Songwriter, Storyteller, Dancer, Director, writer, producer, host & coach
TRANSFORMATION - Inspire, Connect, Evolve!
About
BIO
ORIGIN STORY
ORIGIN STORY
Katie Strand is a Songwriter, Storyteller, Dancer, Director, Writer, Host, Coach & Emmy-nominated Documentary Film Producer.
Strand's current project is:
a LOVE story told through
STORYTELLING,
MUSIC & DANCE
THE WIDOW LOVEMORE is a variety show about healing & transmuting grief through movement, connection, creativity and
Katie Strand is a Songwriter, Storyteller, Dancer, Director, Writer, Host, Coach & Emmy-nominated Documentary Film Producer.
Strand's current project is:
a LOVE story told through
STORYTELLING,
MUSIC & DANCE
THE WIDOW LOVEMORE is a variety show about healing & transmuting grief through movement, connection, creativity and love.
Additionally, Strand will soon be publishing the relationship book co-written with her late partner Marcus Lovemore, Lovemore Women - The Men's Guide to Relationships With Women," as well as several other music, mastermind and documentary projects.
In 2018 Strand Directed/Produced Rock the Vote with the WNBA, worked on a Deadpool 2 commercial and produced "Just One of Those Things," a documentary about Ella Fitzgerald. in 2019, Strand produced The Catalyst Content Festival and hosted the official Catalyst podcast. Strand has worked for projects featured on HBO, PBS, NBC, MTV, Fox, BBC and over 20 national commercials including an HBO/Time Warner Super Bowl commercial.
Strand is also Creative Director for LiftBridgeSocial - a social media marketing & management company with a focus on environmentalism, human health, healing arts, progressive causes, social justice, real estate, mortgages, non-profits and small businesses. For over 10 years, Strand has been elevating brands via social media marketing and cross-channel marketing, integrating filmmaking with social media and public relations. LiftBridgeSocial helps elevate brands and bring client's mission to fruition.
A modern-day renaissance woman, Strand plays piano, guitar, sings, sails, writes, practices MMA/Martial Arts, Aerial Acrobatics, Stand Up Paddleboarding, and dances Fusion, Swing, Tango, Salsa and Zouk. For the better part of 25 years, Strand has been studying & practicing personal growth and self-actualization via meditation, Kundalini yoga, and personal growth seminars, which led her to earn a Master’s in Spiritual Psychology in 2008 and become a certified Hypnotherapist in 2010. She earned a Bachelor’s in Communications/Film from UCSD, graduating with honors/ magna cum laude.
ORIGIN STORY
ORIGIN STORY
ORIGIN STORY
I was born in Duluth, Minnesota to a pair of demi-celebrity over-achievers. Both parents earned scholarships to university via academics and athletics and went on to become prominent teachers, coaches, leaders and members of their community.
My childhood was full of singing for every family gathering & school concerts, playing piano, guit
I was born in Duluth, Minnesota to a pair of demi-celebrity over-achievers. Both parents earned scholarships to university via academics and athletics and went on to become prominent teachers, coaches, leaders and members of their community.
My childhood was full of singing for every family gathering & school concerts, playing piano, guitar, dancing, and learning (yes, I love learning)! My go-to hits to sing, starting at age 3, were famous movie songs, "Somewhere Over The Rainbow," "Somewhere Out There" "Tomorrow". The third of four children, I had the opportunity to learn from my older siblings as well as my parents and teachers. Standardized tests reveled a proclivity for language and math, so at age 10, I was ushered into the nerd-club (SAGE) and was introduced to brainstorming, French, advanced math (The Fibonacci sequence was my first foray into the art of math), creative problem-solving, competed in state-wide scholastic competitions, and was given the opportunity to produce, direct, set-design and costume design two completely original plays that we performed at the state scholastic competition. At the same pivotal time in my childhood (around 4th grade/age 9), I was assigned to be the AV-kid, another nerd-honor that gave me the opportunity to learn how to lace and run a film projector!... fun foreshadowing for my career in film!
In high-school, I auditioned and applied for The Perpich Center for Arts Education in the music department, a highly competitive, residential arts high school in Minneapolis, MN, aka hometown of Prince! Only 10% of applicants are accepted.
For college, I ventured to San Diego and put myself through college (teacher-parents didn't have the budget to cover college/living expenses) so I got scholarships and grants, and worked as a personal trainer, pilates & yoga instructor from 1998-2002 to fund my education at UCSD.
When I returned to Minnesota in 2018 (due in large part to the loss of my 9-year partner Marcus Lovemore), I was fortunate enough to produce the Catalyst Film Festival! My father actually coached 3 owners/managers of the 5 primary event venues. Both parents continue to receive thank you letters and accolades from past colleagues and students. I owe and attribute many of my qualities (mostly good, but some, perhaps I'd like to trade-in!) to my parents, both genetically and environmentally. They were both engaged, loving and supportive parents. Despite some turbulence and trauma in my childhood, due primarily to an older brother who was a bully and some bullying at school... I remain grateful for how my childhood shaped me and taught me the kind of human I want to be. (P.S. about my older brother who was a bully... Due to an accident in the family, he was the only family member who attended Marcus's memorial. He was loving and supportive. And, we're very close now!) My meditation practices, and my masters in spiritual psychology helped me process the trauma and forgive so that I have a loving, supportive relationship with my brother.
WIDOWING
ORIGIN STORY
WIDOWING
For most of 2017, I took care of and held the hand of Marcus Lovemore, my love & life-partner, as he transitioned at the early age of 45. He was a healer, health/fitness expert, sifu/martial arts teacher, mindfulness master/teacher and artist. But more significantly, he was my favorite person on earth, who was on my side and in my corner
For most of 2017, I took care of and held the hand of Marcus Lovemore, my love & life-partner, as he transitioned at the early age of 45. He was a healer, health/fitness expert, sifu/martial arts teacher, mindfulness master/teacher and artist. But more significantly, he was my favorite person on earth, who was on my side and in my corner for close to 9 years. His loss was devastating... but more importantly, transformational.
My solo storytelling & songwriting show, The Widow Lovemore, shares about the experience of Marcus Lovemore transitioning and how I felt connection and communication with him during his final hours and after his death. Every human will experience the death of a loved one... Grief is ubiquitous in every human life... it taught me how to do and be with the deepest depths of despair, transmute this intense sadness/loss and grief into creativity, connection and love through curiosity, vulnerability, processing and a willingness to feel and learn from grief... within the galactic heights of love, connection and inspiration.
Grief will transform us into the best versions of ourselves, if we let it... But it's also the most difficult thing beyond anything I could've imagined... And it's made me uniquely ready and qualified to coach you through life's biggest challenges and transitions so you find yourself being the very best version of yourself.