it already beginning to happen. We need to start doing things for the right reason. I lived in Los Angeles for a summer several years ago, and I was so turned off by being around people who wanted fame and money and power that I almost gave up music completely. The kind of art that changes the world for the better is art that comes from one’s soul–not to try and get famous. For many years I just played music for my own persoanal fulfillment. Now, I have a message to share, and I plan on using music to promote that message. I will always strive to be honest and authentic in my art forms. I dance to records in my house with no one around–because it makes me happy. Imagine if we all started doing things for the right reasons! It would change our world. Art and music would come back with a mighty force. There are too many formulaic songs out there right now. I hardly listen to modern music. I am drawn to the soulful music of the 60’s, 70s, 80s and 90s. These musical eras were rife with raw expression–a lot of soul-searching and angry expression. I hope we can get back to the soul of why art is beautiful and what makes it a powerful force for societal change.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
I had to unlearn the idea that you have to be perfect at something before you put it out there. I was so afraid for years to sing my songs in front of people. Then, one day, when I was in my early 20s, my guitar teacher and mentor, Thomas Laufenberg told me “Katie, it’s ok to suck. You will get better with practice.” So, I started putting myself out there. I started performing in front of people–not for the people, but for me. And with every performance, I got better. I became more comfortable on stage, and I didn’t care what people thought of me. I wasn’t doing it for them. I was doing it for me. They got to enjoy the intimate personal expressions of my life: through my lyrics that tell the many stories of love lost, teenage angst, and spiritual evolutions. Shout out to Thomas Laufenberg! Thanks for being my mentor and inspiration.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.katierunnelsmusic.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/katie.runnels.940/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katie-runnels
- Twitter: https://x.com/i/flow/login?redirect_after_login=%2Fkatierunnels4
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbGKU5rA0ZPQ2rS6SznvvuA
- Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/user-646602900
Image Credits
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