Creative Ecosystems Not Career Ladders: Multi-Project Mastery with the Ferocious Kaitlin Carpenter

Kaitlin Carpenter runs her freelance company under the name "BattleCat"—inspired by her family's first cat and the perfectly fierce energy she brings to her work. From a small town in rural Idaho to working on projects like NASA Earth Sciences and heading up CreativeMornings Portland, Kaitlin embodies what it looks like to build a career around values rather than a predetermined strategy. In this conversation, we explore her journey from being discouraged by a dismissive creative writing professor in college to now pursuing her MFA while maintaining a rich ecosystem of meaningful work. Kaitlin opens up about the bridge-building potential that comes from understanding both rural and urban perspectives, her seven years leading CreativeMornings Portland with intentional attention to justice and representation, and why she created a literal punch card to reward herself for saying no to social invitations. We dive into the benefits and challenges of having multiple professional identities—from the cross-pollination of ideas between projects to the constant juggling act of competing priorities. Kaitlin shares practical wisdom about templatizing what you can while accepting what you can't predict, the importance of talking through decisions with trusted friends, and why she believes deciding is more important than making the perfect decision.  You can find Kaitlin at: https://kaitlincarpenter.com/https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaitlincarpenter/

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