My 2025 was pretty much the worst
An overshare-y life update; a gift for you worth $25; let's be fwends on LI & IG
Happy New Year, homie! Want to catch up a bit? Here’s a maybe overshare-y life update:
I got really sick and had a full-blown identity (mid-life?) crisis
I’m thrilled we’re in 2026, because my 2025 largely sucked.
I spent 8 months of it wrestling with a health condition. A match I was losing most of the time. Until one day, the pendulum started to swing back. I finally got better. Now I feel better than before, if you can believe it.
The condition was so serious that I wasn’t able to work at all; had to take medical leave for months. That part was harrowing. I was both intensely grateful for my loving, patient, supportive partner AND felt like I was being demo’ed down to the studs.
Maybe you can relate to this, but I hadn’t realized how very much I identify with my work: Kat Koh, Creative Career Coach. My company is Kat Koh LLC. My website is katkoh.com, where I talk about my work and… me. Not because I want to nor do I like the attention so much. Because I’m a solopreneur whose brand is literally my name.
Moreover, I coach because work is very important. The number of hours we spend working is second only to sleep (hopefully you sleep more than you work).
No, I’m not going to rebrand. Yes, I have no solutions for this. For now I’m contemplating how harmful it was for me to be so identified with my job (something that can disappear overnight).
I got married to the best person I have ever met
But 2025 wasn’t all bad. Last October, I married my favorite human. He’s brilliant, deeply kind, and puts up with my chaos. It happened on a mountain. We were surrounded by our nearest and dearest. I’m glad we have gorgeous photos, because the day was a blur, like everyone said it would be.
I’m back from the dead! Also a San Franciscan and it shows
To be back to work feels amazing. I’ve always been grateful for how I get to make a living, but that sentiment is tenfold now.
I’m bursting with questions, ideas, theories, strategies, and analysis about how to stand out and make good money as a creative. So curious about the current state of creative industries, spaces, and life — and how best to navigate them.
Where I live, it’s impossible not to think about AI. Can’t swing a cat without hitting 34 incomprehensible AI startup ads on Muni buses or billboards.
Regardless of how you feel about it, AI is not going anywhere. On the contrary, it’s completely consequential to our lives. For a while now, I’ve considered my work to be creative career coaching for the AI era. This shit is bananas, so there’s no other way.
If I’m not helping my clients be AI-informed and feel confident about the AI era strategy we come up with, I’m not fully doing my job.
Chat with me, fee waived
As a little new year gift, use 👉this link👈 to book a 30-min Coaching Interest Chat. It’s typically $25 to book. But not for you, not for the next 11 days. Offer good until Friday January 30.
If you don’t need it yourself, feel free to forward this email to one creative friend who does.
For better or worse, I’m active on LI & IG these days
Lately, I’ve been having much more fun on LI and IG. Whatever hangups I had about them seem to have dissipated. For now.
Feel free to follow along. I try to post things that might be helpful to you. And ofc I post different content on each platform:
I hope this new year brings you the love, health, adventure, growth, and good food that you want — and then some.
xo, Kat
Rooting for you. And to better days in 2026! 🍀
she's back!!!! always here for you and so generous to gift a discovery coaching call <3