TPS Talks — Katie Russell, Director of Content
Like so many great opportunities in life, Katie Russell came upon The Paradigm Switch purely by chance. While on a client visit in California for her budding digital marketing business, Katie attended a Bunker Brews event with a friend and colleague. Here she met TPS President and Founder Justine Evirs, and it was like she was struck by a lightning bolt.
“I didn’t know how deeply I cared about military spouse employment issues until I was face to face with someone who was working on solving the problem,” she said. “I knew immediately that I had to be involved, in any way that I could. The TPS story is my story. I struggled with unemployment, stigma, and feeling like the odds were stacked against me. Meeting Justine was the first glimmer of hope that I wasn’t alone.”
Looking back on her early days in the organization, Katie remembers soaking up as much knowledge as she could. She watched the other experienced female leaders on the TPS team, viewing them as role models and learning from them every day.
“The Paradigm Switch gave me my first opportunity to truly be part of a leadership team, and a completely distributed one at that,” Katie said. “We were all volunteers at the time, and I learned a lot about boundaries, time management, and balancing a demanding lifestyle as a business owner and military spouse with my volunteer commitments. This was also my first time being able to offer strategic input instead of just serving as the ‘executor in chief’ of an organization. Of course we all got our hands dirty every day, but I also got the opportunity to work on a business instead of in one for the first time.”
Katie’s TPS story is one of many firsts. She immediately jumped into a leadership role as Chief Marketing Officer, one that she worried she was unqualified to hold.
“Earning the role of CMO was a huge honor for me and felt like a quantum leap,” she said. “I constantly felt like an imposter, and I tried to learn and grow as fast as I could to prove I was worthy of the title. Justine saw in me qualities and confidence that I did not yet see in myself, and I will be forever grateful to her for pushing me out of my comfort zone — sometimes way out. I led my first team with The Paradigm Switch, attended my first industry conference, and built my first marketing strategy. Nothing has leveled me up professionally like my time with TPS.”
In mid-2019, Katie made the decision to invest in herself and her personal and professional growth, taking a step back from working with The Paradigm Switch in order to earn her GreenFig Digital Marketing Science certificate. This decision was a hard one as TPS was going through a period of transformation and rebranding at that time. As the CMO, it felt strange and uncomfortable to not be part of those pivotal conversations, but Katie has never regretted her decision.”
“I cannot recommend the GreenFig program enough,” she said. “No matter at what stage you find yourself in your digital marketing journey you will learn and be challenged. I advanced my strategic and technical marketing knowledge exponentially, and I was immediately able to put into practice the things I was learning in class. This is a course designed for practical application — students are expected to collaborate in a hands-on way every day with real tools, real companies, and real ad campaigns. I was exposed to systems and platforms that I’d never had the opportunity to use before, which made me instantly more marketable.”
Katie finished her GreenFig course with a Google Analytics certification, a Google Ads certification, and a Hubspot email marketing certification. However, when the course concluded and it was time to return to TPS, the organization looked much different than the one she had left — in many cases literally. TPS had undergone a complete rebrand in her absence, with a new website, a new color palette, and even new job titles. There was no CMO role to return to since the organization had shifted from corporate titles to nonprofit ones. Despite all this change and uncertainty, Katie’s commitment to the TPS mission never wavered. She knew her place was still on the bus, she just had to find her seat.
“My return to TPS coincided with the Military Influencer Conference in DC in September 2019,” she said. “I had the opportunity to speak on the Realities of Remote Work panel alongside some of the same military spouses I had watched eagerly from the audience at the 2018 event. My meteoric growth over the past year really hit home for me then. The conference was a great time of bonding and camaraderie for the TPS team, and I came away from that event with a blog content plan, a podcast plan, and a new title — Director of Content.”
Katie grew into the Director of Content role over the next few months, working alongside the Director of Marketing, Kimberli Roth. Together they built a content strategy that encompassed the TPS network, a reinvigorated blog, and a brand new podcast. While many of these projects were shelved as The Paradigm Switch began to wind down operations in December 2019, the skills and experience Katie gained from building them were invaluable.
Katie’s future is bright, no matter what direction she chooses to go next.
“I remain committed to the military spouse space,” she said. “That will never change — my passion for and commitment to the mission of military spouse employment is why I kept fighting so hard to balance my successful and demanding business and my work with TPS. It may take a new shape now, but serving military spouses will always be a part of who I am and how I identify myself. Further, I am committed to continuing to learn and push myself professionally. I am profoundly grateful to TPS and for my experiences here as they prepared me to confidently take my next steps.”
The Paradigm Switch wishes to thank Katie for her powerful drive, her bold authenticity, and her unflagging support of our mission. We will be forever grateful for her leadership and vision and can’t wait to see how she will continue to impact lives in her next role.
She IS The Paradigm Switch.
