Amy Ramsey: 0:42

Welcome back to the Fit Soul podcast or the YouTube. I'm so excited I have a guest today and you guys. Her story is so incredible Katie Ginn. Welcome to the podcast.

Katie Ginn: 0:56

Thank you so much, Amy. I'm excited to be here.

Amy Ramsey: 0:58

Okay, before we get started, I want to read this bio. Katie Ginn is publisher and editor of the Mississippi Christian Living Magazine, and she says that God graciously dropped this into her lap in the fall of 2018 as the fulfillment of a decade long dream, with a mission of pointing people to Christ and making their lives better. In 2024, katie launched the oh my Word podcast oh my Word with Katie podcast, which she uses to share stories of real life Christianity the good, the bad and the oh my word, so listeners can find their joy in their own walk with Christ. She is an Arkansas native and she's been in Mississippi since 2007,. A graduate of the University of Mississippi, married to Stephen, and they live up in the Gluckstadt area. For those of you not familiar with our area, that's kind of north of where we live in the same area there. It is so excited to have you here, my friend. Thank you for being with us.

Katie Ginn: 2:04

Absolutely, thank you.

Amy Ramsey: 2:06

Well, I would love for you to tell our listeners a little bit more about just the heart and the mission behind Mississippi Christian Living Magazine. Also just the mission of your podcast, and what is it that you're really wanting to do with your voice?

Katie Ginn: 2:25

Yeah, well, this is, as of this recording, the latest issue of MCL. So this is what it looks like. Y'all can find it if you're in the Jackson Metro area Primo's, Noog's, Broad Street, Bakery, all those places. And when I took over the magazine in 2018, I kind of had to think about what the mission would be. What is the mission statement? What's the vision?

Katie Ginn: 2:47

And the scripture that kept popping up in my head was 1 Peter, 2, 9, which says that you would show forth the praises of him who has called you out of darkness into his marvelous light, and I love that phrase show forth the praises. It just gets me really excited and pumped up, because I just love showing God's glory and that's, I feel like that's what we do with the magazine. Um, you know the people who I kind of have to. I had to do this today. Actually, when I contact someone and say, hey, will you be my cover story? And they're like I just don't like the spotlight to be on me, and I'm like that's why I want you, because I don't want it to be about you, I want it to be about God's glory. So we love to do that.

Katie Ginn: 3:30

Um, with the podcast, my mission there is is. I'm still figuring it out, it's ever evolving, but you know, I want to make it joyful, because the Christian life should be joyful. I don't want to hide from the real issues, the real stuff people deal with, but I want it to be joyful and I also want it to be practical. I love asking people, you know, what do you feel like your calling is and what actually helps you live that out day to day? Because I feel like that's a question I ask myself every day is like what am I supposed to be doing today, what am I supposed to be doing next? Like what's my priority today, God? How do I actually do this, you know, cause we can talk up here in the spiritual all day long. But like how do I actually put this out with excellence, you know? So that's kind of me and my stuff in a nutshell.

Amy Ramsey: 4:21

Yes, yes, yes. I have a cousin. She's a Christian counselor and she, she says often she's like, make much of Jesus, to make much of Jesus, to make much of Jesus, and that's what I'm hearing from. What you're saying is to shine the light and use your voice, and I just love the heart and the mission behind what you're doing.

Amy Ramsey: 4:40

I think it's so needed, I think it's so necessary. And let me ask you this when you were, when God's calling you to this magazine and it's all of a sudden becoming yours and starting a podcast, and just you know, really, you're putting yourself out there and there's always this fear. When you start to put yourself out there, did you have anything that, like us, like stinking thinking or some things, fear, self-doubt, insecurity creeping in, that were like, yeah, you can't do this, you shouldn't do this. Who do you think you are to do something like that? Did you have any of those negative thoughts that, um, that that you had to really fight or overcome?

Katie Ginn: 5:25

Yeah, so for me. Fortunately, I have a very supportive family. My dad actually bought the business for me, so obviously he really believes in me, which was a big boost, and so I've always felt fairly confident in my abilities, which sounds kind of crass, but, um, it wasn't so much that, as, like, I also have a little bit of mild ocd that I deal with. So I love to overthink things, especially when those things are very important and have to do with my mission, my calling or, above all, my relationship with god.

Katie Ginn: 6:02

And so when I was, you was getting ready to take over this publication and it was in the works, but I was still working at my previous job I was out running an errand or something, and I just start ruminating and churning and I have this knot in my stomach like God, is this really what you want me to be doing? Is this really it? Is this really the next step? And like we're having the papers drawn up and everything, like it's happening, and I'm I'm just, you know, in that tension and I had to text my boss at the time, who knew nothing about this, and say, hey, I need a mental health day. And thankfully he's a believer himself and very kind and compassionate and just said, yeah, sure, that's fine. Um, so I had to deal with that and get past it. And then you know, after taking over.

Katie Ginn: 6:49

It's a huge learning curve and I definitely made a lot of mistakes and learned from them, but I think that helped me to realize that, okay, you're not going to do it all perfectly and the world's not going to end. So then, like last year, when I had the goal of starting something new, starting a podcast, I didn't have as much anxiety.

Katie Ginn: 7:09

I was a little better able to be like okay, I'm going to go ahead and do this, because I've been thinking about it for a year or two and if I keep delaying I'm not going to do it. So I'm going to go ahead and do it, and I don't have to have the branding perfect yet, I don't have to add video yet, I can just let's just do it, start doing it. So it some of it is just diving in.

Amy Ramsey: 7:28

I love that. I love that I'm a messy starter, like I just take messy action Like let's go, let's go, we got this. You know I I'm that's so. I'm so impressed by you, number one. You're confident, you're like well, I'm not trying to sound crass, no, you're just confident. You're confident in your abilities and you have the support of your family. That's incredible. What a gift and what a blessing and how well you're stewarding that as well. So I just wanted to honor you in that and also that you just do the thing. There's a risk involved with both of these things that you're talking about, but your heart and your mission is is pure and is to again show forth God's praises and to point people back to him. So amazing, I love this. I love it. I think it's so inspiring. Let me ask you this you know my mission is about helping, using my voice to help women walk worthy of their calling. When you think about walking worthy of your calling, what does that mean to you?

Katie Ginn: 8:33

Well, the default for me and my personality is when I hear that phrase, I think doing it with excellence and spending your time wisely, prioritizing the things that will help you walk worthy and do the best you can do, like let's not mess around like we have an excellent calling from an excellent god, so let's do our work with excellence.

Katie Ginn: 8:56

Um, the flip side of that and of my moral OCD sometimes is I can get so focused on doing it with excellence or being theologically correct that I fail to also love people well and love the Lord, and so I just have to watch myself. I have to watch myself on that, and there have been some humbling moments in this business where I have, uh, I've been called out on it and I've been asked you know, katie, do you want to be right or do you want to be like Jesus? And it's just like, and you know your default is like well, those are the same thing, because Jesus was always right. Right, but you know, the Pharisees were very focused on being right and in the end they were not right and they were not like Jesus. But if you aim to be like Jesus, you're probably going to get both. You're going to be like him and you're clearly ambitious, and so am I.

Amy Ramsey: 9:55

Um, and it's this place that I struggle a lot with, but is going for the mission. You know, my heart's pure while I'm starting, and then, somewhere along the way in that pursuit of excellence call it, what do you want to call it self-reliance takes over and there's this hustle, there's's a striving, there's like, and forgetting that hey, wait a minute, I'm partnered with God. He does the heavy lifting. I've got it, you know. Just, I can actually operate at a different capacity. Do you struggle with that, that place of self-reliance versus? Okay, let me surrender back to the spirit versus.

Katie Ginn: 10:49

Okay, let me surrender. Back to the spirit. Yeah, I think for me. I don't have a ton of the hustle culture in me, thankfully, but, but it's more so like what does it say about me if I fail? What does it say about me if I do this wrong? Like, is my value found in my work, performance and and doing all the things correctly and having the right team in place and you know all of that or is my value found in Christ?

Katie Ginn: 11:12

So that's what I've had to struggle with with this business, especially in the post COVID years, up until a couple of years ago, and it was like we're losing money more months than we're making money and I don't know what to do. I don't know how to fix that. I don't know how to find you know an awesome ad sales rep who actually lives here in the area and has experience selling print ads and wants to go out and get new business. Like, I don't know how to find that person. You know all those things. I just had to, as you said, surrender it to the Lord, but repeatedly, over and over again, because it was like just I'm a failure, because the main thing I do on a daily basis is not is losing money, you know. So I've had to, I've had to deal with some of that.

Amy Ramsey: 15:41

Yeah, yeah. So let me ask you this Writing is what you love. Sharing this love of Jesus is what you love. There's a business side to all these things, too, because you're not a five by one C3, right, and so it's so interesting. How have you been able to learn what you need to learn to keep it going and to have that long-term vision, to grow it into all it can be?

Katie Ginn: 16:10

Man. I mean, the long-term vision is still percolating. So you know TBD. But I remember my first big girl job was at the Northside Sun newspaper and my co-worker, anthony Warren shout out to Anthony, I'll have to send him this episode. He was so good at relating to people. He'd call somebody up and it would be some like you know some story about corruption in the city of Jackson or like something not fun. But he'd be talking to them like how's your mom on them? And you know, did your son graduate high school yet Like this stuff? And he knew all these things about them and he'd be joking with them and then he'd get the information.

Katie Ginn: 16:44

I am not that person. So having to make sales calls and ask people for money for something that, yeah, as you said, is not a nonprofit like oh, my word, it was my least favorite thing ever in the history of mankind. But I mean, I just had to do it like that. I don't think there was a magic bullet that made me better at it. It's still not my natural gifting, but you know, I did it and I got more comfortable with it. And now my least favorite thing is marketing. So you know, the least favorite thing is evolving, and then you do it and you get better at it. Where you find the people who are excellent at it and you delegate to them. That's my favorite part.

Amy Ramsey: 17:32

Right, I love that. You know I do some. I do business coaching and branding coaching. In fact, today I've been on three coaching calls before we got on here. All about the business end and marketing and messaging and getting that heart and soul out so people understand it. It's not easy. There's so much just white noise, if you will, and so getting that message out is always hard. So you guys, as you're listening to this, don't worry, I'm going to link up the magazine and her podcast in the show notes. We're definitely going to get you all of those resources.

Amy Ramsey: 18:13

But you said a couple of things that I think are really key. So maybe, as you're listening to this, you're like I don't want to start a magazine and I'm not going to do a podcast. Okay, so what are you doing? And whatever you're going to do, there's always aspects of it that you don't like, and God calls us to things, and then there's going to be other things that are required to move that forward. And that's where you find where's the gap.

Amy Ramsey: 18:39

And you said a couple of things. I don't like doing it, but I had to. You got to do it, you've got to go and you've got to do things you don't like to do just because you don't like to do something and you feel nervous around it. You've got to go and you've got to do things you don't like to do. Just because you don't like to do something and you feel nervous around it is not a stop sign. And, katie, what I find is that a lot of people feel like that, feeling like truly they, they get that, that sense of oh, but I don't know how to do it. And for them, that's the, that's the dead end to that, that dream, that goal, that even that calling, because they feel that sensation. And the reality is is you're running your life on your emotions and not on the calling, right Calling and obedience is is one thing, and it will always cost you more than you think, it'll always be harder than you ever dreamed or imagined, but obedience is obedience.

Katie Ginn: 19:32

Do you have any thoughts around that? Yeah, I mean it, it has been hard and there are seasons where it's hard and seasons where it flows much better, and months where we're down and months where we're up. But you know, not knowing how to do it should never be a stop sign. You know, thankfully, when I took over the magazine, there was a team in place with a lot of experience selling ads, and so I probably should have been more intentional in trying to learn from them. But even just, you know, just being around them and hearing you know their feedback on what they had done the previous week and things like that, I started to get a feel for, okay, well, this is kind of what I need to be doing.

Katie Ginn: 20:08

Because you know their feedback on what they had done the previous week and things like that, I started to get a feel for, okay, well, this is kind of what I need to be doing, cause you know, there are clients that my team handled and clients that I handled because Marilyn handled them before me and so I would learn. Okay, well, send an email and then that gives you a reason to call later and be like hey, did you get my email? You know just basic, basic stuff. And so I mean, if you don't know how to do it, find the person who does. If you have access to the internet, you have no excuse not to learn how to do something you know that is right.

Amy Ramsey: 20:37

If you have access to the internet, you know. The reality is that you've got to skill up Wherever it is. Whatever you don't know how to do, you can learn. When I took this sounds so basic and there was a time in my life where I had a lot of stops because I didn't know how to do something and I allowed that fear to stop me instead of moving forward. And you're so young to to have this and to move forward.

Amy Ramsey: 21:04

I'm so proud of you, by the way, but what I would love for our listeners to hear is that you're called to something and there is something that only you can do. God's created it for you and you'll have to skill up along the way in identifying where's the gap and what skill set do I need to know? And I'm going to suck. I'm going to suck real bad at that skill when I get started and it's going to feel awkward and it's going to be hard at first, but the more I do it, the more comfortable I get with it and I'll get better and find the right people to help you.

Amy Ramsey: 21:46

Chad GPT is my new person to help me with all this stuff. I just I forget Google. Now I'm like I put it into chat. I'm like how do I turn this off on my computer? Like I don't know how to do all that stuff and I just pull all of that up. But anyway, I just I love that. So just identifying those skillsets, and it sounds like you've had a lot to learn on both sides of what you're doing.

Katie Ginn: 22:07

Yeah. Yeah, I had a lot to learn. I mean, I had to learn this whole recording software for the podcast and it was so not user-friendly. And so, starting off with the podcast and this is still my system for audio episodes my dad had an audio interface, this little red box that you plug into the computer he wasn't using it.

Katie Ginn: 22:26

So I took it and got a couple of mics and then it turns out that the recording software that goes with that interface I had to learn that particular software. I couldn't use audacity, I couldn't use garageband or whatever it was. I have to use ableton, live, light 11. And boy howdy, when the how-to tutorial videos are all hosted by european people, you know they're smarter than us and it's just. It's going to be hard like I had to watch these things over and over. But then after a while I figured out okay, here's, here's all my steps. I made myself a cheat sheet, just a word document. I still open it up to this day before I do an audio only podcast. I want you to see this.

Amy Ramsey: 23:15

This is my cheat sheet. Those of you who can't see what I'm pulling up on. I have a sheet I had actually Daniel Anderson, shout out to Daniel Anderson and audio alchemy.

Amy Ramsey: 23:28

Audio alchemy. Yes, yes, yes. He helped me to uh set up my pod, my podcast studio, here, and I had to have him back over twice and I have another one for like I just I had to write it down. He was like, do this. And I'm like, and I literally still pull this out and I keep going okay, amy, you're gonna have to struggle through this, it's gonna get easier. Maybe one day you won't even need this and you'll go.

Katie Ginn: 23:56

I haven't gotten there yet yeah, yeah, but it does get easier. And now, like I, I'll go in and edit an audio only podcast on that platform that I have to use because of the thing that I got from my dad. But now it's, it's fun and I've gotten into a rhythm with it. So, yeah, I mean you just, you know, sometimes you've got to watch a YouTube video, which is like my least favorite way to learn, but I did it.

Amy Ramsey: 24:21

I want you to tell me exactly and to be right here with me like, let me watch you. Yeah, the tech piece of of what of what podcasting? And I keep mine so simple. I hear a lot of people. They're like I don't want to start a podcast because I don't know how to do all this for the longest time. I mean, I for sure I don't know what episode we're on now, but over a hundred episodes, probably 120 episodes.

Amy Ramsey: 24:43

Do you know how I did my podcast? I literally did voice memo and I recorded it right directly to my phone, just like this. No, nothing. So when people tell me, oh, you've got to have all this, I'm like you don't, you don't, I have a successful podcast, and it was because I did that. The audio is not awesome and that's okay. I upgraded after a while and made a little investment, you know, still figuring out this microphone thing, but yeah, I just love it. Again, skilling up. It's that skilling up thing. Yeah for sure, absolutely, absolutely. Okay, katie, so what do you feel like might be your next steps for the next thing, or the kind of maybe the next step to the podcast or to the magazine?

Katie Ginn: 25:30

That's a really good question.

Katie Ginn: 25:33

So I started the podcast last year because I had a goal for 2024, just to start something new period, and I kind of had a handful of ideas but I was kind of leaning toward the podcast and so I knew that was going to be it.

Katie Ginn: 25:45

And then in the spring of 24, at our scholarship program, I just felt such a strong, strong pull to pour more into that younger generation. And so right now what I'm trying to do with the podcast is reach, like 18 year old women, and reach them at that pivotal age where they're going into college First time away from home, for a lot of them First time out from under mom and dad's wings and the wings of their home church and everything they've been brought up to believe in their little bubble, you know. And for me that's when my faith slowly started to become real. And then I reached a crisis point, senior year of college, where I was like is this real? Can I believe it? I don't know, and spent my whole senior year of college trying to figure that out again, ocd. But I want to be there for them when they hit that point. I want to be there for them when they need a friend or a big sister, and so how?

Katie Ginn: 26:41

I do that might change. It might take different shapes and the podcast might take different shapes, you know, but, um, that's that's what's on my heart right now is just is just reaching younger women. I have an intern from last summer who just finished her freshman year of college at Ole Miss. She's about to be on my podcast and she's just the sweetest person and I love, you know, reading her blog and keeping in touch with her and just just want to be there, for her name is Ansley Clare and I just I want to be there for um her name is Ansley Claire and I just I want to be there for all the Ansley Claire's.

Katie Ginn: 27:12

So that's kind of what I'm hoping to do right now.

Amy Ramsey: 27:15

What a needed thing too.

Katie Ginn: 27:16

I.

Amy Ramsey: 27:17

I love that a lot. Yeah, um, okay, so I do have a question On your podcast oh my word, you asked, which I was on and I was on, and this podcast may come out before yours, who knows, who knows, doesn't matter. But Katie asked a question. She asked you to share an oh my Word moment. That could be funny, it could be real, it could be wrong, of what reminded you of God in the details. So do you have and I had to think about that question. I was like I don't know if this is what you're asking, mine was long winded, but do you have an oh my word moment?

Katie Ginn: 27:58

Yeah, so there's so many major ones from throughout my life. But if I'm thinking recently and I probably should do a better job journaling, I'm not as good of a journaler as I used to be, ironically, but I went to a women's retreat a couple of months ago it was actually my birthday weekend and it was just a women's retreat at Tanglewood that my church put on Wonderful time and they gave us this little booklet, you know, a little guide, little program for the weekend, and it had a little Saturday morning reflection devotional thing and I didn't read it. Like I started reading it at one point but I just didn't finish reading it and I kept it and kept it and thought, you know, eventually I'm going to read this devotional. And so then finally I read it last week, like two months later, and at the end it just it talks a lot about you, you know, when your plans go awry, knowing that you know our story is for his glory, he's working it all for good, you know, take heart.

Katie Ginn: 28:57

And actually when I read that, uh, john 16, 33 had been the reading like the verse of the day that the church had sent out that day, the day I read this devotional that ended in, take heart. You know, take heart, take heart, for I've overcome the world is what Jesus says, and at the time I finally read the devotional two months after the women's retreat was when I really needed to hear that, because I knew I had a certain hope and I didn't know if it was going to happen. And it turns out it didn't happen at that time and I needed that message. But two months earlier, at the retreat itself, that's not what I was struggling with and that message wouldn't have really helped me.

Katie Ginn: 29:42

It would have just kind of gone in one ear and out the other, so that's not the most dramatic oh my word story ever. There's so many more that have happened in my life, but looking through my journal and things I've written down, I was just like oh yep needed that, and the Lord knew it.

Amy Ramsey: 29:58

God's timing is always so precious. Yeah, I love that. I love that. So this next question might tie into that one just a little bit. But do you have a truth or a scripture that you're clinging to?

Katie Ginn: 30:11

Well, the scripture that um jumped out at me recently was actually the story of Caleb and the old Testament. I was just looking for something to read for my quiet time and I picked up this book. I don't have it with me, I apologize. It's called Holy Grit by Dean Register, who's a pastor in Hattiesburg, and each chapter is about a different biblical person and how they had holy grit to get through their stuff. Yeah, and the chapter on Caleb. I think it's only like the third chapter, but it's my favorite so far. It's so good and I was like, okay, I'm going to go back and actually read the passages that have Caleb in them and the stuff this dude went through. First of all, okay, he's one of the 12 spies. He spies out the land. He and Joshua are the only ones who believe God's promises and say he's told us he's going to give us this land. Let's go take it. Let's go now.

Katie Ginn: 31:05

The other 10 are too scared, everybody else is too scared, and so they all have to wander in the wilderness for 40 years because they didn't have the faith to take the land. And Caleb has to wander in the wilderness too, even though he didn't do anything wrong, like he has to do this and it's not his fault. And so he's 40 when the 40 year starts. So then he's, by the time they get into the land and he's going to claim his part of the land, he's 85. And so he goes to Joshua, who's like divvying up the land, and he actually requests the city of Hebron, which is full of giants, and he and his people clear out the giants when he's 85.

Katie Ginn: 31:45

Like, can I say that? He's a bad, bad ASS? He is like, oh, my word, and I just the thing that stuck out to me. Well, there's two things. One is just like the spirit of fear and anxiety and depression that can just come in so quickly just from 10 people.

Katie Ginn: 32:12

And how I want to be the Caleb and the Joshua in the situation. I want to be the encourager. I want to be the one that says no, no, god said we could do this, like God told us. I want to be the one that reminds people the truth. And then the other thing is like when we are in a season of waiting and we think we're having to wait so long, like, okay, but are you, are you wandering in the desert for 40 years? Um, just being willing to trust God and then at the end of it, still being strong enough to take hold of that promise, um, so that that's just been like kind of percolating in my brain lately. But uh, I had never really done a deep dive on Caleb before and I'm like man, I just I would love to be more like that.

Amy Ramsey: 32:59

What is the name of that book? Again, holy.

Katie Ginn: 33:01

Grit by Dean Register, and he's a pastor in Hattiesburg.

Amy Ramsey: 33:06

Okay, perfect, holy Grit I love that I love that a lot. Thank you so much for being willing to come on the podcast and share your story. I love your heart, I love your mission and to reach young girls or young ladies, I should say, but also to others, for your life. I just want to say that your life is shining bright and it is refreshing to see someone so confident, but just confident in moving forward in the things that God's called them to do at a young age.

Amy Ramsey: 33:45

So I just want to honor you girl you go, girl you go, celebrate the heck out of you, and I want my listeners to go and connect with you. So can you give us a rundown on how we can I'll put everything in the show notes, but how we can connect with you.

Katie Ginn: 34:02

Yeah Well, thank you so much. Um, those are very kind words. You can find oh my Word with Katie, the podcast, on Apple podcasts, spotify or Amazon music. You can just search oh my Word with Katie and it should come up. Uh, has my face on it. And then, of course, you can follow at oh my Word pod on Facebook and Instagram. And of course, you can follow the magazine Mississippi Christian Living on Facebook and Instagram, as well as myself. Don't follow my professional page on Facebook. I never post on that anymore. Just send me a friend request if you want to.

Amy Ramsey: 34:37

I don't think anybody does. I don't think anybody does Now and then, as far as a subscription to your magazine is, that they just click on and they can subscribe to it.

Katie Ginn: 34:47

Yes, so you can go to mschristianlivingcom, scroll to the bottom and there is a link where you can subscribe and it's $29 for a year, which is 12 issues delivered to your door.

Amy Ramsey: 35:00

Incredible, incredible. Okay, all right. Well, katie, thank you so much for being here.

Amy Ramsey: 35:05

You guys definitely go and get that magazine in your hands. Go subscribe. Listen, katie, I was. I can't tell you how many episodes I was in when I started my podcast. I had no idea that you need to subscribe to your own and download your own things. I had no idea. I'm like, oh, you mean I should. I don't even think. I still don't think I've downloaded my own podcast. But you guys, downloading a podcast is a thing. That's how we're able to track the success, basically, of the podcast. So would you do us a solid number one if you enjoyed this content, would you share it with someone? That would mean the world to both of us. Number two, um, would you put it in your instagram stories or facebook stories and we will both repost you?

Katie Ginn: 35:54

yep, absolutely 100.

Amy Ramsey: 35:56

Do that and go follow kat on her Instagram and her Facebook page connect with her and support her. So, okay, thank you again for being here. All right, you guys have an amazing rest of your day. Thank you so much for being here. We'll be back next week, um, and until then, remember to walk worthy, okay, bye-bye.