Today we’d like to introduce you to K. Broch.
K., let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I grew up in West Michigan, where the usual expectation is to go to college, get a standard business degree, and then work a job you don’t necessarily love in order to build a future for a family. This often all happens in your 20’s. I always knew my path would not be the same as many. My aspirations didn’t feel too big, it was only a matter of how I would succeed, not if. Since I was a little girl I knew I would plant roots in LA.
My plan was to become a literary agent and support talented writers who I thought the world of. Until I realized I was the creative I had been looking for. I started writing my memoir OCS (Only Child Syndrome) in 2017. I didn’t begin to put it out into the world until this year (2019). I quickly realized it was more than just a book, and that there was so much more storytelling I wanted to do within the brand. It has now become a tool for education, and a community of only children sharing their own stories.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
There were many roadblocks along the way, some self-inflicted. Feeling misunderstood and neglected, I acted out much of my teenage years. I was in and out of probationary periods, which made it difficult to leave the midwest legally. Despite my rebellious attitude I was a bright student and had many jobs offers post-graduation. I accepted a position in Chicago and lived there for three years. During that time I had a near-death experience, which jolted me back into the mindset of moving to LA. There was no more time to waste, and I left my entire life (including my fully furnished one bedroom *sigh*) in Chicago. With a few suitcases and my cat Ari Gold, my friend and I drove across the country to move into a studio apartment together.
After about two months she left me and never returned, so I had to figure out a lot on my own. With my glowing resume, I didn’t expect it to be so hard to find a job here and didn’t have near enough savings. I went into a ton of credit card debt and had to take out my 401K in order to pay my bills. I slept on an air mattress for six months, and then a mattress on the floor for a year after that. In my loneliness, I began to write again, something I hadn’t enjoyed since I was a kid. I found my voice and wrote about beauty, dating in LA, things people don’t tell you about moving to LA, how hopeless I felt, and what a fool I was for thinking I could do this. I was definitely at one of the lowest points in my life the first two years here. I am now five years in, and each year has gotten progressively better and better.
We’d love to hear more about your work.
OCS (Only Child Syndrome) is more than a brand, it is the core of who I am. As a storyteller who is obsessed with behavioral psychology, I have always looked at the “why” in just about everything. Why do I think, act, problem solve, interact, react the way I do? Where does it come from? The stories within OCS answer the “why” for the population that doesn’t understand what being an only child is, because they didn’t live it. There are also many scenarios where someone feels like an only child, even if in actuality they are not. Such as a large age gap, adoption, passing of a sibling, and many other family dynamics.
I am breaking down stereotypes and themes of the selfish, spoiled, maladjusted only child. Ocsbook.com is an educational platform that shares my book chapters, podcast-style interviews with other only children, comparisons of famous only children, and other relevant articles. Merch, a 90’s style lookbook, and video content are soon to come. I wanted to make the website a 90’s playground, which was interactive and fun. Since many people are on the go, I recorded my books chapters so the listener can hear the stories in my tone. It has been a resource for the growing population of parents who will only have one. Millennials are having less kids, and for some reason often terrified of having an Only. The issue with having one child is that much of what they deal with they do alone, so OCS is giving them a platform to finally share what that was like with the world.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
When someone comes up to me that I don’t know well, and shares something personal with me. It usually starts by thanking me for being so open and vulnerable and then expressing how relatable scenes of my story are to them. I want people to feel ok admitting some of their darker moments, and realize how parts of their life changed them or explain their current behaviors. Pushing introspection and self-awareness is the greatest gift I can give anyone, and it hasn’t been an easy ride for me to get there. Creating this brand has been so therapeutic for me, and I can feel big things brewing for 2020.
Contact Info:
- Website: ocsbook.com
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: ocsbook
Image Credit:
Lauren Brown, Beth Saravo
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