Today is an exciting feature for the local #mpblogseries! We are featuring two of our favourite boss babes - Katie Bentz and Katie Steckly from Bossy Women. Katie and Katie are such an inspiration to us because they’ve taken their skills and passions to create something amazing. Not only do they have a podcast that features and celebrates local female entrepreneurs but they continuously host events and workshops to bring women together in the community to connect.
We had the opportunity to be interviewed by Katie and Katie and had an amazing time. They were so inspiring and made us feel so comfortable on our fist podcast. We had a blast and couldn’t stop laughing - check out our podcast and leave these babes a review!
Okay, we could go on forever, so without further ado…
Welcome Katie and Katie from Bossy Women!
Name: Katie Bentz and Katie Steckly - Bossy Women
Your title:
Katie Steckly: freelance videographer and social media content producer
Katie Bentz: full-time student and side hustle enthusiast and of course for both of us:
co-founders and hosts of the Bossy Women Podcast
Your elevator pitch:
Bossy Women podcast is a show dedicated to interviewing and celebrating local female entrepreneurs, who provide our listeners with tips, advice, and inspiration to follow their business dreams. We also host local events to bring together the amazing women in our community and give them a safe place to connect and grow together.
One word to describe yourself:
Katie Steckly: Dreamer
Katie Bentz: Go-getter
Why did you choose that word?
Katie Steckly: I’m always looking forward to the next goal or project that I can tackle. I have such a strong vision for my future and I’m always dreaming about what I can do next!
Katie Bentz: When I have an idea, I want to start working on it right away! My mind is literally always on and coming up with new ideas. I love being busy and getting shit done - sometimes I have to remind myself that good things can take time and rest is also important to success.
Why did you start the business that you did and what was the inspiration or reasoning of how it came it life?
Katie Steckly: In addition to my work as a freelance videographer and social media content producer, of course, I’m a co-founder of the Bossy Women Podcast. Starting this project alongside Katie B has been an amazing experience that I don’t think we ever could have anticipated. We really started it simply because we were passionate about entrepreneurship, feminism, community, and talking a lot!
Katie Bentz: Katie and I used to always sit and chat about our business dreams, and we both love networking and being creative so starting a podcast together sounded like the perfect plan.
First thought when you officially became your own boss:
Katie Steckly: Since I slowly started freelancing through university, I can’t remember an exact moment when I officially became my own boss. Of course there was a point when I had my last day at a job working for someone else, but I can’t even remember exactly when that was. I have always been working on creating videos and a side project and as something I just loved to do, so for me transitioning to full-time freelance wasn’t that huge of a transition. I felt like as a student I was a “full-time creator, part-time student” - I would joke with my friends about that, even though I had an over full-time course load. So when school ended I just felt that I could continue spending the same amount time of my creative passion but didn’t have to balance school on top of that, which felt great.
When you’re not hustling, what do you do in your free time?
Katie Steckly: Watch science YouTube videos with my husband, hang out with my family at my mom’s restaurant, and travel as often as I can! (though I’m usually hustling and filming on those trips too).
Katie Bentz: I love to travel, and have a never ending bucket list! I also love spending time with my friends, going to the beach, and also have a shameless Netflix addiction. One of my favourite things about KW are all the events happening, so you can usually find me at many of those as well!
Describe a day in your life:
Katie Steckly: Everyday is different, but it always involves answering a lot of emails, replying to every comment and every DM, editing client videos, filming and editing my own YouTube videos, pausing to post on Instagram stories, back to editing, pausing because I had a new idea that I have to act on before I forget about it, back to Instagram to reply to responses to my story, and finally back to editing again. Oh, and lots of checking Trello, Google Calendar, and Toggl. Something like that!
What is your biggest accomplishment?
Katie Steckly: So far, one of my biggest accomplishments in my business has been landing a travel project to film marketing videos for a tour company for their trip to Ecuador. It was an amazing experience!
What are your top 3 bucket list items?
Katie Bentz:
1. See as much of the world as I can
2. Host a conference for female entrepreneurs
3. Meet some of my biggest business role models like Jenna Kutcher & Jillian Harris
What or who inspires you to keep doing what you’re doing?
Katie Steckly: My mom!
Katie Bentz: Knowing that I’m making an impact for people in my community.
What is your daily mantra?
Katie Steckly: I kind of come up with a new one every month, but this month’s is: “Your dreams are coming true, one day at a time” - but my life-long motto is “plan your work, work your plan”
Katie Bentz: “Work hard, be kind, stay humble”
What are some tips and tricks you use to stay motivated?
Katie Steckly: Working in timed chunks and giving yourself a few minutes of break every hour.
Katie Bentz: Always stay focused on the bigger picture. Even the small tasks that you dread contribute to it, so use that reminder to help you get the not-so-fun things done. Also, set up rewards for yourself! If you complete certain things, reward yourself with a little treat! For me, if I complete a certain task every day of the week, I reward myself with an iced coffee on the weekend. It’s simple, but effective.
What is the biggest lesson you’ve learnt along the way?
Katie Bentz: Building a community and strong support network is one of the best things you can do as an entrepreneur. There are so many women working hard and sometimes just knowing that you have a community of people cheering you on can keep you encouraged when times get tough. The past few months have been really hard for me schedule-wise, but knowing that I had the Bossy Women community supporting the work that we do, kept me excited to record and plan even when I was feeling overwhelmed.
What’s next for you?
So many exciting things are in the works for the Bossy Women community, so stay tuned on our Instagram for upcoming announcements!
Katie Steckly: As for me, I’m continuing to hustle with my YouTube channel and building my creative business!
Katie Bentz: I’m currently preparing to graduate from the University of Waterloo and start my career somewhere in KW! I’m excited to contribute to the community through my career and with the Bossy Women brand.
How can our readers find you?
www.bossywomen.ca
instagram.com/bossywomen.ca
katiesteckly.com
instagram.com/katiesteckly
youtube.com/katie
instagram.com/everydaywithkatie
We are so excited to see what's next for the Bossy Women - they are an inspiration to this community and motivate us on the daily. We highly recommend reaching out to Katie and Katie for any advice, attending their events or just having a coffee (because they also hangout at all the cute coffee shops).
We are constantly looking to promote local businesses and freelancers in the community, so if you are interested in sharing a bit about your life and your journey, send us a DM or email us at hello@mintandpoppy.com.
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