Today we’d like to introduce you to Katlyn Proctor.
Hi Katlyn, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I’m nothing more than an overly anxious human who’s often overly caffeinated, but damn do I love to tell a good story.
I’m talking the feel-good stories, the ones that leave your brain full of new information after some leisure enrichment. The ones that make a difference in the community. The ones that leave you with new friends. The ones that make the hard stories a little softer.
Print was the name of my game and I started out pursuing two degrees at a private, out-of-state university: one in journalism and another in creative writing. Byline and above-the-fold stories were what I craved so I pursued a career as a newspaper editor in New Hampshire, where I was born and raised. I learned early on that hard news (covering fires and murders) wasn’t my cup of tea but social media and feature-story writing were my jam.
Since then, I’ve bounced back and forth between public relations and journalism, keeping my skills in both arenas well-rounded and ready to put to good use. I even went back to school for a graduate degree in social media after I learned how much I loved it. I relocated to Winston-Salem, North Carolina, where I immediately became smitten with the big heart of the community that you find in this big-little city.
That wasn’t without its struggles, though. North Carolina has been a tough adjustment for me coming from New England: I was laid off twice and sent into major financial setbacks. My tattoos and piercings were too forward-thinking for some of the corporate offices. There was a lot of disrespect at times because of my gender — regardless of my education and varied experience.
But writing is my passion and it’s not something I pursued because of the potential salary. I pursued it because having a pencil in my hand and being surrounded by sticky notes full of scribbles feel right.
I switched from hard news to feature news and loved every second of being the leader of Winston-Salem Monthly magazine for a few years. From cover to cover, the pages were filled with hyper-local, feel-good content that people loved; investigative and long-form journalism sprinkled in here and there to help inform and educate.
Today, you’ll find me with coffee in hand, deep in storytelling mode, gushing about the new business that opened up to some folks who just moved to the city. Other times, you’ll find me at my historic work office with Visit Winston-Salem, helping market the city of Winston-Salem as a hip and historic destination to future travelers, still with a cup of coffee in hand.
Either way, I’m a brand ambassador for the city as a whole. It’s a perfect fit, really.
Alright, 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?
The short version is no, it hasn’t been a smooth road — not with almost $300,000 in student loan debt and no way to manage it.
The argument for student loan debt is long and arduous but one that needs attention. Oftentimes, I’m hurled statements like, “You made the decision to go to school, you know what you were getting into.”
Well, sure. I knew conceptually at the age of 17 what college was — but I didn’t know a thing about interest rates, promissory notes, and repayment plans. I had no idea the commitment I was really making. After all, getting a college degree was something instilled in me at a young age and additional avenues were never pursued.
Before I knew what I was doing, I signed myself up for high private loans at 10 percent interest at a private institution in Rhode Island, and years later, my total student loan debt nearly quadrupled — but not for lack of trying.
I never set on a career path with the intent of becoming a millionaire, but I did set out to make a solid living wage for myself. It never would have crossed my mind that pursuing an undergraduate and graduate degree would sink me to the poverty line forever, tainting my credit score and forever stressing me out.
Now factor in reality: I moved to North Carolina for a job only to be laid off six months later. I landed on my feet within another six months only to have a layoff happen all over again in 2018, the latter of which left me almost homeless and with a repossessed car. I’m STILL catching up.
During the pandemic, I filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy where I arranged a payment plan of $1,000 a month toward my debt. As my final (and only) option, this is a big improvement compared to the $1,700 a month that’s absolutely insane.
Life’s a lot easier now but it shouldn’t be this hard, right? We learn.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Words on a page, baby, that’s what I do. Whether print or online, I want to tell the stories of Winston-Salem to the world. To me, words are my puzzle to solve — and that’s what I specialize in. All of my degrees specialize in journalism or writing, and my career has stayed laser focused on this.
By day, I work as the Public Relations & Communications Manager for Visit Winston-Salem. During my “off-hours,’ I freelance in the digital marketing and print journalism world for companies all over the U.S., including New Hampshire, Charlotte, and Winston-Salem.
I’m comfortable saying that I’m often a thorn; I’m a ‘call-it-like-I-see-it’ kind of person that works hard, always with the best intention in mind. My passion for this line of work is apparent in all that I do, which is how I became a sudden ambassador for Winston-Salem.
How do you think about happiness?
Coffee. Time with my boyfriend and the cats, the usual.
Something I take very seriously (but makes me very happy) is my solid mental health routine that includes regular talk therapy sessions and medication. It’s OK to need help seeing the good in life and now that I’ve discovered that myself, the small things in life make me happy: the perfect breeze on a Saturday morning over a steaming cup of java, a surprise candy bar, doing all of the laundry in one weekend.
Contact Info:
- Email: katlyn@kpcreative.org
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/katlyn_proctor/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/katlyn.proctor
