Meet Katie Sanders

We recently connected with Katie Sanders and have shared our conversation below.

Katie, so great to have you on the platform and excited to have you share your wisdom with our community today. Communication skills often play a powerful role in our ability to be effective and so we’d love to hear about how you developed your communication skills.

Communication has always been hard for me. When I was young I didn’t know I was autistic. People called me shy and I also had trouble speaking by tripping over my words due to my dyslexia. I mustered along and did ok in English classes but often repeated myself. It wasn’t until many years in the workforce, and then starting my own business, that I hired a copywriter to translate my ideas into beautifully crafted newsletters and blog posts. She did amazingly well and I suddenly felt heard. When I transitioned back to writing on my own, I finally found my own voice. It didn’t have to be beautifully crafted to get my ideas across, but I learned how to identify my circular thinking within my writing and edit it down. Editing helps so much in communicating with my clients and audience, and even now as I sit down and write this I think of all I have learned. I have also allowed my ADHD brain to just let my ideas flow in real time when I am speaking in a video as a script is way too hard for me to follow. I either freestyle or have a bulleted list for my videos and podcast. It’s so much more freeing for my brain to work that way. My takeaway is that I really just found ways that worked better with my brain.

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?

My career journey has been a long and winding one that often circled back on itself. I went to school for photography but when it got more technical I changed my major to Interactive Media which was the first few years of when the internet actually started having websites that were designed instead of all text. I loved being able to dabble in many different mediums such as audio, video, digital photography and especially coding. I worked for several startups and print shops in the Seattle area.

While it was really interesting, I was also starting to burn out. Autistic burnout, I came to learn later. The harsh lighting, the busy office spaces, and the fast-paced detail-oriented work were a lot. I decided to venture out on my own and contacted my school to see about freelancing and they let me know that there was a painter who needed a website. When we met we became fast friends and my first solo client. I still help them today!

I then proceeded to form my business Beneficial Design to help primarily women business owners as many of them felt unheard of in the male-dominated industry at the time. There are so many more women and non binary web designers now, but I loved bringing peace of mind and understanding to their businesses and careers as they stepped forward into their specialties. I added branding and marketing and renamed my business to Beneficial Studio.

After the birth of my son I started having a lot of health issues and had to step back. With his diagnosis of autism I found my own and so much more of my past made sense. I knew I had to switch things up again and tapered off of client work and stepped into my own YouTube channel covering my love of all things planners and stationery, while also talking through how to pace and design your life around chronic illness and neurodivergence. I still helped out long time clients but didn’t take on any more.

I started coaching those who needed more support and also have over a hundred episodes of my podcast, Creating Your Sanctuary, to support my audience as well. I love the way I can record videos and podcasts when I have the energy and pre-schedule them. Sometimes I can do multiple in a day and then take a couple days of a break while responding to comments.

Most recently I have returned to my design roots and formed Sanctuary Paper Co. that offers printable inserts that help plan your day according to your energy. It’s still in its infancy, but I really enjoy providing tools in different mediums to meet people where they are at. Something they can listen to, something they can watch, something they can print out and write on, something they can think about that might make their life easier, and how they can accept who they are and where they are at in life.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

1. Communication is key. Making sure your contract covers every little thing so when the client wants changes you are fairly compensated, it’s one of the most important skills to have everything in writing and get a 50% deposit up front. You can always be helpful (people definitely remember how helpful you are!) and give more if it feels like you have overflow, but people will try to get free things from you. I don’t have the energy to do free work anymore.

2. Understand multiple points of view and listen. Listening has always come easier for me as I am an observer as I learn. I ask questions that pop into my head and over time have honed in on what information is missing. Everyone has a backstory and may be going through difficult times. Understanding them is important and also understanding if they are frustrated and angry as it may have nothing to do with you. To stand back and look objectively and know you are doing your best, and if not to learn how to handle things diplomatically. Most people just want to be heard and once they are, they usually back down and are able to listen as well.

3. During school I had difficulty pairing colors for some reason. It just didn’t click. I was matching too many and also having colors clash. I kept up with design but I wasn’t satisfied. For some reason when I started watching What Not To Wear in the 2000s, the color combinations they used finally made sense. Maybe it was the way they showed how the color wheel worked in real life as opposed to the studies I had to paint during school. The textures, the patterns, the depths of shades. Something just clicked and I was able to create some really beautiful branding and sites and people resonated with. Be open to always learning from other fields. I am always curious and bring together learned skills and experiences from all facets of life.

Who has been most helpful in helping you overcome challenges or build and develop the essential skills, qualities or knowledge you needed to be successful?

Watching creators on YouTube with smaller followings. I love the bigger channels but they are not a good example on how to get started with your own videos. Seeing people try new things, pivot, iterate, and also not care about building huge followings. I think there is a lot of genuine sharing and creating in these smaller channels. They don’t have the pressure to take on lots of sponsors and ads, but are doing it to connect and share their light. Some get too tired, family situations arise, or they just don’t find it fun anymore and I think that’s really important to see. One creator, Kay Patterson (The Organized Soprano) got her 100K and has another gaming channel for fun, but in the last six months has restarted a personal channel that I just love. Her motto is “you get what you get” and it helps me every day focus on doing what I have the capacity to do. We all find those creators who we just kind of get in an unspoken way through their “do you all go through this?” type of content. Yes we do! That’s what my ultimate goal is in my work.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Photography by Shannon Acton [for all photos that include me, not the others]

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