Creating Meaningful Workshop Experiences with Katie Quesada

Katie Quesada

Storytelling Consultant & Acclaimed Speaker

Katie Quesada is a keynote speaker, workshop facilitator, and storytelling consultant known for helping brands and individuals communicate their messages more effectively through storytelling. She’s partnered with major companies like Zillow, United Healthcare, and American Eagle to craft impactful stories for internal teams and customer engagement.

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SHOW NOTES

Ever wonder about the differences between workshops and keynotes?

Katie Quesada, keynote speaker, workshop facilitator, and storytelling consultant, believes workshops are not about teaching but guiding participants to discover their insights.

In today’s episode, Katie shares how to design and deliver workshops that help individuals and teams become “story collectors,” using their personal and brand narratives to forge deeper connections.

Discover her core philosophy of “stories over stuff” in structuring a workshop, which may inspire you to create your own.

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Rate Amplify on Spotify and Apple Podcasts and leave a review for Jess Ekstrom.

Amplify with Jess is produced by Earfluence, and brought to you by Mic Drop Workshop.

TRANSCRIPT

[00:00:00] Jess: So if I’m not gazing into your eyes, that is why.

[00:00:06] Kate: Lovingly. Wait, it’s a boy, right? You’re having a boy?

[00:00:09] Jess: It’s a boy. I know. I can’t believe it. I was like, why are we even doing a gender reveal? It’s going to be a girl. Then when Ellie walked out with the blue balloon, I was like, Hold the front door. What? So yeah, it’s a boy. I’m super excited.

[00:00:30] Kate: Do you have a name? Are you sharing it?

[00:00:32] Jess: I think so. Jake’s grandpa was named Jack, and I never got to meet him, but he was really close to him. I think it’s going to be Jack.

[00:00:46] Kate: Oh my gosh, Ellie and Jack is such a good pair.

[00:00:48] Jess: It sounds like a brand.

[00:00:49] Kate: It does.

[00:00:51] Jess: Like, launching at Target, coming soon! So, Katie, we met in—oh, I was thinking about this today—a very unconventional way because we were both living the RV life. Isn’t it crazy how many lives we’ve lived since then and we’re still here together?

[00:01:11] Kate: Yes. Definitely. You were the only person I had ever heard of who was speaking, traveling, and living in an RV. I was like, Oh wait, I also wake up in an RV and pack my bag and go to the airport. It’s such a specific life thing that we both did, and I remember thinking, Jess, I understand this. I understand this very well.

[00:01:34] Jess: And it is like, so, uh, I don’t know how to say it. It’s hard to explain, but if you could say like what your takeaway is—what’s your headline from living in an RV? What would it be?

[00:01:57] Kate: We just really don’t need any more stuff.

[00:02:02] Jess: Yes, okay, that was going to be mine too.

[00:02:04] Kate: That’s probably the baseline, but also living in a small space means you really have to get good at communicating because you can immediately feel someone’s discomfort. There isn’t any pretending in tiny living. In a big house, you can do roommate vibes, like when you’re mad at your spouse and you think, “Oh, I haven’t even seen you all day.” But when you live in an RV, if someone is upset, their aura, their mood—you can just sense it.

[00:02:36] Jess: The energy takes up the whole 200 feet of square space. Totally. We hadn’t had kids yet when we lived in the Airstream, so how you did it with kids is a whole other thing. But I remember distinctly at the end of our three years in the RV, being like, okay, grateful for the journey, but ready to move on. I remember saying to Jake, “I want you to have a day and then come back and tell me about your day. And I tell you about my day. And we weren’t involved in each other’s days.” And now it’s funny because we run a business together, but I remember desiring that autonomy.

[00:03:27] Kate: It makes perfect sense. There really is something about the closeness of it that is so good and awesome. But even when I was moving out of the RV, people were DMing me and saying, “Oh, Katie, don’t move out. We love you living in the RV.” And I’d say, “That’s great. I’m going to go live in a normal house now.”

[00:03:50] Jess: Yeah, why don’t you give it a shot?

[00:03:53] Kate: I know you like that part of my story, but the truth is I’m ready for a closet. I am ready to have more than one cup. These are some baseline things I’m excited for.

[00:04:03] Jess: When you speak, do you include the living in an RV part? Because I’m dabbling with weaving it into mine since I haven’t really yet.

[00:04:26] Kate: Yes, all of my workshops open with it. My story started when I was leaving my last job, which is how I became a storytelling consultant.

VO: Today we welcome Katie Quesada, keynote speaker and storytelling consultant. Katie has worked with brands like Zillow, United Healthcare, and American Eagle to ignite their story for more effective communication with their customers and teams. Katie’s own storytelling journey starts with something I’m all too familiar with—she lived in an RV with her husband for two years.

And the only reason I could become a storytelling consultant is because we moved into the RV. So it’s all one story that kind of opens with my personal philosophy: we need to collect stories over stuff. Now we’re all trying to find a product, an idea, or something on Amazon to solve our problems, but we actually just need better stories. And if we collect those stories, then we can get “re-storied,” which is kind of the next part of my workshop. And the root word of restore is to re-story. We need to start to think of ourselves as story collectors.

[00:05:33] Jess: Oh, Stories Over Stuff. Love that. So talk to me about how you became a storytelling consultant by living in an RV.

[00:05:45] Kate: I was at a job that was going really south. My husband and I were like, but how will we do this? We lived in Los Angeles and that’s not a place where one income is easy. We had been saving for a house and I was sitting across from a panel of women, helping them say their life stories in six minutes from the stage. I did that over and over in the nonprofit space, and I thought, “This is what I like to do,” even though it was only 5% of my job.

[00:06:39] Jess: You think, “Do you see me as that?”

[00:06:40] Kate: Yes. So I quit, but we were like, how are we going to live while you launch a business and continue to save for a house? That’s when the RV came in. We sold everything, moved into an RV, I had a second baby, and then launched the business. Five years later, here we are.

[00:07:04] Jess: How crazy is that? I know. When we met, you were just getting started and you came into Mic Drop Academy as one of our first cohorts. So thank you for being our guinea pig. You do a lot of speaking, but also workshops.

[00:07:56] Kate: Totally. Workshops are more of my sweet space. I love seeing people workshop things. I enjoy facilitating and watching them end with their own one-minute stories.

[00:09:10] Jess: It’s interesting. When I do workshops, I think, “How will I fill that space?” But you say you don’t, you guide them, and they help you fill it.

[00:09:52] Jess: And so we just did a Mic Drop training for the Falcons, helping women speak confidently at work. I did a workshop, and I didn’t realize the team bonding impact of workshops. It’s not just individual growth, but the connection they feel.

[00:10:12] Kate: Totally. And when you’re telling stories together, there’s a vulnerability that doesn’t happen in other team-building exercises. When someone says, “This is a story from my childhood that really shaped me,” the rest of the team suddenly sees them as a whole person. They’re not just a title or a coworker. It shifts the team dynamic.

[00:10:35] Jess: Yes, it’s such a good point. When we were doing that workshop with the Falcons, one of the women shared a story about a time when she was underestimated, and how she pushed through it. It was the first time a lot of her coworkers had heard it, and they were like, “Wow, we had no idea.” So now that story is a tool in her toolbox she can use whenever she needs to inspire or lead.

[00:11:06] Kate: Exactly. When you tell your story, you create a toolkit for others. They can pick it up and use it when they need to be brave or when they need to push through something difficult. It’s powerful to see people start to own their narratives and say, “This is my story. This is who I am.”

[00:11:29] Jess: And it’s so rewarding to watch someone who thinks they don’t have a story, or that their story isn’t valuable, and then see them realize, “Wait, I do have a story.” You watch that transformation happen right in front of you.

[00:11:49] Kate: Yes! And when that shift happens, their confidence just skyrockets. They realize they’ve been walking around with these impactful stories and didn’t even know it.

[00:12:08] Jess: So true. So let’s talk about your journey with storytelling. You said it started with helping women in the nonprofit space. How did it evolve from there?

[00:12:18] Kate: It’s funny because I always thought, “Okay, I’m helping these women tell their stories, but this is just a small thing.” I didn’t realize it was going to become the entire focus of my career. After doing that for a few years, I noticed that people from different companies started reaching out, asking me to help them structure their stories for presentations, job interviews, or even just team meetings.

[00:12:51] Jess: So it was more organic?

[00:12:52] Kate: Exactly. I didn’t have a website or anything at first. But then I started getting so many requests, I thought, “Okay, maybe I need to turn this into something bigger.” And then, because of the RV lifestyle, I was meeting so many people across the country—everywhere we parked, people would want to know our story. It was this natural marketing opportunity that I didn’t even plan for.

[00:13:23] Jess: So living in the RV actually became a business strategy!

[00:13:26] Kate: Yes, and I didn’t even know it at the time. It’s amazing how the things that seem small can end up being the biggest turning points.

[00:13:42] Jess: Totally. So what advice would you give someone who feels like they don’t have a compelling story to tell?

[00:13:52] Kate: I would say, first, don’t discredit your own experiences. We tend to think our stories aren’t special because we lived them. But if you take a step back, you’ll realize that some of the things you’ve gone through, or the decisions you’ve made, are actually really powerful. Start by asking yourself: What are the moments that have shaped who I am today?

[00:14:24] Jess: I love that. It’s about looking at your life with fresh eyes.

[00:14:29] Kate: Exactly. And don’t worry if it doesn’t seem “big” or “dramatic.” The small stories are often the ones that resonate the most.

[00:14:39] Jess: Right, because it’s the little moments that people connect with. Like, when you shared about living in the RV, I’m sure people were thinking, “I can’t imagine doing that!” But then you tie it back to something universal, like simplifying your life, and they see themselves in it.

[00:15:01] Kate: Yes! It’s about finding that common ground. I always say, “Make your story accessible.” Don’t tell it in a way that makes people think, “Oh, I could never do that.” Instead, share it in a way that makes them feel like they’re part of it.

[00:15:22] Jess: That’s such a good point. When I started speaking, I thought I needed these huge, dramatic stories, but then I realized the things people remember are the little anecdotes, like the time I tried to microwave a turkey.

[00:15:38] Kate: Ha! I love that story.

[00:15:39] Jess: Right? It’s ridiculous, but people remember it because it’s relatable.

[00:15:45] Kate: Exactly. Those are the stories that stick with people because they see themselves in them. So, what’s next for you, Jess?

[00:15:57] Jess: Well, I’m in a big transition. I’m taking a step back from speaking for a bit with the baby on the way, so I’m focusing more on writing and consulting.

[00:16:09] Kate: That’s so exciting. And totally understandable.

[00:16:14] Jess: Yeah, it feels right. I think I’m in a season of pouring into others more than being on stage myself.

[00:16:24] Kate: I love that. And what a gift it is to be able to choose how you show up.

[00:16:31] Jess: Yes, it really is. I feel really grateful for that.

[00:16:39] Kate: I feel like a lot of people want to be able to choose, but they don’t know how to get there.

[00:16:47] Jess: Yes, it’s so true. You think you have to say yes to everything because you don’t want to miss out on opportunities, but there’s so much power in being able to say no. It’s taken me a long time to get to a place where I can say, “This doesn’t serve me right now,” and that’s okay.

[00:17:08] Kate: That’s a hard place to get to, though. Especially in the beginning, when you’re building something. Every opportunity feels like it could be the one that makes a difference.

[00:17:21] Jess: Totally. It’s all about trusting the process and knowing that the right opportunities will come if you stay true to what you want to create.

[00:17:33] Kate: Yes. And also, letting go of that scarcity mindset. I used to think, “If I don’t say yes to this, will I get another chance?” But the truth is, there’s always more out there if you’re clear about what you want.

[00:17:50] Jess: That’s so good. And I think a lot of people need to hear that, especially women. We’re often conditioned to take on more and more without ever stopping to ask, “Is this what I want?”

[00:18:10] Kate: Exactly. We’re taught that being busy means we’re successful, but that’s not true. It’s okay to have space and to protect your energy.

[00:18:24] Jess: Yes! And speaking of protecting your energy, I wanted to ask you—how do you decide what to say yes and no to now?

[00:18:35] Kate: I have a filter for it. I ask myself: “Does this align with my goals? Will it help me serve others in a meaningful way? And is this something I’m genuinely excited about?” If it’s not a “hell yes” to at least two of those questions, then it’s a no.

[00:18:56] Jess: I love that. It’s such a good framework to keep things clear.

[00:19:02] Kate: Totally. And it helps me stay focused on what matters, instead of getting caught up in what looks good on paper.

[00:19:12] Jess: Yes, like, “Does this move the needle for me, or am I just doing it because I think I should?”

[00:19:20] Kate: Exactly. And it’s so easy to get wrapped up in the “shoulds.”

[00:19:27] Jess: Yes! I remember you once said something about the difference between what you want to do and what you think you should do. That really stuck with me.

[00:19:37] Kate: Oh, I’m glad! It’s been a big shift for me. I used to say yes to everything because I thought it meant I was being helpful or proving my worth, but now I realize my worth isn’t tied to my productivity.

[00:19:54] Jess: That’s so powerful. It’s something I think we all need to remind ourselves of constantly.

[00:20:06] Kate: Definitely. So, what’s next for you with the baby coming?

[00:20:12] Jess: I think I’m going to take a real break this time. With Ellie, I was back at it so quickly, but now I want to just be present and soak up this season.

[00:20:26] Kate: That’s beautiful. And it’s so important to give yourself that space.

[00:20:32] Jess: Yes, I’m looking forward to it. And then, when I come back, I’m excited to dive into more writing projects. I think that’s going to be my focus for a while.

[00:20:47] Kate: I can totally see that for you. You’re such a good writer, Jess.

[00:20:53] Jess: Aw, thank you, Katie! That means so much. I’ve always loved writing, and I feel like it’s the right time to lean into it more.

[00:21:06] Kate: I’m excited to see what you create. I know whatever it is, it’s going to be amazing.

[00:21:14] Jess: Thank you. That means a lot coming from you.

[00:21:18] Kate: Of course! And I’m always here to cheer you on.

[00:21:23] Jess: I appreciate that so much. Same to you. I feel like we’ve both been through so many changes, and it’s so cool to see where we are now.

[00:21:34] Kate: Yes, and I love that we’re still in each other’s lives through all of it.

[00:21:40] Jess: Me too. It’s really special.

[00:21:44] Kate: So, what’s your next adventure?

[00:21:47] Jess: Well, after the baby, I think I’m just going to focus on being a mom for a bit. And then I want to work on a new book. I have some ideas I’ve been playing around with.

[00:21:59] Kate: That sounds perfect. I can’t wait to read it when it’s done!

[00:22:05] Jess: Thank you. I’ll definitely send you a copy.

[00:22:10] Kate: Yes, please do! And let me know if you need a sounding board for any of it. I’m always here.

[00:22:18] Jess: I will! Thanks, Katie. This has been so fun.

[00:22:23] Kate: It really has. Thank you for having me. I’m so glad we got to catch up.

[00:22:29] Jess: Me too. I always love our chats.

[00:22:33] Kate: Same. Let’s not wait too long before we do this again.

[00:22:38] Jess: Definitely. Take care, Katie.

[00:22:42] Kate: You too, Jess.

[00:22:45] Jess: Bye!

[00:22:47] Kate: Bye!