Meet Katie
In the Beginning
I’m an unexpected speaker. Born quiet and serious, I fell into public speaking by accident. After moving to Seattle and casting about for ways to meet people, I signed up for various activities like ballroom dancing, skiing, and public speaking. I only went to the public speaking class because a friend wanted me to go with her.
Being a software engineer, I didn’t think I’d ever need that skill. (Wrong!). But I liked the people I met there, so I kept going back. To my great surprise -- after getting through the initial stage fright -- it became fun. The first time I made an audience laugh was an unforgettable adrenaline experience – even better than the best times skiing. And – BONUS -- there was less chance of breaking a leg! It became a passion with me.
College and Software Career
In college I studied computer science by day and loaded FedEx freight by night. Then I got a job writing numerical analysis routines in C to solve linear differential equations for a research project. (No, I don’t know what that means either. I just translated a bunch of formulas into code.) After graduation, I moved to Seattle and developed interface software applications on UNIX systems. It got to fly to exotic locales like Corbehiem, France (where I ate chocolate) and Chocolate Bayou, Texas (where I ate crawdads) to install the software.
Program Management
My budding public speaking skills came into play when I became a program manager. I could offer motivation, consolation, inspiration, and celebration, as the need arose. One of my teams developed the first ever device driver for an SDcard. Since that driver was later rolled into the Windows operating system, you have almost certainly used our software! I hope you liked it.
Program Management for Human Beings
In early 2004, my father passed away and I went back to Virginia to help my mother through a massive downsizing move. It was a huge, overwhelming, and emotional undertaking for the whole family. I am blessed that my siblings and our spouses worked together so well. But I still wished I had known in the beginning of the project everything that I had learned by the end. Back in Seattle, I started a company called Moving Forward to help other families get through this enormous life transition more gently and compassionately. It was project management for human beings.
Marketing and Sales
With Moving Forward, my public speaking skills became invaluable. I did countless elevator pitches, informational talks to recruit new clients, and continuing education classes for real estate brokers and social workers. That endeavor gave me fifteen years in front of live audiences honing my humor and storytelling skills to keep all of those audiences interested and engaged.
It all goes to show that a naturally quiet, serious person can use humor, without a personality transplant. Let me show you how it’s done, so that you can do it too.