It's the Simple Show and you've got episode 84.

I'm Tishawkson Writer and on the Simple Show we talk about books, travel and life at home.

But in this one, we're continuing our special summer series where we're departing from our usual topic and diving into something a little different as we hear from entrepreneurs, artists, and creatives as they let us peek behind the

curtain and learn more about what they do. In this episode, I'm talking with Kat Cito, an artist and

illustrator with a new book out who also owns a brick and mortar store in the Bay Area.

We talk about what it's like to run a small shop while also being a parent. Why and how she

went to Paris to be re-inspired

by her work and the surprising things that happened from that. I loved this conversation.

Listen to Kat and get ready to be inspired. Welcome to women's work. All right, so Kat, you do a number

of things. You have a book that's just come out, which is beautiful, but you're also a store. I mean, you have a brick and mortar store, right?

Yes, I do. I have a brick and mortar in front of our studio. Okay. So you have a brick and mortar storefront. You've got a studio and you're, I guess, an author, artist person. So tell me a little bit of

the backstory of how you began all of this. Well, it's a long story, but I'll try to make it as

short and abbreviated as I can. It's a bit of a windy trail. But I originally came out to San

Francisco to write the quote-unquote great novel because before that I had a master's in fiction writing from University of Michigan.

I saw that. That's cool.

And prior to that, I had a bachelor's in fine arts in watercolor and painting, but it quickly segued into writing.

And I thought, okay, this is my new calling, writing.

So I came out here to write and then had horrible, horrible writers block and was sitting

basically up at night like an insomniac, you know, just twiddling my thumbs going,

what am I going to do with myself?

And so I started crafting strangely enough felt finger puppets out of wool.

As one does.

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