Hello! It would seem you are in search of a very urgent type of information — information, one might presume, about ... me.
Well, you've come to the right place.
My name is Katy Thorson. I grew up in the suburbs of Birmingham, AL, in a light blue house off a cul-de-sac. Some might have called it a dead end, but in my mind, it was only the beginning. (...)
My formative years found me either playing soccer with the American Jets, or locked away in my room writing slightly abrasive poetry.
After graduating high school, I went on to attend Auburn University (War Eagle), where I received a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism. I wrote for two community publications, The Corner News and The Auburn Villager, before graduating in 2015.
Two months and one 13-hour drive later, and I began my first job in — what various acquaintances positioned to me as — the mystical fairyland of Austin, TX. I had never visited prior to moving, so I was glad when my arrival did not prompt immediate feelings of having just made a large and somewhat irreversible mistake!
The company was GateHouse Media (at the Center for News and Design), and the role was Community Content Producer. I spent my days proofreading, editing and publishing community submissions for various GateHouse newspapers in the northeast — mainly Massachusetts.
As random a task as that sounds, it taught me a lot about:
- Massachusetts
- AP style
- My need for consistency
- How I could improve as a writer and editor
It also gave me the chance to make new friends in a new city, so for that — on top of the skills and experience I gained — I am forever indebted to this position. I did, however, want to further my professional growth, so I left after two and a half years for a copywriting job at EZLinks Golf (which has since been acquired by NBC Sports Group).
In addition to writing and editing, this second (and current) role introduced me to the world of my web design. This is how my job works:
- A client tells us they want a new website.
- Our designers design a website template for them.
- I am given their old website and their new website (which we designed).
- I move all of the information from their old website to their new website.
- The new website is given back to the client, who will hopefully love it.
I write, edit and proofread the copy for each site I work on, as well as design custom page layouts to house that copy using mainly HTML, CSS and JavaScript. My role also includes developing SEO content (e.g., title tags, meta descriptions, captions) for each website.
I was promoted to the position of copywriting team lead in spring 2020. Here, I am still completing the everyday tasks that I love, while also providing support and paths for growth for my other two teammates.
As for my own growth, I hope to continue bettering myself — as a writer, as a web designer and as a person — in this chapter and through to the next.