Get to know Katie Didier, Josiah Didier's wife, in our second Better Halves spotlight of the season. Katie has been with Josiah since the beginning of 2021 and she shares her story of moving away from home, what she and Josiah love to do in their free time, the challenges and joys of being a wife of a captain, and much more. 

Give us your backstory. Where you’re from, childhood, hobbies, etc. 

I am originally from Charlotte, North Carolina, and I spent my whole childhood there before I went to college. I attended Bentley University, a business school in Massachusetts. I graduated with a degree in marketing and then shortly after graduating I moved to Providence, Rhode Island, which is where I eventually met Josiah. I had a pretty standard childhood. I have a younger brother who still lives in Charlotte. He went to Duke University, so I don’t think he is ever leaving North Carolina. I played tennis growing up and really thought I wanted to pursue that sport seriously. So, my childhood really revolved around tennis. 

What are some of your passions? What do you like to do in your free time? 

I really like to cook and would say that is my number one thing to do. The longer the recipe takes, the more I like to do it. I enjoy the outdoors and love my dogs more than anything. I like to take them on long walks or go to the dog park. Another thing I enjoy doing is puzzles. I love anything hands-on, like a puzzle, that you can just sit back with a glass of wine and do a really hard puzzle. I also have a close group of friends. So, I would say getting together with them is always enjoyable. 

What do you do for work? 

I work for a company called Velocity, an event rental company. I first started there in college and then I worked with them after college. I started in graphics and design since I had a marketing degree. I would work with different companies and sponsorships and design what they want for their final wrap on all of our products. When COVID hit, there was a little bit of restructuring in the company. For the past four years, I have been dealing with all their shipping and logistics, as I am head of operations. I really switched gears from what my degree was, but I truly love it. We do big events such as the Super Bowl and PGA Tour, but there are also tons of conferences that people don’t know about. We do 100 to 300 events a month, so it keeps me very busy. 

How did you and Josiah meet?

We met when he came back to Providence for the COVID season in January 2021. He and I had mutual friends that were married and they both invited us over to dinner. We did not know that the other one was going to be there, so it was kind of like a blind date. Due to COVID, you kind of created a little bubble, so we just spent every day together after that first moment. It feels like we’ve known each other for so much longer and things moved very quickly. 

How excited are you guys for your first child and what are you looking forward to most? 

We are so excited and feel incredibly blessed to be welcoming a baby boy in March. This is our first, so we are definitely a little overwhelmed but are enjoying every step of the way. The other moms on the team are so knowledgeable and have been incredibly helpful. For years Josiah has talked about how much he would love for our kids to be able to come to a game, so I know he is counting down the days until baby boy is here. I am most looking forward to seeing our two dogs interact with him and seeing how each of their personalities handle the new addition.

Is there a difference between being a wife of a captain compared to another player?

I would say there is a level of stress and ease, since you can just go with whatever other people have planned. I’ve only had experience with two teams and both teams have been amazing, you really want to keep that momentum going. We both try to plan a lot of things. I personally haven’t been on a team where Josiah was not a captain, so I’m not totally sure what those girlfriends/wives do. We kind of just go with what we think makes sense. I think coming here last year and him being captain was a tough transition a little bit. We wanted to jump in and plan all these things and there was a learning curve, just getting to know the new organization and team. We are really excited for this year, and we have so many great things planned. We have such a great group this year that are very close with each other. I have not experienced someone else being captain and be able to follow their lead, which may be kind of relaxing. Sometimes you just close your eyes and throw a dart and hope a certain event lands. Sometimes they do and sometimes they don’t.  

What is it like moving from city to city and getting adjusted to a new team?

It’s definitely tough especially coming from an area where I lived and had all my friends. My whole life was in Providence. What’s nice about hockey is that it’s such a small world and we had known multiple people who had played in Grand Rapids. They would tell us about all the things to do and the places to visit. They connected us with the Shines, and we were able to meet a lot of people before the season began, which was really nice. It was very difficult, but the community is so supportive of any move anyone makes. The hockey community is amazing, and I am very lucky to be a part of that. 

What has it been like being married to a professional athlete? 

It has its pros and cons. It’s super unique to be able to watch someone do what they love more than anything in the world for a job. That alone outweighs all of the not-so-great things. Even toward the end of the season, I’ll ask Josiah, ‘So, are you getting bored of this,’ and he is quick to respond saying, ‘No, what do you mean’? Every single game is just as exciting as the last, which is really unique to have in a job. I love the community and the closeness I feel with the team. Everyone has been amazing and I have lifelong friends from hockey. The schedule is really nice in the summers because they are more flexible, but missing holidays and being so busy during the times you want to be with family is tough. Also, it’s hard to watch what they put their bodies through. When we first started dating, Josiah went through two really tough injuries. But to see how much they love it, and the identity they get from that when it is taken away can be very difficult for them. It certainly tugs on your heart a lot in those moments. He always comes home with a different bruise or cut and it’s not the average job to be supporting someone through, but it is worth everything to him and I love that part. 

What does a typical game day look like for you? 

Since I love to cook, I usually make Josiah’s pregame meals. Other than that, we are not very superstitious, and he doesn’t have to do certain things to feel prepared. I am usually working during the day, but I’ll come home and make lunch and then let him do his thing. Luckily, we have a great group of girls who usually go get dinner before a game. Game days are pretty low-key. Even after games, Josiah is really good at leaving everything at the rink unless it’s a really tough loss. To end the night, we usually go get dinner after a game. 

What have been some of your favorite things about Grand Rapids? 

I love how busy the rink is. It’s so nice to see the fans come out and support the guys, and just the energy level is something I have never experienced before. I love the restaurants and the food scene. It’s just a really-easy-to-get-around city. Geographically, it’s also a wonderful place to live. Having the lake 45 minutes away is awesome. We take our dogs to the dog beach out there and it’s so nice to not have to deal with salt water. I also love the speed of life out here. It seems very relaxed and it’s gorgeous. Fall foliage has been the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. People always say go to Vermont, but this is so much better. 

What are some of your and Josiah’s favorite things to do together?

We love to go out to eat, trying new restaurants, and having our favorite spots we go to. We also like to get outside a lot. We play tons of pickleball and sometimes tennis. We enjoy being with our dogs and taking them to parks or the beach. As we have gotten older, we have turned into homebodies. We love watching our shows and getting to bed early. We are both morning people, so we like to go get coffee, do a crossword and just be with each other. 

Any embarrassing stories about Josiah or you guys together that you could share?

Josiah is the biggest sweater I have ever experienced, just dripping everywhere. We got married this past summer and because of hockey season it had to be in June in South Carolina. So, you can imagine the situation he was in. I think he went through three different shirts on our wedding day. He needed a fresh shirt at every location we went to. I have never seen someone sweat like that in my entire life. He will come hug me after games and I’m like ‘uh maybe not (laughs)’.