WMW #19: Katt Risen, solopreneur, no-code queen, mum of 2 toddlers
On designing her own life, doing what she loves
I have said this many times, and will say it again because it truly is the main reason behind the existence of Working Mums Club: I’m constantly inspired and motivated by the mums I connect with via this newsletter and am so thrilled to share a nugget of that inspiration with you.
Today’s Working Mum Wisdom interview is with Katt Risen, mum of 2 toddlers, no-code queen, and more recently, full-time solopreneur.
What drew me to Katt’s updates was that she was on a journey to design her own life whilst working full-time, with small kids in tow.
Connecting with Katt has opened by mind to so many opportunities.
I first discovered Katt on Twitter, and then realised we are both in Daniel Vassallo’s Small Bets community, and then realized she was a mum when she released an AI tool to give you ideas for kids activities via Indie Kids.
More recently, she achieved her first set of goals towards designing her own life ($2000+ in monthly recurring revenue), that has enabled her to quit her full-time job to work on her projects, on her own terms.
Here is my interview with Katt. It shows you the power of no-code tools and how they enable anyone to build their dream projects. I hope it inspires you like it did me.
Meet Katt Risen, solopreneur, no-code queen, and mum of 2 toddlers
Q. Tell us a little bit about yourself (work, family and personal interests/hobbies)
I’m Katt and I live in Belgium with my husband and 2 kids (2 and 4 years old). We both love adventure, good food and active holidays. I have been working for 10 years in a European tourism company in various marketing and eCommerce roles.
Q. What inspired your solopreneur journey?
It all started when a little conversational app I built with no-code got acquired. When I shared this on Twitter, I received a lot of direct messages with questions, likes and people cheering for me.
This kept happening every time I shared something about the acquisition. So I felt the pull and thought, ‘this can be an interesting newsletter idea’.
A few months prior to that, I joined the 100 Days of No-Code Bootcamp. I learned everything about lean mindset and it has been such a game-changer.
Normally I would start a business with a good name, a logo, a custom domain, a perfect working product and an impressive landing page. 99% of the time I would stop the project because I didn’t validate it or it was overwhelming.
But this time I put my learnings from the bootcamp into practice. I went for the first name that popped up in my head. Took an icon from Flaticon; set up a Substack account in 15 minutes; and announced in a tweet that I would publish the first story the next day.
The next day I had around 200 subscribers. Idea validated! Now I was ready to put some work into it - and I then bought a custom domain https://www.nocode-exits.com. 7 months later I’m at 5500+ subscribers.
Q. What is your mission as an online business owner and creator?
My mission is to inspire non-technical people by showing them the possibilities of no-code and empower them in the process.
Q. What are the challenges you face?
With no-code, the challenge is that you feel like you can suddenly build every idea that pops up in your head. But that doesn’t mean you should! I try to focus on the ideas that:
Solve a real problem for my audience
Can be built in 2 weeks
Can be automated
Can help No-Code Exits grow or monetize
Q. As a mum, founder and creator, AND someone with a full time job (!) how do you manage your time?
I make the most of early bedtimes of my kids (7pm) and naps during the weekend. Although it doesn’t feel like work, it is not easy.
On top of it all, I also want to be a good mum, have time to work out, have fun with my husband and friends. So I decided to take parental leave (in Belgium we have 4 months of parental leave) to figure out if I could start doing this full-time and be there more for my kids. And in February, I quit my job!
Some productivity tips that helped my journey:
Define small weekly goals
Join an accountability group (for me this was trends.vc community)
Use a timebox to do app (I use Llama life)
Make sure that you love what you do so it doesn’t feel like work, otherwise you will burnout quickly.
Q. How has having your own business online / in the creator economy changed your life, both as a professional and a mum?
I had been dreaming for years about entrepreneurship, so to finally be able to take the plunge and do what I love every day has been pretty amazing. I had to travel a lot for my job, it was a long commute, I didn’t see my kids in the morning, a lot of meetings etc. So now, to be my own boss, have breakfast with my kids in the morning, clear my schedule when they are sick, is so worth it.
Q. What is your advice to mums looking to start an online business?
Go for an idea that solves a real problem
Think about your personal monopoly
Focus on the core feature that adds most value
Launch before it’s perfect (I write in detail about this in my No-Code Maker workbook)
Q. What is your ultimate goal as a working mum?
Be there for my kids while enjoying what I do.
Q. Where do you get your inspiration?
I am subscribed to a lot of newsletters. I listen to a lot of podcasts (Indiehackers and My First Million) and I’m very active on Twitter. And, the no-code twitter community is so positive and supportive.
Q. What is your best productivity hack?
On Sunday, I write down my plan for the week in which I also include family and household tasks, this gives me a lot of peace of mind.
Q. What is your best parenting hack?
TV time for the kids on Saturday and Sunday morning so we can wake up at ease :)
Q. What do you do in your 'me-time' and how does it help you?
For me, doing sport is so important as it is a combination of keeping in shape and seeing friends. I cycle every Monday with a friend, Tuesday and Friday morning are for running and Thursday evening is for a multi-sport session.
Q. Favourite tool that makes your life / business easier?
I’m kind of a tool nerd but the ones I use every day are:
Airtable to manage all my projects
Pika.Style for nice screenshots
Llama Life for my to do list
Inboxs.io for managing twitter DMs
Mailbrew to read my newsletters
Senja.io to collect and display testimonials
Q. Favourite quote
“Reading is good, action is better” - Eric Ries
Q. Best thing you have read or watched lately
The latest deep dive from the Growth in Reverse newsletter.
There is SO much to explore in this interview; especially if you are still getting your head around web3 and no-code.
The world is changing. We need to move with it, or it will move without us!
If you want to connect with Katt, you can find all her details here. Or leave a comment here and I will make sure she gets it!
That’s all for today.
Happy weekend!
Love,
Abha
Thanks for having me!
Thanks for having me!