Today we’d like to introduce you to Katie Kerl.
Hi Katie, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I am Katie Kerl, the Vice President of lifestyle/ web3 strategy at, Derek Automotive Technologies Inc. My life shifted drastically in COVID. My industry completely shut down in Philadelphia. I knew then there was no going back. I was managing a well-known commercial/ residential design company. I loved meeting people, learning their personalities, and bringing a vision to life.
My background is in Behavior Science, and addictions counseling. Only, I never wanted to use it for therapy. I wanted to understand people.
Sadly, my father became ill with cancer during that time as well. My mother moved in after 27 years of being divorced to help me care for him. We helped him survive stage four throat cancer which is almost an impossible feat. If I can tell you one thing about cancer. You cannot do it alone, or with only one caretaker. It is a 24-hour job, and something you have to put 120% into for it to save a life. The year he recovered my mother made every birthday, and holiday ones I’ll remember forever.
They even got remarried during that time as well! I’ll never beat their love story, so I am going to stick with helping the world heal.
My father then came down with a second round of cancer a year later .Sadly, David Kerl passed away two weeks after walking me into the opening at Derek Automotive Technologies Inc. Located in the heart of Atlantic Station, GA.
My father may not have walked me down a wedding aisle but walking me into my purpose was much more fulfilling. He only ever wanted me to find that. Not a husband, or children. He always told me I was special. I was so opposed to conformity my whole life. He would tell me to move on from something if it was not the right fit for me. That I needed to be around people that thought like me to be fulfilled. He was not wrong. You are a direct reflection of the company you keep.
The night Derek Automotive opened its doors my father looked at me like he was never sick and said,
” You found it”.
I will never forget that moment.
Circling back a bit. While caring for my father during COVID I was figuring out the stock market, crypto, and NFTs during the shutdown in Philly. This gave me a brand-new skillset. I found being able to read trends was the key to my success here. Not reading charts and having to do a lot of math. I took my writing name KERLUPWITHKATE and turned it into a blockchain consulting company.
I would Channel my creativity into lifestyle writing at Tony Ward Studio in Philadelphia.
It was my therapy.
Tony was my first mentor. He saw something in me when I had no idea what he was talking about, but as many told me,
“Do not say no to that opportunity.”
My goal was to help others through telling my story like a diary entry. Exactly like I am writing this interview. It is real & relatable. I healed my self with my own life stories first, because, “how can you help others when you are not ok ??
From there I continued on to write about politics, holistic health, city guides, skin care, money markets, and small business interviews. This is also how I met my current CEO, Derek Bailey. I conducted a small business interview on him for the Tony Ward Studio December cover in 2019. Mr. Bailey welcomed the interview. He is the second black-owned automaker and the first electric vehicle innovator in the space.
Mr. Bailey offered me a position at Derek Automotive Technologies at the end of the shutdown. I happily accepted after seeing his vision and was excited about the adventure ahead.
Starting out I printed stock certificates and pre-order sales. We then acquired our First Derek Automotive Experience Center In Atlantic Station, Ga. I was then appointed the VP of Lifestyle, I saw Mr. Bailey’s vision for the future and wanted to help bring it to life.
I was able to also design the Experience Center. We sourced a few local vendors to do custom leather accessories. Taking small business owners with us. Every woman wants that Sex in the City moment. I had mine in the New York Garment district. Gathering snake, alligator, and cow skins for our line.
DATlife product line was born.
Going back and forth from Philly to Atlanta was exciting after being in lockdown for so long. Leading to being in Atlanta full-time in May 2022.
In January, we merged into 6 divisions from one. I was then also appointed to VP of our web3 strategy. I am still overjoyed at that. I wake up every day thankful I get to pursue my calling. My brain runs on the possibilities of web3, and how it can help heal our communities.
Web2 addicted us to our phones, and the banking system took advantage of the poor and middle class and hit them with impossible ATM transaction fees in its simplest comparison.
A web3/ metaverse makes you put down your phone. Then you put your Virtual reality glasses on to interact with real people you may never have met before. Seeing the world in a different light. An element of fantasy mixed with as close to real life as possible. That bit of fantasy is what keeps people coming back and you let go of what hurts. Symbolism, the storyline, the social mission, and action in the worlds and out. Building communities is what will keep a metaverse populated. Not simply move to earn.
In combination with Virtual Reality, you will be pulled back into real life with augmented reality events to socialize you. Meanwhile, all being built on blockchain. Many think blockchain, web3, metaverses are all separate things when they function together making it whole.
My closest comparison is the house music scene. Their festivals are global, people gather to be taken to another time and place mentally, no one is violent, and all can’t wait to get back to that moment the next year. The Lights, holograms, 3d visuals, and a sea of people coming together from all walks of life to escape their pain is true healing. Being the metaverse is still a new concept for many, that is the easiest thing to relate it to. I do not want to dive too deep down the metaverse that rabbit hole just yet.
Derek Automotive recently acquired the most advanced 3D photogrammetry avatar scanner there is. This machine flashes 105 cameras at once to render the most realistic version of yourself.
In its simplest form, it is a new way to capture moments, and you can print figurines of yourself. In its most advanced form, we can have a consultation on how to monetize the avatar for your industry. Some add-ons would be animation, voiceovers, scans of entire rooms/offices to introduce your business in the digital world.
This will also be your status symbol in any metaverse.
Aside from my position at Derek Automotive, I left my old life behind in Philadelphia with no intention of returning to it. Atlanta is more progressive, and the home of the creative. Networking here is awesome. I have met some amazing people in just a little under eight months. I cannot imagine my life not having met some of them at this point.
They are my Datpack a bit of a play on the Ratpack.
Old souls meeting new technology making it cool. My team aided me in barely having a grieving process after my father’s passing. I am not sure of many can say work helped heal them. I am more than thankful for all of what I have here.
Gratitude is everything and will open doors you never imagined.
Everyone taking this blind leap with us into the future; I adore greatly. Some people have godchildren. In the words of Adrienne Lawson, “god-friends” are the same thing. Mel, Cel, and Doc, I consider them all to be the same. All four are Brokers with us, but they are the people that have become real family along the way.
The ones that sit up with you at night figuring out ways to effect real change and build community. They have been in my place before and enlighten me when we are paving a new way.
It’s funny to speak that way, but this is not a job. This is a movement of global change. People say business is not emotional. I always find that very interesting. The mental health status of highly successful people that bottle things up tends to lead to depression, or even suicide.
You cannot have a start up with a global mission of change and not have a feeling about it. That feeling keeps you going. Waking up every day knowing you are fighting for the next phase of life to emerge.
A friend asked me if I liked living in Atlanta because it was a ruff city…….If I made it 20 years in Philadelphia, I could make it anywhere. People in the south actually say hello to you walking down the street, there is something to do every night, and people with ambition outside of a typical 9-5 job!
Something I had been looking for a very long time. Being accepted for who I am.
I was so welcomed by the black community here before anyone knew what my job title was.
That made me love this city even more. Bridging the gap and flipping a culture across the nation after covid is part of my goal. Along with reducing carbon emissions, educating people where we are headed in the next phase of the economy; web3/ avatars/NFTs (non-fungible tokens).
The hardest thing I had to fight for in Philly was being accepted for who I am. That is one fight I have I have yet to have in Atlanta.
In a city full of opportunity, the ones who get me seem to understand where I am headed.
I’m excited to embark on this life calling with amazing people. Mr. Bailey took the smartest people he could find, put us together never having technology, or vehicle industry experience.
Doing that it took the ego out of executive positions. We are all learning on the forefront of every new industry.
It honestly does not get better than this.
I found out later Atlanta was built on a railroad. My father retired after 37 years at Amtrak. I am now here during the technology boom. I do not think that was by accident.
Some people chase money, and it destroys them.
I chase good energy and calling.
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?
No road to effective change is a smooth one. We are creating new lanes. Being a part of a startup there’s a lot of stop and go. Every time we slowed a bit, we started again with much more than we previously had. One thing is for sure, timelines and technology that does not exist is a very grey area. We are creating industries. I have found clarity is all anyone needs that is trying to be a part of a startup because,
“How can you put a timeline on technological breakthroughs?”
This has been such a positive, purposeful experience so far. I cannot wait to see where it leads us.
We’ve been impressed with Derek Automotive Technologies Inc., but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Derek Automotive Technologies Inc. is striving to be the largest global carbon reduction company. I am the VP of Lifestyle/web3 strategy. We are the second black owned automaker, and first EV maker.
The major companies under our umbrella of technology are:
Electa Motors
Derek Mobility
Exeeder Logistics
Retro By Exeeder
Electa World Metaverse/ Electa Scan
Our patented technology is the Proteus our gas-to-electric generator technology. Proteus combines the patented super-low emission counterpoise engine which spins a new highly efficient generator to produce low-carbon electricity (emissions per kilowatt hour of energy is on par with a natural gas power plant) for recharging the battery packs in any electric vehicle.
LoopGen is our newly developing, patent pending, technology that uses electric wheel motors, advanced circuitry and artificial intelligence to support the recharging of the vehicles battery packs. Our first-generation design uses a stackable 20 KW module that produces 391 ft-lbs. of torque. Wheel motors can be used in a variety of configurations, and for rear-wheel, front- wheel and all-wheel drive.
As an example, three modules stacked together (which would be about 12 inches long) will supply 60 kWs and 1173 ft-lbs. of torque. The average electric vehicle consumers about 2-5 kWs per mile, so with the wheel motors supplying such robust output we should be able to replenish kWs as fast as they are consumed in driving the vehicle.
This technology combined with our gas-conversion technology represents an evolution in EV charging technology, as it further reduces the need for the fuel backup part of the design to be engaged.
To learn more please visit:
https://www.derekautomotive.com/technology
How do you think about luck?
I do not believe in luck. I believe in manifestation, meditation, gratitude, speaking things into existence, and have spirit guide you. Along with yoga, vitamins, and being properly hydrated with a good diet. Be your own cheerleader every day, because if you do not set an example of how to treat you. No one else will understand your standards. High value men and women have routines. It is just a proven fact.
Find your tribe to support you and rise up to your potential.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.derekautomotive.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kerlupwithkate/?hl=en
