On Purpose with Jay Shetty - Katherine McNamara ON: Centering on Joy Amongst Chaos and Finding Purpose Through Curiosity

Episode Date: November 30, 2020

Katherine McNamara is a self-proclaimed professional chameleon. As an actor known for her roles in Shadowhunters and Arrow, she gets curious about her character’s role in the story and does in depth research to be able to fill that role. On this episode of On Purpose, Actor Katherine McNamara and Jay Shetty talk about approaching learning with excitement and joy, finding laughter among chaos, and letting your curiosity guide you towards purpose. They also briefly talk about which Hogwarts house we each would be in. Reach out to Jay and Katherine on Instagram to let them know what house you think you’d be sorted into.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I am Dr. Romani and I am back with season two of my podcast, Navigating Narcissism. This season, we dive deeper into highlighting red flags and spotting a narcissist before they spot you. Each week, you'll hear stories from survivors who have navigated through toxic relationships, gaslighting, love bombing, and their process of healing. Listen to Navigating Narcissism on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hi, I'm David Eagleman. I have a new podcast called Inner Cosmos on I Heart. I'm going to explore the relationship between our brains and our experiences by tackling unusual questions, like, can we create new senses for humans? So join me weekly to uncover how your brain steers your behavior, your perception, and your reality. Listen to Intercosmos with David Eagleman on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

I'm Jay Shetty, and on my podcast on purpose, I've had the honor to sit down with some of the most incredible hearts and minds on the planet. Oprah, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Hart, Louis Hamilton, and many, many more. On this podcast, you get to hear the raw, real-life stories behind their journeys

and the tools they used, the books they read, and the people that made a difference in their lives so that they can make a difference in hours. Listen to on purpose with Jay Shetty on the iHeart Radio app Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Join the journey soon. Hey everyone, welcome back to on purpose the number one health podcast in the world thanks to each and every single one of you who come back every single week to listen, to learn, and grow.

And you know that I make it my best effort to find guests and connect and have create conversations that I think are going to serve and support you in amazing ways. And today's guest is going to do exactly that. She's not going to disappoint. And today I'm live from We Day. And if you don't know about We Day, it's part of the We Charity and the We Movement. We're 20,000 kids today are being celebrated for the service they're doing

in their local and global communities. It's phenomenal. Now, I've already been out on stage, but I guess today, Catherine McNamara has not been out on stage yet. We've just sneaked her in here to have a moment to ask her a lot of different questions about her life, her perspective, why she's here today.

And for those of you who don't know Catherine, I wanna tell you some amazing things about it. So listen to this and listen carefully. Catherine is best known for a role on the teen drama Shadow Hunters, which has received 14 choice awards and two people's choice awards. Catherine was the people's choice female TV star of 2018.

She now stars in DC Comics series Arrow and was recently cast in the Stephen King miniseries The Stand. She's deeply passionate about charity work and released a song where listen to this, 100% of the proceeds were donated to the United Nations charity Girl Up. She also helped raise $2 million for children's mercy hospital with Selena Gomez. Catherine, thank you so much for doing this. Thank you. It's so wonderful to meet someone who's doing so many incredible things, so incredibly talented. Doing this on very little sleep.

Well, that's what I do. I've never needed much sleep. How much have you slept again? Did you say in the last 24 hours? I don't exactly know, but most of it happened on an airplane. But honestly, people asked me all the time, because I always keep a crazy schedule like this of how I do it with no sleep.

And it's because I'm dedicating my time to things that I really care about. I genuinely want to be doing these things. And so if it means I have to give up a couple hours of sleep, that's worth it. I love that. And how did you get involved with We Day? I'm fascinated to know the story of how did you find out?

How did you hear about it? So We Day is something that I've known about for a long time. Actually a lot of my cast members from Shadow Hunters have done We Day events all over the world and it's something that I've been trying to find an opportunity in my schedule and an opportunity where I have met up with We Day's course of action. And this just happened to be perfect. I just finished up shooting Aero here and I'm about to start the stand here as well and. Congratulations. Oh thank you. Thank you so much. And so here we are.

So this is your first weekday too. This is my first weekday. Oh, there we go. It's amazing. It's my first weekday. And that's the same for me. So I've been wanting to get into We Day for so long. So many of my friends involved in We Day.

And so it's been a very similar journey. Well there we go. We're meant to be. Yeah, absolutely. So I want to dive into so many things about you. And the first thing I want to talk about is what was your first and, oh, not your first, what's your favorite memory of growing up in Kansas City? Oh, um, I think some of my favorite memories growing up in Kansas City all happened at

my grandparents' house. They have this house. It's in this beautiful wooded area and it sort of became my nature playground. Was their backyard. They had all these woods and hills and rocks and things I could climb around and look at the wildlife and just kind of be alone in my imagination. And that I think started a lot of my sense of make believe, which is truly what I believe led me to being an actor.

I never wanted to be an actor as a kid. I didn't even know that was a job coming from a family of science and medical professionals. And I wanted to be an economist as a kid. So that was totally my track until I fell into this backwards. But that and just the sense of community there, you know, there's something so special about it, which is why I always go back as much as I can. And that's why I'm so involved with the big slick as well, which is the organization that was started by Jason Siddiquas and Paul Rudd and Will Forte, David Kekner, Rob Riggle, Eric Stone Street, all of these really successful actors that are from Kansas City.

And they go back every year, it started as a little poker game. And now this year we raised over $2 million for children's mercy hospital there in two days. They calculated all of the numbers. And in the last 10 years, they raised over $10 million for the hospital. And it's amazing. It's just so lovely to be a part of and really shows the spirit of Kansas City. That's unbelievable. I love that story. And tell me a bit about it because I love what you shared there. And I talk a lot about, I joke a lot about how when I was growing up, I had three options, either to become a lawyer or a doctor or a failure,

because that's kind of like all I knew about. And so when you said that, that you didn't know that you could be an actor, you didn't know existed, I felt the same way, about anything in media, like I didn't think it was a real career. And like you said, your family, it was medical professionals,

your mom was a scientist at all, right? And it's like, tell me about that decision of wanting to be an economist, and then falling backwards into this, because I think so many of our viewers are always thinking about finding their passion, and finding something that they really believe in, like you said, doing things that are meaningful.

Absolutely. How did you switch from economists to this? Well, it sort of hit me like a brick wall. I was always a huge math nerd, and I, to this day, I love economics, because it's the real world application of the math that I love so much and I was just so fascinated by the fact that these formulas and graphs and complex math that I learned so much about could actually be used to predict and explain things that

happened in the real world and once I discovered that it was kind of a runaway train of I became obsessed with different things particularly development economics because I loved the sort of Anthropological aspects that gets thrown into that when you're trying to find ways to help these developing countries Exist in the world in a way that they can grow to their full potential and that that fascinated me but aside from that I was a ballet dancer as a hobby and I and a girl scout, a softball player, and all these other things, but I ran into a family friend who was directing a community theater production and needed a dancer.

And I was the kid who would try anything. I was like, sure, why not? Let's go do this theater thing and see what that's all about. And I will never forget walking on stage on opening night. It's, you have these moments of clarity in life. They come few and far between, but you know beyond a doubt when they happen. I walked on stage and something hit me like a brick wall. I just knew in that moment that I was put on this earth to tell stories. I was put on this earth to create characters and to be a part of this communal entertainment

form, I guess. I've never looked back. I love that. That's so beautiful. I think you're I've never looked back. I love that. That's so beautiful. And I think you're so right. You articulate it so well that we all get an opportunity. If we slow down, if we kind of pause a little and taking these experiences, we all get these moments of clarity.

And I always say like, when you eat something, you know whether you like it or not straight away. It's true. But we never do that. We never reflect on that one. We're doing something new. Or like when we do an activity like you said, when I walked on stage, you just you know, you felt it

I think we should just check in with ourselves more It's true when you do something new and be like did I like that? Yeah, I heard somebody give a talk earlier this year about being vulnerable to joy And there was something I thought was so beautiful on that because so often we're so focused on what the next thing is or Protecting ourselves or whatever it is that that we don't allow ourselves to be open To whatever it is that's coming our way Yeah, and so we miss out on so much and I've tried to really make a concerted effort to do that to be vulnerable to whatever it is Be it joy be it a lesson to be learned be it whatever. Yeah, tell me something that you've learned recently or something that you've been learning recently something that I've learned recently is

The importance of of taking a moment actually There's something that you've been learning recently. Something that I've learned recently is the importance of taking a moment, actually. There's what you said, taking a moment, taking a breath, and just, I live a life of a lot of chaos recently. And it's really important to stop and take in those moments and just sit for a minute sometimes and really just be present and absorb what it is that you're in the in the midst of.

Yeah, I love that. Tell me how and I mean this genuinely, how does someone finish high school at 14 and get a degree at 17? Well, that kind of ties into why we're here today. Yes. I, again, I've always been a huge nerd, but I credit that to one of my very first teachers. She was my preschool teacher, and she saw something in me,

this propensity and love for learning, and took the time to foster that. So from my family as well, to this teacher, school learning education was always presented to me as discovery, as joy, as what can you figure out about the world, what can you learn, how can you expand what it is that you know. It was never a chore, it was never something negative, it was never presented as work in a sense. And so, yeah,

so that's how I've always approached learning. And I was allowed to go at my own pace and did a lot of online and correspondence programs that allowed me to do that while still going to the school for art, music, and recess, and lunch, and all the fun things. And it was the perfect storm for me because I got the best of both worlds and accidentally graduated high school at 14. That is amazing. I love hearing that because I think so many of us have had experiences of school whether it was the other two extremes of boredom, chores, who cares. Or in my case, it was very much like performance,

getting top grades and doing well in exams, which also doesn't leave a good impression for kids because it becomes about pressure and pain. And you know, you're now just trying to catch up with this metric just to show your parents or compare yourself to someone else. So how are you, what's your message today to the children on stage? Are you putting that in there?

Are they going to hear that? I'm trying to as much as I can. I might, the topic that I'm discussing is about something a little bit different, but I always try and talk about education because I feel as though so many kids, especially today, either take education for granted or don't see it as something that can be joyful. And it's not to say that, you know, there are going to be assignments or classes or things that are going to be really difficult and not going to be any fun at all.

But for me, I don't know, maybe it's because I'm a stubborn optimist, but it's all about finding the fun in them. It's, you know, you have to marry Poppins a little bit and figure out how to make it fun and how to make it something that you can enjoy because you have to do it either way. Yeah, no, I love that. That's so true. I've just, my first book's coming out next year in April. And so I'm sharing a study that's in my book. So I'm giving it all away. But you just reminded me of something. There's a study that was done at Yale. I get the scientist's second name wrong. So I don't want to say it first name's Amy. And in my book I talk about how she talks about how they did a study

where they interviewed nurses and cleaners and all these people that work as part of a hospital stuff. And they spoke to cleaners and they asked them describe your job. And half the cleaners described it as low skilled, dirty, a chore, hard, very difficult. And the other half, described it completely differently. They used words like healers, transformers, like they felt that they were a part of humans' emotion and they felt that they were building up these relationships with patients. And so it's a term that Yale Craftsword called

job crafting. And it's like how you view that is what it becomes. And so some of these people felt that their work was so highly skilled and so fulfilling and so meaningful. It's funny life. There's anything I've learned in becoming an adult is that life is all about perspective. Every morning when you wake up, you can choose to have a great day or to have a terrible day, no matter what happens. It's all about how you view it and how you look at the world. And it really is a series of choices.

Not too long ago, in the heart of the Amazon Rainforest, this explorer stumbled upon something that would change his life. I saw it and I saw, oh wow, this is a very unusual situation. It was cacao, the tree that gives us chocolate. But this cacao was unlike anything experts had seen, or tasted. I've never wanted us to have a gun bite. I mean, you saw this stacks of cash in our office. Chocolate sort of forms this vortex.

It sucks you in. It's like I can be the queen of wild chocolate. We're all lost. It was madness. It was a game changer. People quit their jobs. They left their lives behind, so they could search for more of this stuff.

I wanted to tell their stories, so I followed them deep into the jungle, and it wasn't always pretty. Basically, this like disgruntled guy and his family surrounded the building armed with machetes. And we've heard all sorts of things that you know somebody got shot over this. Sometimes I think all, all this for a damn bar of chocolate. Listen to obsessions while chocolate on the iHeartRadio app Apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcast I'm Jay Shetty and on my podcast on purpose I've had the honor to sit down with some of the most incredible hot some minds on the planet Oh pro everything that has happened to you can also be a strength builder for you if you allow it. Kobe Bryant.

The results don't really matter. It's the figuring out that matters. Kevin Haw. It's not about us as a generation at this point. It's about us trying our best to create change. Lumin's Hamilton. That's for me being taken that moment for yourself each day, being kind to yourself, because I think for a long time I wasn't kind to myself.

And many, many more. If you're attached to knowing, you don't have a capacity to learn. On this podcast, you get to hear the raw real-life stories behind their journeys, and the tools they used, the books they read, and the people that made a difference in their lives so that they can make a difference in hours. Listen to on purpose with Jay Shetty on the iHeart Radio app Apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Join the journey soon. The therapy for Black Girls podcast is the destination for all things mental health, personal development, and all of the small decisions we can make to become the best possible versions

of ourselves. Here, we have the conversations that help black women dig a little deeper into the most impactful relationships in our lives, those with our parents, our partners, our children, our friends, and most importantly ourselves. We chat about things like what to do with a friendship ends, how to know when it's time to break up with your therapist, and how to end the cycle of perfectionism. I'm your host, Dr. Joy Harden Bradford, a licensed psychologist in Atlanta, Georgia, and I can't wait for you to join the conversation every Wednesday. Listen to the Therapy for Black Girls Podcasts on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

or wherever you get your podcasts. Take good care. When you get those moments in your day where things are going not the way you plan, what's the choice you're making? How are you bringing it back? I'd love to hear. I always try and find something good, something that I can focus on that can make me smile. Or to just laugh at the chaos,

because how silly things can be and how absurdly chaotic things can get, it just gets to a point of, you have to laugh or you're gonna cry, because, and I'd much rather laugh. Yeah, you do. And it's sort of how I was raised. My whole family does that.

My grandmother was the head nurse of an ER for several decades and nothing phases her. She is one of the strongest- She's seen everything. Yeah, she's seen everything. And my entire family is of the mind that you can make some anything silly, any situation, you can turn it into laughter.

And so that's kind of how I was raised, and I try and carry that on and spread that around as much as I possibly can. Are you a Harry Potter fan? I'm a huge Harry Potter fan. You've just reminded me of one of those things called, my sister's gonna hate me for not remembering. One of those things called where they come out

as your biggest fear, but you have to imagine it as something funny. You know what I'm talking about? I know what you're talking about and I can't- What are they, cool. What are they? Bog, Bog, no, Bog, no. It's something like that.

Yeah, something, Bog, maybe, yeah, yeah, yeah. We're gonna get roasted. We're gonna get roasted. We're all there. I'm such a Harry Potter fan too. So this is terrible. Bog, I feel like it's a Bog. Sure, we'll go with that.

Yeah, so awesome. You know what I'm talking about, right? Yeah, I do. And that you see a Dementor and you have to imagine it as the balloon and the moon that pops or whatever it is. Exactly. It's exactly what I'm talking about. Yeah. The bronzer as the balloon and the moon that pops or whatever it is. Exactly. It's exactly what I'm talking about.

The bronzer, the spider-ins got skates on. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, yeah, okay, I love that piece of advice. I've never had that before and I think that's awesome. Okay, if we're talking about Harry Potter, I have to stop you. What's your house? Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.

So when I've been to the sorting hat in the Harry Potter studios and it said Gryffindor. Okay, I can see that. But I have a bit of sorting hat in the Harry Potter studios and it said Gryffindor. Okay. But I can see that. But I have a bit of slither in in me. Well, I don't think anyone is purely one house. I have a theory on this. So I have a bit of slither in in me. Okay.

I like the rebellious kind of push, not evil. No, just rebellious and pushing buttons and like trying new stuff. Yeah. How about you? I would say I'm Ravenclaw with Gryffindor Attendancies and a sprinkle of Hufflepuff. Oh, okay. That's what I've come to determine. No slither in and you then.

I mean, maybe a little, but not enough to claim it. I love that. I'm glad we dove into Harry Potter. We've never done that on any podcast. Well, there you go. But no, that advice of, you know, laugh and see how silly things are. And I think sometimes it takes us time to see that, but actually we can do that in the moment.

Absolutely. Like, please be a boggaw. Please, please, please. A good way to learn about a place is to talk to the people that live there. There's just this sexy vibe, a Montreal, this pulse, this energy. What was seen as a very snotty city,

people call it bozangelis. New Orleans is a town that never forgets its pay. A great way to get to know a place is to get invited to a dinner party. Hi, I'm Brendan Francis Newdum, and not lost as my new travel podcast where a friend and I go places, see the sights, and try to finagle our way into a dinner party.

We're kind of trying to get invited to a dinner party. It doesn't always work out. I would love that, but I have like a Cholala who is aggressive towards strangers. I love the dogs. We learn about the places we're visiting, yes, but we also learn about ourselves. I don't spend as much time thinking about how I'm going to die alone when I'm traveling, but I get to travel with someone I love. Oh, see, I love you too.

And also, we get to eat as much... I love you too. My life's a lot of therapy goes behind that as we can see here. I love you too. My life's a lot of therapy goes behind that. You're so white. I love it. Listen to not lost on the iHeart radio app or wherever you get your podcasts. Our twenties are seen as this golden decade. Our time to be carefree, full in love, make mistakes, and decide what we want from our life. But what can psychology really teach us about this decade? I'm Gemma Speg, the host of the Psychology of Your 20s.

Each week we take a deep dive into a unique aspect of our 20s, from career anxiety, mental health, heartbreak, money, friendships, and much more to explore the science and the psychology behind our experiences. Incredible guests, fascinating topics, important science and a bit of my own personal experience. Audrey, I honestly have no idea what's going on with my life. Join me as we explore what our 20s are really all about. From the good, the bad, and the ugly, and listen along as we uncover how everything is psychology, including our twenties.

The psychology of your twenties hosted by me, Gemma Speg. Now streaming on the iHotRadio app, Apple podcasts, or whatever you get your podcasts. How's that New Year's resolution coming along? You know, the one you made about paying off your pesky credit card debt and finally starting to save a retirement? Well, you're not alone if you haven't made progress yet, roughly four in five New Year's

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podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. It's something that I see in the best of actors and something I really worked hard to try and emulate in my career. You see it in actors like Merle Strip and Sam Rockwell and you know, the actors of that nature where they completely transform. Every single character they play is entirely different. In look, in physicality, in the way that they interact with the other characters and the world around them, the way they speak, the way they walk. And that's something that I think is essential to our job. Because we have the opportunity to walk a million different lives and play a million

different people and figure out how they work. And I think the farther I can push myself to completely transform and immerse myself in every character I play, the more diverse of a role of dex of characters I'll be able to play, but also the better I'll be able to serve the story. Because I'm not a part of a story to put myself forward. I'm a part of the story to kind of be within that canvas and within that cast of characters and to serve the greater arc of whatever the story is telling and play my piece and play my part well and serve the

greater machine of the story. And it's also really fun to see how far you can go in a different direction and be somebody completely different. Absolutely. And what's your process? Do you do method acting? Would you see us of considering that? What's your process? Like, do you do method acting? Would you see yourself considering that? Or what's your process to really get into a role?

Like, is it research? Is it spending time? Is it, what's your habits? I wanna know how you break it down when you get into it. It's a little bit of everything, honestly. And it differs based on the project and what it requires. So I always do as much research as I can given that I'm a huge nerd.

Yes. And it helps me to know as much as I can because then it will kind of help inherently, even if I'm not actively thinking about it. If I have the knowledge, it'll be in the back of my head when I need it. And then if there's source material, I'll definitely go read it for Shadow Hunters.

I read the Mortal Instruments series just because so much of it is told from Clarie's perspective. And even though our series was very different, at least I had that knowledge and I had that in the back of my head that I could pull little bits from. Or with Arrow, because I was playing Oliver and Felicity's daughter, given that their characters were so iconic

and so well developed, I went through and watched the entire series so that I could pull little qualities and nuances and quirks and things to pepper through so that she really was an amalgamation of these two characters that audiences know so well. So I'll do a bit of that and then, you know, I love Pinterest. So I'll go on Pinterest and I'll look up different clothing or different hair and makeup looks or whatever it is to see kind of what I can piece together and see something that

I might not have thought of or something that I might, you know, this that or if there's an accent required or if you know, I do as much as I can and then try and watch a few similar tonal projects or similar characters to see what other people have done in similar situations. Just to try and get as much as many ideas as I can get, as much influence as I can to see what I like, what I don't, what I want to pull, what I want to incorporate, what's in the back of my head, just so I have as much information as I can to play with on the day.

That makes complete sense. I love what an intellectual pursue acting is. It's great. It can be. It's when I'm listening to you. And that's about 50% of it. I always say I do 50% of my work before I get there and then 50% of it happens on the day

because so much of it, it's so much of it depends on the director and the other actors in the scene and the set when you get there in the environment because half of acting is interacting with the other people and with the environment around you. So if I come in and I've done all my work and I'm solidly set in what I'm going to do, I don't have any flexibility and there's no room for play. So you have to get there and be able to kind of bounce around and adapt and go, okay, let's play ball. Let's pass this tennis ball back and forth and see what happens.

Yeah, I think that's a great rule, 50% before, 50% afterwards, because sometimes we try to prepare 100% and then almost you paralyze yourself when you're in the zone. You do. You just, you can't be playful and mess around. And my favorite moments are those little magic things that happen that surprise you. Totally. You know that you you Finish to take and you go I did not expect it to go that way at all I did not expect to feel that whatsoever, but holy moly that was great. Yeah, I love that

Yeah, so cool and it's funny Now we need to find you to be casted as an economist because then you won't have to prepare You can just you can just go in let's do it. Well, that's I mean that is what my degree is in Yeah, exactly that's what my degree is in. So there you go. Exactly. That's what I mean. And if you were playing an economist, do you know any cool economist stories?

Are there any historical pieces? There must be something cool. I mean, the last time playing Alan Green's fan, which I really don't think of. I'm going to have to do some research. Yeah, I'm sure there are. I'm sure there's some crazy stories. Yeah.

Female economists that are like, I'll find it. Yeah, we'll find it. We'll find it. Okay, I know that you love Disney. I do. You do love Disney. If you could be a voice actor,

if you could be the voice of any character, of any Disney movie, who would it be? Oh, there's so many things I'd love to do. I mean, they keep creating all these wonderful new stories. And you know, when I was a kid, I was always looking for these bad-ass female characters. So Mulan and Pocahontas were my girl. Like, they were the ultimate for me.

I wanted to be Mulan as a kid. I had her poster on my wall. It was great. But I'd love to be a part of pretty much any universe. I think Pixar and Disney are doing so many wonderful things right now. And I love the Disney Pixar movies because they're so fun. And you go back and you watch the movies that you love as a kid

and you can still enjoy them as an adult. It's fascinating that there's so many layers to them that you don't even realize. So I'd love to be a part of that world. I mean, you know, it's something that I've worked for Disney for a long time and they're such a wonderful company. Yeah, absolutely. And have you seen that series? You remind me of something else. We keep going totally off-tanded.

You keep feeding into all my passions. Have you seen Reckit Ralph, the second one? I haven't. That's the one I haven't seen. I'm not gonna give it away, but you can go on YouTube and watch this scene. You don't watch the scene first. But there's a scene where all the Disney princesses are there

and they're telling their stories, but in a very educational but like in a very educational, but funny way about women empowerment and bad as women. So I'm not gonna give it away. Okay, I'll, but I want you to watch it. I will, it's in the second movie. It's genius, yeah, it's so well done. And it's Disney almost making fun of themselves

for how they portray princesses, but it's really good. That's the best thing. It's really good. I find self-aware comedy to be the most fun, because it allows for suspension of belief, but also you can laugh at yourself a little bit. Yeah, absolutely.

Now, you've got to go on stage soon. That's you. I've got to ask you, I've got to rush to the rapid fire section. So I ask a final five, which is a fast five question. OK. One word or one sentence answers. All right. So here we go.

Here's your final five. Let's go with, oh, there's so many things I want to ask you. Let's go with, what's the biggest risk you've ever taken? Ooh, biggest risk I've ever taken. I moved to New York City after booking a job within a week and didn't know what I was doing, didn't know how long I was going to be there, but I just said, all right, here we go. And I was 14. there, but I just said, all right, here we go.

And I was 14. Well, okay, you left that out. The very important detail. I love that, okay, what's the toughest decision you ever made? Toughest decision I ever made was, there was a time in my, actually, this kind of an existential decision.

There was a time in my life where I could have chosen to stay in a very dark place and allow that to consume me or choose to frame it positively and make the difficult choice of at least at the time of looking on the bright side and finding that silver lining. And I was lucky enough to be surrounded by people that helped me do that and helped me steer down a very healthy path as opposed to a very unhealthy path. And here I am today. Well, if you don't mind, next time we're in a,

both in LA, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we you do in the morning. Usually I roll out of bed, eat an apple and go to the gym. Oh, cool. I love working out in the morning. It starts my day, right? And it's usually the only time I have. Yeah, absolutely. OK, fourth question. The last thing you do every night. Last thing I do every night, I usually, what do I do?

I make sure I take all my makeup off. I'm really, really particular about taking care of my skin. I have to be in this job that we do. I usually call my mom before I go to bed, just check in, see how her day was, and then make sure I don't have any emails to look at, and then off I go. Amazing, and your fifth and final question, what's one message you'd love to share with all of the kids

who are serving through Wee Day and having such a huge impact? I would like to say thank you for being conscious of the world around you, and for being a huge impact. I would like to say thank you for being conscious of the world around you and for being a global citizen and serving kind of this world that we share and this human race that we have because it's so important to think beyond yourself and beyond your own life and your own realm to take care of everyone in the world that we live in.

It's, I always feel if everyone took just a couple of seconds every day to think of someone else and to do something kind of for somebody else, the world would be a lot better place. And you guys are already doing that. Completely agree. Everyone, Catherine, thank you so much. Catherine, you're amazing.

And I can't wait to dive in to so many more of these areas we do. I feel I've learned so much more about you today, too. And yeah, I hope we can do this again. I would love to see. There are so many things that I would love to unpack with you even more of these areas we do. I feel I've learned so much more about you today too. Yeah. And yeah, I hope we can do this again. I would love to hear. There are so many things that I would love to unpack with you even more. Let's do it.

Yeah, thank you so much. Wonderful. Thank you. Hey everyone, thank you so much for listening to this conversation with Catherine McNamara today. I really hope my conversation with Catherine gave you some ideas on how to find joy in learning and laughter amongst chaos.

Make sure you tag me and Catherine on Instagram with any questions or thoughts or maybe even your Hogwarts house. And I apologize to all the Harry Potter fans out there for forgetting the name for a bogey. It's the slither in me I guess. What can I say? I thank you so much for being part of the on purpose community, thank you so much, have a wonderful weekend or week, stay safe and don't forget to look out for episodes every Monday and Friday.

This podcast was produced by Dust Light Productions. Our executive producer from Dust Light is Misha Yusuf. Our senior producer is Julianna Bradley. Our associate producer is Jacqueline Castillo. Valentino Rivera is our engineer. Our music is from Blue Dot Sessions and special thanks to Rachel Garcia, the Duslight Development and Operations Coordinator. Regardless of the progress you've made in life, I believe we could all benefit from wisdom on handling common problems, making life seem more manageable, now more than ever.

I'm Eric Zimmer, host of the One You Feed Podcast, where I interview thought-provoking guests who offer practical wisdom that you can use to create the life you want. 25 years ago, I was homeless and addicted to heroin. I've made my way through addiction recovery, learned to navigate my clinical depression, and figured out how to build a fulfilling life. The one you feed has over 30 million downloads and was named one of the best podcasts by Apple Podcast. Oprah Magazine named this is one of 22 podcasts to help you live your best life. You always have the chance to begin again and feed the best of yourself. The trap is the person often thinks they'll act once they feel better.

It's actually the other way around. I have had over 500 conversations with world-renowned experts and yet I'm still striving to be better. Join me on this journey. Listen to the one you feed on the I Heart Radio app Apple Podcast or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, it's Debbie Brown, host of the Deeply Well podcast, where we hold conscious conversations with leaders and radical healers and wellness around topics that are meant to expand and support you on your wellbeing journey. Deeply well is your soft place to land, to work on yourself without judgment, to heal, to learn, to grow, to become who you deserve

to be. Deeply well with Debbie Brown is available now on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Namaste. What do a flirtatious gambling double agent in World War II? An opera singer who burned down an honorary to kidnap her lover, and a pirate queen who walked free with all of her spoils, haven't comment. They're all real women who were left out of your history books.

You can hear these stories and more on the Womanica podcast. Check it out on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen. Check it out on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen.