Female Disruptors: Katy Allen of Artful Agenda On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry
An Interview With Vanessa Morcom
“Lean into your strengths and work in the way that works for you.” — I’m not always super consistent. I will have weeks where I’m not getting as much done, but then I will have times when I’m hyper focused and making a ton happen. I think creative brains often work this way. I’ve learned to accept this about myself and ride the waves of creativity and inspiration when they come.
As a part of our series about women who are shaking things up in their industry, we had the pleasure of interviewing Katy Allen.
Katy Allen is the founder of Artful Agenda, the ultimate digital planner inspired by paper planners. A lifetime lover of paper planners, she found that they couldn’t keep up with her busy life as a mom to three children and wife to a traveling musician. She founded Artful Agenda in 2018 as a way to integrate multiple calendars in a household, be accessible anywhere and anytime, make the digital planning experience more fun than Google Calendar, and offer a customized experience inspired by paper planners. Artful Agenda is woman-owned and operated, and headquartered in Nashville, TN.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?
I’ve had quite a few career paths since graduating college! I started out in data marketing, had a brief stint auditioning for acting roles in Los Angeles, taught theater to high schoolers, and then sold children’s books! I’m really drawn to anything creative. Because my husband is a traveling musician and I’ve always had lots of endeavors to juggle, I needed a calendar that synced across devices and platforms, but I felt like there wasn’t anything aesthetically pleasing and visually inspiring on the market. I’ve always felt pretty comfortable with technology, so I thought “why not me” and decided I was going to be the one to create what I saw missing in the marketplace.
Can you tell our readers what it is about the work you’re doing that’s disruptive?
Artul Agenda is disruptive in a couple of ways. First of all, we are woman-owned and women-run, which is unique in the software and app world!
And to my knowledge, there is no other calendar/planning service that syncs across all major calendar platforms (Google, Apple, Outlook) while also focusing on aesthetics and fun. We are offering something to our users that they can’t get anywhere else.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
It’s funny to think about now, but I didn’t consider that I was going to need a huge budget for marketing. I think I was under the impression that if my product was good enough, people would want it, and it would just spread. I’ve learned that this is almost never the case. Even if you have an amazing product or service, you have to spend money to make sure people know about it. Because of this, I had to put a lot more cash into my business than I initially expected to, but I’m so glad I took that leap of faith! Once I started investing in marketing, the business took off.
We all need a little help along the journey. Who have been some of your mentors? Can you share a story about how they made an impact?
I’ve been so lucky to have a lot of support in my life, but two people come to mind right now. One is my good friend Sarah Medley. She initially recruited me to sell children’s books with her, and I learned a ton from her about leadership, putting creativity into action, and maintaining grit. We have both branched out from sales, and she now owns an incredible treehouse luxury resort. Witnessing her willingness to take big investment risks has helped me feel confidence and courage when taking my own.
I’ve also learned a TON from the CEO of the marketing agency I use, Michael Shoup. He has a wealth of knowledge about customer acquisition, retention, and scaling businesses. I attribute a lot of my success to finding someone like him!
In today’s parlance, being disruptive is usually a positive adjective. But is disrupting always good? When do we say the converse, that a system or structure has ‘withstood the test of time’? Can you articulate to our readers when disrupting an industry is positive, and when disrupting an industry is ‘not so positive’? Can you share some examples of what you mean?
I think disruption is good when you are filling a hole in the market! If you can see that there is a genuine need for your product or service, it’s good disruption. I did a lot of market research, surveys, focus groups, etc. before launching Artful Agenda to make sure that there was a hungry customer base for what I was developing. One of my initial slogans was “the calendar you never knew you always wanted.” Basically saying, you’ve wanted this…you just didn’t realize you wanted it!”
I think disruption is only bad if you can’t find customers for your idea and if you can’t figure out how to communicate the value you bring.
Can you share 3 of the best words of advice you’ve gotten along your journey? Please give a story or example for each.
- “Sell your business when you can’t grow it anymore on your own.” — I had some offers to buy Artful Agenda early on, and I’m glad I didn’t take them. I still had so much life I could inject into my business!
- “The worst they could say is no.” — I keep this in mind while negotiating. It can be scary to ask for what you want, but so long as you are asking for something in the general realm of fairness, it’s always best to go in with your best case scenario. I’ve had several instances where I’ve gone into contract negotiations a bit afraid to ask for certain terms and they have been accepted right away!
- “Lean into your strengths and work in the way that works for you.” — I’m not always super consistent. I will have weeks where I’m not getting as much done, but then I will have times when I’m hyper focused and making a ton happen. I think creative brains often work this way. I’ve learned to accept this about myself and ride the waves of creativity and inspiration when they come.
We are sure you aren’t done. How are you going to shake things up next?
I’m currently in the early stages of another app idea that I’m so excited about. It’s planning adjacent, and I think it will have an even wider appeal than Artful Agenda, so I’m super pumped about it.
In your opinion, what are the biggest challenges faced by ‘women disruptors’ that aren’t typically faced by their male counterparts?
If you are creating a product that appeals primarily to women, you will likely run into a ton of people who just don’t “get it,” and they won’t hesitate to tell you that. If you aren’t careful, this can create doubt in your mind and mess with your confidence. If you have done your research and know there is a market for your product or service, don’t let naysayers get you down! Stay the course and prove them wrong!
Do you have a book/podcast/talk that’s had a deep impact on your thinking? Can you share a story with us?
Procrastinate on Purpose by Rory Vaden. The title is a bit misleading, but the premise of the book is multiplying your time by outsourcing, delegating, eliminating, and waiting until the right time to take action. It really helped me see the value of my time and make decisions that would move the needle in life and business without compromising my sanity.
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)
This is a bit unrelated to my business endeavors, but I would love for there to be a movement where people get passionate about learning the best ways to take in information. The internet is the wild west, and I think the more we can learn about differentiating reliable sources of news and information from misleading information, the better. I myself have fallen prey to poorly researched or biased information in the past. It’s so easy to do! I think if everyone had more tools in their back pocket for deciphering what is legitimate or not, we would all be better off and it might improve some of the hyper-polarized online environments we find ourselves in.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
“I learned that it is the weak who are cruel, and that gentleness is to be expected only from the strong.” — Leo Rosten
This quote reminds me that I cannot control what happens to me or how others might wrong me or take advantage of me, but I CAN control how I respond or react. My gentleness in reaction can be my strength. On the flip side, it helps me feel much less offended or bothered by those who might act in ways that feel like mistreatment.
How can our readers follow you online?
This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!
About The Interviewer: Vanessa Morcom is a millennial mom of three and founder of Morcom Media, a performance PR shop for thought leaders. She earned her degree in journalism and worked for Canada’s largest social enterprise. She can be reached at vanessa@morcom.media
