Want Kate Torode to be a guest on your next podcast? 

Kate Torode is a writer, artist, and professional reinvention enthusiast best known as the creator of Chicken Nugget Girl and Other Midlife Traumas. After years in the corporate world supporting engineers, executives, and large teams, she did what many people only fantasize about during particularly bleak meetings: she listened to the quiet, persistent voice insisting there had to be more than calendars, budgets, and “just circling back.”

That voice eventually turned into humor, then stories, then a fully realized alter ego named Mallory Reynolds—also known as Chicken Nugget Girl. Through sharp wit, self-deprecation, and emotional honesty, Kate writes about burnout, grief, mental health, midlife unraveling, and the strange beauty of starting over when you’re fairly sure you should have everything figured out by now. Her work blends laugh-out-loud moments with genuine vulnerability, inviting readers to see themselves in the mess, the humor, and the resilience.

In addition to writing, Kate is a mixed-media abstract painter whose visual art explores chaos, healing, and the quiet courage required to begin again. Her creative universe—often referred to as the “Malloryverse”—includes novels, short stories, experimental fiction, and emerging multimedia projects that blur the line between comedy and catharsis.

Kate is also an engaging podcast guest and speaker, known for her candid discussions about depression, anxiety, ADHD, grief, and survival, all delivered with warmth and an unfiltered sense of humor. She believes laughter is not a distraction from healing but a powerful companion to it.

When she is not writing or painting, Kate dreams of a future coastal home in Maine, surrounded by gardens, art supplies, and the freedom to create without apology. Her work exists to remind people—especially women in midlife—that it is never too late to reinvent yourself, tell the truth, and laugh while doing it.