Amplifying Her Voice: A Profile on Katie Powers, Head of Content at The Conversationalist
Katie Powers always knew the path she saw for herself in her career. A graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, Katie graduated with a bachelor’s degree in creative writing and political science in 2020. Though a recent graduate, her knowledge of the communications space as a whole is extensive.
“I did a lot of fiction [writing] work, I was an editor for my school newspaper, I participated in several journalism internships and did some work in the political space, so I got to try out various career paths.”
Due to graduating during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Katie entered a tough workforce and resorted to freelance work to kickstart her post-graduate career. Her first freelance role, in addition to various one-off writing assignments, was in a marketing position with a startup that created technology geared to those who were formerly incarcerated. But ultimately, her desire to embody amplification led her to The Conversationalist,
“I’m a very mission driven person. I’m drawn to opprutnities that are not just going to help me hone my skills but also where I’m using my skills to spread an important message,” says Katie. As a media startup that brings Gen-Z individuals together to have conversations that are unifying, eye-opening and sometimes controversial, The Conversationalist seemed to be the perfect fit.
The Conversationalist, or TC as its been dubbed by its employees and community members, was introduced to Katie in October of 2020, while she was still working in her initial startup role. When she came across the company’s role openings, Katie saw it as an opportunity to re-enter the creative content space and work in an environment she was more passionate about.
After meeting with the CEO and founder of the company, Sophie Beren, Katie was invited to join the team in February of 2021, when she became a part-time member of the team as a copywriter. During the summer of 2021, she transitioned to a full-time position to support the company’s online talk show. This fall, she moved up in the company a third time into her current role as head of content.
Though her movement up the company ladder was quick, Katie expresses great gratitude for what she’s gained from the experience. “I’ve had a lot of opporutnities here to work with different people, meet a lot of different community members and develop as a communication professional,” she says.
Her experience did not only consist of further developing her hard skills within the field, but also growing as a leader and an indiidual.
“I feel like I can be someone who second guesses myself a lot and I’m sometimes afraid to advocate for my ideas,” Katie shares. “This opportunity has really helped me to feel more confident in my own voice and my own skills. Part of being a leader is making decisions and feeling confident that you can help make choices that are going to move the organization forward, so having those opportunities to practice has been a really big growing opportunity for me.”
