hellokatherineroberts

[hellokatherineroberts]

2,968 days

Wow, life really does fly by! My last Tumblr post was on March 8th, 2017, which was 2,968 days ago. So much has changed in my life and in the world (how could anyone forget 2020's global pandemic).

It's 2025, I'm now 32 years old, and living in Denver, CO. Although time has passed, there's some notable similarities and differences since 2017 Katherine.

What Has Stayed the Same in Eight Years

Still an empath and feminist who enjoys learning. I'm gratefully still healthy and able to experience many rewarding privileges and opportunities

Still love creative hobbies such as art and culture, viewing public art, taking photographs, and collaging magazines

Still have close relationships with my family and sisters even though we live in different states and time zones

Still enjoy being in nature with camping and hiking, as well as traveling internationally and within the US

Still passionate about communication, leadership, community, and volunteering

What Has Changed in Eight Years

Moved twice: from Arlington, VA to Hyattsville, MD then to Denver, CO where I have been for the last 6 years

Adopted two kittens! A dream come true; they are now 8 years old. I've also adopted dogs for the first time, which was a learning experience. My house of fluff includes three lovable pets

Stopped working at Fishbowl after two years, focused on email marketing at 2U, Inc. for four years, then moved to marketing technology at SHRM for four years

Received my MA in Arts and Culture Management degree from the University of Denver as a part-time student while working full-time

Completed many firsts like living on my own, running a half marathon, receiving a 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training certificate, buying a house, traveling to Africa... among many others that I'm extremely proud of

The most notable update is that at the end of February, I was unexpectedly laid off. Hence, why I'm back - hello, again! I have more free time to reflect on my professional and educational journey while looking for my next career move.

I'd love to spend this time to update this virtual journal and portfolio of memories, growth, and progress. It's been heartwarming to see the posts I made when I was finishing undergrad and starting out in the workplace. I'd love to continue contributing so in eight more years, 2033 Katherine can look back on all she's accomplished in this wonderful life.

We have eight years to catch up on, so let's get started.

[hellokatherineroberts]

Want better Yelp reviews? Check out the blog post I wrote for Fishbowl!

Top 5 Tips to Increase Positive Yelp Reviews

Encourage guests to take the next step and actively share their positive experience with others by following these top five tips for increasing Yelp reviews...

(read the rest of the article here)

[hellokatherineroberts]

City So Nice, They Named It Twice - New York, NY

My older sister lives in New York and my younger sister and I decided to take a trip up there this fall to visit her. It was such a great weekend! Full of exploring, with worn out shoes from walking everywhere and a full stomach from eating almost everything. It’s always a great weekend getaway. I started doing these mini photo collages when I visit a city, I like the look of it and am going to try to keep it up for future traveling times of being a good ol tourist.

[hellokatherineroberts]

Snippets of Summer

Everyone loves summer weather and enjoying the sunshine, and I’m certainly no exception. I loved planning out every weekend and it seemed like each day was filled with the excitement of my next trip.

I went to the beach a few times and even camped with horses, went camping in the woods, traveled to Ocean City and drove a surrey on the boardwalk, explored DC and Baltimore, enjoyed outdoor concerts, and visited at least three different fairs with my family.

It was definitely busy, but extremely satisfying and I’m so glad I got to soak up summer to the fullest. Here’s a few snapshots of the beautiful landscapes that were part of my summer journeys.

[hellokatherineroberts]

Employee of the Month

One of my proudest moments at Fishbowl was winning EOM for July on my SM3 Team. During our team meetings we talk about all of the typical business updates and reminders, but we also select one person who went above the typical duties that month. I was working from home that day due to a sickness and was shocked and happy to hear that I had won! My reward: having this lucky cat hang out on my desk for a month.

[hellokatherineroberts]

Time Flies (When You’re Creating Emails)

I was looking back on previous emails I created for work and found some within my first month or so. Since I work for a marketing company that specializes in restaurants, you can have a wide variety of clients. From fine dining Italian, mom and pop shops, chic urban cafes, and barbecue joints, the collection can get pretty diverse. I’ve learned quite the few tricks this past year and a half and pretty shocked at how much my designs have grown since then. I’ll upload more later on so you can see the clear (embarrassingly) difference too.

[hellokatherineroberts]

CALIFORNIA COASTIN’

Took a two week summer vacation to travel up and down California:

- Visiting family in San Diego

- Exploring Yosemite National Park

- Tasting wines at vineyards in Sonoma Valley

- Hanging out with giraffes at an African Safari

- Walking along the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco

Talk about an adventure!

[hellokatherineroberts]

Home Sweet Home

After about five months of commuting, I almost cried literal tears when my drive went from 1hr20min for a one way trip turned into 15-20 minutes. No more metro for me! I’m still exploring my new home in Arlington, but it has been an amazing adventure so far. Plus seeing the monument right outside of my window (the last image) as nearby planes take off from Reagan Airport, is definitely one of the favorite perks.

[hellokatherineroberts]

100 Days of Happiness

I’ve never done a photo challenge before but in 2016 I wanted to try something new and experiment with taking a photo a day. The project I chose was the 100 Days of Happiness challenge, which is where you photograph something every day that makes you happy or smile. I documented my progress through my Instagram @kathrobphoto and am happy to say I was able to complete it for all 100 days! It’s definitely a challenge to do anything out of your routine for almost three consecutive months, but I’m glad I tried it out. One day, I’d like to try bigger (and hopefully better images) projects such as the 365 photo-a-day for a year.

[hellokatherineroberts]

A Year With Fishbowl Inc.

After 365+ days, I have officially experienced my job in all of its highs and lows throughout all four seasons - and I’m still standing! Here’s just a quick list of what I truly appreciate from working here:

Pursuing My Career Working in my field right after college (advertising/marketing) has been a blessing. I’ve been able to actually put those degrees to use and create email and social campaigns with the knowledge and skills I learned in class. I’m learning new tricks of the trade, industry tips, and am right on track with where I want to be in my career.

Co-Workers & Friends As typical as it sounds, the people you work with really impact your attitude at work. I’ve made some pretty great connections from working at Fishbowl and those people turned into some of my first Virginian friends I could really connect with. Once you move from the standard lunch outings, to hanging outside of work for unrelated reasons, that’s when you really get to know someone. Working with friends definitely makes the job easier and more fun; whether it’s a quick vent session by the coffee machine or having someone help you with a project, I’ve always been so thankful for the people I’ve met here.

Company Unity Fishbowl loves to plan seasonal events. From being a part of our work’s kickball team to competing in our own friendly flag football game, my company does a pretty good job of keeping people engaged in non-work related activities. With our SM3 Team and Local Sales Team, we’ve gone bowling, went on a pirate cruise (pictured above), toured a brewery, saw a DC hypnotist, and watched a baseball game. Plus the occasional holiday party is always a good way to relax and step outside of the 9-5 norm.

The Location We’re located in a beautiful section of the canal in downtown Alexandria, Virginia. We have a nice patio view overlooking the water and occasional bypassing boat, which is the best type of scenery for a work party or happy hour. There are fantastic restaurants just a quick 5 minute drive away in Old Town and the biking and running trail near GW Parkway has the coolest places to explore.

Of course there’s parts of the job that can be stressful and demanding (what job isn't?), but I’m happy to say I’ve truly enjoyed my year at Fishbowl.

[hellokatherineroberts]

Back Tracking to Fall 2015

Finished Fall Semester + Part Time Photo Studio Job

I like to stay busy. And roaming around aimlessly at home while job searching back in fall 2015 didn’t suit me well. So I took up a few classes at a nearby community college to pursue my graphic design skills - and loved it! I hadn’t taken classes like those in college so even though I had just graduated it was interesting to dip my toes into a field I’ve always wanted to explore.

Then since that wasn’t enough, I took up a part time job at a photo studio and got back into photography. I was a photo associate who took portraiture images of families, posed children, and the biggest challenge - photographed babies. 

Meanwhile back to the job hunt, after a few more interviews I successfully landed a job in Alexandria, VA in November of 2015 with a marketing company in the restaurant field called Fishbowl Inc. My job title is Email & Social Media Specialist and as of today I have been there for 15 months so far!

Want to see what my job entails? Check out my LinkedIn account!

https://www.linkedin.com/in/katherinerobertsdesigns

[hellokatherineroberts]

One Year Later

Hello, again! It’s been a while (over 365+ days), but life is finally in a steady pattern and I feel like I have enough down time to blog again. After starting a new job, moving to a new state, meeting new people, and traveling to new states and countries, I FINALLY have had time to stop and take a breath. This week I’ll be catching you up in the best way I know: pictures.

Stay tuned.

[hellokatherineroberts]

AIGA’s Baltimore Design Week 2015

I love staying busy and while I was job searching I wanted to do some volunteering on the side. Luckily for me, I was able to assist as a volunteer for AIGA during Baltimore Design Week as a photographer. I went to three amazing studio tours and was half fly on the wall half eager participant who got to see an in-depth and inside look at three innovation creative agencies. The studios we saw were Havas Helia, Jellyfish, and Exit 10. Baltimore is a creative and bustling city and to be able to work with other like-minded artistic individuals seems like a great way to live. The day was truly inspiring and motivated me even more in the search for my own fulfilling job, I was even able to hand out a few business cards while networking. I’d definitely say it was a fun and productive day. I can’t wait to go to more AIGA events!

[hellokatherineroberts]

Expressive Typography

Type is like people. They have their own characteristics, quirks, and personality traits. Great typography is when you can understand and visualize the image or idea just from how the letters were formed. For my graphic design class, we had to choose a place, person, and thing and represent those words through expressive typography. I’ve always loved nature and was inspired to use that as my centralized theme.

“I took a walk through the woods and came out taller than the trees.”

-Henry David Thoreau

[hellokatherineroberts]

Networking Woes

Throughout college the typical student will hear about the importance of networking every other week. Unfortunately, with busy schedules and crammed extracurriculars all of this vital information can often go in one ear and out the other. Or if you’re like me, you go to all of the career session about networking and diligently take notes, but then aren’t going out in the world and implementing them. I’m not the greatest networker, which is why it has been at the top of my list on things I’d like to improve.

A few days ago I met with one of my college internship coordinators of Tote Magazine and it was fantastic! We met in Frederick for coffee and a walk around downtown since I’d never been in the area before. Shelby (Tote’s Founder) was incredibly helpful and it was so interesting to hear how the magazine and staff had been doing. I think networking often seems intimidating, which is why most people shy away from it. But all it usually takes is a ‘hello,’ an interest in hearing about their life, and a question of two.

The experience was so positive that it’s motivated me to reach out to one person in my contact list every week. It’s easy to get caught in your own bubble, but people are doing interesting things with their lives and the best part is sharing it with others.

If you have any networking advice, please let me know! I’d love to hear it.

[hellokatherineroberts]

Graphic Design Class

Whoever said learning wasn't fun never took a graphic design class. It’s definitely a little different going back to class, but I’ve always loved learning so it was an easy transition. Here is project two where we traced different types of fonts and practiced with tracking and kerning the letters. I’m definitely looking forward to the class’ upcoming projects!

[hellokatherineroberts]

Goodbye summer, hello fall

Summer 2015 has been so good to me. I had my first full time job experience at Discovery, learned how to budget money, spent my free time fully enjoying post-grad life, and was able to balance family, friends, and work life. It was a wonderful summer, but I’m ready to embrace fall.Change is on the horizon and not just with the colors of the leaves. I’ll be taking graphic design classes and continuing my career development while looking for the next job opportunity. In the meantime, stay tuned for photoshoots.