MEET KATIE LENTILE!
Katie’s cool, Katie’s awesome, and Katie’s going to take the reigns here in WELD Nashville! We’re so excited to have her extraordinary vision and creative direction as we move forward.
Photo by Sionnie LaFollette
Katie, take the mic... What gets you excited about working at WELD?
Everything! So many exciting things are in the works. The entire concept and vision of WELD is incredible, and it’s one I believe in wholeheartedly. It is truly an honor to be part of the WELD team.
With Nashville specifically, our community is really special. But I believe encouraging vulnerability and collaboration is important for our future. We want WELD to facilitate what’s already so great about the Nashville community so those collaborative values can continue to thrive and be built upon.
For me, and I imagine for those who are drawn to WELD, I’m inspired by being around creativity. Ruthie Lindsey (Nashville WELDer) talks about this a lot. And throughout my own experiences, I’ve also learned there’s something empowering about taking notice of the beauty in everything around you. Good or bad, success or failure — there is beauty in it all. Being in a space with people who are consciously looking for and calling out the beauty around them is going to be awesome.
In reality, we all talk about “community,” but I see WELD Nashville being more like a family. It’s sincere. You can be vulnerable, yet it’s still safe. You may fail (which I do often), but we’ll still love you and find ways to work together and encourage one another. It strips away a lot of the fears creators often have in failing, and it gives them the freedom to run with their imaginations. I’ve experienced that type of community throughout my travels, and the joy that radiates from those relationships is contagious. I believe when a community becomes more like a family, we can change the world.
Tell us a little bit about life before WELD… Where did you get started?
I first moved to Nashville immediately after I graduated from college. It was for a job with a consulting company that does fundraising and development for nonprofits. I was analyzing data, creating fundraising strategies, as well as managing 60+ college interns. I knew I wanted to focus my career on helping others in some capacity, and I always thought I would start a nonprofit. During that season of my life, I wanted to learn as much as I could about the business side, and I was able to volunteer locally and internationally with various organizations.
Fabio! First trip to Honduras back in 2009. Photo by @whaun
So how did that evolve into you creating a travel program for Soles4Souls — planning and leading 32 trips in 2 years? That’s crazy!
After volunteering on my first two international trips to Honduras, and to Uganda and Ethiopia in 2009, I recognized the need for people to see firsthand what was happening around the world. I was hired by Soles4Souls to spearhead a travel program to facilitate these firsthand experiences — Travel4Souls. I felt convicted that true change would happen only when a group of people saw things together, shared meals together, and were immersed in the culture. So over those two years, I organized and led 32 trips around the world, which was equal parts inspiring and exhausting. I eventually made a tough decision to slow down and change my focus to building community and working to create long-term, sustainable projects. It was a realization of the importance of working together and empowering others.
Those face-to-face interactions and relationships definitely resonate with what WELD is all about.
Absolutely. I love that WELD is built around that power of physical space interactions. I think a community operating within the same physical space is actually transformative. The experience of being on the ground, being together — it shapes and transforms you. It’s happening every single day in WELD Dallas. And although we already have a WELD community here in Nashville, it’s going to be in a whole different league once we launch the space and we get to work alongside each other.
You decided to plant roots in Nashville. How has this city impacted your idea of community?
As I was traveling, there was definitely an element of “the world becoming my community.” But I think everybody needs to have a sense of home that’s rooted in a real place. A good friend of mine from college, Patrick Woodyard, started an amazing shoe company here called Nisolo. So I was able to witness how his business was doing amazing social enterprise work while establishing a community in Nashville. I also met Travis Gravette of Red Earth Trading Company, Chris Cole and Kyle McCollom of Everly, Jordan Duncan of FashionABLE, and I started seeing this amazing combination of world changers who are still committed to their community here in Nashville.
When I was hired by Mission Lazarus to develop their social enterprise program, I committed myself professionally and personally to collaborate with all of the forces at work here in town. And now I get to continue empowering these influencers, artists and creators through the platform of WELD.
Tanzania 2011. Photo by Stacie Barker.
Your gift for business development coupled with a passion for community is really exciting.
While working with nonprofits, I recognized that you can have the heart and the vision, but you really have to establish the business side of things and ensure sustainability and health. A lot of people are turned off by the behind-the-scenes logistics, but I thrive in them — looking at systems and understanding them. I’m a total nerd. I study analytics. I love finding ways to improve systems.
Amazing.
With WELD, I get to mesh that gifting with my love for community. I thrive in connecting people as well. If I don’t have the resources, knowledge or skills to help someone, I love connecting that person to others who can. I believe that’s the definition of this job. I still get to work with numbers, but I get to connect people to help them succeed, too.
I studied both marketing and psychology in college, so I love understanding the why of how things work — both in business and in people. What makes people tick? What makes them thrive? How can we establish systems that allow people to operate at the full health and potential of who they are? WELD allows me to leverage both of those passions into a cohesive role.
Katie whips her hair back and forth. Photo by Sionnie LaFollette
WELD is honored to have you leading the team. Welcome aboard! Can you give us any hints as to upcoming announcements?
We’ll be announcing our Nashville location soon…and really, there are just a lot of things happening — it’s absurd. They are so amazing. So stay tuned!