About Me
Hi! I’m Kate. I help leaders turn story into a real operating system for growth.
Narrative-Led Strategic Marketing Leader. Fractional Advisor. CHIEF Member. Builder of Marketing & GTM Operating Systems.
I’m a narrative-led strategic marketing leader and fractional advisor. I work with founders and teams who know they have something valuable but can’t quite articulate it, scale it or turn it into consistent market traction.
Most of the companies I partner with are at an inflection point. They’ve grown, shifted or evolved but their story hasn’t caught up. The result is scattered messaging, tactical overwhelm and a lot of “we know something’s off, we just don’t know what.”
That’s where I come in. Combining storytelling and strategy to build engines that actually work.
I help leaders clarify who they are, why they matter and how they grow—then build the marketing foundation and GTM structure that turns that clarity into momentum.
Journalism roots. Narrative instincts.
Before I ever led a marketing team, I spent a decade as an award-winning journalist. I reported on everything from construction and skin care to human-interest stories and local news. I also founded LoganSquarist, a hyperlocal media platform that grew into a neighborhood hub.
Those experiences trained me to:
- Find the real story beneath the surface
- Ask sharp, respectful questions
- Move fast without losing depth
- Make complex topics understandable
That same muscle now powers my advisory work. I dig into the “why,” spot the narrative gaps and help teams see their business with clearer eyes.
From agencies and Fortune 100s to founder-led teams.
Over the past 20 years I’ve led and shaped strategy for global brands like JPMorgan Chase, Procter & Gamble and Tetra Pak, agencies and consultancies where positioning and GTM discipline are everything, and founder-led or mission-driven organizations navigating growth and change.
At 8th Light, I served as VP of Growth, leading marketing and sales, building a cross-functional growth team and launching the company’s first integrated go-to-market strategy. Across roles, the pattern stays the same: I step into complexity, bring narrative clarity and build systems that teams can actually use.
How I partner with clients today.
Today I partner primarily with founder-led consultancies and agencies, B2B services and SaaS companies, and mission-driven organizations in moments of transition.
I focus on three core areas:
- Narrative as an operating system. Your story becomes a system that guides decisions, aligns teams and shapes your GTM—not just a tagline.
- Healthy leadership marketing. Strategy only sticks where leadership alignment and psychological safety exist. I help you build marketing that matches your organizational maturity.
- Marketing foundation and GTM structure. We design pragmatic, scalable systems—brand platforms, messaging, ICP clarity and GTM plans—so your team knows what to say, to whom and how it drives the business.
Sometimes that looks like a brand platform and messaging engagement. Sometimes it is a GTM and marketing foundation sprint. Sometimes it is ongoing fractional advisory that keeps leadership and marketing in sync.
How I work.
Clients describe working with me as clarifying, confidence building and grounding — direct but warm, strategic and practical, curious with a strong bias for action.
I integrate quickly, ask sharp questions and build structures your team can actually run. I’m not the “growth hack” person. I’m the “let’s get clear, build something solid then scale it intentionally” person.
What fuels me outside the office.
I’m still fueled by the same things that drew me to journalism and marketing: curiosity, creativity and community.
When I’m not in strategy mode, you’ll find me running long distances, singing karaoke, gardening, knitting, traveling or occasionally blogging about food and creativity. Those outlets keep me grounded and remind me that good work is supposed to make room for a full life.
Recognition.
- CHIEF Member
- Founder of LoganSquarist recognized twice by Cook County Commissioner Luis Arroyo Jr., 8th District
- @LoganSquarist named Twitter handle to follow by RedEye Chicago
- Hanley Wood Red Point Finalist and TABPI TABBIE Award recipient
Let’s talk.
If you’re navigating a rebrand, repositioning, leadership transition or simply feel like “something isn’t landing,” I can help you move from scattered to aligned and from reactive to intentional.
Reach out on 🤝 LinkedIn or ✉️ email me.
Kind Words, Big Results
“I met Kate through the Association of Women Journalists (AWJ) and immediately was impressed (and inspired) by her creativity, drive, work ethic and use of social media. Her passion for journalism, digital media and communications overall is evident in the projects she takes on, including LoganSquarist, an online news outlet that she founded that uses social media to socialize the neighborhood. What I admire about Kate is her vitality as well as her desire to keep learning and growing personally and professionally. Kate is a modern-day renaissance woman who is multitalented (ask about her travel, knitting and marathon exploits!) and who brings instant value to any team or organization.”
“Kate has an incredible amount of drive when it comes to LoganSquarist. In the six months that I’ve been involved, I’ve watched the site grow from a pet project to a respected community publication. This success can be attributed to Kate’s technical and leadership skills. From building out the site to off-hours community management and a consistent flow of content, the site improves by leaps and bounds on a weekly basis. When it comes to team management, Kate delegates tasks in an organized and efficient manner, making her an all around great and inspiring person to work with.”
“Kate will be an instant asset for any company she joins. Her unique understanding of how the digital landscape and content play nicely together is second to none. Kate has the ability to jump into any conversation about digital strategy or tacos and feel at ease. I've enjoyed working with her in various roles and she creates and designs THE BEST presentations, regardless of the subject. As a team member or leader within an organization, Kate gets my highest recommendation. ”
“I had the pleasure of working with Kate for just over a year and watching her in action. Kate is an immensely talented digital marketer, account manager and processes guru who balances a keen eye for detail with an almost intuitive grasp of the big picture. Her deep wells of industry knowledge allow her to bring a depth of expertise and professionalism to almost any task she sets her mind to. During her time at IntraLink Global, she was instrumental in implementing many integral processes that set a framework for how we operate. I learned a lot from working with Kate, and her guidance and mentorship was invaluable in my professional development. ”
“Kate is a wealth of knowledge who served as a tremendous mentor for all of our team members while constantly improving processes and workflows. She’s a tremendous project manager, pays great attention to detail, and is able to demand results from her team with respect. At LoganSquarist she has built and led a team of dozens of volunteer contributors committed to her vision of a community resource. I would happily work with Kate again anytime!”
“For nearly two years, I had the pleasure of working alongside Kate to develop social strategies. Kate has an extraordinary knowledge of the ever-changing social and digital media landscape. She has an endless enthusiasm for taking on new projects and effortlessly provides guidance for clients across a variety of industries. She's an excellent communicator, and will be a great addition to any team!”
“Kate is a natural leader and I can easily say the best boss I ever had. Kate hired me as the Director of Video Production at the agency Imagination where she was the VP of Digital. On top of Video Production, she also had reports from Audio, SEO, Analytics and Web Development divisions as well. She would consistently champion people she thought needed to be seen in leadership and client meetings where they sometimes might have been overlooked. Kate takes time to listen wisely and is always buzzing with ideas on how to make things more effective. Her energy is contagious and I’d work with her again any day.”
“Kate has been a fantastic resource for all things digital, whether redesigning my website on Wordpress, fine tuning my social media profiles, or understanding Google Analytics. She's an excellent communicator, and I will absolutely hire her again in the future.”
“Kate was a wonderful consultant to work with on my business web site project. She had fresh ideas, laid out a detailed plan of work, stayed on time and budget and presented me with a product that looked great and more importantly, has been easy for me to manage on my own. Will definitely send more of my clients her way.”
“Kate did and excellent job with our website. We have received several compliments on how nice it looks and how easy it is to navigate. She also went above and beyond to make sure that we were able to update and the website ourselves through Wordpress. I cannot gush about how awesome she is and how happy we are with the site and her dedication to the project.”
“Kate is a real professional and a pleasure to work with. She is a great communicator and always put her client's (my company) interest first. She is tremendously personal and had a great understanding of our business and how she could help it. She is great and is a tremendous asset to any company.”
“One of the best things I've ever done in my career is work with Kate Hamilton. Her enthusiasm for all things editorial, not to mention her energy and passion for any project she's involved with, is contagious. In addition to being a natural born leader, she's also a creative type, a thinker, a stickler for details, and someone with incredible vision and the drive to get things done. I always marvel at how she is constantly teaching herself new things. She always seems to be ahead of the curve on anything related to social media, and she also has an eye for design. This lady rocks! And she continues to be a mentor to me and others in journalism and communications.”
“I worked with Kate during my time as a community manager at Lightspan Digital while Kate was my direct manager. Kate’s communication practices really taught me how to navigate the sometimes complicated agency world. As an account manger, Kate smoothly orchestrated 10+ accounts at one time as well as help me manage and prioritize tasks in my role. Kate was a role model during my first few years in the professional world and continues to be so to this day.”