We were lucky to catch up with Katt Balsan recently and have shared our conversation below.

Katt , appreciate you joining us today. So, let’s start with a hypothetical – what would you change about the educational system?

Considering the uniqueness of each students in the different methods of teachings. For example, some people are visualize learners, some are doers and some need more explanations. It seems like in today’s education we focus on one method of teaching (i.e. sitting down behind a desk), instead of encouraging multiple approaches. It would be great to introduce more nature time and group activities outside of the classroom. Introducing more sports and performing arts as well in the school system to push kids to be creative and learn from themselves. And really guide students in doing what makes them happy and learning about the topics that they are interested in. I believe that learning should be fun and students need to understand the purpose what was is being taught at school for it to be effective. I was blessed to be in a school in Switzerland where I was taught skiing, camping, hiking, rock climbing as well as Arts, Theater and all sorts of teambuilding activities. I cherish this experience and would like to see more public schools like follow this model.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I moved from France to Los Angeles in 2012 to pursue my acting career. This allowed me to meet the most incredible people, mentors and fellow actors who I call friends, and build a strong community in the performing arts world. In 2019, I decided to support my dream of being an actor by opening my own business. It’s called “Escape N’B” and it’s a short term management company in the mountains of Big Bear Lake. Being the CEO of my own company, allowed me to be financially independent (enough) to keep auditioning and work as an actor in Los Angeles. In 2022 I opened an improvisational theater troupe called “The Fools of Big Bear” where I share my knowledge to players aged 13 to 79 years old! And lastly, I have just been cast as “Annie” in the play called “The One Act Play that goes wrong”. We will be performing Aug 24,25,26,27 and Sep 1,2,3 at the Big Bear Performing Arts Center.

Have you ever had to pivot?

I had been hustling and struggling in Los Angeles for almost 7 years and had reached a point where I was ready to give up on my acting career. I was unattracted by the superficiality of the industry, tired of attending red carpet events where I felt like everyone was desperate for attention, and wasn’t making enough money with the few acting gigs I had to support myself. One night, I had a dream that I was skiing again (I used to be a ski racer in Switzerland until I tore my ACL and stopped skiing), when I woke up I had an urgent need to reconnect with the mountains and the snow. A few months later while I was attending the Slamdance Film Festival in Park City, I got a chance to go skiing in Deer Valley. That’s when everything pivoted. When I got back to LA, I applied to be a ski instructor in Big Bear and two months later I moved to the mountains and opened up my business. Since then, I’ve been able to regain my love for both acting and skiing and feel like I’ve found my true self by combining those two passions.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

It always starts with a vision. In this case mine was: “I wish I could buy a cabin to escape to the mountains, rent it on Airbnb and have enough money to build a tiny house and live rent free”. Of course at this time I knew I couldn’t afford to buy a house or qualify for a loan. Until a friend told me about FHA loans (created for first time home owners with low income). I applied and qualified for a loan with low interest and I only had to put 3% down, which was just about what I had in my savings account. I then built a tiny house in the backyard to have a place to live when the cabin was rented. Soon after, I was able to pay my bills and my mortgage with the short term income and other home owners asked me to manage their cabin. I opened up my business “Escape N’B” less then a year later and now manage 4 cabins including my own.

Contact Info:

• Website: kattbalsan.com
• Instagram: kattbalsan
• Facebook: Katt Balsan Actor

Image Credits
Brian Adams