Regardless of where you fall on the political spectrum, if you aren’t familiar with Katherine Timpf, it’s time you look to her as the ideal millennial who understands the importance of working hard and maintaining individuality, regardless of circumstances.
Contributor and journalist by day and comedian by night, Timpf utilizes her strengths and passion for journalism, writing, and stand-up comedy to ensure she has a well-rounded career and personal life.
While currently serving as a contributor for FOX News Channel, Timpf also writes columns and satire pieces at National Review Online, in addition to her love and passion for stand-up comedy. In June, she took on the role as host of FOX Nation’s show, Sincerely Kat.
Having joined FOX News in 2015, Timpf has made quite an impression across the board in a variety of sectors. She attributes her role as a contributor at FOX to years of writing and making videos, whereby some of her articles eventually captivated the attention of FOX. She was then brought on initially as a guest, before she ended up being offered a role as a contributor.
Grit Daily spoke with Timpf ahead of Fox Nation Patriot Awards, which took place November 6. Timpf will be present, alongside other Fox News personalities, including but not limited to Tomi Lahren, Gregg Jarrett, and Dan Bongino.
Prioritizing and Finding Your Passion
Grit Daily: As a FOX News contributor, you certainly wear multiple hats. You mentioned you love comedy and stand-up—how did you get involved with it?
Kat Timpf: My best friend from high school (and still my best friend)—he and I were interning in Washington D.C. the summer before my senior year of college and his junior year—he told me to start writing things down I said that he thought were funny. I did that and wound up getting a set, and now I carry a notebook with me wherever I go. I write down jokes as they come to me; it’s sort of a hobby for me, but I really do enjoy it.
GD: Going back and forth from being on TV to being on stage performing your stand-up, how would you describe that transition?
KT: Doing a set and killing it is the greatest feeling in the world that I’ve experienced so far in my life. It’s addictive and it’s the best feeling ever. Just chasing that!
GD: Whether it’s one career or multiple careers, how does time management play into your life, with respect to your responsibilities to FOX, stand-up and your personal life?
KT: It really helps that I really enjoy everything I do. Before I had jobs in journalism, TV, and writing, I was a waitress and hated it. The fact I actually enjoy what I’m doing, I think is important. As for managing my schedule, I actually just write everything down—I have a paper calendar in my office. Being able to look at everything visually and asking, ‘what do I have to do today’ and prioritizing it. I’ll even write a schedule for myself, writing in breaks. But at the end of the day, I have to see it visually and it keeps me from freaking out about how much I have to do at the time.
GD: You mentioned “prioritizing,” can you elaborate on things to consider whether you’re a TV personality, a comedian, or a journalist?
KT: For TV specifically, TV can be the goal and that’s fine, but you’re not just going to get on TV—you must have a reason for you to be on TV. For me, that was writing and making videos. You need to become an expert in something and decide what that’s going to be. You can’t just be good at talking on TV, which is good, but many people are. You need to set yourself apart.
Even though I have a job at FOX now, I still work at National Review and keep writing—every week I’m writing.
For comedy, it’s a painful, painful road—I guess TV is the same thing, because when I first started out, I was working multiple jobs, living in a horrible slum, and didn’t have enough money for a bed, sleeping on a yoga mat. But I had internships and working my way through at different restaurants. You must really, really want it, because it’s not easy.
GD: Let’s talk about National Review. You write fairly frequently with them. How did you get involved with them?
KT: I was writing at Campus Reform and I had a lot of pieces that went viral. They were initially looking at someone who was good at writing for the internet, which is how I got started there. Now, I’ve branched out, and just had my first piece in the actual magazine in the past issue, which I was hugely excited about. It’s a lot of hard work, and I made sure I spent my summers working at internships where I could get journalism experience, and I always stayed focus on that goal.
When I worked at The Washington Times, I was a web editor. But I got a writing fellowship on top of that, and I would stay after hours and work on my writing, just to make sure I never lost the writing aspect of things. Going above and beyond and not making any excuses for yourself, especially when I was in my 20’s. I would sleep four hours a night, but I was in my 20’s. Either you are going to be doing that partying or you can be doing that setting yourself up for a good career in the future.
GD: When you’re writing, what’s your process?
KT: I look around for things that are inspiring to me, or something I think I may have something to write about. When I’m writing the first draft, I try to not edit too much along the way. I do a little bit of course, but I try to keep going so I don’t lose a thought, because I can always go back and fix things.
I think people get stuck sometimes, and I used to be one of those people—sentences aren’t sounding right or you don’t have the right word, so sometimes I’ll put a blank in where I’m looking for that right word, so it doesn’t interrupt my flow and I can go back and make changes later.
GD: For the average person who may not watch FOX News, or be familiar with the work you do, what do you want people to know?
KT: Remember individuality and that individuals are different. Some people see that I work at Fox News and think certain things about me. It gets annoying because there are so many different viewpoints represented here at FOX, and I myself am a libertarian—I voted for Gary Johnson. But people just assume FOX News, you voted for Trump. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but it’s just an assumption and people lose out on different perspectives and close themselves off by just even refusing to look at the reality of things, rather than going by their predisposition.
Outside of Your Bubble, Social Media Can Provide Perspective
GD: In today’s digital age, how does social media play into your everyday life?
KT: I’m so addicted to it and trying to cut back. I like to be able to see a lot of different voices quickly, which is something I really like about Twitter. Even in my personal life, I have friends who are big Trump supporters, conservatives, and as liberal as liberal can possibly get, and friends of all different races and backgrounds—but I think that’s really important. So many people keep themselves in a bubble, and can actually impact your view of reality, and you’ll start to sort of subconsciously think that’s all there is, or that there are other things, but other people think that Trump supporters are all evil, crazy racists…or supporters are liberals who hate America. It’s because people haven’t been exposed to the idea of, ‘hey, these people are all human like I am.’
FOX Nation Patriot Awards
Timpf will be present at the FOX Nation Patriot Awards on November 6, where the event will be celebrating modern day patriotism by honoring individuals across the country who have shown steadfast dedication to our nation, and the patriotic values we hold dead.
Featuring Fox Nation personalities include Timpf, Tomi Lahren, Gregg Jarrett, and Dan Bongino. There will also be a performance by John Rich of Big & Rich.
All proceeds from the Patriot Awards will go to the Folds of Honor Foundation, an organization Rich regularly donates to as part of his Redneck Riviera brand.
We asked Timpf what she thought about the upcoming event:
“I think it is about honoring people who have made huge sacrifices for all of us,” Timpf shared. “They definitely deserve to be celebrated more than some of the people that our society often chooses to celebrate—like professional athletes and Hollywood actors—so this is about doing just that.”
