Meet Kate Williams

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kate Williams.

So, before we jump into specific questions, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I went to school in Virginia for design and writing.

I studied design and creative writing at a small private college in Staunton, Virginia, on highest level of scholarship for good grades.

I published short stories and poetry locally and nationally over a dozen times in my teenage years and 20’s.

I lived in Virginia where creative jobs weren’t as expansive as Los Angeles, but I usually ended up in a creative job. During school, I worked in a large upper scale press doing graphic design, editing, and photography for advertisements.

Shortly after school, I did photo-restoration, retouching, manipulation, and design in a photography studio. I often designed the sets and set up the lights.

I later freelanced photography and worked in another studio doing retouching, children’s portraits, lifestyle advertisements, and events. I also did odd jobs like teaching art to middle schoolers.

My friend published my lifestyle photographs in Fodor’s International Travel Magazine in order to bring tourism and business to our tiny unknown town, Staunton, Virginia. This was a lifelong goal we both shared, and he truly made his mark on the world in a good way, unfortunately he passed away recently.

By the time I moved to Los Angeles, my Lyme Disease symptoms got really bad, and I couldn’t do photography professionally anymore. I still did do some easy photo retouching/manipulation for high-end clients like book authors and Cory Booker. This was frustrating for me because there were so many MORE options in Los Angeles than my hometown.

I wanted to learn video, too. To make matters worse, my equipment was stolen, and I got sandwiched between two cars right when I got over Lyme Disease. It seemed all my previous hobbies and jobs were on a temporary, or possibly, long term, standstill.

A friend who was a model suggested commercial acting and modeling, as it didn’t require as much heavy lifting or bad posture. So I began modeling, and did demo/print/runway/commercials for many clients in the past year and a half, such as: Babyliss Pro, Aquage, Delicate Rayne, Cantique Los Angeles, LA Board of Tourism, Bush’s Baked Beans, Cadence Foods, Animal Crackers, Wella, Sassoon, many makeup brands, and the list goes on. Learning social media was and still is a challenge for me, coming from a small town, where I admittedly didn’t even use it at all three years ago, but I did manage to get 12,000 followers on Instagram. During COVID, I started collaborating on magazine editorials, which are pending.

I currently am much stronger physically than I was and am over Lyme Disease. I started helping out on sets again, as well as modeling. I also still write some in my spare time. With COVID, I don’t know what the future may hold, but I do know that as long as I make enough money to get by, but also live in the moment and keep creating – in some form or another – I will be happy.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
It has not been a smooth road at all. I had Lyme Disease blocking my success, as well as a terrible car wreck. I also had to overcome barriers of coming from a small town. Where I’m from, people aren’t particularly active on social media, the traffic is less, and the rent is much cheaper. However, there are also considerably less options of things to do!

We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
I currently model and act in commercials. I used to do photography, set design, design, editing, and side jobs like teaching art. I also published writing in my spare time. I have no idea what the future holds with COVID, however, I do know I am going to always do creative jobs.

If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
If I had to start over, I wouldn’t have gotten in my own way by thinking “I’m not good enough” for x,y,z reason. The brain can ALWAYS find a reason. This is great, for when in check, it helps us improve. However, when out of check, it can cause people to not be assertive enough.

Contact Info:

• Address: 535 South Kingsley Drive, apartment 406, Los Angeles, CA, 90020
• Phone: 434-906-0766
• Email: [email protected]

Image Credit:
Photo @stillvika https://www.stillvika.com, Styling and hair @rolly_hashiguchi

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