Inspired By…Katie Langston!

I am so pleased to introduce my dear friend, Katie Langston, as the first of the creative artists I will interview for “Inspired By” in 2012 (To learn more about the “Inspired By” project, click here.).

Let’s get right to the interview, shall we?

Kim Harris Thacker:  Tell us about yourself and your creative work.

Katie Langston:  I’m a communicator by profession and passion.  Businesses, non-profits, and educational clients hire me to help them define and communicate their core message to customers and prospects — primarily through strong educational and promotional writing.   

Personally, I have a special interest in faith, happiness, and wellness.  So I write a lot about that on my blog.  I am also working on a full-length memoir dealing with similar topics.

In addition, I enjoy public speaking, teaching, facilitating, and one-on-one consulting.

KHT:  How did you become involved in your art form?

KL:  I’ve always been interested in words and ideas, but a major turning point came when I took a linguistics class in college.  I began to see that language is much more than a way to express existing ideas, but a means of creating new realities.  That fascinated me.  I wanted to become good at navigating and “translating” others’ realities, in addition to my own.

KHT:  What excites you the most about your art form?

KL:  I believe in the power of ideas to motivate and inspire human action.  The more informed we are about our options, the more empowered we can be to choose beliefs and outcomes that really serve us.  So whether I’m communicating a message on behalf of a client or writing about something that is meaningful to me personally, I try to find the cleanest, most compelling way to articulate it.

It’s a joy when I hear that something I have worked on has made a positive impact on someone else.

KHT:  How does your work allow you to explore the world?

KL:  In order to communicate effectively, I need to understand what I’m sharing.  For work, I get to learn about a wide variety of topics, such as Canadian real estate investing, cloud computing, business growth strategies for accountants, senatorial elections in New Zealand, the process of getting a pilot’s license in the United States, back pain relief options, and miniature dollhouse collecting — to name just a few.

Personally, I’ve chosen to be a bit more narrow in my focus so that I can fully explore the contours and grooves of a particular spiritual landscape.

I also have a chance to learn a lot about what makes people tick.  Whatever I’m communicating, I want it to be relatable, interesting, even fun.  I’ve studied rhetoric, sales copy, philosophy, theology, and some theatre improvization and humor.  And I read A TON.

KHT:  Tell us about your work routine. Do you have an office or workspace? Do you work for a certain amount of hours each day/week? Do you listen to music while you work? Wear bunny slippers? Eat gobs of bon-bons?

KL:  I have a home office and work about 20-25 hours per week. I don’t wear bunny slippers, though sometimes I work in my PJs.    I work best without any kind of music or distraction.  And yes, I eat gobs of bon-bons, but that really doesn’t have much to do with my work…I mostly just like bon-bons. 

KHT:  Tell us about a project you worked on that meant a great deal to you/has been your favorite project so far.

KL:  My favorite project so far is probably the Interactive Theatre Project I headed up at Utah State University.  We were funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation to address issues of gender inequality in academia.  I interviewed several professors and wrote a script based on the experiences I compiled.  We presented it in front of university presidents, deans, and professors across the country.  It was a TON of fun.

KHT:  Tell us about your current project.

KL:  Professionally, I’m always in the middle of several projects. Right now I’m working on an ebook about business finance, a bunch of blog posts for a group of businesses coaches, and the box copy for a new family board game that is set to hit the market this year.  Personally, I’m working on a memoir, as I mentioned previously.

KHT:  Where do you get your inspiration for your work? Do you ever encounter “writer’s block”? If so, how do you get past it?

KL:  I’m always inspired by other people’s good ideas.  That’s one reason I love to read so much.  Nothing makes me more excited than learning something new.  I do get writer’s block, and I beat it by either letting the project sit for a while (if that’s possible); or, if not, tight deadlines have this magical ability to make me really productive, really fast.

KHT:  Do you have any advice for folks who would like to get involved in your particular art form?

KL:  Be empathetic.  I’ve found that empathy helps in two ways: first, it makes it easier to understand new perspectives and ideas; second, it’s critical to figuring out how best to communicate your ideas with others.

KHT:  What/who inspires you?

KL:  I am inspired by great communicators like C.S. Lewis, Martin Luther King, Jr., and even Jesus.

I LOVE the band The Avett Brothers.  Though I don’t listen to music while I work, they are brilliant communicators both musically and lyrically and have given me lots of inspiration over the years.

KHT:  Of course, I have to ask: What are the names of a few of your favorite books?

KL:  I have several favorites!  The Chosen by Chaim Potok has to be at the top of the list — for me, that book was a life-changer.  I also love Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling, and the Anne books by L.M. Montgomery.

KHT:  Thank you so much for doing such inspiring work, Katie!