Katie is one of my heroes! She’s faced so much in her life with such grace, and is one of the most positive people I’ve ever known.
She’s an incredible artist and photographer, so be sure to check out her work here: https://www.facebook.com/ktchildphotography/
Tell us a little about yourself and your career
First and foremost I am a mother of four wonderful kids and a wife to an amazing man who is practically perfect in every way. I met him at church when I was attending Colorado State University. I graduated in Graphic Design and almost minored in photography. When I was at school I worked for the school creating posters for the student center and when I graduated I worked for the Longmont paper as an ad designer for a while along with doing other side freelance jobs. When I had my first born (twins) I put my design career on hold.
When my 1st daughter was 2 weeks old, as well as on my birthday, I was diagnosed with lymphoma. I had almost a year of treatment but came out better on the other side, because they told me I would never be able to have any other kids, but after 5 years of being in remission we had our youngest blessing naturally. After my battle with this life and death disease I felt that it was not only very important to me to capture her life and my family as they grew but to help others remember their family grow as well
That is when I really started my journey as a photographerand have loved blessing others lives through my creativity. I still do graphic design freelance work throughout my career with the most recent being working with Lemon Poppy Inc. I do love print design, I always liked the feel and texture of different papers and the look and use of different fonts that convey what feelings you are trying to create just by what letter form you chose to use. I feel photography is who I am.
How does your community of women you surround yourself with support you?
I have always had friends since I can remember who have been so very supportive of me being creative and loving me and just letting me be me. They have all been such great examples to me of faith, kindness, charity and keeping a positive outlook no matter what trial they face. Most of them are my clients and I love the fact that I can have those clients that I didn’t know before become friends after we have the first photo shoot. They are very supportive of my creativity.
How did your career help you prepare to be a mother?
Creativity and thinking outside the box is what I learned in my career that have been a great preparation for being a mother. You never know what is going to happen in my house. My children are very creative and they love to experiment with different art mediums. One of my kids has had a dream since he was in preschool to animate for Pixar. I feel like being creating in my career and life has cultivated that love that they have for being creative.
What do you wish you could go back and tell your younger self re: your career aspirations?
I would totally tell my younger self to take a business class or two. It is often hard to think like a businessman when you are creative and that is all that you want to do. It is hard to say, I think I am worth this much money. I would also say to cherish every moment you have that comes before you, the good and the bad. Be present where ever you are at.
What is your career-related mantra?
My mantra is not only my career mantra, it is more of a life mantra to make sure that everything is more in perspective and balanced. As I said at the beginning I am a mom and wife and that is the most important thing to me. Since the big “C” word I really want to hold on to and cherish all the time I have to see my kiddos grow.
My mantra is from Matthew 6:33 “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” I feel that my religion and my family come first before what happens with my career and if I focus more on those then it will all work out in the end. The career part is the icing on the cake.
