Today we’d like to introduce you to Katherine Henderson Michalak.
Katherine, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I’ve always been in love with words and stories, writing since I learned to hold a pencil, whether anyone had any interest in reading my drivel or not. Crack open my head and it might look like the AP ticker in Times Square. I’ve worked in marketing, publishing, and education… with writing always an underlying fervor.
In 2012, when my healthy husband suffered a cardiac event while triathlon training, surviving The Widowmaker, a college friend reached out to me and asked if I’d write about the experience for her online publication StyleBlueprint. Soon after that piece ran, she asked me to join the staff where I served as a city editor for a couple of years. I then moved back into print publishing as the managing editor for the Atlanta Best Media family of local magazines. In 2016, I branched out on my own and transitioned into full-time freelance writing.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Oh, heavens, no! I’m not sure my creative pursuits could ever be described as following a “smooth road” … my motivations and inspirations roll in waves that aren’t always in sync with my professional goals or practical for my lifestyle. Figuring out how to channel creative energy into a productive, efficient schedule may be a lifelong challenge for me. Of course, as with all parents, balancing the demands of my career with the needs of my family regularly presents stumbling blocks along the path. Freelancing definitely allows me more flexibility, but it requires an exacting level of self-discipline and personal accountability.
Please tell us about Chattingwell.
I see both my professional mission and my writing style as an effort to provide clear, accessible communication that connects people through various narratives of the human experience. To that end, I call my business Chattingwell, reiterating my intent to encourage meaningful conversation. My client work includes articles for print/online publications, website and social media copy, content development, editorial coaching, and ghostwriting.
In the past few years, I’ve heard the moniker “storyteller” assumed quite a bit within the branding and marketing arena. I, too, consider the art of crafting and relaying story to be a integral part of my job. Yet, as an overall goal, I strive to guide the reader into a deeper understanding of the subject, fostering curiosity and awareness which may facilitate new action or relationships.
Every project teaches me something. Every single one, every single time. I’m fascinated by the way people find motivation within themselves to follow a passion in life. I feel such a rush when I meet someone who’s thrilled by the challenges of their own journey. I’m simultaneously humbled and empowered by those who use their life for a broader purpose, who say to themselves: “Something should be done, so I’ll do it!” Personally, I believe that’s why we’re all here anyway… to lift each other up.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
Tough to pick favorites, though most of the tops include my dad. Daddy and I were extremely close and very similar. He shared my tendency to get lost in a story and he strongly encouraged my imaginative play, actively engaging with me, willing to take on any role I assigned to him whether that be King Arthur or Kermit the Frog, Daddy Warbucks or Pa Ingalls, Robin Hood or Mr. Roarke from Fantasy Island. I thrived on the collaborative entertainment– I’m the youngest of three with a significant age difference between me and my older siblings, so they were teenagers off with their own lives when I still played dress-up and hosted tea parties for my stuffed animals.
I routinely met Daddy at the front door after work, sometimes sitting on the steps waiting for him. He’d often have a piece of Juicy Fruit gum for me tucked in his front chest pocket; sometimes I’d chew it then and sometimes I’d save it to later plant in the backyard hoping to grow a Juicy Fruit tree like the one that appeared on the commercials of the time — until a landscaping crew working on a backyard project thwarted my plans, unearthing my cache, much to my mother’s confusion and hilarity.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.clippings.me/khmichalak
- Email: chattingwell@gmail.com
- Instagram: @khmichalak
- Facebook: facebook.com/khmichalak
- Twitter: @khmichalak
- Other: linkedin.com/in/katherinemichalak
Image Credit:
Speaker Podium by PWP Photography, Headshot by Jan Potter, Kissing Michalaks by Ashby Webber Photography, Cornhole Michalaks by Katelyn Vines Photography, Black Tie Michalaks by Irish Network Atlanta
Getting in touch: VoyageATL is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
