Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Katie Donnelly. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Katie, so great to have you with us and we want to jump right into a really important question. In recent years, it’s become so clear that we’re living through a time where so many folks are lacking self-confidence and self-esteem. So, we’d love to hear about your journey and how you developed your self-confidence and self-esteem.
I used to think that confidence and self-esteem came from people who were raised that way, but I’ve learned that this skill develops over time. For me, it came in my late twenties, for others, it comes earlier, and for some, it comes later in life. I was raised by a very confident mother, who also taught me to be independent and resilient in my pursuit of whatever made me happy. That of course, was met with teenaged boys, mean high school girls, and of course, failure, which all played a huge role in setting my confidence back a couple of years. Through all of that, I learned what it meant to be who I am and to surround myself with people who accepted that. That helped me learn how to love myself and celebrate who I am rather than try to hide it. This feeling passes in and out in this career, somedays I am more confident than others, but overall recognizing and accepting who I am really helps me push through on the harder days.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
I’ve been in many different bands over the years, an eight-person band in college, a duo with my ex, all different experiences that lead me to where I am now. After getting broken up with, not only with my boyfriend but my musical partner, I was pretty lost with what I wanted to do next. The only thing that really made sense to me was to leave. So I did, I moved 3000 miles always from everything I’ve ever known and started over. I knew that if I really wanted to pursue a writing career in the pop world I would need to be in a place I could do that everyday. After being here for a few months I started to write songs that I knew belonged to me, but starting my own project felt really scary and vulnerable. After some encouragement from friends and family I decided to go through with releasing my first song, Love Again, and after that I just knew what kate the dreamer needed to be. ‘She’ has changed over the years, adapted to who I am now, but mostly I have treated her like a character that I get to play, which has been the most fun part to me. Each one of my songs or projects has a story line, and it all comes together over the course of my release plans. At the moment I am rolling out my ‘water’ project entitled THALASSOPHOBIA. All of the songs speak to each one of my fears and contain elements of water.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
I’d have to say three things that have gotten me to where I am now are honesty, confidence, and sheer determination or in other words stubbornness. Honesty for myself, where I’m at, what I want out of a project, honesty from the people around me to call me out or check me a little bit. Confidence, this has been something that has just found me over the years. I grew up fairly self-conscious, and sometimes still struggle with that, but learning who I am and demanding the things I want as helped me grow into a very confident person over the years. I’m thankful for the growth, because it was not easy. Sometimes I just had to fake it. And determination or stubbornness. This career is not easy. I have breakdowns and a good cry I’d say at least every couple of weeks. It has taught me so much, and truly my stubbornness to get the things I want is probably one of the most powerful and annoying qualities about me.
My advice is simple. Trust your gut. I really think it knows exactly where to take you. Trust it on people, trust it on songs, trust it on everything. Your body has a way of knowing things before you do. Allow you intuition to guide you through because at the end of the day – we’re all little dreamers.
Alright, so before we go we want to ask you to take a moment to reflect and share what you think you would do if you somehow knew you only had a decade of life left?
One thing that has been coming up for me lately is working through some self-doubt. It can get really challenging to believe in yourself and your music when it’s not doing exactly what you want it to do. You can put in the work, and sometimes you don’t have all the right resources or connections. For me, I always have to bring myself back to why I’m even here in the first place.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.katethedreamermusic.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/katethedreamermusic/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/katethedreamermusic/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIacf_xiqowNLUv_V47azuQ
Image Credits
images: whitney otte
