Ask Me Anything • Kath Eats

New! Carve Designs Monroe Sweater

A few weeks ago I asked Instagram for some blog topic prompts as an “ask me anything” box. I love these question boxes because they bring up topics that I might not otherwise think to write about. I love a grab-bag style post with a variety of topics, so here goes: 

How’s it going with Mazen’s cell phone?

Good question! It’s going exactly how you’d expect. I knew there would be pros and cons, and the pros absolutely outweigh the cons in my opinion. The “Find My” app is so great to be able to track M’s location when he’s walking to a friends house or to the playground after school. I love being able to text him from my own iMessages or Facetime him when he’s away from our house. (I think he would agree). 

You can imagine that we’ve had some challenges with teaching proper phone etiquette like putting your phone down when you’re greeting people and not using it when you’re playing with friends. We’ve also had trouble with a loophole that I got suckered into with the Pokemon Go app. (I didn’t realize it was a game when I approved!) So we’ve had to limit that through the parental controls. 

That said, the Apple parental controls are fantastic, so I’m able to switch apps/games on and off as needed, set time limits, and set downtime controls so there isn’t late night phone usage.  

I’ve had a few people ask for our cell phone contract, and you can download that here!

If blogging hadn’t taken off the way it did for you, what do you imagine you’d be doing for work?

This is a really fun question that I thought about for a long time and still don’t have a great answer for! When I set out to go back to school for nutrition, my intention was to open a private practice and coach one on one clients. My vision was to see clients in person, but I am 99% sure that if I had gone that route, I probably would have expanded into online opportunities as well. Because technology boom! That feels a little too close to blogging and like an easy answer.

I think if I had to pick something that wasn’t about food and nutrition, I would say something in marketing. I worked in public relations, a close cousin to marketing, and imagine I would have hopped to a similar role in marketing or advertising in the years that followed, perhaps even digital marketing within the SEO/Facebook ads space. I think doing in-house marketing or content creation for a company like YNAB would be really cool. I also wonder if I would have still been attracted to the wellness/fitness industries and ended up working at a gym like ACAC. 

I’ve also sometimes asked myself if I was going to let KERF fade away and just let it become a hobby and look for a money maker elsewhere, what would I do? I think my 16-year experience online, in wordpress and social media, would definitely lend to a job doing those types of activities for a company or brand.

I was actually offered a job at a big wellness company a few years ago that I would have been able to do in addition to blogging. It came with a nice salary and benefits (health insurance! A 401k!) and was work from home and somewhat flexible, but ultimately the reason I didn’t take it on was because one of the benefits was “2 weeks vacation.” The thought of being told I couldn’t take more than 10 days off was enough for me to say no thanks. Flexibility is my #1 job requirement. I don’t think I could ever take on a job that wasn’t time flexible and remote work, unless it was very part time like a once-a-week in person kind of thing. 

Best book you read this year?

On A Quiet Street was SO SO good!! I know when I’m reading a good book because I tend to stay up later when it’s that good I can’t put it down. I stayed up past my bedtime the whole time I blew through this one. It was creepy, mysterious, and a page-turning thriller at times. I also recently finished Five Star Weekend by Elin Hilderbrand, which I loved as an easy fun read. And at the time of writing this I’ve just started Nora Goes Off Script and I know I’m going to love it already! If you haven’t read it yet, Every Vow You Break was one of my favorite thrillers ever. It’s one part honeymoon/fancy resort one part thriller! Thomas read it too!

When will you be on Survivor?

Ah man, I wish they would have at least given me a phone call from casting when I applied! I’m guessing I’m just a little too boring. My first video from 2016 was me in the wild, but it was a very unprofessional edit. My second video from last year was me talking to the camera with lots of photos/video overlay. I thought the edit was great, but maybe me talking was too boring. Not sure how I can get their attention!

I get so mad when they preach to the audience how we “just need to apply.” I yell back to the TV “I did twice Jeff!” Haha. I will keep trying! 

Are you making any more courses?

I am working on a course about travel rewards / credit card points! If you’re interested, you can opt into my travel email list segment here. Traveling for free has been life changing for us (see below!) and I am so passionate about teaching others how to do it. There is definitely a sweet spot for those who spend a decent amount per month and have a small biz, but I’ve also coached a few in-person friends who don’t spend a lot OR have a business to get started. It’s not hard if you go slowly! 

I am likely going to launch a live version of my organizing course, Digital Clutter, that has an add-on workshop component in the new year. The price will likely go up some, so now would be a good time to get grandfathered in to the live series : ) You can purchase Digital Clutter here any time to learn my system for everything from email to photos to important files.

And Bloom is evergreen now, so if you’re wanting to do a health reset now or in the new year, it’s a great way to get motivated! The program has a lot of self reflection prompts and touches on all the areas of wellness from sleep to stress to nutrition to fitness. 

Any trips planned?

Speaking of travel….YES – we are going to the Andaz Mayakoba outside of Cancun in January just the two of us. I booked the hotel (a suite!) and flights with credit card points. (Again, check out my travel email series!) My sister is a travel advisor and recommended it to us. (If you’re looking for recommendations, here’s how to work with her). We had such an amazing time in Anguilla last year, and it’s been a while since we’ve had one-on-one time the two of us. We have a spring break trip planned too : ) 

Feel free to send any more question prompts below for next time!