Begin with the end in mind

Thoughts on introducing yourself

Originally published on Substack in May ‘25

Yesterday as I finished my workout, one of the trainers came over to say hello. We often see each other but never have time to talk. On this day, he came up with a few minutes to spare and struck up a conversation.

“Remind me what you do again?” he asked. The dreaded question.

The following thoughts ran through my mind: What can I say that makes sense but still feels true to all the work I’ve done in the past few years? What would be the easiest thing to understand? What does he want to hear? What sounds normal?

Maybe if he was the type of person I was wary of, or knew I would never see again, I might just say “I manage partnerships for tech companies”, which is what I’ve done for years but if I’m honest, I’ve winded down. That work tells you nothing about me. Conversation over.

But this trainer, Ryan, is someone I respect and felt could be a future friend. I wanted to give him a full answer, not some half truth. So I told him the following, what I thought he would want to hear, “I’m a sales and partnerships consultant and I work with tech companies, I also do leadership and growth focused coaching, and sit on the board of a non-profit organization."

Then he asked, “I thought you did something with nature”. (for context, I am almost always arriving at the gym in hiking attire.)

My face lit up, “Yes, I do! I take people on hikes, I teach outdoor education classes, actually… I’m giving a talk about fungi next week. Some of those tech companies do climate work and the nonprofit is focused on local food access and education! I really like wildlife photography, field observation, helping to welcome people back to the outdoors and all the beings in their backyards.”

“I like that answer best,” he smiled and headed over to his next appointment.

As he walked away, I was embarrassed. The contrast in my answers left me wondering if I’ll ever be able to shed the old response.

My friend, Michelle, can often be found wearing rad purple outfits that compliment her silver purple hair, with an aura of magic and mystery surrounding her.

We met doing volunteer work at the same nature preserve in our neighborhood. Michelle never once in all the times we hung out asked me the dreaded, “What do you do?” question. She was more interested in what exciting projects I was working on, and to this day, work conversations almost never come up when we’re together.

Michelle doesn’t care if I’m doing some fancy job, not working, or eating worms for breakfast, she likes me for me (and what a gift that is). I did ask her once, about why we never talk about work, and she said something along the lines of, the answer doesn’t matter.

Not to imply that Ryan was being rude by asking about work. He was trying to get to know me better in a socially acceptable way. I have asked this question a million times, but since I’ve known Michelle, I’ve shifted to asking, “What are you curious about?”, “What is something exciting that you’re working on?” The answers often produce fun and surprising results. But when Ryan asked me “Remind me what you do again?” I was unprepared.

Moving forward, I will lead with my passions when introducing myself. What do I have to lose?

I saw Ryan at the gym this morning and I thanked him for the realization he’d helped me reach. Relationships are built on honesty and finding that common ground. And If we crave more authentic relationships in our life, first begin with the relationship to ourself.

If we haven’t met, nice to meet you, I’m Katie, an outdoor educator, wildlife photographer, growth coach and environmental steward. I live to be outside with others, interacting with nature and learning more about our world each day. My hope is to help people connect more with their values, a sense of purpose, and inspire a love for the natural world (and everyone in it - yourself included).

This introduction is the end. This is the desired work that I do today, that years ago, I could not fathom. Yet, here I am in this wonderful world.

Portrait by Zachary Schulman. Photographed at Grow It Green’s Urban Farm in Morristown, New Jersey. - I had the great priveledge to be be photographed by Zachary among with our amazing staff at GIGM. Please check-out Zachary’s work here.