Isabel Klee: Author and Content Creator

23:28Which is very valid. So as someone who doesn't love change, were you uncomfortable in this moment of change in your career? I know that you can look back on it and say like, best thing ever. But like, how long did it take for you to feel like you had landed on your feet and that you were moving in the right direction?

23:49Isabel Klee:I think I hate the lead up to change. It's the anticipation of change. And this was a situation that I was like thrusted into. And I think I was really sad for like a week. And then I was like, all right, let's go. Like, got to make it work. It became clear to me pretty quickly that it was necessary for me. I obviously wasn't happy about the way that it happened, but I am happy that it happened. And yeah, I think I felt pretty sure of myself pretty quickly and just feeling the support of all of the people that I had met along the way and knowing that I had skills that people wanted and wanted to hire me.

24:35Isabel Klee:I think that felt really good. Yeah. The validation of seven of those brand saying like, yes, we want to hire you for this freelance work like that has got to put a little wind in your sails. Yeah. You know, I did a little bit of outreach, but I remember people reaching out to me as well because I made an announcement like I'm no longer at this company. And I had like cold emails being like, hey, are you available for hire? And I was like, me? Because I always thought because it was my only job and it wasn't like a corporate job where I was sitting at a desk, I kind of lived in fear of having to find another job too.

25:11Isabel Klee:And I think that was another part of it where there was moments over those past seven years where I would say, like, maybe I should find a new job or maybe I should do this. But I was like, who would hire me? Like, what do I even do all day? I'm like on Instagram all day. And I actually had that fear of like, I don't feel like I have any skills that could translate to like a corporate job. Really? Yeah. I really felt that way. Isabel, that's so wild to hear. You're so hugely valuable and marketable, like, girl. Yeah, I know. It's a lesson to all young girls who have imposter syndrome. Like, I, you know, arguably had everything going for me, but I talked myself out of it.

25:49Isabel Klee:I'm like, what do I have to offer anybody? Yeah. The stories that we tell ourselves are often unreliable narrators who might not have our best interests at heart. Yeah, she's mean. Clearly, I'm speaking from experience on that as well. You are not alone in that feeling. Okay, so you've got freelance work. You're starting to create more on your own platforms. At what point did you feel like things started to move quickly? Because it seems very fast, in my opinion, but I'm curious about what it was like. It's definitely been fast. I got let go at the end of March, three years ago. And then I picked up my first foster dog that I documented in August.

26:32Isabel Klee:Like it was that first dog that I documented that went viral. And ever since then, it has been this slow and steady growth. Of course, there have been a few dogs like Tiki, of course, was the viral sensation that really like got people to follow me. And a lot of people are like, oh, you're Tiki's foster mom. But it really has been very slow and steady since then. So it's really been, what, two and a half years from that dog. So crazy. That's amazing. So one of the things for our audience, if not everyone has been following you like I have, can you talk a little bit about why and how you have focused on the dogs that you have?

27:13Because some of them have medical or behavioral issues. You take on a lot of the more challenging foster opportunities. So why? And did you need to learn anything additional to be effective?

27:26Isabel Klee:Yeah. So my dog, Simon, was my fifth foster dog. And people always ask me, like, what was it about him? He was just the cutest puppy I'd ever seen. So I was like, I can't give you up. So I ended up adopting him. It was probably not the smartest decision because, again, I was 25 years old and had like$7 in my bank account. But this is what happened. And four weeks after adopting him, he had his first grand mal seizure. Yeah. So it became very clear very quickly that he had idiopathic epilepsy. He was only five months old. And idiopathic for anyone who doesn't know means you don't really know why, correct?

28:03Correct.

28:03Isabel Klee:If a dog is older and suddenly starts having seizures, there could be other reasons like a brain tumor. But when a dog is that young, it's most likely just they were just born with it. Yep. So yeah, we've done like every test and can't really find a reason why it happens, but you know, it's just his life. And I realized that I never would have adopted Simon if I had known he had epilepsy because I couldn't afford it. And it seemed scary. And I was on my own and dealing with a dog with medical needs just seems overwhelming. And it was overwhelming. It was really scary, but I realized very quickly that Simon was the best thing that had ever happened to me.

28:48Isabel Klee:And he was the love of my life. And if I had known he had epilepsy, I would have missed out on this great big love. And that was really sad to me. So going into all of these fostering experiences, I knew that I could handle it. I knew that if I had a medical dog or if I had a behavioral dog, I could handle it because, you know, if you've experienced it, seeing a dog have a seizure is like pretty much the scariest thing that you can witness. It's like, there's so many things that you can experience with a dog, but like, it'll rock you. And I was dealing with it all the time. And so I knew I would be able to be calm and cool and collected and patient.

29:28Isabel Klee:So I wanted to, especially as my platform grew, highlight these animals that would have trouble getting adopted otherwise. And humanize them. Yeah. And just show everybody that it's not so hard and it's not so scary. And every single foster that I've had has gotten adopted, whether they have behavioral challenges, whether they have medical needs. And to answer your question, I have to learn things every day. I just had a dog who is diabetic and I had never had a dog that was diabetic before, never knew how to give insulin. I just learned like last week how to give insulin. So it's not like I have this like set of skills that, you know, you don't have some amazing medical toolkit.

30:12Isabel Klee:No, it's not like I went to like vet school or something. Like I'm just a normal person who has learned along the way. It's like you get a dog and sometimes I've dealt with the issue before. Sometimes I haven't. And if I haven't, I just have one of the medical staff, show me how to do it. And that's it. And it's so easy. And I think I try to show in my videos how simple it can be of being like, hey, sometimes I don't know how to do something and I'm going to learn how to do it and then show you how to do it. So I went into it just because I loved my medical dog so much and knew how meaningful that relationship had been for me.

30:48Isabel Klee:And I wanted to show other people how rewarding those relationships could be with those animals. So as your platform continues to grow and as it was growing, at what point did you start to think like, maybe I don't need those side jobs. Maybe I could do this full time. Like, how did you weigh sort of the calculus of all of that? So through all of those side gigs, I ended up getting not a full time job. I was still freelance, but I was working full time hours at a company called Adopt-A-Pet, which is another pet search app. And I basically had my dream job because I would just get to go to shelters and feature adoptable dogs and make videos about them.

31:32Isabel Klee:And it was the coolest thing ever. And I genuinely loved it so much. So I started freelancing in March. And then pretty much a year later in April is when I got a cold email from my literary agent. And she had been following me and she had been watching my content. And through my content and through my storytelling, I would share the stories of these dogs. And she liked my writing. And she just said, like, would you ever consider writing a book? English major says yes. I know, right? I was like, only every single day of my life, yes. We met and it was like love at first sight. We loved each other immediately and started working on a book proposal.

32:16Isabel Klee:I got a few offers from editors in October and then signed a book deal in November is when I realized like, oh God, I have to write this book now and it's due in April. I have six months to write a book. Oh, that's fast. Yeah. Wait, to go back, like with the proposal, I know sometimes people will do like, you write a couple of chapters and you have an outline or some people will write half of it and then sell it based off of that. Some folks want to write the whole thing because I think that'll work better. What was your process in all of that? And so like, what were you starting with when you sat down for that six month process?

32:53Isabel Klee:I definitely had a few chapters. I can't remember exactly how many, maybe like four to five. It wasn't that many. And I had an outline and you have your comp list and you have your like media marketing packet. But I basically wrote a book in six months, just about. And in November was when I was like starting to write the book. And I remember just just like getting pinged on Slack and being like, I can't do this actually. Yeah. Too many jobs. Yeah. I was just like, I actually need to like focus on this. So, you know, I think that my manager at the time, I remember getting on a Zoom with her and she could just see it on my face.

33:30Isabel Klee:She's like, I knew this day was coming. Like, I think she could see my follower account grow and grow and grow. And she knew I just got in a book deal. And like, she was like, I get it. Like, I completely understand. Maybe you'll come back, but you have to write this book. So it was that October or November that I quit my final freelance job and I haven't done any since. That is amazing. Yeah. What an incredible feeling. So talk to me a little bit about the process of writing the book. Was it as straightforward as you thought? Did you end up changing a lot of it from sort of what those sample chapters were to the final product?

34:09And then also, can you walk us through the book a little bit? because I have to admit, I don't know what I expected. And it's, to be clear, phenomenal. But it's also a little bit different than what I thought it was going to be. It was way more personal and so candid. And I literally cried reading it. I don't know. I just thought it was going to be like some sort of dog book. And it's not. It's so much more. So walk me through that part of it.

34:33Isabel Klee:Yeah, I think that is a lot of people's reaction who have read the book already. I think, you know, for good reason, a lot of creators or celebrities who write books don't share the really like gritty parts of their life because it's scary and it's vulnerable. And like, you know, if you don't have to, why would you? But I really wanted to just because I have always loved writing about love and relationships. I love reading about love and relationships. And I also love dogs, obviously. but even as somebody who is obsessed with dogs, I don't necessarily just want to read a book that's all about dogs.

35:13Isabel Klee:And like, I say that as one of the biggest dog people on the face of this planet, you know, it's like, if you just tell me like, this book is all about dogs, I'd be like, okay, like that sounds interesting, but it doesn't sound like riveting. And another thing was that I felt so deeply, or I knew so deeply that a relationship with a dog is so much more important and hold so much more weight than I think people give it credit for. I think that dogs have helped so many people through the darkest points of their lives, whether it's losing somebody that you love, a parent dying, going through a sickness, breakups, being cheated on, losing a job, just these like awful things that happen.

35:57Isabel Klee:Our animals are the ones that are by our side, steady. They never stop loving us. And that is so important. And I wanted to give weight to that relationship. And I wanted to speak to how important it was. So that blended itself to the structure of the book, which I wrote out my life chronologically. It kind of is like a perfect decade of my life. The day I turned 20 to the day I turned 30 and wrote out these big moments, whether it was falling in love or a breakup or moving into an apartment or meeting a best friend. And I tried to mirror each of those experiences with an experience with a foster dog or, you know, a dog in general, my dog, Simon.

36:43Isabel Klee:I think that romantic relationships and a relationship between a person and their pet is so similar. And I think that both require so much patience and trust and love, you know, you're not just going to walk into a romantic relationship and immediately be in love and immediately trust that person. It's the same with a dog. It takes time. It takes effort. It takes real trust of yourself and trust in another being. And I felt like the structure of this book really lended itself to those comparisons and putting an emphasis on how important that relationship is. Well, it's so beautifully done. I cannot say it enough as someone who reads constantly.

37:30I couldn't put it down. I like ditched my kids and my husband like to go sit outside in our backyard and read it on a Sunday. Like I couldn't be parted from it. It's really amazing.

37:41Isabel Klee:I also think that it's an easy read, which I think is good because a lot of people have been reading it who don't typically read. I'm like you. I'm like reading all the time, but I think a lot of people who follow me on social media are like, I am buying this book to support you. Like I never read, but then they can pick it up and like devour it in, you know, two sittings. And I wanted it to be that. I didn't want it to be like dumb, obviously, but like I do think it reads easily so that even if you're not somebody who reads all the time, it's easy to digest. Might I interject? I feel like you're doing yourself a disservice by framing it this way because it's really well written.

38:21And easy is only in the sense of like, it's so good that you will read it quickly. So it's not an easy read. I had to put it down because I felt emotional at times.

38:31Isabel Klee:Yeah, that's true. You definitely will cry. But what's easy about it is the quality of the storytelling. Thank you. What are you most excited about for readers to learn? I'm really excited. A lot of people have asked me if I'm nervous and I haven't gotten there yet. And maybe I will because, you know, there have been a few funny moments like my fiance's dad has been like, can't wait to read the book. I'm like, you don't have to read it. You're like, it's emotionally frank about my love life in ways that maybe you don't need to. I don't think you need to read it. So there are like those funny moments where I'm like, am I nervous for my future father-in-law to read it?

39:07Isabel Klee:Maybe. But in general, I've been working in social media for so long. And I'm so used to this instant gratification of like something happens and I post a video and instantly I know how everyone feels about it. And I'm reading comments and I'm reading DMs and, you know, that is fun in its own way. But to put your heart and soul into something over the course of two years, I can't tell you how many times I've read this book. I'm like, I'm sick of it at this point because I've had to read it and read it and read it and through edits. And then I did the audio book. And like, at this point, I think I've, you know, taken enough of a break that I'm ready to like revisit it again.

39:42Can we talk about the fact that you also just announced that your book will be turned into a TV show?

39:48Isabel Klee:Major, right? How did that happen? I mean, I understand how that would happen, but how did that happen? I feel like every time I talk about how these things happen, it just falls together in the most effortless way. Like the fact that my literary agent just followed me and just like saw me for who I was and was like, I want to work with you. The same exact thing happened with the TV deal. You know, you never know who's following you too, because usually the people who are the big movers and shakers have like... Private accounts. Yeah. Private accounts and like no followers. So, you know, I signed with a TV agent like a year ago, which this is my first book.

40:28Isabel Klee:So I guess that's pretty typical. Like when you write a book, you sign with an agent because you never know who's going to be interested in an adaptation or whatever. So I did that. And then in February, we were starting to have conversations about like, okay, are we going to go out with this? Like, what are we going to do? And my agent called me and was like, there's this woman and she's amazing. She's the president of the TV sector of universal UCP and she follows you and she got an early copy of your book and she loved it and she wants to make this into a TV show. And it was literally just like that.

41:06Isabel Klee:And she wanted to meet with me and we met. And it was again, one of those moments where it was like love at first sight, which I think it has to be when you're doing something like this, you have to just like click. It's like a romantic partner. Like you meet them and you're like, you get me and you see me and you see what I'm doing. And that is how I felt meeting her. And she's just so wonderful. She's a huge rescue dog person, obviously, but she just felt so connected to it. And she felt so passionately about it. And she saw it exactly the way that I wanted somebody to see it. That like, I think it's easy to read something like this or hear the concept and be like, oh, it's like Emily in Paris, but for New York.

41:46Isabel Klee:And it's like, that's not what I'm going for, And to meet somebody who can envision it exactly how you envision it is a really special thing. So that's how it happened. It really was that simple. It was just like this kismet moment where she had been following me and I loved her vision. And yeah, we're making it happen. So how do you feel about making the leap to executive producer of the show too? Like, do you want to be super hands-on? Are there things that you're interested in learning? How do you feel about it? I definitely want to be hands-on. Absolutely. I mean, I think I would want to be hands-on no matter what, but in addition to that, it's my own life.

42:26So I think that that's really important to me.

42:29Isabel Klee:They did ask, like, are you interested in writing it. And I said, no, I know that TV writing is like a completely different skill set that I don't necessarily have, but I want to be in the writer's room, which we discussed and lend my opinion and learn from them too for like in the future, that would be really cool. So, I mean, I've never done it before, so I'm a little bit nervous, but I think mostly I'm just really excited. And the team that I'm working with is just like this incredible group of really kind women. And in general, I think it's like pretty much the most exciting thing that's ever happened to me.

43:06I love it. I love everything about it. So you have so much in the works right now. When you look ahead and think about what you want to do, where you want to focus, obviously there will be opportunities that come along that you couldn't even imagine right now in theory. Where would you like to place your energy in the coming years? Like, is it more writing? Is it developing film and TV? Is it more of like content creation? Do you want to put more of yourself out there? Do you want to take more of a behind the scenes role? What is it that gets you fired up?

43:40Isabel Klee:I definitely want to write more. I'm actually working on my first novel, which is really cool. So we'll see where that lands. I'm so excited about the TV thing. I mean, that is something I wrote down every single day for years and years. Like I want my book to be turned into a TV show. I'm so excited about that. I mean, years in the future, I would love to have an animal sanctuary somewhere. I think that would be really cool. I am doing a lot of work with Muddy Paws Rescue, of course, and helping them grow. So I think just continuing pushing on in these avenues that are being created for me, where it's writing, the TV, the animal rescue.

44:24Isabel Klee:you. Of course, I would love for there to be a day when not that I feel like I have to, but like posting on social media every single day can be exhausting. And I would love to be able to take a little bit of a backseat on that, you know, one day in the future, maybe when I have kids or whatever the case may be. But I am just so happy and grateful and excited. And I always say too, I really think that I have the best corner of the internet. The people who follow me are the kindest, most encouraging people. So seeing where it all goes and feeling like I have that support, I feel like I can do anything.

45:04Isabel Klee:I really do. So just in a word, more, just more. More of what I'm doing. Yeah. More of this, please. Yes. Universe, if you're listening. Okay. So one of the things that we like to do on this podcast is talk about mistakes because everyone makes them over the course of their career and we don't always talk about it. There's always the social media, Instagram, TikTok, sort of like perfect version of things where people just go from success to success and we never talk about the hard times. And I think it's really important to talk about career mistakes because I think it's important for women in particular to have resiliency modeled for them.

45:45So tell me about a mistake that you've made at any point in your career and what you've learned from it.

45:52Isabel Klee:I think the biggest mistake, and again, we can ruminate on that word, you know, we all learn from our mistakes and things turn out the way that they're supposed to turn out. But going back to what we were saying before of putting so much of yourself into something that is not yours, I think can be dangerous. Also, like assuming that your job cares about you the same way that you care about your job has kind of bitten me in the butt. I am a very passionate person. I'm a very loyal person. I'm a Taurus if, you know, we care about that stuff. As a Virgo who is married to an April Taurus whose best friend since she was five as a Taurus.

46:37Yes, we care about that.

46:37Isabel Klee:We care about that stuff. Like very loyal, very like with you to the end. I think especially in your twenties, like if something is not serving you, leave. And I know of so many women, so many of my very close friends who stay in jobs for five years, seven years, 10 years, that doesn't appreciate them, that doesn't give them raises, that doesn't pay them enough. And it's because we always think that it's going to pay off. And it rarely does. If you are appreciated in a job, you will know it and you will feel it. And if you are not feeling it, it is not for you. And again, it all turned out just fine for me.

47:23Isabel Klee:But looking back, I kind of want to shake myself and be like, you are so young. You have your whole life ahead of you. What are you doing? Like, why are we pouring so much of ourselves into this situation? I mean, now that I'm saying it out loud, it really mirrors what I was doing in my romantic relationships. And I think it's so common to just seek validation when you're young. And it's addicting in a way to want that validation from that person who isn't really giving it to you, whether it's a romantic partner or a boss. But yeah, I think unless it's your own, do your job and do a good job, but don't give it your whole life.

48:03Isabel Klee:Don't die over it. It's not worth it. I think that's so important to hear. And I agree with it completely. Okay. So a lot of the folks who I speak with on this podcast are in their first life. They're in a career or a job that they might like or might not, and they know they want to make a change. Maybe it's staying in the same industry. Maybe it's switching industries, but they're scared about making that leap. As someone who has made pivots, both on sort of the micro and the macro, what advice would you give someone who's standing there on the precipice thinking about making the next leap, but just hasn't done it quite yet?

48:42Isabel Klee:As somebody who really values stability, I think this might not be the advice said a lot of people would give. I think maybe a lot of people would say like, just, you know, dive right in and give it your all and just try. I love to have a safety net. And I actually think a safety net is really beneficial. For example, when I first started freelancing and I was doing my own content, if I had just focused on my own content, I think it would have put so much pressure on me to make it successful. And I would have like been so obsessed with what video performed well and what went viral and like trying to hack the system and crack the code.

49:21Isabel Klee:The fact that I was still getting a paycheck in my bank account and I knew that paycheck was coming and I felt in a good financial place allowed me to not be so stressed about the outcome of how a video was performing. I think that is truly what my advice would be. My fiance has talked about, he has so many hobbies of like, he loves music and you know, his big dream is to open a music venue one day. and he's just interested in so many things. And I always say like, just start. You don't have to like quit your job. You don't have to do anything differently. Just like start it and see what happens and see where it leads you.

49:56Isabel Klee:That is exactly what I did. I didn't just like say one day, I'm gonna like write a book and make a TV show and like I'm gonna do whatever I can do. You know, it all just happened so naturally. And I think it was because I had a safety net and because I had a paycheck and because I had these contracts that were outside of myself and outside of my content that I had the safety to take risks and I had the safety to just have fun. And I think when you're your authentic self and you're not trying to like make money and hack the system and figure out the algorithm, that is when the magic really happens.

50:32Folks sense desperation. So give it a little space for breathing and let the magic come in. Okay, so my last question is my favorite question, which is if you could step into a time machine and go back in time and give your younger self some advice, what would you say?

50:48Isabel Klee:As cheesy as it is, I feel like just the advice or the assurance that it's all going to work out. Right? Like that's powerful. Yeah. I think that, again, I know I'm not unique or alone in this, but just spent so much of my time being like, am I with the right person? Am I making the right decision? Like staying up all night agonizing over decisions that I would make, whether it was career decisions or friendships or boyfriends, just being so upset about not knowing. Sometimes I'd be dating somebody and you know, it's bad when you're at Google being like signs that you're with the wrong person or like signs that you found the one or, you know, just like looking for any answers just to trust my gut, to know it will all turn out exactly the way it's supposed to.

51:36Isabel Klee:And even the bad experiences or the hard experiences make it all worth it. So I think it's all important. The good, the bad, the ugly, the boring. It's all part of the story and enjoy every single second. Everything's coffee. I agree. Thank you so much for saying that because I do think like, especially when we're in our 20s, we want to make sense of it all. Yeah. And we want to know, like we're looking around at everyone else and trying to decide if I'm on the right path, are they on the right path, all of it. And it's just like focus and trust and figure it out. And you're going to learn as much from the bad stuff as the good stuff.

52:17And it's going to be okay.

52:18Isabel Klee:Yeah. And you feel like you have no time in your 20s when you have so much time. All the time. You're like, oh my God, like I have to get married when I'm 24. And it's like, what? Who came up with that timeline? nine. Like me when I was nine, not a reliable narrator. It's so crazy. Like the fact that I was dating somebody at 21 being like, am I going to marry him? It's like, girl, no, you're not. No. Nor should you. Nor should you. No, not my path either. Not for me. Well, Isabel, thank you so much. Not only has it been a pleasure being one of the millions who follows you and enjoys your content on a regular basis.

52:57But this book is really such a gem. I loved it so much. I hope everyone who's listening to this goes out and buys a copy, preferably at an independent bookstore. But I just think the world of it. And I can't wait to see the next steps and the TV show. And I will be here cheering you on every step of the way. Thank you so much. And

53:19Isabel Klee:thank you for having me.

53:27That was New York Times bestselling author and content creator, Isabel Klee. For more inspiring interviews with women like Isabel, head on over to secondlifepod.com, where we have so many more for you to peruse. If you like today's show, please subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. And don't forget to rate and review us. We love seeing you spread the word on social. And now you can tag us in your posts. We are at Second Life Pod on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. We always want to know who you're interested in hearing from on the show. So send in your requests to hello at secondlifepod.com or you can DM us on Instagram.

54:08I'm at Hillary Kerr. The show is at Second Life Pod. Our DMs are always open. I'm Hillary Kerr, and you've been listening to Second Life.

54:18Isabel Klee:This episode was produced by Hilary Kerr, Summer Hammeris, and Natalie Thurman. Our production assistant is Grace Ingram. Our audio engineers are at Treehouse Recording in Los Angeles, California, and our music is by Jonathan Leahy.