Katera Patterson’s story begins with rejection but evolves into reinvention. While eight months pregnant and facing repeated job denials, she chose not to shrink but to create her own path—teaching herself Pinterest marketing from home and turning it into a scalable income system that led to the creation of PinLab AI, a thriving community helping women build multiple income streams using strategy, faith, and AI. What truly sets her apart is her mindset shift: refusing to minimize herself, she leaned into journaling, prayer, and letting go of limiting environments to move from survival mode to purpose-driven success. Today, Katera stands as proof that circumstances don’t define you—your decisions do—and reminds every woman that her skills, voice, and potential are more than enough to build something extraordinary. Let’s meet her…
Your story begins with a moment many women know well—facing rejection while navigating a major life transition. What was going through your mind when you were eight months pregnant and receiving those job rejections, and how did that moment ultimately become the turning point that pushed you toward entrepreneurship?
So, I actually graduated from college 8 months pregnant, a year early. I had my son the month after graduation, and just like any new grad, the pressure set in QUICKLY when it came to figuring out how I was going to care for my new baby. I knew I didn’t want to put him in daycare, but I also knew that if I couldn’t help care for him, I’d be failing not only my son but also everything I thought I was working so hard for.
So I decided to start applying for jobs because it was almost like my family had a microscope on me to see what my next move was, but anxiety set in fast because I was getting nothing but back-to-back rejections. I was operating out of survival mode, but I knew I had what it took to become a successful entrepreneur. It’s been a dream of mine since I was 8 years old, so I took the rejections as redirection into a field that I always knew I belonged in.
You taught yourself Pinterest marketing from home and turned it into a scalable income strategy. What did those early days of experimentation look like, and what were some of the biggest lessons you learned while figuring things out on your own?
I started exploring Pinterest and quickly realized it was a completely different platform.
Just like many others who start posting on there, I posted, waited on my content to take off, and nothing happened, so I shifted my focus to other platforms. A month and a half later, I started getting notifications that my posts were taking off, and I had gone viral, hitting 1M impressions!
That made a lightbulb go off in my mind like, “Ohh, so this takes time…but it’s worth it,” because that very post got me my first brand deal from Javvy Coffee, who had found me on Pinterest.
From there, I immersed myself in the platform, learning SEO and how to set up accounts to efficiently grow and gain traction. At one point, Pinterest also had a feature called “Pinterest TV” in 2022, where I hosted several segments; which was a direct result of the growth I had built on the platform. All in all, throughout that entire process, I learned patience. Pinterest is a platform that will test you, but it’s also highly rewarding because once your content is on Pinterest, it’s there forever.
Many people still underestimate Pinterest as a serious business tool. What makes Pinterest such a powerful platform for generating income, and how does it differ from other social media platforms when it comes to long-term visibility and monetization?
Pinterest is such a powerful tool because, unlike other platforms, it doesn’t operate on a traditional algorithm, it moves just like Google. So just like you’d want visibility for your business on Google, you should want the same thing on Pinterest, especially with over 530 million users on the platform every single day. I’ve also personally had clients who struggled with visibility and got their first sales with their digital product using pinterest after learning my strategy.
Pinterest also provides businesses with longevity because not only does your content stay on the platform forever, it compounds, meaning whatever you’re generating from it when you start will double in a couple of years. No other platform is offering that.
Businesses need to start incorporating Pinterest into their marketing strategy, or they will absolutely get left behind.
PinLab AI has grown into a community that helps women create multiple income streams using Pinterest and AI. What inspired you to build this platform, and what kind of transformation do you hope women experience when they join your community?
I graduated with a degree in marketing, so market research is second nature to me. I started realizing that AI was taking the world by storm, especially in business, so I
decided not only to learn how to incorporate it into my workflow but also how to use it to make things easier on my favorite platform, Pinterest.
A lot of clients come to me saying they want to learn how to make money online “faceless,” so the community teaches how to utilize AI models and twins to promote products with affiliate marketing. There are also business courses inside where students can upgrade, and I teach AI systems and automations for digital businesses at that level. The reason this is so special is because, I’ve watched women come into this community completely burnt out from showing their face every day on Instagram and TikTok, feeling like they had to perform just to make money. And then they implement the framework, and something shifts. They’re not chasing the algorithm anymore, the platform is working for them while they’re at soccer practice, while they’re cooking dinner, while they’re present with their kids. That’s what I mean when I say Pinterest brings the softness back.
My hope is that women gain confidence knowing they can use a platform that brings the softness back into their businesses. Pinterest allows women to not have to hustle hard and still be active in their livelihood. With my framework, I teach a “set it and forget it” method where Pinterest is working for them, not the other way around.
Your journey blends technology with faith in a very intentional way. How has your faith shaped the way you approach risk, business decisions, and the responsibility of leading and mentoring other women?
God is a HUGE part of my life and my business, and if I’m being honest, entrepreneurship is a testament of how much you believe that God will guide you through the ebbs and flows of running a business. My story has examples of faith all throughout it.
I come from a small town in Mississippi where a lot of people feel like it’s almost a “black hole,” like everyone’s mission is to not get stuck, but a lot of people fall victim to it and don’t believe there’s anything better out there for them. So when I graduated and decided entrepreneurship was my path, I had to rely on faith because my reality didn’t reflect what I believed my life should look like.
At the time I started my business, my husband and I were in a one-bedroom apartment, we didn’t have a car, and we were living off of just his income, which was only enough to cover bills. I asked him if I could take from the little money I had saved to invest in starting my brand. I prayed many nights, cried many nights, and had family doubt me and talk about me. I kept pushing anyway, and I trusted the path that I KNEW God had destined for me. I accepted that it was going to be harder for me, I accepted the assignment, and I followed through regardless of the results.
So with all of that being said, I’m confident leading other women because I’m not out here acting like the success I’ve had has always been my reality. I’m very candid about how hard I’ve worked, and I’m very forward about the fact that without God, I wouldn’t be here. I always pray that He leads me and brings the right women to me to guide into entrepreneurship.
Motherhood and entrepreneurship are often portrayed as competing priorities. How did becoming a mother influence your drive to build something of your own, and how do you personally balance ambition, family life, and business growth?
Motherhood is hard. But my favorite saying through all of this is, “choose your hard.”
My kids are my WORLD, and I do not want them to ever have to endure the hardships that I did. Not saying I had a tough upbringing, but I can never fault my mother for not knowing what she didn’t know. Entrepreneurship gives me the tools, knowledge, and income to prepare my kids and set them up financially in a way that changes things for our family.
So it’s not that motherhood and entrepreneurship compete, but you are going to have to push through being uncomfortable for a while to reap the reward. Honestly, I feel like they go hand in hand because you’re not on anyone else’s schedule but your own, which works perfectly with motherhood. For me that looks like staying up late after my family has gone to bed, or waking up before everyone else to intentionally prepare for the day and get my work in. It can absolutely work together, you just have to get comfortable with being uncomfortable.
Artificial intelligence is rapidly changing the digital marketing landscape. How are you integrating AI into Pinterest strategies, and how can everyday women leverage these tools without feeling overwhelmed by the technology?
When I first started, I was doing everything manually… creating content, posting, trying to keep up with multiple platforms at once, and it was exhausting. I knew there had to be a smarter way, so I started testing tools that could do the heavy lifting for me.
Now I use Repurpose.io to automatically push my content from TikTok and Instagram straight to Pinterest without me having to touch it. I also use the AI models and twins strategy, which is something I teach inside PinLab, to promote products with affiliate marketing completely faceless.
But what I really want women to understand is that AI doesn’t have to feel scary or
technical. There are tools out there where you literally just talk and it builds things for you. Lovable will build you an entire website just from a conversation. Claude and ChatGPT will help you map out your whole business idea in minutes. You don’t need a tech background. You don’t need to know how to code. You just need to be willing to explore, because once you see how accessible these tools actually are, the overwhelm disappears and you realize you’ve been doing way more manually than you ever needed to.
Many women who want to start a side hustle struggle with fear, doubt, or the belief that they don’t have enough experience. What mindset shifts were most important for you in moving from survival mode to building a thriving business?
I had to analyze my life from the outside looking in. I realized I didn’t want my life to look the same years from now, and I started asking myself, why am I minimizing myself when God meant for me to stand out? It doesn’t matter where I’m from. I have skills and expertise that deserve to be heard.
When you’re shifting your mindset, you have to do a lot of mental work: journaling, praying, and also separating yourself from people and things that are holding you back. You cannot move forward while still trying to hold on to old habits and people who are stuck in their ways.
So to any woman who’s doubting herself right now, you have a skillset that you can monetize. Use your gifts to intentionally help people, and you will be surprised how far it takes you.
You describe financial freedom as a “blueprint built on strategy, faith, and action.” For someone who is starting from zero today, what are the first practical steps they can take to begin building that blueprint for themselves?
Honestly, the first thing I’d say is, your starting point is your superpower. Because I started from zero too. No big savings, no connections, no audience. Just a vision and a willingness to figure it out.
The very first practical step is getting clear on why you want this. Not just I want more money, but what does freedom actually look like for you? For me it was being home with my kids, building something my family could benefit from for generations. That is what keeps you going when nothing is working yet.
From there, pick ONE thing and commit to it. I chose digital products and Pinterest, and I went all in. A lot of people starting from zero try to juggle five different strategies and end up mastering none of them. One platform, one offer, one audience, build proof of concept first.
And then honestly… Start before you’re ready. My first offer wasn’t perfect. My first live was rough. But I launched anyway, and that imperfect action made me real money that my perfect plan sitting in my notes never would have.
The last thing I’d say is start thinking about systems early, even as a beginner. Because hustle will get you started, but systems are what actually get you free. I was thinking about email funnels and automation from pretty early on because I knew I didn’t want to trade hours for dollars forever.
That’s the blueprint , clarity, focus, action, and systems. Faith ties all of it together because there will be a gap between where you are and where you’re going, and something has to carry you through that gap.
Looking at the movement you’re building now through PinLab AI, what legacy do you hope your work creates for women, especially mothers and aspiring entrepreneurs who may currently feel stuck or overlooked?
I pray that the legacy I leave just teaches women that it doesn’t matter where you come from and it doesn’t matter what your current circumstances are, you have the power to change that. I don’t care who’s told you that you can’t. I don’t care who has made you feel incompetent. You are placed on this earth for a reason, and God gave you a gift, so now it’s time to use it.
PinLab AI is a community of innovation, and I feel like personally, coming from where I came from, you have to be innovative in order to not get stuck in the “black hole” that people claim happens when you stay in a small town. So what I want everyone to realize is, whatever skill you feel like you don’t possess, take some time to hone in on it, learn it, refine it, and then use it to your advantage.
As mothers, it’s so easy to get pushed to the back. But remind people why you were always meant to be in the front. I pray that anyone who connects with me just feels confident in themselves, because all I’m going to do is speak life into you and make you believe it.
How can our readers connect with you?
TikTok: @kateralashaee
Instagram/threads: @kateralashaee
YouTube: @TheKateraLashae
PinLab AI: https://stan.store/katera/p/pinlab-ai
