Hi, I’m Katrina, wife, mom to three girls, artist, and business owner. I help brands find and define their colors, and I hand paint custom backdrops, styling mats, and one of a kind pieces that bring a brand’s vision to life. My work is niche, I know, but it’s mine and I love it deeply. I’m also a woman of faith, currently living life overseas with my family, figuring out how to build something meaningful while raising daughters and loving my people well. This blog is where I share all of it, the art, the business, the motherhood, and the why behind all of it.

 

Beyond the Paint: Why I Sat My Girls Down and Showed Them My Why

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about my kids, especially through all the chaos of our move and probably the last six months as I’ve really dived into building my business. My girls saw me on my phone and my computer a lot. And I didn’t want them to keep seeing that without really understanding what I was actually doing.

I want to say this clearly: I don’t feel any guilt about being a mom who works. I used to. I used to compare myself to other moms, wonder if I was doing enough, present enough, home enough. But that’s something I’ve really worked through, and now my focus isn’t on guilt. It’s on making sure my girls understand the why behind what they see.

We are blessed. Chris has worked so hard to make sure our needs are taken care of, and God has always provided for us. But there are extra things I would love to do for our girls and our family, and to bless us and others around us even more. That’s part of why I’m building something of my own, and why I work outside the home.

Because of the way the world is now, with technology and everything that comes with it, a lot of that work requires phone use, computer use, and screen time, sometimes a lot of it, especially during launches or content creation days. And being overseas, with the time difference, my girls sometimes see me working at odd hours of the day. I never want them to feel excluded, or like they’re second best. But I also want them to understand that their mom does something outside the home that will hopefully bless them more in the future, and bless others around them right now.

I really, truly want my girls to see that as women, you can grow up and build something while loving your family at the same time. You don’t have to choose one or the other. You can do both. You’ll have to sacrifice some things along the way, of course, but you can build something over years, and that is the complete opposite of the quick fixes society pushes on us every single day. Good things take time. Nothing is instant.

So I decided to sit down with them and show them everything. I showed them the paint. The sketchbooks. The swatches. The content I make for social media, and everything that goes into creating it. And then I showed them my actual work, live on someone else’s website.

It kind of wowed them.

It was such a simple moment, but it meant everything to me. Because now, when they see me on my phone or my computer, they don’t just see screen time. They understand that I’m working, and they understand a little bit more of why.

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What Building Something Has Been Teaching Me

Here’s something I’ve been sitting with lately, something I’m still learning as I go.

Because of the lifestyle Chris and I lead, traveling and living in different places around the world, raising our kids without a permanent home base, moving every two or three years, my business is going to be built differently than most of the people I consider my peers. And for a long time, that really bothered me.

I used to compare myself constantly. How come they’re growing so much faster? How come they’re so proficient at this? And then I’d catch myself and think, wait. While they were mastering that, I was moving to another country. I was traveling with my kids. I was teaching them a new culture, a new language, a new way of seeing the world. Neither path is wrong. They are just different.

And there is a quiet strength that comes when you finally stop fighting that difference and start owning it.

When you stop comparing and just say, I’m doing what I’m called to do. I’m building what God has given me to build. There is so much peace in that place. You stop questioning every little thing. You stop trying so hard to be someone else’s version of successful. And honestly? You become more motivated, not less, because you’re finally running your own race.

I couldn’t do any of this without Chris’s support, and I couldn’t do it without leaning on the Lord through every season and every move and every moment of doubt. But I’m learning that being okay with building something different, on a different timeline, in a different way, is not a setback. It’s actually a gift.

And I want my girls to see that too. I want them to grow up knowing that their path might look different from everyone around them, and that is more than okay. It is something to be proud of.

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Dear Daughters,

I want you to know why I work.

Not just that I paint for other people, or that I answer emails, or that I’m on my phone and my computer more than you probably wish I was. I want you to understand the real reason behind all of it, because you deserve to know.

Your dad has worked so incredibly hard to make sure our needs are taken care of. God has always provided for us, and I never want you to forget that. But there are things I dream of doing for you and for our family, and for others around us, that I want to be part of building too. That’s why I’m building something of my own. That’s my why.

I know there have been times you’ve seen me frustrated because my brain wouldn’t switch off from work mode into mom mode fast enough. I know you’ve seen me at my computer at odd hours, especially with the time difference overseas. I never want you to feel like you are anything less than my greatest priority, because you are. You always will be.

But I also want you to see something really important: you can love your family well and build something at the same time. You do not have to choose. It won’t always be easy, and yes, you will have to sacrifice some things along the way. But you can do both. I promise you, you can.

I also want you to know that good things take time. The world is going to tell you that you need results right now, that success should come fast, that if it isn’t happening quickly it isn’t working. Don’t believe that. You watched your mom and dad work for years to build what we have. It took strategic decisions, a whole lot of figuring it out, and grace from God at every turn. Nothing about it was instant. And it was worth every single bit of it.

Your life might look different from your friends’ lives. You might move more, experience more, see more of the world than most people your age. And there will be moments that feels hard and unfair. But I want you to know that different is not less than. Different is a gift. Own it. Build from it. Let it make you stronger.

When I sat down with you girls and showed you my sketchbooks, my swatches, my paint, my content, and then my actual work on someone else’s website, and you all said “Wow,” that moment meant everything to me. Not because of the work itself, but because you finally saw it. You saw that what I do has meaning, that it goes somewhere, that it matters.

I want you to remember that someday when you are building something of your own. I want you to remember that your mom did it, and that you can too.

I love you more than any work, any screen, any goal or dream I have ever had.

All my love,
Mom

 

If you made it to the end of this post, thank you. Thank you for letting me share my why with you. I hope it reminded you that whatever you are building, however different it looks from everyone around you, it matters. Keep going, your community is watching, and its gonna be great!