We recently connected with Katie Allen and have shared our conversation below.
Katie, first a big thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts and insights with us today. I’m sure many of our readers will benefit from your wisdom, and one of the areas where we think your insight might be most helpful is related to imposter syndrome. Imposter syndrome is holding so many people back from reaching their true and highest potential and so we’d love to hear about your journey and how you overcame imposter syndrome.
Valuing my curiosity and positioning myself as a life-long learner has allowed me to reframe the idea of “imposter syndrome”, which is usually an unpleasant psychological experience for most people. I find feeling like an “imposter” is not something to overcome, but something to analyze. Really allowing yourself to explore the feeling will lead you to what the underlying issue really is. You’re not an imposter, but you might be inexperienced – which is where everyone begins. Position yourself as an enthusiastic learner, someone whose primary gain is to grow authentically into the unique person they’re meant to become.
You know that cliché statement – “You can do anything you want if you put your mind to it”? Well, my skill for hacking “imposter syndrome” grew from my strong desire to do exactly what I wanted. There would be no way for me to achieve my goals if I was worried about what other people thought about me. Plus, the way I see it, folks are so busy thinking about themselves that the chances they’re thinking about me are likely low. That thought has always helped calm my imagination in times I’ve misused it to worry.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
Currently, I am the Executive Director at Algalita, an international nonprofit working to end plastic pollution. My journey to this position was fueled by grit, risks, and serendipitous moments I refused to let go unnoticed.
Growing up, I was a bit of an instigator. I wasn’t really satisfied with the status quo in any situation. It always felt like life needed to be unmuted, and I surrounded myself with people capable of doing that: philosophers, musicians, and scientists, anyone with a passion for shaking things up. After graduating high school in Long Beach CA, I followed my dreams of becoming a touring musician. I played lead guitar in several bands until I landed a job managing artist accounts at Warner Bros Records. Four years into my music industry career, my life was changed after watching an interview of Algalita’s Founder, Captain Charles Moore, on the David Letterman Show. Glued to the TV, I was captivated by his every word and instantly felt compelled to leave my career in the music industry to pursue a mission-driven career within the movement to end plastic pollution. Within a month, I left my job at Warner Bros Records and had begun volunteering at Algalita.
I will never forget the first time I saw Charlie in person. Mind you, I had just come from a job where I met with famous musicians daily. We’re talking artist like Neil Young and the late Tom Petty…. all of whom, for some weird reason, I was never nervous to work with. But Charlie was different! Meeting the one-and-only Captain Charles Moore for the first time was enough to leave me completely speechless. I mean, come on, he’s one of the greatest thought-leaders of our time!
I was sitting on the ground at the Algalita office organizing a box of board meeting minutes when he walked in and said, “Who are you?” Stumbling over myself, I managed to blurt out only my first name. As we stood there staring at each other for what seemed like hours, I could tell that this was going to be the beginning of a long, life-changing journey for the two of us. I decided then, nothing was going to hold me back from helping him push forth Algalita’s mission. And here we are, nearly 15 years later with flourishing international programming (www.wayfindersociety.org), a brand-new microplastics lab and learning center bustling with scientists and student researchers, robust local community efforts, and a growing team of brilliant individuals fueled by Charlie’s original vision of creating a world where plastic pollution is unthinkable.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
1) Learn how to hack Imposter Syndrome and realize worrying is a misuse of your imagination. Position, and view, yourself as an enthusiastic learner, someone whose primary gain is to grow authentically into the unique person they’re meant to become. If anyone makes you feel like an imposter, they’re likely the phony.
2) Before spending a ton of time and money on a college degree, go out and really experience the career you think you’d like to have. You may find that you don’t even need a degree at all.
3) This quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson “To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.”
How can folks who want to work with you connect?
Educators and students! Journey with us at wayfindersociety.org
Algalita’s newest program, Wayfinder Society for Environmental Education (WFS), is a free and open-source online platform that empowers educators and students across the globe to become allies within the movement to end plastic pollution. Driven by our motto, “Investigate to Educate”, we participate in nearly every aspect of our movement in order to collect the real-time and real-world information that fuels the educational tools we distribute to teachers and students across the globe.
Wayfinder Society’s full ecosystem of services provide meaningful and effective strategic, financial, and inspirational support for anyone looking to push forth long-term solutions to plastic pollution, specifically systemic changes across various levels, including policy, industry, community, and individual actions. WFS includes a growing list of over 40 unique Actions that are co-created with our plastic pollution movement partners, where students earn service-learning hours by taking action in their communities, and even internationally! Actions are tracked through our backend system where our team manually accepts or declines student submissions. This process allows us to provide direct feedback and support to youth across the globe.
Since the program launched in August 2023, students from over half the countries on our planet have earned 4,215 service-learning hours by taking action in their communities, including policy change through civic action, reducing single-use plastics in their schools and community, inspiring others through film screenings, art installations, and other educational events, launching zero waste community solutions, and so much more! WFS Actions empower individuals to flex their critical thinking skills to truly understand the systemic nature of the plastic pollution issues. For example, our “Watch the Story of Plastic Film” Action coupled with our “SOP Film Processing” Action and “Systems Mapping” Action is a sure-fire way to fully understand how leveraging synergies between short-term and long-term solutions will lead us to a world where plastic pollution is unthinkable.
Again, the program is complete free and open-source so join today at wayfindersociety.org!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.algalita.org
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/algalita/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Algalita/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/algalita-marine-research-and-education/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Algalita
- Other: https://www.wayfindersociety.org
Image Credits
Algalita Marine Research and Education
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
