Katie Sturino sits down with Invested to talk about building a career rooted in self-belief, humor and advocacy for women. Her roles include entrepreneur, bestselling author and body acceptance advocate. From founding beauty brand Megababe to writing bestselling books and reshaping conversations around body image, Katie reflects on the power of trusting your instincts, embracing vulnerability and refusing to let others define what’s possible for you and your career.
Katie Sturino’s career centers around supporting women from a variety of angles. As the founder of Megababe, Katie created a category-defining body care brand that addresses “taboo” body issues with honesty and humor. In addition to her entrepreneurship, she is also a noted content creator, a well-known body acceptance advocate and a bestselling author.
In this episode of Invested, Katie talks about what it takes to build a fulfilling career around something you deeply believe in. She shares the origin story of Megababe, the challenges of launching a self funded business and how staying anchored to a clear mission has helped her navigate tough career challenges. She also reflects on navigating major life changes, embracing vulnerability in creative work and why advocacy remains more important than ever.
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Time stamps:
00:33 - Meet our guest Katie Sturino
3:56 - How the idea was first received and challenges with retail partners
6:56 - Being self-funded and bootstrapping the business
8:32 - Dealing with self-doubt and competition
11:10 - Body acceptance advocacy
15:49 - Has the body advocacy message changed?
18:21 - Advice on building a career around something you believe in
26:35 - Divorce at 34 and channeling adversity into building MegaBabe
32:22 - Biggest secret to a dynamic career
33:12 - Where to find Katie
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Links:
Find Katie Sturino on Instagram
Find Angela Pittman Taylor on LinkedIn
[00:00:00] Katie Sturino: I know earlier I made a joke about how I have, I have so many different jobs, but the truth is they're all with one mission, which is just to help women feel good about themselves. And I think there has been, um. What's the word I'm looking for? That's been overused a bit on, I would say, on online. And you're like, okay, okay.
We don't need this toxic positivity. But the truth is, women, especially right now, they need to keep going back in for inspiration for how to. Feel good about yourself as you are
[00:00:43] Angela Pittman Taylor : Welcome to Invested. We're hosting a miniseries on how to build and sustain, fulfilling, engaging careers throughout the different seasons of life with bold and authentic choices.
We are talking to several women about their stories in doing this, and we hope listeners will find wisdom and inspiration. My co-host for this mini series is Sarah Gaul, a managing director in our global investment banking business. Sarah, welcome.
[00:01:07] Sarah Gaul : Thank you Angela. It's so nice to be with you today and I am really excited for our conversation.
Our guest needs no introduction, but I am trying here and she has such. A dynamic career that I'm gonna try and be succinct. Our guest today is Katie Sturino, who is an entrepreneur, author, and body acceptance advocate. Katie is the founder of Mega Babe, a personal care brand that offers taboo busting products like thigh rescue for thigh chafe, and bust dust for boob sweat among lots of other awesome products.
Her first book Body Talk is an illustrated workbook designed to help women accept their bodies, and very recently she also released a novel Sunny Side Up. I'm sure many of our listeners like me and Angela know and love her from following her on social media. Where her candor and humor provide both entertainment, but also just a ton of inspiration and encouragement.
So we're really excited. Katie, thank you for being here and welcome to Invested.
[00:02:16] Katie Sturino: Thank you so much for having me. And yes, that is my ADHD proof that I cannot stay focused in my career.
[00:02:25] Sarah Gaul : No, it's, you've done everything. It's awesome. And we, and so let's try and like, we gotta dive in. Yeah. Because there is so much to talk about.
Let's start with Mega Babe. The company you founded, you tackle, as I said, various sort of taboo body issues, boob, sweat, thigh, chafe, bo. So. Tell us where did this idea come from? Let's start there.
[00:02:51] Katie Sturino: Well, it came from the fact that I live in New York City and anyone who's ever been through a New York City summer knows that like you really have to prepare yourself to go outside.
And I was finding that. All the products that were made for thigh chafe were targeted towards men or athletes, or were just super embarrassing. And personally, I can't walk two blocks in the summer without a product on my legs or, or I have to wear pants. And who wants to wear pants in July? So I, I decided to look into like who was going to be the next big beauty retailer to solve this problem and to give us something that was going to be clean, cute, and effective, and not something we were embarrassed to pull out and no one was doing it.
So for a couple years I just watched the market and then I talked to my sister and my best friend from camp, and I was like, guys, we're gonna make a chafe stick. And they were like, what? Chafe and I was like, let me tell you, we decided to, to launch without any beauty experience in a space that is crazy competitive.
But we did it because we knew that there was an entire population out there that was being underserved. So we, we launched actually. With Thigh Rescue, which is our hero product, and bust dust, which is our talc free powder that you put in your bra to help absorb boop sweat. So that's, that's how Mega Babe was brought into the world, unapologetically and just ready to help people feel good just in the skin that they're in.
[00:04:30] Sarah Gaul : That's incredible and so needed, and so now you can find your product everywhere and multiple places at Target, which I'm sure is just like incredible for you to see. But tell us how, like, think back, how was the idea first received and you said it's su such a competitive landscape. What were some of those conversations with?
Sort of potential retail partners?
[00:04:55] Katie Sturino: Well, it's so interesting 'cause beauty is so competitive, but when we started talking about a chafe stick for women who just wanted to walk, people did not get it. They were like, well, we have something in the runner section, or there's this, we have, you know, fresh balls for her, so she's good.
And I was like, no one, no one wants to use that. In fact, I can't believe you just said it out loud. So it was, it was very hard for the first couple years because one retailers. Did not under retailers, chemists. I mean so many of the people we talked to media were like, I don't get it. This doesn't really seem like a problem for anyone.
I've never heard of this. I'm like, you aren't Just, just 'cause no one's talking about it. It's happening all over the place. Women of all sizes. So it was really hard to get over the giggling that would happen. You know, when you talk about boob sweat or things like that. But to get back to the, the retail conversations, they didn't know where to put us.
To an extent, they still don't know where to put us. Mm-hmm. Because it's not a space that's been built out yet since we've launched eight years ago. There have been actually a lot of copycats, big brands, big p and g owned brands have have added chafe. The word chafe into their marketing for certain other products.
There's been a lot of competition that has come into the market, but when we started, it was a white space so that we, we had to educate everyone around us about what this was and like what really? Like shame busting, taboo busting beauty could be.
[00:06:28] Sarah Gaul : That's so interesting. You, you're addressing this need.
But what made you like believe in yourself? Like, I, I can do this. I'm gonna create this product, I'm gonna run a business. Like what, how,
[00:06:42] Katie Sturino: because I knew that if, if I needed this, I just wasn't the only person on the planet that needed this. Sure. And I knew from, from talking to people that it was a problem.
And, and, and I also knew that the way people whispered the word chafe, I chafe. I that there was so much shame around it, and it was so like, like people were, they were embarrassed to admit something that like so many people deal with and, and I thought, you know, that's not really right. Yeah. There's something, there's something to be done here about that
[00:07:17] Sarah Gaul : and.
Those early days, and it's so fun that you started this with your sister and your best friend. And so you're obviously a female founded Yes. Company. You're self-funded too. We are
[00:07:30] Katie Sturino: self-funded and I love talking about it. Yeah.
[00:07:33] Sarah Gaul : Tell us more. I mean, how, like you, you did not have experience running a business, right?
And you just, you identified this need and your passion sort of. Drove you, right?
[00:07:44] Katie Sturino: Yes. Well, I've always been an entrepreneur. I had a, I had my own PR agency from a young age. That's where I got educated in that. And then I launched my own platform around body acceptance. And in 2017, if you recall, like the beauty market, it was all like get a ton of funding, tons of marketing everywhere, fold in a year.
Like it was just a very crazy time for for businesses. And we were like, you know what? We're not gonna go that way. In addition to the fact that I think in, when we were first launching, we took some meetings and they were so disheartening because it was quite often with men who didn't understand the problem and would just stare at you and be like, I don't know.
My wife doesn't have that. So it was just, it was, I was, and we were like, you know what? We're gonna do this on our own. So we did, and we focused on, and this is what we still focus on. Sustainable growth. We have not grown less than 30 per 33% year over year since we launched. We have, we have bootstrapped this thing to the max.
We've kept our team very small. We didn't take salaries for the first four years. We really, really. Have done this, I would say differently. Did, how are we doing it right? I don't know, but we, we we're still here, knock wood. Yeah. And that is something I'm very proud of because it is such a hard thing to have a, a brand and a business in this space.
[00:09:06] Sarah Gaul : Well, and 30% plus growth every year I'd say, you're doing this right. Thank you. So, uh, massively successful, but I think a lot of women and, and really anyone taking any kind of risk, you just face so much self-doubt. Yes. And I feel like often, you know, we can just be our biggest skeptics. So were there moments in this journey.
That you really sort of doubted yourself, or I mean the concept or how did you sort of work through that?
[00:09:40] Katie Sturino: Yes. That's every day still. Still because there's a couple different reasons. One competition coming into the space with funding that is so scary. Like, yes, it's cool to see the category com uh, expanding.
But at the same time, when you've got major brands coming into your territory, it's very scary 'cause you're like, they could just wipe us out. But thank God we have such a loyal following community and I think that people recognize us as the brand who brought this to life. So there's a lot of loyalty there.
And then. Two retailers, retailers change their mind all the time. It's like one day you're new and hot, and the next they're shifting their focus and, and then they shift it again. And it's hard to ride those trains, especially because we depend so much on retailers for our visibility and for our growth because our marketing budgets are not the same as, as, uh, a lot of our competitors.
I think every day you, you, you feel like, what am I doing Right? Which is so funny because on paper you're like, you look like you're, like you're crushing it. But internally, there's a fire to put out every single day.
[00:10:50] Sarah Gaul : But it just, I imagine it just drives you because the mission of the business, right? Like you're just, you're
[00:10:56] Katie Sturino: helping or refuse to give up.
Yes, yes. I refuse. I refuse because I get those. Yes, we, so we have someone now who works in customer service and she'll send reviews or notes from people and I'm like, you know what? A Hairspray brand doesn't get this kind of. Feedback. It's people whose lives have been impacted by our products because they either don't feel ashamed anymore or they're able to wear whatever they want.
Or they went to a wedding and they were comfortable wearing this dress, or their child was chafing during a soccer game and their seven, and they, and they were able to give them this cool product that didn't make them feel embarrassed. So I feel like my purpose in this world and the mission of our business really is to help women feel.
More comfortable and confident in the body that they're in today.
[00:11:43] Sarah Gaul : Exactly. So this is, this is perfect because obviously Mega Babe and, and really your life's work has been around body acceptance.
[00:11:53] Katie Sturino: Yes.
[00:11:53] Sarah Gaul : And advocacy. Talk about sort of the ways that you have intertwined that kind of throughout your career.
Yeah. And the advocacy that you've done because it's really powerful.
[00:12:04] Katie Sturino: Thank you. I really appreciate that. So, I know earlier I made a joke about how I have, I have so many different jobs, but the truth is they're all with one mission, which is just to help women. Feel good about themselves. And I think that has, there has been, hmm, what's the word I'm looking for?
That's been overused a bit on, I would say, on online. And you're like, okay, okay, we don't need this like toxic positivity or whatever it is. But the truth is, women, especially right now, they need to keep going back in for inspiration for how to. Feel good about yourself as you are. I originally wrote a workbook called Body Talk in 2021, and it's super colorful.
It's fun, it's easy, there's homework in it, but it's fun and it's basically a step-by-step guide for how to learn to love your body. Which just seems like really basic and, and it, but it kind of is what we need because you're taught your whole life not to, so to learn how to do that now seems. Crazy. But it's true.
It's, it's something that I think is so important for, just for our own self, self love journey. And also if you have children, I think it's so they can, they can feel that on you. If you've done that work, you haven't done that work. So that's, that is one thing. And then I, I had a podcast for a long time called Boob Sweat where mm-hmm.
I talked about things that people weren't talking about. Again, it's like de-stigmatizing things that are so normal for women, infertility, divorce. Just all the things that that can really put women down and then. I decided that I wanted to bring my messaging into fiction because I think that there is, there's like, there's a lot of room for a character out there that you wanna attach to that inspires you.
And so I wrote Sunny Side Up My novel, came out last summer, comes out in paperback this coming summer, and that was incredible too. To hear of people who gifted it to friends or were in a ru themselves. Reddit got inspired, uh, started a, the online dating account, like just there again, it's, it's the, it's the like one-on-one connection that I have with people that always let me know that I'm, I'm doing the right thing.
That's what we do with Mega Babe is we just, we take the things that you feel like, is this weird? Am I the only one? And we normalize it.
[00:14:31] Sarah Gaul : Right. And what I wanna come back to Sunny side up because Angela and I love that book. Talk about your general social media presence, right? Like supersize the look. Yes.
Is like, so I, I mean you are just like so relatable, which I also feel is sort of an overused term.
[00:14:51] Katie Sturino: It is, yeah.
[00:14:52] Sarah Gaul : It's authentic. But you're, you, you are, yes. Very. But you are, you're so authentic and like. On your Instagram when you posted like, just like this is my arm jiggling. Yeah. And like most people's arms do that and like, that's normal, but
[00:15:07] Katie Sturino: why is it radical to do that?
Isn't that crazy? It's radical to show your body moving that way. Yes, because we're, because the imagery that is put in front of us is like. Is like rock hard triceps, like why aren't you on like trying to lose 20 pounds in a GLP one? Like the, the messaging that is put towards us is always just, you're not good enough.
That's what I'm trying to do. Normalizing some of this stuff with my content as well. Supersize the look. I started.
[00:15:36] Sarah Gaul : Long time
[00:15:37] Katie Sturino: ago. A long time ago. Yeah. In 2014. Yeah. What? Right. And it
[00:15:43] Sarah Gaul : still stands up like,
[00:15:45] Katie Sturino: it's so good. I, I think so too, because it, all, it is, is, is just taking the concept from women. I heard from all the time who are like, I wanna wear this, but I don't think I can because X, Y, Z.
And just showing the celebrity that like I myself, at whatever size I am, am able to. Whatever the size I am, it's bigger than the celebrity and I, I can show them that. Like I can wear it and you can wear it and look, we both look good. Right? It's also deconstructing that concept from us weekly from a million years ago, early Ts where it was like, who wore it better rights.
Just women versus women. Women versus women. Women versus women.
[00:16:23] Sarah Gaul : I, I think I know the answer to this, but. You've been doing this for so long, it's all been around sort of body advocacy. Has your view of advocacy, like, has that changed over the years? Unfortunately, it's needed just as it was, you know, when you started over a decade ago, like it's still the same message.
[00:16:46] Katie Sturino: Let me ask you a question. If you walked into a room of 25 women and said, raise your hand if you think you have a good body, how many would raise their hand?
[00:16:59] Sarah Gaul : None.
[00:16:59] Katie Sturino: None.
[00:16:59] Sarah Gaul : Two. Yeah.
[00:17:01] Katie Sturino: Yeah. I don't know. Not, not 25.
[00:17:04] Sarah Gaul : No. No.
[00:17:04] Katie Sturino: So I'm just saying that for me, that is what I have always been doing. So the terminology, body positivity, body neutrality, body acceptance, like all of these terms and, and the people and the wording and the messaging that, that has, that have been going on in this space since about 20.
10, 20. When was Ashley Graham on Sports Illustrated? 2015. 2015.
[00:17:31] Angela Pittman Taylor : Yeah.
[00:17:31] Katie Sturino: So I would say since 2015 this conversation's been in the zeitgeist and it had, it had to enter the zeitgeist because things have been so bad for women and body image publicly. But I think my point, and I think people ask me this all the time about with the rise of GLP ones, is your message still relevant?
My message is more relevant than ever.
[00:17:57] Sarah Gaul : Yes.
[00:17:57] Katie Sturino: I, I think the, the fact that people don't understand that, that, that, oh, a, a, a drug that results in weight loss for many people and positive body image are like, they don't, they don't understand. They don't understand that, that how badly this is needed.
[00:18:16] Sarah Gaul : Well, and just the notion that like.
Your body changes. Yes. And that's like normal, like
[00:18:23] Katie Sturino: Yes. But we will un normalize that,
[00:18:26] Sarah Gaul : right?
[00:18:27] Katie Sturino: Yes.
[00:18:28] Sarah Gaul : And it's like you age, you go through certain life events. Yeah. Like it's, you can fluctuate and your body can look different and,
[00:18:37] Katie Sturino: but the tolerance for that is so limited. Right. And I think that's what's interesting and I explore that.
I'm exploring that with myself right now. Like I. Just turned 45. It's an interesting thing to explore in other areas of your life outside of just like your, your body shape for me.
[00:18:54] Sarah Gaul : Mm-hmm. So for our listeners, I mean, you have been able to build this awesome career, all really rooted in advocacy and obviously tons of hard work.
Would you have advice of. You know, whether it's body acceptance or another worthy cause. I mean, how do you, what would your advice be of building a career around something you really believe in
[00:19:25] Katie Sturino: when you're working with something you really believe in, you don't burn out from it. Mm-hmm. Like, I don't like that exists, that the messaging and the feeling that women are taught to be small, metaphorically.
And that we need help getting louder. That lives in my soul. That's just like in my body. So I, I don't ever tire of that message because it's just there. So I think if you're starting a business and you don't have something that feeds your soul in it, I think that you can really burn out faster.
[00:20:03] Sarah Gaul : Mm-hmm.
[00:20:04] Katie Sturino: Because you're, you're like, why am I doing this? I decided to make a kitchen spatula and I thought I had a really cool idea for kitchen spatulas and now I'm in this market and it's flooded and it's hard, and why do I wanna keep doing this?
[00:20:17] Sarah Gaul : Right?
[00:20:17] Katie Sturino: So it's like, without the, that, that core fire beneath you, I think that you can really burn out.
[00:20:25] Sarah Gaul : Right?
[00:20:27] Katie Sturino: And you can, no, you can burn out anyway, but I'm just saying, I think you get there faster.
[00:20:30] Sarah Gaul : Right. And then that's also to your earlier point, I mean that core mission, that's what helps you push through any sort of Yes. Self-doubt. Yes. Or you know how, or you know, 'cause it's,
[00:20:43] Katie Sturino: yes,
[00:20:43] Sarah Gaul : I believe in this mission.
[00:20:45] Katie Sturino: Yes. Yeah, exactly. And they need us.
[00:20:49] Sarah Gaul : Absolutely. Um,
[00:20:50] Angela Pittman Taylor : there's also a little bit of a risk to passion, right? When you, when you're working with something that you're very passionate about, the the risk of there being a blind spot and you don't really realize. What's happening there? So can you talk a little bit about your experience with that and how have you tried to manage that and maintain your self-awareness?
Because we can, we feel the self-awareness from you. How do you try to keep all of that in balance? Because passion sometimes can create that blind spot.
[00:21:15] Katie Sturino: I, you know what I, I'll give you an example of passion failing at Mega Babe, which was six years ago. I made a melasma blocker that it was like a mustache.
Of zinc that you wore to the beach? I made it in blue. I made it in sand, and people weren't ready for it. They weren't ready to have a big mustache at the beach. And I've had to realize that uh, there are just certain things that are just for me and there are not, like I, and not everyone is there yet. So that is something I have to always be checked with.
But at the same time, I think that my passion and my inability to, I. Sometimes see why we wouldn't be involved or wouldn't be invited in a room or why we wouldn't be there has been a superpower for us because I think some people are like, well, not there or not, I mean, not for you guys. Like I think some people look at us like that and I'm like, well, why not?
Why not us? Like, what are you saying? So I think that that is, it is definitely something that my business partner is Kate and Jenny. Probably have to deal with more than they want to. Me being like, well, we should just do this. But I think that it's also served us very well. But you're right, there is passion does create blind spots.
[00:22:42] Sarah Gaul : Let's circle back to being a published author. So we talked about Body Talk, which is incredible, this awesome sort of practical guide workbook, but then last year you published Sunny Side Up.
[00:22:56] Angela Pittman Taylor : Yes.
[00:22:56] Sarah Gaul : So you talked a little bit about this, of sort of having kind of this relatable character, but like on top of everything else, how, how did you even like pursue this?
You're like, okay, I'm gonna write. Nonfiction.
[00:23:12] Katie Sturino: So, so I've had a, I've had a book agent since I was do ITing. Her name's Alyssa Rubin. She is the best and I have stayed with her. She stayed with me and, and she knew that one day I wanted to write this book. And so it was like. It was like, Alyssa, when can I write this?
And she's like, you gotta write your, you gotta write Body Talk first. Okay, fine. So I wrote Body Talk. Yes. And then, and I was so glad that I did. It was also really hard. And so I didn't mind having a little break in between those two books. Yeah, yeah. And then finally it was time and she said I could do it.
So we pitched it and it was such a cool, scary, overwhelming, like, incredible process to do.
[00:23:56] Sarah Gaul : So tell us more about that, because did that feel, you'd written Body Talk, which obviously was awesome, but this was different. Yeah. And so did you feel like you really were stretching yourself? Or what did, how, what did that process look like?
[00:24:13] Katie Sturino: I think, I think the thing about writing a novel is one, it's a different kind of art. It's a different thing to put out a piece of fiction that has elements of you in it and that has come from your brain and like jokes and words that you've picked and sex scenes that like, you know, it's a, it's just a different thing to have that out in the world.
It's, oh, it's vulnerable in a way that I did not anticipate.
[00:24:43] Sarah Gaul : Mm-hmm. I can imagine. Yeah. And, and so Sunny is. Based on you, right? Yes, yes. Yeah,
[00:24:52] Katie Sturino: yeah.
[00:24:52] Sarah Gaul : Yes,
[00:24:53] Katie Sturino: yes.
[00:24:53] Sarah Gaul : So that, yeah.
[00:24:54] Katie Sturino: Yeah.
[00:24:55] Sarah Gaul : Would be very vulnerable.
[00:24:56] Katie Sturino: Yes, it is. Yeah. 'cause it's, it's fiction. So there's obviously, like it's liberties. It's not, yeah. Yeah. It's not real.
That's not like my exact life story, but certainly there are elements that are similar to my own story. So It is, it is very vulnerable. And I did not, and I still, I obviously, like, if you notice a change in my tone, like I don't think, I still don't think I know how to deal with the vulnerabilities around the book.
Yeah. Like it's, it just, yeah. It was like being like totally pride open. Like I didn't, I didn't understand what that would feel like
[00:25:30] Sarah Gaul : and it was obviously met with massive success. Yes. And it's such good,
[00:25:36] Katie Sturino: yes.
[00:25:36] Sarah Gaul : Such a good book. Is there more writing in the future do you think?
[00:25:42] Katie Sturino: Yeah, I think I just need to like keep going to therapy to understand how to deal with the.
The, the vulnerability
[00:25:51] Sarah Gaul : issue. Right, right. That would be very hard. So, um, and did that
[00:25:56] Angela Pittman Taylor : vulnerability, did it catch you a little bit off guard? I think sometimes people might, you're, you're out there with a platform and you're very open, but maybe you also had some control about the exposure in that platform.
Exactly, exactly. And it's a little different when you're,
[00:26:13] Katie Sturino: I, I'll show up in my underwear. I'll be in a swimsuit, shake my arm. I'll do like, but those are things I am like I can control, not listen. If they get on the wrong side of the algorithm, rude, mean comments come in. But I'm prepared for that. I don't think I understood what it was like to have like your art criticized.
And then I, I've read, I've since have read a lot from other people who say, who are like, you have to like get to the place where you're like, I don't care if you liked it or you didn't like it. I like it. I just wasn't, I, I wasn't ready for that.
[00:26:49] Sarah Gaul : Do you think you've, you are there now?
[00:26:51] Katie Sturino: No.
[00:26:52] Sarah Gaul : No. I don't know how you, I was gonna say what give us tips and tricks to,
[00:26:58] Katie Sturino: I have no idea, but guess what?
The paper back version is coming out, so I'll be back pounding the pavement. And I, and I will let you know if I get there. Good. When I get there.
[00:27:10] Sarah Gaul : Good. Well, speaking of vulnerabilities, you are just so open about really sort of everything that's happened to you sort of personally and professionally. And you have talked about, you know, very publicly your divorce and how that.
Impacted your life and your career trajectory. And it's obviously very natural that any major life event would sort of impact your professional life. And I imagine something like that, you know, could have potentially stunted it your career or you know, things just aren't. Linear. Yeah. And can, can you just talk to us a little bit about sort of that time in your life and what sort of you learned from that?
[00:27:59] Katie Sturino: Yes. I think that was the most transformative time in my life so far because it was the hardest time for me. And being, being divorced at 34 with no children is like. It's like a really weird thing. 'cause usually people, they're like, we waited till the kids were out of the house. Or, you know what I mean?
Like, but there was just, it was it, it was just like we, it was just a, it was like a year long and it was over. But I was with that person for 10 years. But I think the thing that is interesting about my experience with it is that I took a time when I couldn't, like, I couldn't. Even get through the day, like I, I couldn't think about the future.
I couldn't think about anything and I just turned all of that anxious energy into work and it was, you know, when people get superhuman strength and they can like lift a car 'cause there's like a baby under it. That's kind of how I, what I went into. I went into Hulk mode because I, there were just two choices.
It was like, you're either gonna just, what are you gonna do? Just like. Nothing like there's just, there's choices there. And yes, you have to, you have to go through your feelings and you have to be sad, and you have to do all those things. But I chose to just channel all of my nervous energy into. Building this baby and putting, and like connecting with my community and finding different ways to build at a time in my life when I was supposed to be building a family, building a marriage, getting a house.
Like I took that, I took that time and put it somewhere else. And I feel like that is not valued in our society. Like the, the only thing that you should really be rewarded for is building. A family, and I think there's so many other ways that women can add value to this world.
[00:29:56] Sarah Gaul : Right? And, and just the notion of, you were touching on this, that just life is not linear.
[00:30:05] Katie Sturino: No.
[00:30:05] Sarah Gaul : And unexpected things happen,
[00:30:09] Katie Sturino: but, but we keep pushing that narrative, right?
[00:30:12] Sarah Gaul : Yes.
[00:30:13] Katie Sturino: Yeah. The like get engaged, get like, and, and I find myself even sometimes I. I'm like, when are you gonna get married? When are you gonna have a kid? But who cares? I don't wanna say that there are lies, but it's just that you, it's when you're not there yet.
You think that once you get married or you have a kid, that there is some like level you enter. Uh, but you don't. And I think that's one of the biggest lies about life is that you think you, you keep thinking you'll arrive somewhere and you never really arrive anywhere.
[00:30:46] Sarah Gaul : Right.
[00:30:47] Katie Sturino: It's about
[00:30:48] Sarah Gaul : the
[00:30:48] Katie Sturino: journey, man.
[00:30:49] Sarah Gaul : It well, exactly. And I would be so bold as to say, like that's just such a narrative for women. Yes. Especially,
[00:30:56] Katie Sturino: yes.
[00:30:57] Sarah Gaul : Right. Everything has happened sort of for a reason. Do you feel like, and that this Yes. Your, your life has
[00:31:03] Katie Sturino: Yes.
[00:31:03] Sarah Gaul : Evolved in this and stretched and all these things have happened.
[00:31:08] Katie Sturino: Yeah.
[00:31:09] Sarah Gaul : All for a reason.
And you sort of look back and
[00:31:12] Katie Sturino: up. It all lines up.
[00:31:13] Sarah Gaul : Yeah.
[00:31:13] Katie Sturino: Yeah. It all lines up. Yeah. So like, thank God I got that divorce. Thank God I started like being comfortable talking about, I mean, my whole life I, I, I spent my whole life trying to be small, trying to be skinny, trying to like fit into certain sizes and do all the things to get there and like thank God I, I realized this other potential and like got rid of that mindset and yeah.
[00:31:43] Sarah Gaul : It's incredible.
[00:31:44] Angela Pittman Taylor : I think we covered a ton of really great territory here. And even as you were talking about Katie, the, the start of this conversation or the genesis of this conversation, you know, 2015 ish, that's when my daughter was born. She's 11 now, and we, she's a, she's a curvy girl. She's built like her mama.
And we, the conversations that we have around this are just so different and that I can feel the difference in how, how. Conversations like yours, platforms like yours have really informed the way that we talk to our girls now. And if you walked into a room full of her friends and ask them how they feel about themselves, you will just get bowled over with the confidence with all.
Oh, I love that. I, they're just, that's so very powerful.
[00:32:28] Sarah Gaul : Great.
[00:32:28] Katie Sturino: Well, they have an alternative now you could be confident like. Like in, like when I was 15 years old, there was no alternative. You hate your body or you try to be skinny or that's it. Like no one, there was no alternative.
[00:32:44] Angela Pittman Taylor : Right. Right. So it, it, it is working, it's happening, but the progress may feel like, you know, two steps forward, one step back.
Yes. And that, that
[00:32:52] Katie Sturino: probably
[00:32:53] Angela Pittman Taylor : is what it is.
[00:32:53] Katie Sturino: Thank you for telling me that about your daughter.
[00:32:57] Sarah Gaul : To sort of put a bow on all of this. Oh yeah. Our kind of last question, Katie, what would you, if you had to boil it all down, we've been talking for an hour, what would you say is the biggest secret to pursuing a dynamic career?
[00:33:12] Katie Sturino: Ah, don't let anyone put limits on you because they haven't seen it before. I feel like that's the, that's how everyone judges everything. And they're like, oh, that's not how it's done. And they're like, great, well, let me do it a different way. And then you'll be like, I can't believe she's doing that. And then suddenly you're like, oh, this is, this is a different way.
Oh, they're doing it too. Like it's just don't let people tell you that you can't do it. Yeah,
[00:33:44] Sarah Gaul : I'm writing that down. That's awesome.
[00:33:46] Katie Sturino: Yeah. Right.
[00:33:46] Sarah Gaul : The head is off. Okay. So we've been raving about. Your social media presence. And so just tell everyone where they can find you on Instagram or any other kind of social media.
Sure. Outlets, so all our listeners can, if they're not already following, you can be sure to tune in.
[00:34:03] Katie Sturino: Yes. I'm on Instagram at Katie Sturino. I have a substack called Lobby Coffee. It's actually the number two rising Substack for fashion and beauty, which is a very exciting, and then you can find Mega Babe at Target, Walmart, and CVS.
Amazon.
[00:34:21] Sarah Gaul : Awesome.
[00:34:22] Katie Sturino: Yeah.
[00:34:22] Sarah Gaul : Excellent.
[00:34:23] Katie Sturino: Fantastic. Thank you guys. Thank you
[00:34:24] Sarah Gaul : so much, Katie. This was too fun.
Thank you, I had a great time..