Today we’d like to introduce you to Katrina Blake.
Hi Katrina, 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 guess where I am now can be broken into two parts. With the writing aspect, I’ve been writing for a long time. I started writing professionally in 2014. Fiction books in the romance genre are under the name Kay Blake. In turn, I started writing articles, and blogs outside of the romance genre. Those would lead me to ghostwrite for others.
The wrestling industry aspect is more recent. In 2019, I did color on color for a video game wrestling show, I also did interview segments. I have been a wrestling fan since the age of 6, so this was fun for me. At the very beginning of 2020, I was part of a podcast called Unpopular Review where we chatted about the goings-on about wrestling- namely, WWE. My time with Unpopular Review would come to an end during the quarantine and the COVID pandemic.
During the quarantine, I was really depressed. I had just come off of a bad breakup, and I was also stuck at home. The outlets I used to get me through tough times were gone in a matter of days. I couldn’t write romance as I didn’t feel happy. As I was stuck at home, I started interviewing other people who were home too, mainly wrestlers. Those interviews would then lead me to work not only with Women’s Wrestling Talk (the #1 women’s wrestling show on the planet) but also lead me to do backstage correspondence and ring announcing.
I have now done media, and press for various places. Most recently I also created and pitched a panel with New York Comic Con, which was accepted. The panel is called Behind the Magic: WOC in Wrestling. This panel has now been at NY Comic Con, MCM Birmingham, LA Comic Con, and most recently Chicago’s Comic Con or C2E2.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
This is 70/30 for me. As I stated earlier, I was dealing with a lot when I first started. I had no idea what I was doing. I had no idea what the correct way would be to go about it. Also, I didn’t particularly like the sound of my voice or being on camera. For the most part, it has been an amazing experience. I got to experience things, I never thought I would do. I’ve flown on a plane for the first time as an adult in December to go to LA Comic Con and that was amazing.
However, I’ve been told I’m not good enough or professional enough. My wrestling knowledge was questioned by men wrestling fans. Apparently, I was pretending even though I’ve been a fan for years, and before I ever got into the industry. I have also had some racist comments and fans have followed me after wrestling events. Those have been challenges.
What would you say has been one of the most important lessons you’ve learned?
The most important lesson I learned is to always believe in myself. I tend to think too hard about my choices and what I do. If I could be better. If I’m enough and if there is space in wrestling for me when it’s already hard to be a Black woman as it is. So, trusting and believing in myself.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://inkatwetrust.wordpress.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/inkatw3trust/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/inkatwetrust
- Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Kay-Blake/author/B00K5WCK38
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/inkatw3trust
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/inkatwetrust
- TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@inkatw3trust
- Other: https://my-store-b58dc3.creator-spring.com/
