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Summer tastes delicious!
Welcome to my quarterly eNewsletter! You’re here because our professional / personal / adventure paths have crossed and I’d love to stay connected.
In this quarterly newsletter, I celebrate being published on a beer can (again!), share a silly adventure story about getting old and getting after it anyway, highlight work from a new client (the Seattle Public Library Foundation) and lessons from a client that recently had to sunset (Global Washington), and invite you to learn more about the Dr. Seuss Flower that you've seen but definitely do not know the name of.
Thanks for reading. I appreciate you being part of this community.
Best,
-kC
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Words I Wrote Are on a Beer Can... Again!
I peaked in both my career and life 9-years ago when words I wrote were published on a beer can. As the comms leader at The Mountaineers at the time, we partnered with Ghostfish Brewing on their new flagship IPA. It's surprisingly complicated to dream up a new climbing-adjacent beer name that doesn't already exist, but eventually our collective effort was realized as Kick Step IPA..
I never dreamed I'd have this opportunity again. Then, I got an email from Brian Theil, co-founder and co-owner of Ghostfish, to talk about Ruthless, an old-school style tribute to his Grandma Ruth. By the end of our conversation I'd already drafted the "romance copy" for the label. The whole experience was very kismet. I felt like Brian's words had to pass through me to become the romance language. We made two cuts from that original version and went to print:
To the groundbreakers. The game changers. To those who ruthlessly juggle all life throws without apology or regret. Inspired by Grandma Ruth, a true character and avid enjoyer of lager beer, this bone-dry, old-school-style favorite is meant to take you back while pushing you forward. Cheers to you, and the Ruthlessness that lives inside us all. For the launch party in June, I helped Brian put together a short presentation about his grandma Ruth and the story behind Ruthless. Many of Grandma Ruth's kin flew in from Ohio for the event – none of whom had seen the design or heard the story! Ghostfish staff turned it into a video, and I'm delighted to share that with you today.
As for the beer, well, it's delicious, and reminiscent of Rainier Beer and PBR and Miller High Life (and Spotted Cow, for my Wisconsin peeps). As a limited release, you can only get it on draft or in a 4-pack at their brewery in Seattle, but it's well worth the the trip.
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Summiting Mt. Baker Off-the-Couch
Last quarter, many of you read the story I shared about my 4 for 40 Birthday Celebration. At the end of that blog, I asked folks what else they might like to read, and the resounding majority wanted to hear about the off-the-couch Mt. Baker adventure.
So I wrote it. And friends, I'm delighted with how it came out:
Despite overwhelming evidence that this is not a good idea, I want to climb Mt. Baker for my birthday.... Never you mind that I haven’t skied much in the last five years, let alone hiked my 40-year-old, out-of-shape heinie up a hill of any size. I call my ski-wife Theresa. As my consulting business settles into a rhythm and my kids get older, I am excited to have more time for creative endeavors. It feels like brining back pieces of myself that I put on the shelf for motherhood (aka: writing for fun). So, what stories do you want to hear from me next?
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New Client: The Seattle Public Library Foundation
I'm thrilled to be newly working with the Seattle Public Library Foundation. Who doesn't love the library (lets connect on Goodreads!)?
The purpose of the Foundation is to fund innovative programming for The Seattle Public Library. Last year, the Foundation provided $6.5M to support more than 5,000 individual events and equity-based programs at Library branches. Fun fact: one in three new items at the Library is purchased with Foundation funds, to the tune of more than 100,000 new items (books and materials) every year.
But I'm not here to sell you on the impact of libraries and free information for all. If you've read this far, you get it. I do want to share a few exciting summer updates that I hope will resonate with this audience:
- If you're in Seattle and looking for summer activities, check out Summer Quest, a reading and activity challenge where you can have fun and win prizes
- Also for my Seattle-peeps, a reminder that the Library Levy will be on the ballot this August. Get out and vote!
- And if you aren't in Seattle but are concerned about book bans in your area, I invite you to check out Books Unbanned, a program providing free digital library cards to teens nationwide who can't get books they want to read locally.
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Global Washington Sunset Lessons
As I shared in the last update, Global Washington made the difficult decision to sunset after 16-years. The leadership through this transition, particularly by Executive Director Elizabeth Stokely, was truly inspiring. I was honored to play a small part in their journey.
The team published two articles sharing additional context and lessons learned from the sunsetting process. The first is a Candid article with broad takeaways, and the second is a longer case study that provides additional context and lessons learned from the process. I found the insights illuminating.
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What Are the "Dr. Seuss Flowers" in the Mountains?
Another popular blog from my archives – particularly this time of year – is the post about the floofy, ploofy, other-worldly Dr. Suess flowers found in mountain meadows. Wonder no more about these shape-shifting beauties:
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