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Stern Singles Presents: Katie Jagodka6 min read

This article has been edited for clarity.

Sternie Testimonials:

Katie is great and the most self-aware person I have met. One thing I wanna say is, “Spicy boys only.” 

Katie is one of the best people I know! She is so thoughtful and kind and just a great friend. She’s also so much fun!! She’s always down to travel and try new things—she’s the life of the party!! 

If there’s one way to describe Katie Jagodka, it’s “down” – always down for anything and anywhere. I had the pleasure of meeting the vibrant and badass Katie, SoCal native, yoga instructor/pending consultant, with non-basic music taste. If you want someone who is independent, isn’t afraid to be herself, and an adventurer, look no further than Katie! 

So, who is Katie Jagodka?

I was born and raised in Southern California, a suburb of LA called Diamond Bar. I went to USC nearby, and during quarantine, I felt in a rut like, I don’t want to be in LA anymore, so when I applied to business school, I applied to every school in a big city that wasn’t LA, so here I am in New York. 

I feel like a lot of Los Angelinos always end up back in LA. What is your take on that? 

Yeah, that’s pretty accurate. I feel like I want to live in a few more spots before heading back, maybe internationally, but I’ll probably end up back there. 

What were you doing before Stern? 

I studied urban planning/real estate development and communications, so I started in a communications firm that did outreach for public transportation projects. The point of it was to do more social impact through environmental justice, but I kind of felt like there was too much bureaucracy. So I pivoted into commercial real estate to learn the corporate language, and be able to drive more change that way. I learned a lot, but after a couple of years, I wanted to get out of a sales function and was looking for more upward mobility. So I applied to business school to go into consulting, which I’m doing now. I’ve always enjoyed learning broadly so I think it’s a great fit. And I was able to get involved in a variety of ESG work there, which I’m excited about.   But I also just know that work doesn’t bring me fulfillment, so I’ve been trying to figure out ways to do that outside of work. And so I’ve started to teach yoga. You just caught me coming from teaching a class! I’m doing that as a side hustle, trying to see if I can maybe make that as like a main career eventually.

Cool! I did not plan to ask you this, but now you have to tell me more about this – how long have you been doing yoga, when did you get your training license?

From a young age when people would ask me what my ideal job would be if money didn’t matter, I’d always say I’d be a group fitness instructor. My friend introduced me to the Yoga Sculpt class at CorePower maybe five or six years ago. That was my first exposure to yoga in general, and I loved it. I feel so great afterwards. The community is great too – everyone you meet there is very mindful and kind. And now that I have a little more time after recruiting, I was like, you know what, this is a chance to do it. I’m in a new city. The people are great. I started the teacher training last spring, and then auditioned over the summer, got the job, and I’ve been teaching just for the past few weeks, so I’m still a newbie, but I’m loving it so far.

Which CorePower location do you teach at? The people want to know.

Ha! I’m at the NoHo location, so super near campus. Roll through!

Take notes, fellow yogis and any aspiring ones…

So where do you see this side hustle heading, since you said you hope to make it part of your main career someday?

Oh, I haven’t thought that far in advance yet, but I’d love to just keep getting better, I want to do an international retreat and get better at the technical stuff, and we’ll just see.

Got it, excited to see how it goes for you! How would your friends describe you?

I’m always down. I am very interested in doing all things. Perhaps slightly chaotic (in a good way). There’s always a story or something goofy that’s happening in my life, but I have a positive personality about it. 

I need an example of a slightly chaotic story.

Hmm, pass on that for The Oppy.

Contact Katie to hear about these chaotic stories.

What do you value in a partner?

Good communication. Someone who can make running errands something fun and goofy. A good listener, someone who’s in tune with their feelings – no more avoidant attachment styles please! (Men, if you don’t know what that is, look it up). Someone with a generally positive attitude, can laugh things off, and keep cool-headed. Ooh! And someone who dances – doesn’t have to be good at it, but is just confident enough to move his body.

What’s your ideal second date? 

Hmm, I’d love to do some kind of activity. Not yoga – too soon to be sweating in front of them. But it’d be cool if he had something he’d been meaning to do or try in the city. Or I’m an outdoorsy person, so maybe we could grab food and eat it at a park. A good walk? Anything where we can be outside and have a conversation. 

Ah, yes, the underrated conversation is a rare art form nowadays. Any dealbreakers? 

I can’t stand people who are mean to strangers or service workers, and someone who doesn’t have friends. 

Do you have a favorite go-to restaurant?

I actually don’t, I love trying new places. 

Fair enough. Favorite cuisines?

Mexican food, but not in New York. So Asian and Italian. I recently tried WenWen in Greenpoint and it was amazing.

Can attest to it being fantastic. Favorite genre of music?

I love techno and reggaeton, which is a bit unusual maybe. I enjoy going to music events and concerts. That’s also how I tend to meet people, too. And that’s why dancing is so important to me.   

 

Non-basic music taste, woo! Who are your favorite artists?

Bad Bunny, for sure. Karol G, Rezz, Shallou, Fred Again, to name a few.

Your Californian is really showing. How would you want someone to ask you out?

Virtually, just shoot your shot! But please have some social media presence so I can tell you’re not a psycho. In-person, I would love it to be organic and confident.

Shoot your shot regardless, friends.

If you want to contact Katie, you can DM her at @ktjagodka. 

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