Today we’d like to introduce you to Katie Mahalic
Hi Katie, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I believe much of who I am, both personally and in my work as a filmmaker, podcaster, and storyteller, comes from a childhood filled with movement… geographically speaking, that is. When people ask me where I’m from, the question always stumps me, as I’m not sure I feel like I’m from anywhere anymore. I was born in Wisconsin and grew up in Michigan. My family moved a lot for my dad’s work in academia. The five different schools and moves between kindergarten and 6th grade definitely laid the foundation for my restless spirit and my need to always be on the go. As an adult, I’ve lived in Los Angeles, Chicago, St. Louis, a few months in Nicaragua, San Francisco, and now Knoxville—all in that order.
Though I may not have been able to put it into words as a kid, I noticed from a young age that each place I lived had its own culture and identity, even when moving from town to town within the same state. Nothing exemplifies this more than my experiences in both the Upper and Lower Peninsulas of Michigan.
Second grade through half of fifth grade was spent in Houghton-Hancock, a small mining community by Lake Superior. Growing up with snow reaching the roof of our single-story house, building forts in the surrounding forests, or looking for agates on the lake shore gave me a deep appreciation for nature. From the end of fifth grade on, I lived in Davison, a small town outside of Flint, Michigan. Living in that part of Michigan gave me insight into how hard the average American worker struggled daily. My family was spared from economic hardships as we weren’t directly impacted by the auto industry’s fallout, and to those who didn’t know me well, it may have looked like everything was perfect.
But—if someone had asked me how I was doing during my adolescent years—I would have said I was struggling. My father died from a brain tumor when I turned 12, about a year after we moved downstate, and it really rocked my core. I believe this experience made me empathetic to other people, showing me early on that everyone struggles in some way—even if they don’t appear to be. Watching my father go from a healthy, vibrant dad to someone who was blind and wheelchair-bound within a year set the foundation for my understanding that the human experience is dynamic, painful, beautiful, terrifying, and unique to each one of us.
I think that because of the death of my father, along with the other growing pains that come with adolescence, I knew early on that empathy could be learned by listening to others’ life stories. I’m quite sure my early experience with loss solidified my desire to be a filmmaker, storyteller, and now podcaster. I think storytelling has become my way of controlling what slips away permanently and what doesn’t. That’s the best part of putting someone’s moments into writing, film, or a podcast episode—it gives part of someone’s life a touch of immortality.
I made my first film at 21 while a student at Michigan State. It was a terrible film. I moved to L.A. to work in the film industry, where I eventually worked as a script supervisor on a low-budget television show and as a stage manager at Channel One News. After L.A., I headed to Chicago to earn an MFA in Film and Video at Columbia College, Chicago. I loved it. I loved making both narrative work and documentaries, but over time, documentary kept pulling at me—it just wouldn’t leave me alone.
This love for documentary is deeply tied to travel and new experiences. I like adventure, though not in a jumping off a cliff sort of way. I prefer a slow burn—a hike deep into the Amazon jungle, a scuba dive to a shipwreck, or traveling alone to unfamiliar places like Nicaragua. I feel most alive when I’m out of my element. I should mention that while I love international destinations, I’m equally mesmerized by the sunsets in Joshua Tree, the mountains of Yosemite, or the turning of the leaves in the Great Smoky Mountains. I feel most connected spiritually when I’m in nature.
I’ve been fortunate to incorporate nature into my work and life in many ways over the years. After 12 years in Chicago, I moved to Missouri to teach film at Washington University in St. Louis, while also taking a part-time job on an alpaca farm where I worked for about a year and a half. I learned to care for livestock, ride horses (I’m a terrible rider), process fiber, and spin yarn. The best coworkers I’ve ever had—no offense to my human counterparts—were the herd of alpacas that greeted me each day.
I got married later in life, at 39. I have one cat, no kids (though I like kids, for those wondering). I also love dogs and still miss the two I had before they passed.
My person, my partner, my husband… his name is Alejandro Vélez. He’s a biologist, he’s Colombian, and I’m lucky to have swiped right to find him. We married in a cave in Tennessee—a family-owned place called Cherokee Caverns, the only cave in the U.S. that could accommodate a small wedding and a wheelchair for a good friend. It’s serendipitous (and ironic) that we both ended up with teaching jobs at the University of Tennessee—as we had no connection to Tennessee other than it being the place we got married. (I really wanted to be married in that cave!)
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
In my story, I speak a bit about the challenges I faced growing up… Loss has been something I understood from a young age with the death of my father. However, loss comes in many forms. I have also lost people I love to the mental health epidemic that so many fight daily. I don’t believe there is anyone untouched by mental health in some way, shape, or form.
I think we live in a time that feels overwhelming—from the constant scrolling online, the division in politics, the fragility of the climate, and the unrest we see both internationally and domestically. It all makes me realize how important it is to take a moment each day to reflect on one’s own experiences—and I am terrible at doing this.
So, to sum it up, my biggest challenges are:
– The challenge of financially staying afloat while I pursue my creative work.
– The challenge of finding enough hours in the day to balance both my paying job and my podcast. Finishing Season One of “Shadow Clock” has been grueling as I carve out time and funds, especially because the show is independently produced by me, and at the moment, still funded out of pocket. Often, my work weeks hit 80 hours or more, only to find myself greeting Monday already behind.
– The challenge of reminding myself to take a moment, reflect on my day and appreciate what’s around me. How hypocritical that I do a podcast about reflecting on life-changing moments, yet I still struggle to take a moment to reflect on my own.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I’m a filmmaker, podcaster, ESL instructor, and university lecturer.
My latest project, a podcast titled “Shadow Clock,” has won several awards in the “Best Unscripted/Documentary Podcast” categories. The show is about true, life-changing moments, big and small—stories about bank robberies, viral obituaries, mummified discoveries, kidnappings, heroes, first kisses, and memories that keep us close to those we’ve lost and love. It’s a show about life and the moments that make it worth living.
Of all my work, “Shadow Clock” has been the most rewarding endeavor, as I believe there’s so much we can learn from each other if we just listen. Every conversation with a guest teaches me something new about myself and about how I want to live my life.
The two films I’m most proud of making are “The Vacuum Kid” and Welcome to Unity. “The Vacuum Kid” is a short documentary about a 12-year-old with a vacuum obsession. Welcome to Unity is a feature about seven exchange students learning to play football in Unity, Oregon—a rural town with fewer than 100 people. It was picked up by Cow Lamp Films for distribution.
Who has been most helpful in helping you overcome challenges or build and develop the essential skills, qualities, or knowledge you needed to be successful?
You ask me about essential qualities… I have broken this answer down into what I feel essential qualities look like in various facets of life.
1. Essential Life Qualities to have a good day would be: time spent alone crafting a new episode of Shadow Clock and time spent at the end of the day enjoying my husband, family, and friends.
2. Essential Life Qualities to have a good month: time outside—a hike, a day trip, camping, visiting a place I’ve never been.
3. Essential Life Qualities to feel happy: even during the hardest days, I have to find humor… laughing is one of the things that gets me to the next day when I’m struggling. The other thing that keeps me going is true friendships and relationships: my husband Alejandro, my mom, my sister, my brother, family, and best friends.
Pricing:
- My podcast “Shadow Clock” runs on donations. Donations can be made at www.shadow-clock.com
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.shadow-clock.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shadowclockpodcast/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ShadowClockPodcast
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/shadowclockpod
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@shadowclock
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@shadowclockpodcast
