There aren’t many snowboarders like Katie Kennedy. Sure, plenty of snowboarders have full time jobs (you need one to ride at any resort nowadays), but how many of them film full parts? And how many of those parts have a creative spot selection and are well edited? AND HOW MANY OF THOSE PEOPLE SEND OVER A FEW QUOTES TO SUM UP THEIR PROJECT SO WE CAN EVEN HAVE A BETTER IDEA OF WHAT IS GOING ON IN THE WORLD? NONE. THAT IS HOW MANY. KATIE KENNEDY IS A ONE-OF-A-KIND HUMAN BEING. So we decided to tap her brain on the secret of dropping a full part without dropping her full time job. (And for the record: We aren’t discouraging anyone to go out and film a full part, in fact, we think you most definitely should. But what you should also know is Katie Kennedy is probably going to do it better, and in a much more organized fashion.)

So Katie, what is the secret? 
Self discipline… wake up early. Going into last winter, my plan was to snowboard as much as possible. I didn’t plan on running into a dumpster before Christmas but that really set the tone for the rest of the year.

Yeah, the opening clip looks like it hurt. What was it like being on zoom meetings with a black eye?
Good conversation starter. Kind of made me an instant bad ass. 

Can you list every job you have held since 16? 
Worked at Ragin’ Cajun for 11 years, intramural referee, omelet station cooker, recruiter, server at many restaurants, barista, cook at high cascade, social media helper, marketing coordinator for mountain, marketing manager for hotel group, and back to recruiter. Probably missing ten jobs! 

There you have it. Wake up early. Film a full part. Get a black eye and your coworkers will think you are a badass. The secret is out. Interviews don’t always have to be long. Katie has a full time job for god’s sake, she doesn’t have time to talk to us. Enjoy “Working from Paradise” from Katie Kennedy and Jack Reid. 

From Katie:  “I have been snowboarding for a long time. Mostly soul shredding with my friends, not in front of a camera. But I have always wanted to film snowboarding and make something at the end of a season.  I wanted to see if I was capable of creating something that my friends and peers would enjoy. The final result is this little edit of my footage. The whole process was fun and it made me more productive on my snowboard. I was lucky enough to be able to work with Jack Reid. He made it even more fun. I was also lucky enough to live with Amanda, Jill, Taylor, and Parker last winter. I couldn’t have done this without them. Thanks to everyone that helped along the way.”