Episode 172: Importance of creating an experience for your audience and building networks with Kate Berry from OK Motels
How are you creating a lovely experience for your audience? In this episode, Fiona and Kate Berry of OK Motels talk about the importance of building networks and relationships. They also share about creating an experience. Tune in!
Topics discussed in this episode:
Introduction
On Creativity
How Kate Berry started her career
How OK Motels started
Where the name OK Motels came from
On COVID and how it has affected Kate's business
Boom box
How Kate names her brands effectively
Tips on how to make photos look beautiful
What keeps Kate Berry motivated
How to connect with Kate Berry of OK Motels
Conclusion
Get in touch with My Daily Business Coach
Resources and Recommendations mentioned in this episode:
HelloKateBerry - Instagram
OK Motels - Instagram
Abdul at the Caltex Roadhouse
One of my biggest strengths is all the people that I bring in around me and that will always make for the best execution and the best visuals. I'm never alone in a project. I love working with people. I love bouncing ideas off everyone that I want to be involved in what I'm doing. It would never happen if I didn't have those people around me.
Welcome to episode 172 of the My Daily Business Coach podcast. We're into 2022 and I keep saying 2023 to my clients. That is because I secretly want to be in 2023 already because 2022 is definitely not what we all expected perhaps, so it’s definitely not what I expected. I'm hoping that we can push through all the stuff that is happening, all the challenges, all the lockdowns around the world, all the restrictions, everything. I'm hoping that we can somehow find moments of peace or somehow know that the end is in sight. If you are listening to this and you're a bit frustrated and over at all, I want you to take a massive deep breath and know that it's not going to be like this forever.
With that in mind, I wanted to bring you this episode, which is a small business interview. It is such a beautiful conversation with somebody I respect and admire for their creativity, their courage, their originality, and their all-around passion in people. Before I get stuck into that, I want to acknowledge the traditional owners and custodians on this beautiful land on which I record this podcast, the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation. I pay my respects to their elders, past, present, and emerging, and acknowledge that sovereignty has never been ceded.
It is the day after the 26th of January, 2022. If you are in Australia, I would encourage you to think about your position on that and what you can do to encourage and promote equality for all. We have so far to go in this country in acknowledging everything that has been done and is still being done, and in creating a path forward that genuinely provides equality for all.
If you are listening to this and you are an Aboriginal or indigenous First Nations person in this country, I wanted to bring your attention to something that you may or may not know about, and that is the Australian Indigenous Psychologists Association. That is an association that is committed to achieving equitable participation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people within the psychology profession in Australia. This includes being a national voice for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander psychologists and providing representation and support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander psychologists and psychology students. Also, contributing leadership and expertise on issues related to social and emotional well-being and mental health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
I know that they have updated that website because when I looked at this not too long ago, they had a membership listing there. If you were looking for a psychologist, you would be able to find somebody who is also indigenous or First Nations or Torres Strait Islander. They do seem to have changed their website. But I am sure if you got in touch with them, you would be able to be connected with a psychologist or somebody in the mental health space that is also indigenous First Nations or Torres Strait Islander. It is a small business interview episode. Let's get into it, shall we?
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My guest is the incredible, creative mind, Kate Berry. Many of you will know her and a lot of people that follow this podcast would be following her. If you're not already, definitely go on over and check out her Instagram. The visuals alone are absolutely beautiful. The handle is HelloKateBerry. Kate is one of those people that when you meet her, she has this contagious smile. She's excited about life. She has interesting projects always going on.
I have had the pleasure of meeting Kate many times. She has been a client. I would consider her a friend. Kate is changing the game in so many areas and doing so in a humble, grassroots, beautiful, super cool way. I absolutely had to have her on the podcast. Kate is a photographer. She is a creative director. She has looked after brands. She has done a copy. She has written books. She is one of those people that seems to be able to turn her hand to absolutely anything.
She photographed a whole bunch of work for Frankie and Smith’s journal. She then went on to launch Lunch Lady which has now become a globally recognized, much loved, and adored magazine and brand in itself. She has written books. She's written cookbooks. She has created all sorts of interesting work. One of those is a beautiful business that she has called OK Motels, where you are bringing music, art, and friendship down highways and to motels all across regional Victoria.
In this episode, we talk about how did she start Lunch Lady, why she decided to move away from Lunch Lady, what OK Motels is all about, and how hard it has been running an events-based business in a pandemic. In this interview, Kate is always so honest, so raw, so down to earth. There is no BS with Kate. She tells it like it is. She's beautifully vulnerable.
What is missing sometimes in small businesses is the truth behind what we see sometimes on Instagram or other social media. It has been incredibly hard for events-based businesses in this space. This is something that we're getting to in our discussion. We also look at how Kate has been able to come up with the most on-point brand visuals, brand names. Does she have a process? Does it come organically?
She also gives some incredibly practical tips if you are someone who struggled in the visuals or photography department. If you are interested in that, make sure that you are following Kate because she does share her knowledge about this in workshops and other mediums from time to time. I would love to get stuck into this interview. Kate is absolutely wonderful. I loved having this chat with her. I know that so many people listening are going to get so much from this.
Thank you so much, Kate, for being a guest in this podcast, for always keeping it real, for being so inspiring. I love that you're such an ideas-person and that you have created so many ideas-people by influencing them with your content, your projects, and your creativity. Here is my interview with the wonderful Kate Berry of OK Motels.
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Kate, I am super excited that we are chatting.
Thank you so much for having me. I'm excited.
I am, too. Here we are in 2022, just the start of it. I ask everyone, how are you feeling about life right now? Because it's been all sorts of things in the last few years.
It's great and scary. My big kid has COVID and he's locked up here in our house. My little kid is on school holidays and I'm managing a billion projects, so it's all a little bit chaotic at the moment. Wondering what's ahead is the big thing. Where are we going?
Firstly, I'm so sorry about your daughter. Is she okay?
Yeah, she's okay. She does what she would normally do anyway, which is be in a room watching stuff on her iPad. Not much has changed.
It's absolutely everywhere. I have so many clients who have COVID at the moment. I feel the same and I feel like this whole thing is such a lesson being in prison. It sounds so cliché. I so want to keep, “What am I going to plan? Could we go on holiday this year? What are we going to do?” All the things that we can't do every day.
Even though it does sound cheesy, corny advice being in prison, it's the only thing that's keeping me okay. I'm a big planner. Knowing that everything that I put in place does not work out the way I have perfectly planned. It is a great source of anxiety for me. Looking at what's five minutes ahead is probably the best approach.
I'm exactly the same. Aside from being a planner, you are also someone who is super creative. I'm so excited to chat with you and get stuck into businesses and all the things that you've created. Before we get into those, you are insanely creative. Were you always like that? Have you always been uber creative? Did you grow up in a household that was like that? Where did this come from?
I'm not too sure. My house was not overly creative. I have a sister as well, but I left home when she was tiny. My brother and I were definitely children of the ‘80s where we were left to our own devices. Our parents had power jobs and weren’t home so we were left to fend for ourselves. It's funny, I was thinking about how my art teacher in primary school used to be so frustrated by me because I never followed what she'd ask for. She’s like, “Can you do what I've asked?” Instead of whatever I've decided to be the way that things should be executed. That's the only thing I can think of that comes to mind about when I was a kid.
I used to make plays, but most kids beat that kind of stuff. I'm not sure. I've always been into music as a kid. In any job that I wanted to do, there's always some kind of creative job like a florist or a fashion designer. I used to draw pictures of what my florist shop would look like. Maybe florist is my next thing. I seem to rotate, go on a bit of a cycle of things that I decided to dip into.
I could imagine you as a florist, a funky, cool, full magical floral jungle that you got there.
That could be the next thing.
One of many things that people might know you from is Lunch Lady. I know that you're not part of them anymore, but can you talk us through how that even began and your journey with it? A lot of people have similar instances happen to them, but they don't necessarily create a whole thing out of it, and you have.
It did go with extreme. It did start from me making my kid’s lunches, particularly Maya. Pepper wasn't at school at that time. Maya would get bullied for her homemade lunches. I wrote a blog post with her about that experience with some of the photos that I've taken. It resonated with quite a lot of people. I kept that blog going. As well as me doing the blog, I also had three jobs to look after my kids.
I went away to Wales, to The DO Lectures. I was sitting in my tent jetlagged trying to think of an idea of how to draw all my three jobs together to try and make an income. Stupidly, I thought making a magazine would be the solution to that problem. When I got home, I got an email from Lou and Lara who created Frankie asking if I want to turn my blog into a magazine. That's how it all happened. It was a little serendipitous and a cool little story.
Creating a magazine is so much work. It ended up being more work than doing three jobs and me not having time for my kids. That's ultimately why I ended up stepping away because I missed being with my kids, which is funny creating a magazine about family and food, and you don't have time for either. Anything in the creative industry does take up a lot of your life. A lot of people have come to me saying, “I've got an idea for a magazine,” and I'm like, “Okay.”
“Forget it.”
“Good luck with that.” I love seeing that it's still going. I love seeing it bigger and better than it ever was. I'm still proud to see it on the shelf. It's nice to look at it and go, “That's the thing that I did.” It must have been a good idea because it's still going.
My friend in Amsterdam was telling me about it and I was like, “Yes, I do know that.”
A friend of mine sent a photo of that when I was still with Lunch Lady. It was on a sale at the Rockefeller Center or something. I was like, “Oh my goodness.” It's not sitting in that little tent in Wales crying because I don’t know what to do. It was, no way I would have imagined that's where that little idea would end up.
What does your daughter think of it?
I don't know. She was quite young when it first came out. To be honest, they were happy to see it end. One of my biggest regrets was that a lot of their lives growing up were used in the magazine as content and it's something I've had to grapple with, the feeling of guilt of that. They're happy that I stepped away from it and they could have their lives back and me back. I don't feel like they think much, but they’re like, “Good riddance.” I’m sure they're proud of it as a thing, but they look at it differently from how I would or how anyone would.
Although when they're older, I'm sure they'll be like, “Look at this chronicle to our lives,” which is amazing to have a look at that stuff.
Someone sent me a photo of that page, one of the ones that I was involved in doing, and I can't believe that Maya would have been 13 or something when it started. That’s almost a lifetime ago.
One of the things that you have done with your kids for a long time is road trips and you take incredible photos, which leads to the next business that I wanted to ask you about, which is OK Motels. Everyone should get on and follow you on Instagram and see all the beauty that you create. For people who haven't heard of that, how do you describe that business? The idea is so different that it's like, “Where did that come from?”
I love road trips. You can follow along with my life that all my businesses end up coming out of things that I like doing. The OK Motels initially started off as an Instagram account of me taking photos of motels that I stayed in and fell in love with. Then ultimately, one day, I found a motel that had a 650-capacity function room in the town of Charlton. I decided to create an event that I thought would be for my friends, which ended up being for 450 people, which I don't have that many friends.
I was going to say all of your friends are very popular.
It was bigger than a bunch of me and my mates, and it snowballed from there. We've had seven events now. This year, we're starting to build this online platform to create road trips like choose your own adventure road trips to our events. Ultimately, it will end up being these road trips that aren't necessarily around our events, but places that we think are cool to visit.
These events are in Charlton, which is the homeland of OK Motels. We've got one coming up in February 2022, which is feeling a little wobbly, to be honest. We’re reaching out to two extra towns, which is exciting. We’re checking those towns that you drive through, not necessarily drive to. Just telling their stories because I'm a big fan of the non-showy towns. I feel that it's a more people-focused experience. When you go to those small towns, you're not emerging yourself in, built experiences by someone. You're sitting in a pub chatting with the locals or going to the one restaurant in town.
They're so proud of where they live that they'll tell you all the places to go and to visit. They're not big things. They might be the best swimming spot in the creek or whatever. I always find that they're so much more fulfilling experiences because you've spent time talking with people and people that you wouldn't necessarily normally engage within your everyday life.
It's amazing what you're doing. I'm a fan. I've got your sweater, your key tag, all the merch. My sister has lived in regional and rural towns forever. I feel that’s what she needs. Every time I go to a small town and get the paper or whatever, I used to always be surprised. In Melbourne, you get the paper and no one says anything to you, you’d be like, “Here’s my money. Thanks. Bye.” Then I’d be like, “I haven’t seen you. Where are you coming from?” It’s this whole conversation. It’s lovely. It didn't have a population of 600 and it's such a different experience.
I found with putting on the event in Charlton that it is almost like a choose your own adventure. You talk to Glenda and she sends you to Bob, and then Bob sends you to Gary, and then Gary's got the best scones. You go this little adventure through the town, through the locals. Not everyone in Charlton, but I know all the people that run the shops. That's the thing I want with OK to introduce people before you get there.
As you drive into Charlton, you know that Abdul at the Caltex Roadhouse does the best bacon and egg sandwiches, and Danny has the pawnshop in town. You feel like you can walk into the shop and you know that that's Danny and that's Abdul. You're going to see Glenda motel. Especially now, we've lost so much of everything, so much connection. I feel like building those connections, making them easier, is going to add to everyone's experience.
The motels and the way you capture things are so beautiful. How do you choose places? Also, have you had any kickback or any smaller town where they're like, “We don't want people coming in,” or anything like that? Are they excited because business is going to boom for however long you're there? You bring 400 people from anywhere. Sometimes that's the whole population.
Initially, Charlton wasn't over the moon, but there was more that I could have probably spent more time making an effort to engage more. That's also come over time. I've spent more time there and I've got to know people a lot more. As long as you're sensitive to the space that you're coming into, then it should be okay. Having conversations before you decide, “I'm going to put on an event with Tropical Fuck Storm headlining in this town of 900 in the middle of regional Victoria,” perhaps there should have been some conversations before that happened.
I've had the time to invest, like the event the CWA is involved in, people like that, with regards to having kickback of people not wanting OK there. We've only been in Charlton and Corio in Geelong, and they've been great. The next two towns will be interesting. I'm sure they'll be great, too. I'll keep them a secret for now. I've learned so much from the experience with Charlton, knowing that you do have to be sensitive. You can't just bring your big ideas and plunk them into the middle of the town that may not have seen what you're doing before.
All the towns from Melbourne to Charlton now know when an event is on because they have all these people that they normally see come into their shops. They love it and they're on board with it. As long as you keep the communication lines open, it's normally okay. Normally that's a lot of listening, not talking.
I love that name as well, OK Motels. Where did that come from?
Everyone calls in **** Motels or whatever. Without sounding like a wanker, I was staying in the Ace Hotel in London. I was trying to think of a name for OK Motels so I was like, “I can't call them Night **** Motels. That's awful.” When I was at the Ace Hotel, I was like, “I can't call them Ace Motels,” but I was like, “They’re OK,” and that was it. The Ace Hotel is gaining some inspiration behind the name.
I love the idea of motels. People don't stay in them anymore. Everything has to be glossy and everything looks new over time. You’re like, “They're using the same rugs in the foyer and the same big tile in the bathroom.” It's nice to see different things.
To me, they are these spaces, that is everything that you need here in this room that you can let back your car up to. I love that thing in the morning when you're lying in bed and in your motel room. You can hear other people leaving and you're like, “Where are they going? What adventure they’re on? Why were they here?”
Speaking to the people who run motels, who I think are the craziest people in the world, they have such incredible stories about the kinds of people that have stayed there and what brought people there. They must have made such an incredibly diverse group of people. There are definitely a lot of stories that could come out of that.
As someone who’s been a huge part of these events themselves, and we're going through a pandemic and we've gone through a huge amount of lockdowns, especially here in Victoria, how has COVID then impacted this business and your life in general? Was it stop, start, or did you go, “I'm putting the business on hold? What happened in the last couple of years?
I'll try not to get too emotional, but I can feel myself getting emotional already.
Feel free. Emotions are welcome here.
It’s been hard.
I’ll give you a massive hug.
Why I'm so emotional about it is because this 2022, it was like, “It's all back. We’re great. It's all happening.” We’d put out on sale for February thinking that that would be well and truly out of the woods, and it's probably not going to happen. It'll be fine.
You've got such a huge community around you and you've got these strong relationships that you've developed that I feel like people are happy to wait and they have been happy to wait.
What makes it so hard is, with anything that's creative, with community, and all that kind of stuff, it's such a thing that you put all your heart into. When you build something and it can't happen, it's like Christmas for little children. It's like my version. The one in February will be the best event that we've put together. It's more than uncertainty. Even moving it from February, it's like, “Where do you move it? Is it April? Is it May?” “Don't do it.” That's the bit that's the hard bit. If there were things that were certain, it would be a lot easier to cope with. I'm so glad I got over that. I was like, “I got to get out of that.”
Good to get it out.
I could feel it coming up. I'm like, “Don't do that.”
It's beautiful that somebody who's reading this might start releasing their own tears. Don’t apologize.
It's funny because I was talking to Kay from StartUp. I did a podcast with her in 2020 saying, “Now that we're coming out of the pandemic…” I was like, “Poor Kate. Naive Kate.”
I did the same.
Here we are, 2022, January. It's been hard but thankfully, I have been working. I left Melbourne at the start of the first lockdown because my kids and I were in a tiny apartment. We moved here to Ballarat. I started building a bit of a community here and got quite connected with the creative department of Ballarat city council. I've been working for them on a project, which is working with musicians doing mentoring and creating music videos and stuff for the local artists here.
I've created an outdoor performance space for local musicians that we’re programming for four months. All this stuff has saved my brain and my bank throughout lockdown, so I'm lucky to move somewhere that has embraced some creative solutions to get through this time by allowing me to be able to execute that for them. I'm grateful for that opportunity. Not being able to do things creatively has definitely been the hardest thing about COVID. I know that you can still do stuff, but when your creativity is building experiences to share with people, that doesn't go hand in hand with COVID.
It cannot do it on Zoom.
That's the thing, even with OK and stuff like that, people are like, “Have you thought about doing streaming?” OK is about bringing people together in a space to share conversations and experiences. I'm sure there is a way to execute that online, but I'd rather not do it and wait than try and recreate something virtually. I don't know how satisfying that would be. I'm excited that that's happening. It's outdoors, so that's great. It's sunny today.
It's beautiful and sunny. What is the performance area called?
It's called Boom Box. It's a giant glass cube that we've installed in the middle of Stuart Street. You can come and sit on the grass and listen to DJs, bands, live performances, and stuff. It's three days a week.
Is the box part of COVID? Is it like, “It’s protection. No one's going to catch it.”
The reason I decided to put a box was because Ballarat can be quite temperamental with its weather like Melbourne, but way more extreme. Instead of it being ten, it'll be three degrees here, even if it was pouring with rain here in Ballarat or it could even snow. It snowed here on Christmas Day many years ago. I was like, “Imagine if it was pouring rain and it was cold, but you still had in this glass box this band playing music. There are cars going by and you can still hear. That would be cool.” The whole box opens up so people can sit on the lawn and listen to the music as it's being played. It can work in any weather.
I love that Boom Box. If you're in Ballarat or around, make sure that you can.
It’s still April. It finishes on April 24th. That’s around for a while.
Even that concept that you're like, “Imagine if we were here and it was raining and you're still doing that,” you're so creative. I genuinely mean this. I'm not just gushing because you're on the podcast. I genuinely think that out of thousands of people I've met in my years on this Earth, you are one of the coolest in terms of the actual origins of being super original and being super creative. You're interested in other people and you're interesting as a person.
When you come up with these brands or these ideas or your consultant councils or whatever, how do you come up with the visuals? Because they're on-point every single time, the naming, even OK Motels and the origins of that. I know that when I've talked to you about other ideas that you've had like the names you come up with, they are exactly right. I mean that. It's an amazing skill to have.
I work with people all the time that are starting businesses or they’re creating a sub-brand, and that can be a hard thing so I'm wondering, do you have a process for that? Is it trial and error? Do you let things ruminate for a while? How do you come up with all this stuff? Even Boom Box, everything is right.
I've been asked this before and I tried to think of a helpful answer because if you do this, this, and this, then it'll work. I align myself with projects that I'm truly passionate about. Boom Box is music, it's being outside, being people. Instinctually, something just pops out. One of my biggest strengths is all the people that I bring in around me and that will always make for the best execution and the best visuals. I'm never alone in a project. I love working with people. I love bouncing ideas off everyone that I want to be involved in what I'm doing. It would never happen if I didn't have those people around me.
For example, with Boom Box, I had to turn this project around in ten days. It’s like, “This person I know is amazing at this. This person can do this.” Then had these incredibly quick conversations because it was ten days. Knowing that your ideas are in incredible hands that you can trust, 9 times out of 10, if your team is amazing around you and you trust them, then it's going to look great, sound great, and feel great.
The team for this Boom Box is down there sending me pictures while we're talking. It launches and this install is still being wrapped up. One of the things that I find so exciting and satisfying about what I do is bringing all these people who are so amazing together to create something incredible that we can all enjoy once it's done. That is the thing I have found so rewarding in what I do. I don't necessarily come up with the ideas or the names all myself. Having such amazing input from all those people is how it eventually pops out at the end.
You're humble. That is a huge part of it. You bring a lot to it as well. Speaking of photos, it’s a huge part of your work and it has been. People hire you and they can still hire you to do the brand photography and campaigns. I know one of my clients got a family portrait stuff done. Your Instagram pics alone, if anyone's not following, go and follow it right away, are magnificent. They have a feeling to them. They're not the same. You could take one photo and you could have 1,000 different meanings behind that photo. Looking at it, it's feeling that day.
Photography is a huge part of small business, especially with social media and everything else. Do you have any tips for either a small business owner who's reading thinking, “I'm absolutely crap with photography”? I need to hire somebody, but I don't even know where I'd start.” I know you have courses and workshops to teach people how to take photos using their phones? Are there any tips that you'd give to someone who's like, “We have crap photos.”?
To me, you can make the most boring photo or subject look beautiful by making sure it's lit properly. When I lived in my apartment in Elwood, I had this one window in the kitchen that just made everything beautiful. I had this bench constantly stuck in front of this window and anything I needed to take a photo where I was like, “Plunk it in front of the window.”
For example, there’s this building opposite me that I'm looking at right now, that building can look a billion different ways depending on what time of the day. I’d take a photo of the building, it looks nice now but if I came back in four hours’ time, it would look incredible. As obvious as it may seem, make sure something is lit properly and make sure your horizon line is straight. I can't deal with the crooked horizon line. They use it in horror films to create unease, the wonky horizon line. Don't do it in your photo.
You're so right with lighting. Sometimes my son will be like, “Mom, you’re taking another photo?” I'm like, “This light is perfect.” Everyone looks amazing.
Don't take a photo of someone at midday because they're going to have giant shadows on their eyes, and they're going to look weird.
Thank you for that. I do want to ask, you do interesting things and you need to stay determined and focused. Even when you said that example of like, “I had to pull this together in ten days,” is there anything that is your go-to for staying motivated? Even through this conversation, you were saying it's been hard with the Boom Box event. What keeps you motivated when it is all getting a bit too much?
I get up early and exercise. I know that's so lame, but it is the only thing that's gotten me through the last few years. One, for my mental health, moving and exercising saves me. In a lockdown, if everything that you do is getting up and sitting on the couch, I don't know if I would have coped, to be honest. It was hard when it was just the Zoom gym or whatever. That has been the thing that saved me. Even if exercise is getting my kid up and walking up the hill behind our house, they're moving even when there's nothing to do. I know it's lame. People say, “Exercise is good for mental health.” It's because it's true, I suppose.
I go for a big walk most days and if I don't, I get irritated by things.
I do it in the morning. I won't do it later because I do other stuff or I'll lose motivation. I find it as such an incredible foundation for the day. It does shift where the day is going to go, whether I've exercised or not. I always feel way more motivated.
I try and go in the morning, too. There are these two old men who walk the same path as me, but they walk opposite, depending on what time I go. Sometimes I walk fast because I want to beat them and my husband is like, “They’re in their 70s.” I was like, “I know it, but it's my own little challenge in the morning. Am I walking fast?” Even the fact that they are up every day, I'm like, “Hello.” It's a nice little thing to have every time.
Be down to say hi to somebody. I don't know anyone that I go to the gym with, but they know my name and they say, “Hey, Kate,” and that's enough sometimes to keep being connected at this time. That has saved me.
Thank you. It’s not lame. It's good advice. You have given so many other people help. You mentor people and I know you've done that quite a bit throughout your career. Have you had any help? Have you had coaches or mentors? Is there one book that you’re like, “This book changed my life and it's helped me with business.”
I have your book and I have Kay’s book as well, and they're both great, even though I'm banned from her book because I'm not allowed to have any more side hustles.
She's lovely. We’ve been on each other's podcasts.
I did that ACME accelerator a couple of years ago. It's interesting because, at the time, I was frustrated by it because it was all business-focused and not sympathetic to the creative mind. I've learned so much from them. Sometimes when you get given big challenging advice, it takes a little while for that to seep into what you're doing.
I saw that they've got a new program coming up through the State Library of Victoria called StartSpace. Definitely get onto that if you're a startup founder and need help because they were incredible. I wouldn't be doing what I'm doing now if it hadn't been for that program. At the time, I got so frustrated by it. When you're challenged, you do, don't you?
Your defense system.
You’re like, “This is not what I want to hear.” Now, I'm all about data and the stuff that builds what you're doing in a more realistic way, instead of going, “I want to do this and I want to do that. I don't care if it makes money.” It's good to know that stuff because if you can make a living out of the stuff that you enjoy doing, then that's what it's about. Unfortunately, you need to know the nuts and bolts of business behind those ideas.
When you said you've had to learn all these different things, what are you most proud of around your whole business journey to date?
I know this sounds weird, but I'm proud of all the things that I'm creating. I've spent so much of my life doing stuff that I thought I should do. I worked in advertising for a long time and it never aligned with my heart because it is selling crap to people that they don't need. What I'm so proud of is that all the things that I'm doing and the work that I'm doing have allowed me to live as my true me without having to compromise anymore.
I know that that's a privileged position to be in. I understand that sometimes people have to do stuff that may or may not love, or whatever. It is an incredible space to be in to truly live every moment of my life, doing things that I truly believe in and being able to pay the rent by doing that. To me, even though I don't have $1 billion, I feel that I've made it with that.
That is the meaning of success. If you have the opportunity to even think of creating a business and we're in such a privileged space to even think of that, then you want to go for it full-on and do it in a way that completely aligns with who you are, your values, your beliefs, and everything.
I hadn't thought about that, so thank you for giving me that. I can walk around having a bit of a think about that. When I might have a bit of a moment of not enjoying a part of my day, I'll remember that, so thank you.
It's my absolute pleasure. Thank you for giving us your time and wisdom. If someone's listening to this and they're thinking, “I would love to talk to her,” or, “I would love to get involved with something,” or, “I want to see what’s coming up next for her,” what is next? Where can people best connect with you?
I have a lot in 2022. I always love talking to people. It's the thing I love most. You have my website stuff. It's so funny, a lot of people say to me, “I didn't reach out because I thought you're busy.” When someone emails me or reaches out to me, it's my biggest joy. I love it so much. I love hearing from people. I love hearing what people are up to if there's any advice that I can give. One of the things I love the most is people that do have ideas because they’re special. When I meet someone that’s like, “How can I share an idea with you?” I'm like, “Give it to me. I want to hear it.” I love it. Please reach out and say hi.
I'm sure so many people will. You're so inspiring. Thank you so much for your time, your wisdom, and all the creative stuff that you've created for these communities. Not just OK Motels, but all the communities that were established from Lunch Lady and all your other work as well. Thank you so much. I'll let you get to your Boom Box.
Thank you so much for having me and thank you for giving me some little nuggets to take with me.
You're so lovely. Bye.
Bye.
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How lovely is Kate Berry. You want to ride alongside her for life. She is awesome, super creative, so interesting, and interested. That is a big thing, being interested in people in the everyday person. I love that about her. It's absolutely inspiring and we don't do it enough. We don't stop and be like, “Let me talk to the person at the local service station.”
Especially business, we can be so consumed with what's happening online and not what's happening in the real world, in our local communities, in regional communities, and communities that we are going through, maybe passing by every single year on the way to our Christmas destination. There are stories everywhere if we can look around and find them, and be wanting to find them. That's who Kate is. She's somebody who wants to find the stories, the ideas, and the general life that is running through all sorts of communities.
I absolutely loved chatting with Kate. I know that so many people reading this are going to be taking notes, feeling inspired, feeling like, “Yes, I could do that crazy idea that I've been thinking about as well.” Thank you, Kate, for joining me. I would love to know what you took away from this, so please don't be a stranger. Feel free to send me a DM. I love receiving these about podcasts or about anything. You can find me, @MyDailyBusinessCoach on Instagram.
If you want to connect with Kate, you can find her on Instagram as well, HelloKateBerry. You can also find her website, HelloKateBerry.com. If you're interested in OK Motels, you can also find them on Instagram and see some awesome imagery. You can find that at OKMotels. If you're interested in finding out more, following her journey, and maybe buying some merchandise, you can find it at OKMotels.com.au.
I would love to know what you took away from this. There are so many things that I took away. The two that remain strongest in my mind after chatting with her is one, it's all about relationships. She talked a lot about relationships with people she's worked with before. How she can get projects up and running quickly is because of these networks and the relationships that she's fostered over her career.
Also, the relationships in terms of her work in childhood and spending time to get to know people, understanding what do they want from this. That is an amazing business lesson because we're so concerned with getting to a certain point that we're not taking the time to slow down and appreciate all of the people that have come into our lives that have helped us get to that certain point.
I've also had jobs that have helped me create those, such as journalist and all sorts of things. I am also someone like Kate who's interested in people and interested in understanding their stories and what makes them tick. As the business lesson for that is, if you're looking at collaborations, if you're looking at partnerships that you want to happen, if you're looking at even content creators that you might collaborate with, thinking about, “Can this be a long-term relationship?” Not just, “I need this from you so let's make that happen.” Create a relationship that can last. Those are the best kind.
Many of the people that I recommend to my clients are people that I've had a relationship with for years and I've been able to see how much they've helped other people. I can confidently connect my clients with those people and those service providers or products that are great. That was the first one, relationship building, and understanding how powerful and important the people around you are.
The other thing and it ties in with this, that I took from Kate's whole business with OK Motels but also for everything else that she does, is that it's about creating an experience. It's not saying necessarily, “There's a band. Come and see it. It's a cool venue.” It's creating the experience around that, creating the conversations, creating friendships, creating all sorts of things, where people can remember that they had an amazing time, but also connect that with your brand.
Whether you are a service provider, whether you sell products, whether you have events, whether you have a brick-and-mortar store, or whether you're completely online, we can all go some way in creating a great experience for the people that we work with and the people that we interact with. We all know it when you've walked into a store or café or anywhere and it's been a wonderful experience. Or on the flip side, where you've gone to something and you've felt like they didn't care that you were there. They took no notice. There was no friendly smile or anything like that. The experience was absolutely crap. Or perhaps, you've been promised something and it completely fell short of that.
If you, are thinking about what you're going to do for 2022 in your business, look at it from an experience mindset, “What would this be like for somebody who's interacting with our business for the first time?” “If they're sending a DM to us, what kind of relationship are we trying to build?” I use voice messages a lot in things like Instagram. They take two seconds. I feel like they're more human. They allow people to connect quite often. The majority of the time, people reply going, “I didn't know you could do this.”
They are doing voice messages, learning something in the process. I get to hear what do they sound like, what kind of background noises are going on. I hear them laugh. It's much more real and human than text messages. It doesn't have to be a big event. It can be a small experience of sending somebody a DM and getting a more human response. Looking at your brand, looking at the different touchpoints and connection areas for your audience, and thinking about, “How are we creating a lovely experience?”
I took away so many other things from Kate as well, but those two stand out. We'd love to know what you thought of this, what stood out for you. Of course, you can connect with Kate. You can find OK Motels, @OKMotels on Instagram. You can also find them at OKMotels.com.au. If you're interested in connecting with Kate Berry, then you can simply go to HelloKateBerry on Instagram and her website as well, which is HelloKateBerry.com.
That’s it for this interview episode. If you're interested in anything that Kate mentioned, you can find them over at MyDailyBusinessCoach.com/Podcast/172. A final reminder that we are closing group coaching soon. If you've been reading this podcast and you've been thinking, “I would love to work with her in some capacity,” of course I would love to work with you, too. You can find out more about my twelve-month group coaching program that is kicking off soon over at MyDailyBusinessCoach.com/GroupCoaching. Thank you so much for being here. I'll see you next time. Bye.
