“If I were frozen with worry about what people thought, I wouldn’t have had the experiences that I’ve had”
Katherine Ryan
Katherine says people who really “know” her like her, but she gave up “early” on being liked by everyone.
“I was never super likeable,” Katherine says. “I was aware, really young, that I was not ordinary.
“The way I interacted with people was jarring, sometimes was unlikeable, was different – I would say the wrong thing.”
For a while, she “aspired to be” like women who were “uncomplicated and soft,” doing jobs at Hooters and entering bikini pageants – but she would always “slip up”.
Katherine’s mother shared some words of wisdom which changed her perspective on everything.
“My mother said, ‘those girls aren’t normal. They’re ordinary… you’re extraordinary. You’re going to be disliked sometimes… and you should lean into that. And then I started doing comedy.”
Katherine’s “thick skin about criticism” helped her when tackling tricky audiences – in one such instance, the compere was “apologising to the audience” for bringing a woman onstage.
Emma asks if Katherine has any advice for other young women who are worried about being liked.
“If I were frozen with worry about what people thought, I wouldn’t have had the experiences that I’ve had,” Katherine says.
“Why let an imaginary judgement of you… stand in the way? You’d be wasting your life.”
“I’m lucky that I was so hated in high school!”