Human Design IRL: Katy of Laugh Cry DIY
Welcome back to another installment of Human Design IRL - where I interview my amazing friends and people I know who are living their Designs, creating magic with their lives, and enjoying the process along the way. The idea is to show how the knowledge of Human Design translates into real life, and to provide tangible examples of expanders, or people who show you the kind of abundance that’s available for your life.
This week I’m featuring my fellow *NSYNC-loving, witchy-leaning, multi-talented friend Katy French. We worked together at my last corporate job, bonding over our devotion to Beyoncé and commitment to the dance floor at holiday parties. But we stayed close after I left, encouraging each other in our side hustles and passion projects in a casual mastermind with another girlfriend that we coined, “The Creative Coven.”
Katy currently holds the titles of: Content Marketing Director at Column Five, Standup Comedian (appearing on Amazon Prime’s Laugh After Dark Season 3, coming out this fall!!), Cat Mom to Baguette, and Host of Laugh Cry DIY on YouTube. I’ve always been inspired by Katy and her drive to go after her dreams, and love cheering her on in every single category, but the one I wanted to interview her about is her latest endeavor: the mind-blowing, iconic, and hilarious YouTube series called “Laugh Cry DIY,” where she creates masterpieces out of nothing essentially (I’m not joking). You need to check out her videos if you’re someone who appreciates good design on a budget, and if you want to get a peek into her Manifesting Generator soul, keep reading below.
Katy’s Design:
Type: Manifesting Generator
Authority: Sacral
Profile: 4/6
Sara: Hello my hilarious, creative, witchy, and multi-passionate MG friend! While we met in the world of marketing, it’s been such a fun and inspiring experience watching all the different areas you shine in, your latest being your mind-blowing YouTube channel “Laugh Cry DIY.” What led you to want to take on this creative endeavor?
Katy: Hi, friend. Well, I’d been doing standup for 10 years when the Pandemic hit (in addition to my day job). That meant doing shows or mics at night, hosting live shows, podcasting, writing packets, sketches, submitting booking requests—the endless things you do to try to maintain momentum. When the Pandemic hit, my lifestyle changed overnight (and only mine—everybody else’s life was the exact same and nobody else was suffering!).
Obviously, the world was falling apart. I didn’t think anything was funny, and I didn’t want to be funny. (I swear, if some comics were on the Titanic, they’d be fist-fighting over who got to do their last 5 minutes before it sank.) In general, it felt like comedy had drained out of me. Simultaneously, I moved twice within one year. My only distraction from the nightmare of the real world and social media was DIY-ing decor for my new apartment. Working with my hands made me so happy, and as a cheap whore in a pandemic, I also had to get creative to bring my ideas to life. (For example, I DIY-ed a headboard with items from dollar store supplies because it was the only store open.) I also fell in love with all the DIY YouTube channels, and it seemed like so much fun. After thinking about starting a channel for a year, I finally did it. It was a total left turn for me, but it’s probably the most fun I’ve had on a creative endeavor.
S: What’s an episode or project you’re particularly proud of?
K: My first episode, a cane cabinet furniture flip. I had a vision for a large credenza in a particular style, but similar ones were around $2,000. (Girl, please.) I’d seen other people do it for cheaper, and even though I’d never used a saw in my life, I was determined to do it. I also love the epic $150 renter-friendly kitchen makeover I did for my friend Rachele’s kitchen. We covered her cabinets in contact paper to change the color, and it was a truly insane transformation. Side note: I have a lot of deep class rage over renting vs. owning because home prices are so insane in LA. I hate that if you’re a renter, you feel so limited in terms of what you can do to make your home your dream place. Renter-friendly/super affordable hacks are my porn keywords, and it’s a big part of what my channel is about.
S: What’s been your most unexpected personal growth outcome since launching it?
K: Surprisingly, learning to use power tools has made me way more confident and creative. Another side note: I don’t get why every dude seems to inherently know how to use tools, but no one teaches chicks how to even install a shelf in drywall. Like, hello, women know how to read now and we have books to put on shelves!
Anyway, the more I’ve learned to use tools to bring ideas to life (e.g., my cabinet) or solve problems (e.g., the screw that I could not get out of a piece of vintage furniture), the more creative I can be when thinking about things to make or ways to decorate. I want to give a big shoutout to my stepdad, whose garage and tools I use. He NEVER does anything for me. He gives me the tool and tells me what to do (aka watches me cry while figuring it out). I HATE it, but it’s the only way to learn.
S: Back to you being a multi-passionate Manifesting Generator for a second: tell us about the other things you currently do for work and how you decide to take on the work or projects that you do?
K: I used to have a million projects going at once—freelancing, writing, editing (content marketing has been my day job), standup, and any other misc. projects that came my way. The pandemic has drastically simplified my life in this sense. I think we’re all so much more aware of where/how we really want to be spending our time.
I have really pared down what I do. Chris Guillebeau of Side Hustle School has a really great perspective on giving up/quitting things, which has helped me decipher what is worth my time and what is not. He has three questions to ask yourself. I have googled all over and can’t find the exact questions, but I recall it’s something like...
Do I enjoy this?
Is it getting results? (Like is there noticeable growth or pushing you in a direction you want to be growing?)
Is it profitable?
If it isn’t any of those things, don’t do it. For me, if it isn’t at least two of those things, I won’t do it.
S: You and I got to do a reading together a while ago, and I’m pretty sure it was your first steps into the world of Human Design. What stood out to you in terms of something about your Design that resonated with you, or confirmed a time you realized you were staying true to your Sacral response of saying “hell yes” to something?
K: I want a checklist for what I’m supposed to do in life, and a guarantee that the results will be there when I check it off the list. That is, of course, not how life works (especially not in comedy or creative pursuits). I feel like I’ve tried a lot of things in different areas (a trait that matches my design type). But when they don’t pan out the way I want them to, I retreat into cynicism and self doubt. But knowing that MGs are known for being all over the place (in a good way), and that trying different things is an integral part of an MG’s journey, is very comforting.
I also love the idea that when MGs do what they love, they feed energy into the world and inspire others. I kept thinking about creating my YouTube channel for months. I had all sorts of ideas, but I would always talk myself out of it. Then I realized that even though there was no reason on earth for me to do it, there was also no reason not to. I also realized that all the things I’d been doing (or feeling like I was failing at) had given me the skills to do it. I knew how to edit because of the web series talk show I created with my comedy partner Jonathan Cerda-Rowell. I knew how to talk to the camera because of doing standup forever. I knew how to craft a narrative because of all the brand storytelling work I do in content marketing.
So I decided to ignore my thoughts and just focus on the fact that it felt really fun to make things (and also document the nightmare mistakes and mess-ups in a funny way—something a lot of DIYers don’t do). I put it out there, thinking it would at least entertain my closest friends who like this kind of stuff. But then suddenly strangers were telling me they’d contact-papered their own cabinets because they saw my makeover, or were ordering sofa covers so they could dye their own couch pink, or were going to the thrift store so they could DIY their own lampshades. That has been both shocking and amazing to hear. I also forget that everyone has YouTube, so the fact that people from all over the world watch it still blows my mind.
S: You are one of the very best I know at going all in on the things you’ve decided to do. What advice would you give to others when it comes to following after their desires and a life that lights them up?
K: I know you say that about me, but I feel like I haven’t done so much. Or, rather, I feel like I’ve tried and failed and tried and failed. (She has tenacity!) But I will tell you the things I wish someone had told me when I was in my early 20s…
No one knows what they’re doing. They’re just good at pretending (at first). You can be one of those people. Oh, and even when you know what you’re doing, you’ll still feel like you don’t.
If you’re pursuing an art, don’t worry about making your art pay your bills. Focus on making it pay ONE of your bills first. Then another.
In The Artist’s Way, Julia Cameron says “don’t take the first think.” It’s that first moment after you have a creative idea when your brain kicks in and shoots it down or pokes holes in it by thinking of all the reasons you shouldn’t do it.
If you’re in a bad job, or relationship, or home situation and you’re terrified to leave because it will upend your life, you have two choices: leave and suffer through one or two years of chaos and pain, or stay and suffer forever. GO. When you’re far enough away, you will never regret it.
The happier you are, the happier people around you will be. So it’s not selfish to pursue the things that bring you joy. (See above ;)
In general, I also just try to remember that you only get one life and that age is a gift denied to many. Try to make the most of it. Ugh, what a terrible, cheesy way to end this. Ummm. Just subscribe to Laugh Cry DIY on YouTube and all your dreamz will come true! OKLUVUBYE.
