Today we’d like to introduce you to Kat Torre.
Kat, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I can’t quite pinpoint where my love affair with language began, but I know I was young – young enough to think it was okay to doodle on my Converse, not old enough to realize that it wasn’t the norm to stay up all night to finish a book I couldn’t put down or a sketch that wouldn’t stop discovering itself between the pointer finger and thumb of my left hand.
But we can fast forward a bit to the first job where I feel like I was stumbling into what I was trying to constantly scratch the surface as a kid: writing, design, engaging with others, learning their stories and what makes them… well, them. It was 2015 and I was working for a barre fitness studio in Portland, OR at the time, and, what began as a means to help pay for my college classes quickly bloomed into an unintentional yet rather intentional full time calling.
When you work in the field of marketing, very little is original anymore. Some would argue true originality doesn’t even exist anymore – but that’s where I beg to differ. Each and every person you meet is an original, and so is their story and that becomes their greatest tool and differentiator to clear away all of the clutter we find online these days. It’s my job to dig, cast aside the fluff and clichés and reveal the core of what lights a person up brighter than a comet.
It’s 2019 now and I’m fortunate to be a part of people’s journeys – in articulating their vision, designing their personality on paper (a style guide, if you fancy a fancier term) and giving them the tools they need to continue to community their story and engage with their audience for the long term. Every day is different, every client is different. No piece of copy is ever the same and neither are the designs.
I would say I’ll fear I’ll never be bored, but that wouldn’t be true. My only fear now isn’t how long it’s going to take to do what I need and want and live to do – but rather, that I won’t take it, as far as I know, it can truly go.
Has it been a smooth road?
Smooth roads don’t teach you how to brace yourself for the unexpected, or the unknown. So, I’d say I’m grateful that mine hasn’t been smooth. More like a rollercoaster, or the rhythm strip on an EKG. There have been ups and downs (and there always will be), but things always seem to come back to center, gravity pulling you back in and closer to what you’re meant to do – if only you’d realize the highs and the lows are temporary and not worthy of your reverence or despair.
I’d like to be able to give sound advice – to women in particular, here – but that would imply that I’ve figured it all out. I’ve turned my losses into lessons, mistakes into wisdom – but I am so utterly far from having it all together. Instead, I’ll share a recent experience, and maybe just reading these words will help shed some light and perspective on someone else’s situation.
One of the worst feelings I’ve ever experienced was not being able to clearly define where I ended and someone else began. Whether my dreams, passions, likes, dislikes were my own or someone else’s I had taken on because it was familiar and convenient to do so at the time. I suppose it makes sense – as women, we’re encoded to be nurturing, empathetic, self-sacrificing. Society reinforces this notion and while it doesn’t always end poorly, it did for me. Among all of the subjects they covered in school, I don’t ever recall them teaching us – especially girls – how to establish boundaries in our lives – with our parents, our siblings, our friends, and significant others. It’s the greatest skill they never taught us and, while it would be convenient to blame my lacking education and upbringing for contributing to my own toxic experiences, it’s really up to me to figure out how to navigate things moving forward. And it’s up to you, too.
Setting boundaries is still a new thing for me, but it’s been damn revolutionary in changing how I look at myself and my business.
If you have no idea what I’m talking about, or even no clue where to begin with this, that’s okay. You know now. So, go do something about it, yeah?
Please tell us more about your work, what you are currently focused on and most proud of.
My business card says I’m a brand designer and strategist with an emphasis in copywriting. As far as what I’m known for? I ask the people I work with often – what do you think of when you think of me? What’s the first thing that pops into your head? A lot of them will say my passion for fitness, my love for animals, affinity for tequila and spontaneous trips booked at the last minute.
What I love most about those above descriptors is they have absolutely nothing to do with what I do on paper, mainly because my business isn’t just about designing a logo or drafting a high-converting piece of copy. It’s about people, about listening, engaging and helping them fall in love with not only the way I work and what makes me the right person for them but also helping them fall back in love with themselves.
Authenticity requires an honest look at yourself – you have to know who you are, what you love, what you’re indifferent about, what you suck at. And then, you’ve got to figure out how to communicate that to a perfect stranger in under 10 seconds without flinching.
Sounds easy, right? For some, it can be. For others, not so much, and that’s where I come in.
I take the greatest pride in witnessing my clients’ transformations from uncertain, unclear and overwhelmed to assertive, confident and centered in the know that they are exactly where they’re meant to be.
As far as what sets me apart from others… absolutely nothing. I’m no one special. The people I work with, however – they are something to write home to.
Looking back on your childhood, what experiences do you feel played an important role in shaping the person you grew up to be?
I was at a conference this past month in Miami where Bethenny Frankel was a guest speaker, and she said something that really resonated with me.
When asked about obstacles or challenges in her childhood, she began to say that she had a “non-traditional” upbringing… and then stopped herself. She said that was bullsh*t, mainly because everyone has a non-traditional upbringing, and I find that so true.
I experienced tragedy and loss and heartbreak as a kid, and it was intense. I think we feel things so much more deeply as children than we do as adults and so, while I’m not negating my childhood experiences, I also know that I’ve done a hell of a lot since as an adolescent in my education and my adulthood now that has shaped my current and future successes.
There was no big turning point, no single moment, no sage lesson that was imparted upon me as a kid and that later made it all come together for me.
I show up. I work hard. And I do that every single day.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.kattorre.com
- Phone: 561-926-5206
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/katxtorre/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/katxxtorre
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/katxtorre
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