Cool & Confident Katie Kirkpatrick Talks Capitol Power Group, Camp North End & CocoRosie
Written by Meg Seitz · Photography by Julia Fay
Katie Kirkpatrick is just cool.
She’s thoughtful and funny, unique and stylish, all as if she casually walked out of a Wes Anderson movie. {continued below}
Kirkpatrick works a Project Coordinator for the Capitol Power Group (CPG), a company based in the Ashburn, Virginia ‘suburb’ of Washington D.C. that provides infrastructure solutions to Fortune 1000 companies and IT-dependent firms of all sizes; for all intents and purposes, services that power data centers. CPG’s Carolinas division is new and growing – the team is three people strong; Kirkpatrick’s sister, Jessi, and Kirkpatrick herself serve as two of the three. Jessi, an engineer, was working as a sales representative for the company when she recruited her sister to join the team during a busy, understaffed season.
“I was looking for something long-term – a big girl job, I guess – and Jessi really needed help,” she explains. “I’ve always worked manual labor jobs, so this was really different, but a great opportunity to work my way up through a small company; they’re willing to go where you want to go as an employee.”
Kirkpatrick was hired temporarily in November 2016, then joined the company full-time; she earned two promotions in the less-than-one-year since she’s been with the company.
“It’s exciting because there’s something new every day, and I’m learning something new every day,” she shares. “As someone with no corporate experience before now, it’s been a good, growing experience.”
“It’s exciting because there’s something new every day, and I’m learning something new every day.”
Kirkpatrick is a good example of a career transformation. She’s worked a variety of jobs some of which required manual labor. But when Kirkpatrick talk about her work that immediately preceded her role at CPG, she’s referring to her time at Shining Hope Farms, a non-profit farm started by her parents to serve special needs children and adults with a variety of disabilities including (but not limited to) Cerebral Palsy, Autism, Down’s Syndrome, developmental disabilities, brain injuries, Hypotomia. Shining Hope Farms specializes in equine-assisted activities and Hippotherapy.
“My mom is the Executive Director, and I was working with her on everything,” Kirkpatrick shares. “From office management to blog writing to grant writing to fundraising – really, anything they needed for the farm and for the office.”
Kirkpatrick is still heavily involved in Shining Hope Farms; and the skills she learned there became the hallmark of what she’s doing now.
A couple of months into Kirkpatrick’s time at CPG, the small team experienced a realization – they needed more office space than their current office in Southpark. Jessi started to research co-working in Charlotte. The team toured most (if not all) of Charlotte’s co-working spaces, but their experience at Hygge’s Hill Street location was the most memorable for several reasons.
“A lot of female musicians inspire me,” she gushes. “Musicians like CoCoRossi.”
“We were supposed to meet Garrett at the Hill Street location, and when he got there, he came walking up the stairs, and ended up tripping and falling,” she shares with a sweet laugh. “I still think of that moment, and I laugh; he was so embarrassed; that was our first impression of him.”
That moment – Garrett was fine, for all those wondering – was both funny and real, two staples of the Hygge spirit.
“Garrett just really cares about this space and this community,” she says. “It wasn’t about the money, it was just about the feel which was warm and welcoming.”
CPG’s team settled in at Hygge West – until recently. They were one of the first to move to the Camp North End location to accommodate their growing team.
“I love how Camp North End feels like something out of a Mad Max movie,” Kirkpatrick shares. “And I’m excited to see what’s going to happen here.”
Kirkpatrick’s cool and confident style is hard to miss. And it begs the question of where she draws her fashion inspiration.
“A lot of female musicians inspire me,” she gushes. “Musicians like CoCoRossi.” She continues, speaking to time living in Nashville and East Nashville’s fashion scene.
Her every day, personal style game though? “I put on whatever I want,” she acknowledges, confidently.
Like I said, she’s just cool.
Meet the Author: Meg Seitz is the Founder and Managing Creative Partner of toth shop, an agency with one goal: Elevate your brand’s content through powerful writing, creativity, and strategy. She also serves as an Adjunct Professor with Queens University and Founding Partner of the children’s book series, “Bea is for Business”.
She’s an English major with an MBA, so she can talk Homer’s “The Odyssey” just as well as she can talk sunk costs – though she’d much prefer the former.
Meet the photographer: Hi, nice to meet you! I’m Julia. I’m my happiest self when my camera is in hand and I’m taking in this big beautiful world around me! People are my jam and the fact that this job brings so many wonderful people into my life is pretty special.
I grew up performing mostly in front of the camera! Singing, acting, comedy improv – anything on a stage or in front of a lens. The roles began to switch as I entered my freshman year of college and found a creative outlet through photography. My first “real” shoot was when an engaged friend of mine asked me to photograph her and her fiancé. Within moments of getting started, I knew that this was it. Telling peoples love stories, that is what I’m supposed to do! I shot my first wedding at nineteen, and well you know what they say..the rest is history! We’ve been together ever since 🙂
