Day 10: Catherina Hollifield

October 10, 2009 at 12:01 am, Category: Inspiration

“So I know if it can be in me, I know it’s there in others; it just has to be nurtured and drawn out, and sometimes poked to get them to have confidence in themselves.”

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Toni Reece: Before we jump into the questions, Kate, could you introduce yourself to everybody and tell us what you do?

Catherina Hollifield: My name is Kate Hollifield, and I am an ultrasound technologist.  I am a 51-year-old married lady who has lots of hobbies, and one of my hobbies is helping people.  I love to help inspire people to bring out their potential.

Toni: Well that sounds amazing!  We’re going to go into the first of the 4 questions, and the first question is, you said that one of your hobbies is inspiring others.  Who do you inspire, and how do you go about that?

Kate: Well, I belong to a group of women online.  They are crazy quilters.  Over the last 11 years, I have helped inspire these people to become what new people coming in call the most friendly group of people online they’ve ever met.  I found that one person can change the attitude of a large group of people given enough time.  When I first arrived in this group, they were a bit tight; they were cliquish — they didn’t always pay attention to new people — and I have an odd sense of humor and I was welcomed immediately because of it.  Then, when new people started coming in, I would welcome them.  It became such a habit with me that everyone was welcomed and, as we went along, I found other people welcoming new people if I didn’t have time to; so we’d have people come in and just say these are just the most friendly people I have ever met online.

Toni: That’s fantastic!  Can you take a moment and tell us briefly what a crazy quilter is?

Kate: It’s an art form out of the Victorian era, and you take silk and satin fabrics, lay them in a crazy design on a piece of fabric and embroider over the edges and it’s just an absolutely exquisite form of expression; very creative.

Toni: Sounds like it’s beautiful.  Can you tell me, when you inspire others, it sounds as though how you do that is by being very positive and recognizing people and making them feel comfortable, and also it sounds as though people are mimicking that good attitude and keeping that positive attitude alive in your group.  How do you explore potential in others?

Kate: Okay.  What I do is if someone expresses “I want to do this, but I’m sure I can,” or “Oh, I can’t do that, I’m not creative,” … I used to feel that I was the least creative person in the entire world, and I met this group of women and they kept encouraging me when I said I couldn’t do anything.  And I felt like I had to do it because they felt I could, and I had to perform.   And so I found a creative spot inside of me that has blossomed.  So I know if it can be in me, I know it’s there in others; it just has to be nurtured and drawn out, and sometimes poked to get them to have confidence in themselves.

Toni: So you took your own experiences … and I’m actually taking notes while we’re talking, and I wrote the words “belief without evidence” … that the creativity you weren’t sure that you had, there was belief from others that you did without evidence until you had been inspired to provide that evidence of your creativity; and it sounds like that’s what you’re doing now with others, is that what I heard?

Kate: Oh, absolutely!  You are good!  That’s exactly what I wanted to say, but I don’t think I could have said it as well.

Toni: But you did say it … you absolutely did say it.  That’s fantastic … I also like the way that you said that you allow people to blossom but also sometimes you poke them.  What do you mean by that?

Kate: If somebody resists my urges to draw them out, I kind of go “Hey, come on!  You don’t know if you can do it until you try it.”   You know, I poke … and “If I can do something, I know you can!”

Toni: That sounds very encouraging, and it also sounds as though you provide this group … it seems to be a very safe place for people to be creative.

Kate: Oh, it is, and I have seen so many people come into this group and “oh, I can’t do this, I can’t do that,” and then we encourage them as a group – it’s not just me – and through that encouragement people have just blossomed into artists.

Toni: Now, you also mentioned as a hobby that you help people.  Does that happen outside of the crazy quilting group?

Kate: Yes.  Right now I have an email friend who is writing, and I am also a writer; and I don’t know this woman from a hole in the ground, but she expressed an interest in it, and I have taken the time, and I edit things and I give her suggestions on how to make her writing better.  I help people, you know, when I see someone who truly has a passion for something, I go for it.  If I have the time and I can help them, I do.

Toni: Wow!  What do you need to be inspired, Kate?

Kate: I need passion to be inspired.  It helps if that person has a passion, I can see it, but they’re afraid.  I love passion.  In fact, there is a person who has inspired me to learn internet marketing to help him in his life work.  There is a 22-year-old man who has, at the age of 17, started an orphanage in Tanzania* … at the age of 17, mind you, and I am learning internet marketing so that I can help raise money for his orphanage.  I’m going to have a crazy quilt contest block and will make these quilts and will sell them on eBay and immediately some of the funds go into his bank account so that it can go for these 40 girls that he takes care of in Tanzania.

Toni: How did you come across this; and when you were looking for your own inspiration, what were you looking for?  You said that passion inspires you, and so what I’m hearing is that other people’s passion inspires you to do things.  So how did you come across this person?  Were you just looking online?

Kate: I was sitting in a doctor’s office waiting patiently for an appointment, and I heard an interview.  This kid was on The Today Show, and the interviewer says to him, “What made you think you could do this; you’re only 22 years old” and he said, “What made me think I couldn’t do this?”  Up to the point that he said that, I was like, dang, I wish there was something I could do to help that kid; that’s just the most amazing person.  And then when he said that, it’s like “what made me think I couldn’t do this,” it’s like okay, now darn it, I gotta help him!

Toni: So you were sitting in a doctor’s office watching The Today Show, saw this interview, and that is what inspired you and energized you to reach out and now bring your crazy quilters into this to do a fundraiser for this orphanage?

Kate: Yes.  This kid started actually when he was 15 going to Tanzania and doing charity work, and at 17 he started raising funds and has done all of his building.  He has done … I don’t know what it’s called … but he has bought all the equipment, he’s bought all the land, he’s raised the funds since the age of 17.  He’s now graduated from college with social work major, and he has actually moved to Tanzania and is running this orphanage at the age of 22.

Toni: So if I go back to the question of what do you need to be inspired, you mentioned an extreme example of generosity and someone else’s will to raise an orphanage and your willingness to help that passion … what else do you look for, Kate … do you feel that you have to find in order to keep yourself energized and motivated to help others; where do you go for that inspiration?

Kate: It’s an inner thing.  If I feel I have done everything I can to help a person, then I feel very good about what I’ve done, so it’s an inner drive if that helps; I’m not sure if I’m answering the question correctly.

Toni: No, you absolutely are.  So when you feel fulfilled that you’ve exhausted your resources and your time to help someone else, that is what you need to be inspired?

Kate: Absolutely.

Toni: So that’s the drive that’s inside of you that you have to fuel for inspiration.

Kate: Yes.

Toni: I see, okay; and what do you need to keep exploring your own potential?  What do you do to do that, to raise your own potential?

Kate: Actually I need a good swift kick in the butt!  And I got one of those recently from some CDs I bought of Joe Vitale, Attract Money Now.  There was something in there that said hey, you can do this, you can do this internet marketing.  I fell into a group of internet entrepreneurs that’s called Milagro World, and I was just there for the companionship, but as I listened to these people, and I read all about the ins and outs of internet marketing, and here Joe Vitale comes in and he says “You can do this, you just have to take action” and it was like “Oh, wow, you know what, I think I can do this”; so I have been studying, and I pulled in a friend in to help me, and we’re working on getting a website together so that we can do this and make the website pay for itself and still do charitable work with it.

Toni: So from what I’m hearing from you, what you need to explore your own potential, your words, is a kick in the butt.  And when I’m listening to you — and I’m tying that back to how you inspire others — is you’ve mentioned that you might have to poke them or bring them around.  And so the same approach that you give to inspire others and explore potential you also need for yourself.  So there’s a common theme there, and it all comes down to — from what you’re saying — that helping others, that kick in the butt to know that you can — so that you can  help others — is what you use to explore your own potential and transcend that into helping others; whether that’s in your fundraising, your quilting, your group members, so it’s very much the same; that’s what I’m hearing you say.  Does that sound correct?

Kate: That is perfect, that sums everything up very well.

Toni: Well I cannot thank you enough, Kate, for allowing us to interview you for the Get Inspired! Project and providing a snapshot into your approach to inspiration as well as your needs for inspiration so that others can learn and also benefit by this.  And I wish you the greatest success and, again, so much appreciation for giving up your time to be part of this project.  I thank you for that.

Kate: Oh, I thank you for letting me be there.

Toni: Good luck to you, Kate, and we will talk soon.  Thank you so very much.

Kate: You’re very welcome.

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If you wish to contact Kate or see examples of the crazy quilting blocks to be used to raise funds for Chris’s orphanage, go to www.fairykate.eboard.com

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* Learn more about the organization Chris Gates, that amazing young man who, five years ago at the age of 17, raised funds to build and run an orphanage for 40 girls in Tanzania.  Check out his organization’s website:  www.jbfc-online.org/index.html

Kate: It makes me wonder … what would it take to start a “Tsunami of Good Will” while you are there?  Would you consider donating $3.50 to the Janada L. Batchelor Foundation for Children?  If two hundred people donate the price of one latte at Starbucks, the cost of educating one child at the orphanage for a year would be paid.