Kula Diaries Friends: Maria Ordovas-Montanes
... and the dream job.
Dear Kula Diaries,
As some of you might know — I’ve taken a tiny hiatus from writing an AMA (Ask Me Anything) column every single week … mostly because I wanted a bit more free time on my weekends … but also because I was curious to see what new ideas might bloom in the newly opened empty space.
Last week, I announced a new collaborative project called The Trail Register (if you haven’t checked it out — please do — this is your chance to submit something to The Kula Diaries… and if it’s published, I’ll send you a little gift!). I’m really excited about that — and looking forward to sharing submissions soon!
Most importantly — this week marks the start of something very special: sharing your stories, success, dreams, and inspiration.
Kula Diaries Subscribers are invited to attend 4 LIVE virtual events with me each and every month, and it is through those events that I got to know Maria Ordovas-Montanes. In fact, unbeknownst to me (because the Kula Diaries AMA submissions are anonymous), Maria submitted a question about getting her ‘dream job’. A few weeks later, she showed up at one of our Creative Power Hours to personally tell me about everything that had happened after I answered that question for her.
Over the past year, it has been an absolute joy to watch Maria’s journey unfold as she discovered her love of podcasting and sound design. Last year sometime, she told us that she was working on a podcast episode — and this week, it was finally released.
My ASK:
LISTEN to Maria’s episode. It’s really amazing, inspiring and emotional.
WRITE a review of the Out There podcast on iTunes (or any other podcast platform you use!). This is a small, independent podcast and reviews will really help them.
I’m not being paid to recommend Maria’s podcast — but it feels very important for me to be able to support her work, cheer her on and participate in this gigantic process of creation that allows ALL OF US to express ourselves, discover and pursue our dreams, and find the peace and joy that we are looking for along the way.
Maria was kind enough to write some reflections for me, which I’m sharing with all of you below. I’m so proud of Maria — at our power hour last week, which took place the day before this episode of her podcast went ‘live’, I read her the original ‘dream job’ question out loud to the group, and she said, “I don’t even recognize the person who asked that question.”
It is such a gift to be able to witness the process of another human being discovering the joy and fulfillment of allowing the universe to show them the path they were meant to travel. It brings me an incredible amount of joy to share Maria’s work with you here — knowing that less than a year ago, having her own podcast episode was barely a glint of a thought in her mind.
Maria: you continue to radiate goodness, kindness and love out into the world. Keep following the mushroom trail and it’ll keep lighting up and showing you the way.
Without further adieu, here is Maria’s episode of The Out There Podcast: Running As Medicine:
And now, I’m going to pass the mic to Maria — so that she can share some of her own thoughts about The Kula Diaries… dreams jobs… and how all of this ‘came to be’ (pssst…. if you listen to the voiceover, you’ll get to hear Maria reading this section!).
From Kula Diaries Friend, Maria Ordovas-Montanes:
I’m not sure how the Kula Diaries ended up in my inbox, but I am glad they did! I began reading in August 2023 (and went back to see all the posts I missed since May) - and I soon started submitting AMA questions. In September, Anastasia answered my first question about finding a dream job.
At the time, I had applied to one outdoor-related podcast internship and submitted a few pitches of an outdoors story. These felt like “giant leaps” (my term from the AMA) to me and I didn’t expect any of them to pan out.
To apply to the internship, I wrote a first draft of a cover letter in a very stream of consciousness way - then I put it aside for a few weeks so I could come back to it and make it more ‘formal’ or ‘business-like.’ That never happened and it didn’t feel right to force it - so I proofread the storytelling version of my cover letter and sent it off, expecting to be underqualified for the role and possibly have my letter tossed into the ‘unprofessional’ pile. “At least I got to be myself on the page,” I thought.
This is the cover letter:
On September 13th I listened to the dream job post and it felt like Anastasia was speaking directly to me. I cried in the ending paragraphs. I started feeling like something good could arrive soon (after several tough months and years).
A week later, I had an invitation to interview for the Out There Podcast production intern role. The cover letter resonated with the host and the interview felt like a genuine conversation about potential episode pitches related to silence (the season theme). When I got the internship offer a few days later I felt so accomplished - like I had already “won” something. It was as if I just needed proof that someone believed in my creative side. And while I did feel like a champion, I knew the hard part was yet to come.
The story I worked on this season is deeply personal and meaningful. At times it was difficult to be in the production process. I did feel emotionally ready to tell the story, but sometimes it felt like we weren’t just editing words out of a script, but editing parts out of my life. There’s a lot I still want to share - stay tuned! (...and any collaborators who resonate with my episode, please come forward)
Part of my cover letter spoke about why I was seeking creative opportunities after years of being in rigid academic environments. This maps onto Anastasia’s consideration of focusing on the feeling of a role (rather than the details). Well, I definitely got a creative experience! In some ways this internship was just as much about personal development as professional development. Yes, I can add lines to my CV saying I can work in Reaper and Adobe Audition to edit audio... but I also learned that the boundless creativity I expressed in childhood was still there - it had just been dormant for a long time.
The place I felt this the most was during the sound design stage. In one part of the episode, I wanted to sonically depict what it felt like to be inside my head. I had an idea that came from a burst of inspiration and I quickly drafted an extra piece of narration and composed some chaotic background music. It had been feeling like a barrier that we wouldn’t be able to get the right sound due to licensing restrictions, and that commissioning new music would be too expensive - so I thought, “we want this to sound cacophonous and multi-layered - it doesn’t have to sound in tune or harmonious - I CAN DO THAT MYSELF!” It took just a few hours in GarageBand and I had something I was ready to send to the team. I think if I had studied music academically or pursued it professionally, I would have seen composing new music as a perfectionist’s nightmare. There was something freeing about letting myself be a beginner - it meant I could make something that sounded ‘good enough’ without overthinking and it ended up being a really good fit for the episode. I loved getting to experience where my brain went when there were no ‘rules’ - that’s something that felt really paralyzing since my school days and as I prepared my PhD thesis.
When Anastasia read the dream job question back to me on July 10th (the day before the episode went live), it felt like someone else had written it. In the end, this didn’t feel like an insurmountable “giant leap” at all. With the guidance and feedback of the production team, we produced an episode that really captured what I wanted to say. Yes, it was difficult - but more than anything it was rewarding. Knowing that this story would be “out there” in the Spring 2024 season gave me a huge sense of purpose between October and June.
I also co-worked on an episode produced by the other intern about the imposter syndrome of an adoptee. That story is about ethnicity and it helped me think about how the protagonist came up with “her own definition of what it means to be Korean.” Another episode this season recounts a moment where a young girl who wants to pursue science draws an image of a scientist - it ends up being a picture of someone that looks nothing like her.
Before the internship, I had an image in my mind of what a podcaster/storyteller/journalist looked like - it was definitely not me. This past year has been fundamental in coming up with my own definition and image of what it means to be a storyteller. And now that I’ve had this shift, I see how I have something important to contribute with my own narratives.
Friends — thank you SO MUCH for being here this week — it brought me an incredible amount of joy to share Maria’s amazing story — and I genuinely look forward to watching her continue to succeed and shine in everything that she does.
If you are interested in being considered as a Kula Diaries Friend and you have a story you’d like to share on this platform, please e-mail me: anastasia@kulacloth.com with your ‘pitch’ idea, and let me know what story you’d like to tell. It does not need to have anything to do with Kula Cloth or The Kula Diaries. I can’t select all stories for inclusion, but I will write back to you if I choose your story to be featured!
A huge THANK YOU to Maria to being my first official Kula Diaries FRIENDS feature — this was very exciting and fun to put together, and I am looking forward to sharing more of YOUR stories.
I hope all of you have a beautiful week — wishing you infinite joy, love and wellness!
Thank you for sharing your story, Maria! I loved it!
I love this soooo much! The podcast was amazing and truly an inspiration. Thank you so much for sharing this with us. I could relate to this on a personal level in my own life. Exercise has always felt therapeutic and necessary. As aging begins to sneak up me, I realize that relationship will become a challenge. I really appreciate your insights into your own diagnosis and strategies you used.