I’ve spent most of my career somewhere between the story and the people living it—writing, reporting, building programs, navigating institutions, and occasionally asking questions that would have been considerably more convenient if I hadn’t asked them.
My work has moved through journalism, public affairs, military and veteran communities, leadership development, and public service. The titles have changed. The through line hasn’t: understand what is actually happening, find the people it affects, and communicate it in a way that is useful, honest, and human.
The mug has a story; it may or may not be interesting.
The work has taken a few forms.
Journalism taught me to listen closely, ask better questions, and recognize the difference between the story being told and the one actually unfolding. Public affairs taught me what happens when those stories meet institutions, communities, leadership, and consequence. The work since has lived somewhere in between.
Along the way, I’ve written and edited professionally, built and facilitated training, supported military and veteran communities, worked alongside leaders and families, developed programs and communications, and translated complicated systems into something people can actually use.
The result is a career that makes considerably more sense in retrospect: part writer, part communicator, part practitioner, and occasionally professionally annoyed by institutions.
What I’m doing now
These days, I’m interested in work that sits at the intersection of communication, leadership, public service, and community—particularly the places where complicated systems meet actual human beings.
I’m still writing. Still asking questions. Still interested in how institutions communicate, how people find their way through them, and what happens when somebody decides the official explanation probably isn’t the whole story.
I also write books, collect stories, and have somehow acquired a bartender’s license.
thekatiebjones 