Meet Kat Morris | Storyteller, Podcast Host, Content Creator, Community builder

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kat Morris and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kat, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
In 2019, I started to think about how I could create a platform to showcase how great my friends were and quickly put my ideas together for a podcast. In designing the Kat Curiosity Missed, I wanted to create an audio anthology of diverse thinkers, dreamers, doers, and just all-around people that you need to know who are doing things their way. It was important for me to think about not only how to amplify my friends and their gifts but also to keep connecting others to their stories and even projects.

The pandemic really gave The Kat Curiosity Missed the room to grow. I used questions that I was asking myself every day about my growth, my wellbeing, and my general satisfaction with life as opportunities to talk about relatable topics with friends new and old.

Now in 2022, I have defined The Kat Curiosity Missed as a community and a podcast that highlights relatable and genuine conversations with and for Black women. We talk about our passion projects, we share our truths and most importantly we show up committed to asking tough questions and connecting through our answers.

I am constantly energized and encouraged by my conversations with other black women and so my podcast and ultimately this self-appreciating curious community that I am building is about harvesting all of that energy that comes when Black women link up. We talk about full circle moments and start with curiosity and end with gratitude. Gratitude is almost as important as a curiosity for my show. It is a fact that the most disrespected and undervalued person in America is still a Black woman and so I make sure to give every cohost/guest their flowers often and always because I get it and I see you.

The Kat Curiosity Missed is a play on the idiom Curiosity Killed The Cat. Curiosity has really been my motivator all this time. Instead of “killing” me it kept me alert, engaged, and evolving. Curiosity keeps the world fresh as I keep finding new ways to access and understand what is happening around me. Curiosity is also the bridge between building relationships and creating opportunities for people to just be real.

A lot of my thought process behind KCM also was grounded in making my inner child happy. I love using primary colors and block font that feels like a connection to childhood. We encourage curiosity in children and hope that they will continue to find experiences that make the world fresh with new information. My inner child is happy knowing that learning never stops, you just have to find new ways to do it. Amplifying my transparent authentic self means that I was publicly accepting myself in a way I was too afraid to do when I was younger. Little Kat is happy.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I started my professional career in community development in 2013 and I realized that while I loved cities and thinking about our built environment, I was moved and drawn in by the human connection and interaction. I kept finding ways to get in community with the community through volunteer events, youth programs, story circles, art walks, bike rides, and runs, community gardens, resident interviews, and everything in between. I was drawn to community building and engagement work because it naturally fit my love for dialogue and there is something so empowering about a great conversation.

I never thought that this would make me a podcaster, storyteller, or even a content creator. I am most proud of how I have been able to take my career experiences and fold them into my creative and entrepreneurial efforts. To date, I can start to look at all of the things I have worked on and see how they are in alignment with the way that I see my life moving forward.

My biggest strength has been my focus on vision and values. When I am thinking about potential interviews, things to try, and content to capture, I think about how true it is to myself, my brand, and my mission.

The Kat Curiosity Missed as a podcast, community, and tool is part of my pursuit of living a well-lived life I can be proud of. This is about moving from self-acceptance to self-love and appreciation. Self-appreciation feels more active to me. It requires introspection and reflection, it requires courage and commitment and most of all it allows me to try to exist without self-judgment and that’s how I know I am on the right track.

I’m from Cleveland and I feel like that will always set me apart no matter where I am or what I am doing. Clevelanders are the most networking, connected, and versatile people I know. We have a do it anyway attitude and find ways to make our dreams come true with hard work and sometimes delayed gratification but when it pays off, it pays off.

The Kat Curiosity Missed will continue to be the way that I introduce a piece of myself to others while connecting and amplifying all the different ways that Black women live their lives. We are the experts of our own experiences and and it is important to keep being true to our personalities as a way to inspire others to be true to themselves.

My mission is to start conversations with curiosity and end them with gratitude as a full-circle moment of story sharing and community building and giving Black Women all of their flowers

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I am a creature of habit so my friends know that we will have a great dinner with lots of wine and support a Black business like Rock Steady or Apt 4B. We will most definitely do something fitness-related like running, with Movers and Pacers, the best-run group in the city, or attending a Bound with The Pound Trampoline class with DPAC ATL. I also love the art museum and will gladly invite you to the High Museum of Art to walk through and find creative ideas in t

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I would say that there are so many people along my journey who deserve a Shoutout. Grandmother and Mom who let me follow my heart no matter where it would take me and gave me a “do it anyway” attitude and encouraged me to try things until I figured out how to make it my own.
I also want to shout out all of the people in my life who have continued to support my podcast from Jevon Worthington my editor and producer to every friend who encouraged me to take my ideas from paper to podcasting.
Thank you, to all of my friends. I am constantly supported by a village of people who will respost, reshare, create with me and send other people my way. I feel constantly blessed that I am supported in my vision.
If you’ve ever shared a link, liked a post, or told someone about me, I appreciate you.
I have to pull out my friend Nandi who has been my creative partner and collaborator. She was my first podcast episode and always shows uo to support me.

Website: https://linktr.ee/curiouskat

Instagram: @katcuriositymissed

Other: https://thekatcuriositymissed.buzzsprout.com/

Image Credits
Image Credits: @brandenadamsphotographer @thecamkilla