ask ben
I would recommend Katie for any position where inspiration, integrity, and design/creative excellence is critically valued.
I had the privilege of working with Katie for five seven years during my tenure as the VP, Product & Marketing, Agent Products at Meta Payment Systems (a division of MetaBank). I brought Katie in as the first design resource as I was building an internal marketing team to replace two long-standing marketing agency retainer relationships. Katie came to us from Dakota State University with an excellent portfolio, but more importantly, with a remarkable ability to talk not only about her work, but about the visual problem she was trying to solve and her intention behind her visual solutions.
Katie is an excellent designer, but more than that, she was consistently invested in critical thinking and creative problem solving both in terms of a bigger picture and then tactically in the context of that macro-perspective. Katie is thoughtful and soft-spoken, but don’t let her quiet demeanor fool you - she was always willing to respectfully and professionally share perspective in cases not only when she was in favor or support of an idea, but also in cases where she didn’t agree with me or the broader team directionally. She was adept at asking a key question that would graciously point to a potential design or solution deficiency while helping others succeed. Katie actively participated in brainstorming sessions and developed into a capable leader. I was thrilled to step back and watch Katie lead white-board sessions during creative concepting. She cultivated trust and inspired the team to ask excellent questions, which drove remarkable design and communication approaches that were both relevant and unexpected.
In addition to actively doing her own design work, Katie provided creative design direction and oversight and work supervision of the other design staff, again providing a safe creative environment, instilling confidence and inspiring the team. Katie’s academic and professional experience gave her a strong and well-articulated design sensibility, and she consistently pushed the other designers by authentically asking them about the intention behind their design decisions. This drove a natural accountability that resulted in design excellence and a positive work experience.
Along with her commitment to excellence at Meta, Katie is also a gifted photographer with an amazing image composition sensibility. And Katie gave back to the greater Sioux Falls creative community through her investment in co-founding and board leadership of JAM Art & Supply. JAM is invested in re-distributing gently used art supplies and resources to artists, children and other not-for-profit organizations in support of ensuring that art-making is available to everyone.
Finally, I would close this endorsement with this – If I was ever looking to fill a creative leadership position, my first call would be to Katie Zautke.
If you have any questions about Katie’s qualifications or abilities, please don’t hesitate to reach out.
Benjamin
Benjamin Arnold
605.359.5877 mobile voice or text
benjaminmatthewarnold@gmail.com
Sioux Falls, SD