Katty Douraghy

Katty Douraghy is a facilitator, entrepreneur, author, and speaker dedicated to fostering open conversations about loss, resilience, and hope. Through her work, Katty seeks to de-mystify grief and create a space where individuals can process their loss without judgment or the pressure to "move on" too quickly. As the author of The Butterfly Years, Katty shares her personal journey through grief toward hope. Her follow-up project, The Butterfly Years Journal, is a 12-week guided journal designed to help others navigate their own journeys through grief, using reflective prompts and explorations. In addition to her writing and speaking engagements, Katty is the president of Artisan Creative, a recruitment and talent development agency. She is also an experienced facilitator, working closely with teams and peer groups to enhance collaboration, communication, and personal growth. Katty believes we all have a story to tell and that our greatest journey is through self-discovery. Raised in San Francisco, England, and Iran, Katty brings a multicultural perspective to her interactions. She earned a BA in English Literature from UC Santa Cruz and a Merchandising Degree from FIDM in San Francisco. She now lives in New Mexico with her husband of 30 years, Jamie, and their two furry felines. Links: https://www.butterflyyears.com/ https://kattydouraghy.com https://www.artisancreative.com/

Articles:

Our Breath Buoy: Grief & Breathwork

No matter how long we’ve been on our grief journey, we know grief doesn’t move in a straight line. There is no set timeline, and it certainly doesn’t follow a clearly defined path. It arrives in waves, sometimes slowly and quietly, and other times fiercely and loudly. When a wave of emotion hits, our sympathetic nervous system goes into fight-or-flight mode in response to the stress grief brings on. It feels as if we are drowning in a sea of sorrow as our heart rate climbs, we tense up, and our breath turns shallow and fast. Although this is a normal stress response, it […]

Read More

Life Maxxing: Living Life to the Fullest

I may be the last person in the world who didn’t know the meaning of life-maxxing. Earlier this week, I came across it for the very first time in a social media post and realized the word embodied everything I believe in and have learned through my grief journey. Life-maxxing (or maxing) started as slang, and now I see it everywhere. On social media, it’s all about maximizing and optimizing mental and physical health, productivity, career, aspirations, and financial success. And yet this word triggers a much deeper meaning for me. It means living life to the fullest because my loved […]

Read More