hi there
I'm Kaitlin
pleased to meet ya!
Whatcha doin' in my waters?
Here for
Work
Looking to hire me, collaborate, or see what I’ve worked on? Start here.
Here for
Fun
Commentary, observations, experiments, & occasional existential spirals about branding, perception, and human behavior.
"Okay...so what's your whole deal?"
OMG
I thought you were never gonna ask!!
Let’s just say that I’ve always been mesmerized by the quietly consequential ways ideas seep into everyday life, whether that’s a movie influencing how we decorate our homes, a slogan becoming part of the common lexicon, or an online meme quietly rewiring an entire generation’s sense of humor. None of that feels random to me.
That’s why I never really bought into the idea of chasing trends. Every aesthetic, obsession, inside joke, and nostalgic callback is a clue about who people are, what they value, and what they’re hoping to find next. Trends are just one place those clues show up. That’s the lens I use when I think about brands, too. Because brands don’t exist outside of culture, they’re one of the ways culture expresses itself.
…Sorry, I kind of blacked out there. I have absolutely no idea if that answered your question.
Maybe this will help?
“You don’t need to be more convincing. You need to be more congruent.”
(& getting all the pieces to line up is my special interest)
I’m Kaitlin Sanders, a pop-culture anthropologist (self-appointed) and brand strategist by trade. I help brands figure out what they stand for, what to say, and why anyone should care.
My background is a bit of a mix: psychology degree, marketing leadership, years of people watching, and an unhealthy obsession with the why behind what we buy, share, and scroll past.
I bring all that to the table so you don’t have to.
The profesh bit
aka. Included on my résumé under “Areas of Expertise.”
Brand Strategy
Narrative Building
Brand Expression
Presence & Perception
Strategic Project Management
" Kaitlin leads with creativity & compassion. She's an old soul with a new vision for what it means to be an all-encompassing artist. "
- Dolly Parton
How I Work
More content, more polish, more ideas, more everything isn’t necessarily more effective.
Knowing what’s working, what isn’t, and where to put your energy next is.
1
Investigate
Start with the evidence. What’s happening, what’s changed, what have people said, and what keeps catching attention?
2
Understand
Determine what’s underneath “it”. The pattern, the disconnect, the opportunity, the thing everyone can feel but nobody has quite named yet.
3
Test
Put an idea into the world and see what it does. Sometimes that means a new message. Sometimes a new page. Sometimes we find out very quickly that our brilliant idea was, in fact, not brilliant.
4
Align
Once we know what works, make the rest of the experience agree with it. The positioning, the words, the visuals, the behavior. No mixed signals. No bait-and-switch.
5
Refine
Keep watching. Keep improving. And ideally, eventually arrive at the part where somebody sends me a screenshot and says, “Holy sh*t. Did you see last month’s numbers?”