Episode 59

TED Talker Cate Hollowitsch

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Summary

Cate Hollowitsch, the chief marketing person for Nesnah Ventures joins Vicki Markussen once again to talk about how her marketing expertise with Nesnah Ventures has became a challenge to do a TED Talk, focusing on the theme of self preservation. It’s a fascinating look behind the scenes of what it takes to get on the stage and speak. She provides her journey into speaking, shares insights into the TED Talk application process, the importance of unique ideas, and explores the concept of self-sabotage in corporate settings.

Full Transcript [generated by AI]

[00:00:01] Cate Hollowitsch: I’ve always loved it. I’m one of those rare people that don’t fear public speaking. Doesn’t mean I don’t get nervous, but I don’t fear it. And I’ve always just loved it. Good for you. Yeah. 

[00:00:13] Vicki Markussen: So how many keynotes 

[00:00:14] Cate Hollowitsch: have you done now? Oh gosh, many since October of 2022. I just physically, because I have a big girl job, I have my full time job. I can only fit in four or five, six a year. That’s still a lot. And some of it is opportunistic. So I just did one a few weeks ago in Boston for a marketing event.

[00:00:34] Cate Hollowitsch: So I happened to already be going there for something else. And then they, asked me to do their closing keynote while I was there. Right now I’m doing six or seven a year. 

[00:00:44] Cate Hollowitsch: What’s your goal? What’s your hope? I don’t look at it that way because I’m an overachiever, as I said.

[00:00:52] Cate Hollowitsch: And if I dare to tell myself, I want to do 15 a year, then I’m going to have to do 15 a year because I said it. 

[00:00:59] Vicki Markussen: So speaking of your personality, cause I said, what made you want to do a TED talk? What was it?

[00:01:08] Cate Hollowitsch: Spite. Spite. Yeah I am highly motivated by spite. When somebody tells me I can’t do something. Dig in. Those are fighting words and I am gonna do it if it’s the last darn thing I do. Yeah so somebody indicated that I would either not be good at it or you’ll never get one because it’s You know, some, some comment along that lines, and I thought, hmm, is that so?

[00:01:34] Cate Hollowitsch: Huh. Okay. So I just decided well that’s the end of that. I’m gonna do one. 

[00:01:40] Cate Hollowitsch: And that challenge came when? How long ago? Actually it came a number of years ago. Oh. And I took it to heart. Oh. As I started doing some of this other keynoting, I started joining some speaker networking groups and I started seeing other people doing it 

[00:01:55] Vicki Markussen: and how did that process work? You just identify where there are ones and do they have different topics they’re looking for?

[00:02:02] Vicki Markussen: What does that look 

[00:02:03] Cate Hollowitsch: like? There is a lot of paid coaching, paid consulting people out there that are selling for whatever money I’ll help you land a TED Talk.

[00:02:15] Cate Hollowitsch: There’s a lot of that out there. I think many people might assume that that is the best way to get one. And I would, knowing what I know now today, I would say that is absolutely not true. Do not pay somebody to tell you how to land a TED Talk, because I am going to tell you how to do it right now for free.

[00:02:35] Cate Hollowitsch: Awesome. I know. There’s a lot of networking groups. One of them I’m in for other speaker reasons. It’s called Innovation Women. Shout out to Innovation Women. 

[00:02:43] Cate Hollowitsch: Go to the TED website. Go to the event list. They list them in order by when the event is occurring. Sometimes it’s a short turnaround for call for speakers. Sometimes it’s long. So for example, there’s one in Oshkosh. Their open mic night, like open audition night was April 30th, but their event isn’t until November.

[00:03:02] Cate Hollowitsch: So There’s going to be disappointment if you’re off cycle. from those call for proposals versus when they occur on the stage. You also have to pay for everything yourself for the most part.

[00:03:16] Cate Hollowitsch: And you have to commit. You, we had two hour speaking coaching sessions every week leading into it and three hour Zoom calls with the other speakers. There’s a large time commitment.

[00:03:28] Cate Hollowitsch: They estimate 15 to 20 hours a week of work you have to put in between when you get selected and your event, at least in mine because it was a six week notice. Yeah. Maybe for speakers that have a six month notice, it’s not 15 to 20 hours a week. Could be four because you’re spreading it out over five months.

[00:03:45] Cate Hollowitsch: The other piece of advice that they say is volunteer at the event that you’re interested in speaking at. 

[00:03:50] Vicki Markussen: So you applied to this one in November? 

[00:03:57] Cate Hollowitsch: No, I applied to this one in either late February or early March. And and you just had it, we were just saying this? It was six weeks, so they notified us like, maybe around March, right around, right before Easter. So like March 15th, 16th, something like that, and the event was May 4th.

[00:04:19] Cate Hollowitsch: And it was where? Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Okay, not a bad place to go. No. Was there a theme to the event? Yes, her theme was, I can only imagine. Oh, okay. Very loose, which is okay. Yep. Because it allowed us to then say how in thoughtfully in our heads think, how does the idea that I am trying to share feed into or support that idea of I can only, I can only imagine what?

[00:04:51] Cate Hollowitsch: I can only imagine a world where I can only there’s a lot of ways that you could take her theme and apply it. And it was one of the questions they had was to explain how your topic fits our theme.