I joined Facebook in my very first year of high school, Reader.
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Afterward, I studied journalism, media, and cultural studies when I went to university, which of course social media is a part of. I even wrote a paper on how fiction authors are leveraging social media.
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After university, I went into marketing, and from the start, I was the designated millennial social media person. I even remember secretly rolling my eyes when I had older colleagues refuse to use social media or didn't understand it.
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All that to say, social media had been a constant part of my professional and personal life for a long time.
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So when I started my first podcast back in 2017, it was a no-brainer that I would use social media to promote it. When we then co-founded CoWomen (a coworking club and space for women) and I headed communication, that expanded to having CoWomen represented on social. My solopreneur work as a podcast strategist on top also needed a social media presence.
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​ 🤹‍♀️ That was a lot of social balls to juggle! 🤹‍♀️​
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I also actively taught how to use social media as a mentor and lecturer for university students and new founders.
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And while I'd always emphasized not going crazy, to focus on one platform, and to build in boundaries, social media always seemed like a non-negotiable for me. If you had a business or anything that needed an audience to thrive, being on social media wasn't optional, but mandatory.
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To be fair, social media did deliver on some of its promises: I made real-life friendships. It's how people discovered me. It opened up a lot of doors.

But here's the thing: Just because I knew the ins and outs of social media, just because I grew up with it personally and professionally, didn't mean I liked it.

So, I quit social media last year.

That could be the end of the story, me frolicking in a social-media-free world. But here in the real world, it turns out, after 9 months away … I'm dipping back in. Sorta. Kinda.

Is it a relapse? A doomed-to-fail-test? Or an intentional re-engagement? I’d like to think it’s the latter – but I can’t be sure. To be honest, I'm conflicted.

To work through my thoughts and find a way back that feels right for me, I did what I do best: I talked it through with some awesomesauce folxs.

So if, like me, you’re unsure about your relationship with social media – whether to call it quits, have a break, or try to work it out – then the latest episode of the Creating in the Margins podcast is for you.

Tune in to discover how mental health expert Daria, Influencer Marketing Consultant Christo, and I are conquering six social media challenges to help you boost your creativity and mental health – practical tips included:

One thing I'm also doing on social that goes hand-in-hand with the name change is separating my name from my work. (No clue what name change I'm talking about? Read that big announcement here.)

All my storytelling and podcasting work now lives under @tellonpurpose, where I'll continue putting the focus on you, on sharing stuff of value. And under my name, @kat_brendel, I get to be just me. Sharing pictures of my adorable pup Bodo, home decor projects, art experiments, travels, and whatever else tickles my fancy.

Let's get social. Again 😄.

P.S. TL;DR: After 9 months of quitting social media, I'm dipping back in. I want to keep my creativity and sanity intact, so I chatted with mental health expert Daria and Influencer Marketing Consultant Christo on how to do that on the latest episode of the Creating in the Margins podcast. Tune in now to uncover the 6 social media challenges to conquer to boost your creativity + mental health.

P.P.S: If you haven't let me know yet, reminder to click which one of these apply to you so I can send the most-relevant-to-you-info your way (simply click on the statement that matches you to log your answer): 1. I want to launch a podcast or 2. I want to grow my existing podcast​
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