Kate—up close
Kate Harrison Whiteside
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Chance meetings change lives
I have been so lucky to have had people who saw things in me and pointed me in new directions. My university English prof for example. In the first term, she pulled me aside and said "Your writing isn't really academic in style. You would be better off in journalism." I took that advice and never looked back. Journalism lead me to freelancing, which lead me to a plain language, which is where I am today. |
Clients
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Somethings we're born to do
I used to pretend to be a teacher when I was young. Then in my high school English class, the teacher let us take turns leading the class. It was much harder than I thought, but I liked it. When I first started freelancing, a fellow consultant said "You should really be teaching people how to write better." And, she opened the door to adult education for me. It has been one of the most rewarding aspects of my career. And, it lead to developing the PlainLanguageAcademy.com.
Great communicators need mentors
Mentors come in many shapes and sizes. It can be a deep relationship, like a marriage, with lots of sharing, taking on risks together. It can be someone who drops in and out of your life with advice, motivation, contracts, a friend. Or, it can be someone who is always there, backing you up, helping you out, like family. I have them all. And, it keeps me working harder, better, more creatively to help people communicate clearly and connect with their clients.
Clear communication speaks for itself
I focus my international clear communication expertise—writing, editing, training and project management—on achieving benefits for my clients and their clients. Whether working on my own, on a team, or as a project leader, I am passionate about finding tailored, successful solutions. It has to be a win-win.
I used to pretend to be a teacher when I was young. Then in my high school English class, the teacher let us take turns leading the class. It was much harder than I thought, but I liked it. When I first started freelancing, a fellow consultant said "You should really be teaching people how to write better." And, she opened the door to adult education for me. It has been one of the most rewarding aspects of my career. And, it lead to developing the PlainLanguageAcademy.com.
Great communicators need mentors
Mentors come in many shapes and sizes. It can be a deep relationship, like a marriage, with lots of sharing, taking on risks together. It can be someone who drops in and out of your life with advice, motivation, contracts, a friend. Or, it can be someone who is always there, backing you up, helping you out, like family. I have them all. And, it keeps me working harder, better, more creatively to help people communicate clearly and connect with their clients.
Clear communication speaks for itself
I focus my international clear communication expertise—writing, editing, training and project management—on achieving benefits for my clients and their clients. Whether working on my own, on a team, or as a project leader, I am passionate about finding tailored, successful solutions. It has to be a win-win.
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Skills and Knowledge
I combined my Journalism from Mount Royal College, Business Administration from Red River and Adult Education from St FX to build a communications services and training company. Specializing in web content and plain language has opened doors in government, business, international organizations and not-for-profits locally and internationally. I am currently learning Tai Chi. |
Out in the Community
2020 – Leader of Write It Down, writers group at Fernie Library Editors Canada Conferences 2018–Bridging Communities : Plain Language stream host. 2016–Plain Language Process panel presenter. 2018 - 2019 Webinar presenter. Available on their site. PLAIN 2017, Graz, Austria Presenter. Links are on their site. 2017 -2019 – PLAIN Plain Language Association International Membership Co-Chair. |
What Clients Say
"...appreciative of the effort she put into ensuring clarity not only in the documents but also between herself and the organization...." "...Kate met our needs, worked within our timelines and was hired again to do more coaching..." "...Kate helped us through her broad range of skills in communication, creating web information and planning for our future..." |
