Gratitude: Celebrating Your Journey

It’s always a wonderful time to reflect on the all the things we’re thankful for! While we mostly think of gratitude as a celebration of the good things we have, I believe in the equal opportunity of reflecting on the value of the challenges we've faced. Along with #blessings our hardships have shaped us into who we are today, providing us with valuable lessons and feeding our wisdom to guide our futures.

The Power of Reflection

Practicing gratitude isn’t just about counting our blessings; it’s also about looking back at the journey that brought us here. Every obstacle, every setback, and every moment of doubt contributes to our growth just as much as our opportunities and wins do.

So today, I invite you to take a moment to reflect on both the joy and the struggle. Celebrate your victories, but also honor the challenges that have made those victories possible. It’s through the tough lessons and gritty obstacles that we often find our strength and resilience.

My Personal Reflection

I'm going to take you through a series of fortunate yet unfortunate events that shaped who I am today. Looking back, I wouldn’t wish this experience on anyone, but I’d do it all again because it led me right here.

At 21, I was a junior in college pursuing my BFA in Graphic Design. One day, I woke up feeling off, and that feeling lingered for weeks. After six months of nearly weekly doctor visits, countless tests, and a slew of medications, I was finally diagnosed with Fibromyalgia. At the time, I was working as a server, and carrying heavy trays and drinks was taking a toll on my very fragile body. I was determined not to return to retail (a for sure pay cut), but I had no idea what the future held—and then a door  opened.

I had struck up a conversation with a patron at the restaurant, and he offered me a job as a web designer for his oil company. It was in the same shopping center and came with a fat hourly rate. It felt like a dream come true, arriving at just the right moment when I needed relief—and it was right in line with the degree I was actively working towards.

Once I started working, it didn’t take long for me to notice cracks in the foundation of this gig. The company was driven solely by profit, often at the expense of others. Within a few months, I realized our business practices weren’t the most ethical, and the sales team wasn’t held to a standard of truth. There were serious issues with sexual harassment and significant HR problems to top off the insanely toxic work environment.

Despite these red flags, I grew close to my boss and noticed something unsettling: despite having more money than I could ever dream of, he was the most miserable person I’d ever met. I held on because I needed the paycheck, convincing myself that I wasn’t lying—I was just building websites. I stayed for two years, feeling increasingly awful, until the day I drove up to our office and found it surrounded by police.

My boss had all his assets frozen, and in a final act of desperation, he edited active invoices to steal $5,000 from me. That was the last straw—I finally bounced.

In the aftermath, I didn’t know what to do - and then I got a call. A friend’s company wanted to hire me for a project! In the middle of that project, I got another call - and then it just kept happening.

That’s the story of how I became a freelance designer.

Today, I’m living life in a healthy body, in remission from my chronic illness. I have a steady diet, exercise plan, and healthy habits that allow me to thrive. I get to collaborate with value-focused, mission-driven business owners to create badass branding and visual identities through my design studio, Katie Mont. I also serve as the VP of Marketing for The Sun Company, a renewable energy integrator committed to accelerating the mass adoption of sustainable energy (seriously how full circle is that?!)

Along the way, I’ve developed a wicked sense of mindfulness, empathy, and problem-solving skills. I know I can accomplish anything I set out to do, and I owe it all to the challenges I’ve faced along the way.

Without hardships, you don’t understand the true value of joy. Without the tough times, you don’t develop the mindfulness to appreciate the good.

Cheers friend,

- Katie Mont