We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Katie St. Gelais a few weeks ago 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?
I have had so many kind people bless me in my life. Of all the things that has happened to me, I would have to say that my parents help in support throughout my becoming a single mom has been the kindest thing that anyone has done for me. About 2 years ago I found out that I was pregnant. I was terrified, and immediately stressing about finances. At the time, I was living with my friend and roommate and her daughter. I was working a 9 to 5 job. And I was so used to going out dancing multiple times a week. Being hit suddenly with an immediate responsibility of another little life was a big shock. The first person I called was actually my sister and then my best friend. They were both excited and happy for me but also shocked that it was so sudden. My immediate thoughts after were ‘how am I going to tell my parents?’ growing up in a very religious home, it is not traditional that a woman gets pregnant outside of marriage. I was afraid that my parents would disown me because of other people’s horror stories I have heard. Is the weeks went by and I finally was able to hold a picture of this cute little bean in a black and white photo, I had planned out how I was going to tell my parents. My sister was a big help in this process. I asked her to be there with me when I told them so that I could have support and back up if I needed it. She had my back 100%.
When I surprised my mom and dad by showing up at the restaurant that they were at with my sister, they were excited to see me. I decided I wanted to get it over with sooner rather than later, so my words were “Well speaking of surprises…” And I handed them a card I had made. On the front it said ‘What do you give the best parents that have everything?’ And when they opened it it said ‘A promotion. Congratulations Grandma and Grandpa.’ My mom got it immediately, looked up at me, and said with shocked face “You’re pregnant?!” I then proceeded to pull out the ultrasound pictures I got and handed them over to her. My dad was a little confused, but eventually got it especially once he saw the ultrasound pictures. Instead of being yelled at, or criticized, or disowned, I was met with love. I was met with love and compassion and support. The biggest weight was lifted from my chest and relief filled its hole. As the months passed, I realized there was no way I would be able to stay at my current room for rent, raise a baby, and work full time right off the bat. It was then that my parents offered my old room back to me. Humbly acknowledging my circumstance, I accepted and moved back in before the baby came.
Fast forwarding to now, because of the selfless act of my mom, I am able to work full-time from home, while she helps put my daughter to sleep at her nap times and watch her while I’m on phone calls. My dad helps when he can and they both show so much love for this little girl. I don’t know how I would have been able to make it without the help of my parents. So for me, the kindest thing that anyone has ever done, was my parents, without hesitation, offering help and assistance to me and my baby as I work to get back up on my feet and provide for myself and her once again.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
My name is Katie St. Gelais. I’m a single mom to an adorable little girl. I actually currently work full time at the moment for Grand Canyon University. I do however have a side business that my best friend, Lexie, and I are working on building. @az_swing is our Instagram dance page and TikTok. I grew up country swing dancing and it has always been a big passion of mine. If I’m sad, I go dancing. If I’m happy, I go dancing. If I’m stressed, I go dancing. Granted, now that I have a baby I’m not able to go out as often as I used to, but when I do get the chance, and make sure to take full advantage of it. Arizona Country Swing was something Lexie and I had always talked about starting because where we currently live there is not a ton of places close by to learn dance or to even go dancing. Eventually, we pulled the trigger. We are still working on building up our Instagram account, and our TikTok as well. We offer anything from simple beginners classes, to private lessons, to line dance sessions. We do not have a set studio quite yet, so as of right now we travel to you. Our goal is to simply spread the love, joy and freedom that we have found in dancing. The dance community is certainly a unique one. And our particular group of friends work hard to make sure that everyone feels welcome and involved with dancing. I have never felt more love for not just me, but also for my daughter. I really feel like it The saying ‘it takes a village to raise a child’ applies well to these wonderful people that we get to be around. Here at @az_swing we want everyone to feel welcomed, included, and for them to fall in love with dancing just as we have!
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
Resilience. My personal resilience comes from a lot of practice and experience. When I turned 19, I made the decision to serve a church mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. This meant that I was commiting to a year and a half of voluntary church work and service full time. Before the new rules, once you left for your mission, you are only permitted to email your family and friends once a week on preparation days and you could video call home twice a year, on mother’s Day and Christmas. The goal was to really make sure that you focus on bringing others unto Christ instead of being distracted. This also included no longer having a personal cell phone. Instead, you would share a phone with the companion you were assigned to in the area that you were also assigned to. I was fortunate enough to be assigned to labor in Cavite, Philippines. Being part Filipino, I was so excited to be visiting my heritage country.
When you surve a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, you are assigned a companion for the period of roughly 6 weeks. You and this companion are not to leave each other’s side and must be at least within talking distance. It is up to you and your companion to work together to find people who have desire to be baptized and join the church. In order to do so, you and your companion must be able to get along, as well as work together to bring the spirit into the conversations that you have with people on the streets. If you do not get along with your companion, it makes it very difficult to feel the spirit.
Throughout my time there I was able to gain spiritual resilience. No matter what hardships came from either the companionship or from those that we spoke to, It did not change my position on why I was there. I was also able to learn emotional resilience when it came to switching companions. We had to learn each other’s strengths and weaknesses and also had to be open-minded about critiques so that we would be able to work better together. To this day, I apply both in my life. And this long experience has been able to help me with my communication skills not just in my love life, but also with my friends and family. It’s an experience that I will always be grateful for and never regret going through.
Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?
It’s actually a funny story. My business partner, Lexie, met my ex best friend through a dating app. When he introduced me to her I did not like her right away and I admit that I was not very kind. I was just being a little overprotective of my best friend and I wanted to make sure that he wasn’t going to get hurt again. Eventually, as we got to know each other, she turned into another sister I never knew I needed. She was there for me when I found out I was pregnant, she was there for me through all of my panic and anxiety attacks throughout my pregnancy, she was there for me through all my drama, and she was also there for me when I became a single mom. Our passion for dancing brought us closer together and I’m forever grateful for her loyalty, kindness, and compassion.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @az_swing
- TikTok: @az_swing
Image Credits
The Stillery Chandler