Let Me Introduce Myself
Content strategist. Brand voice obsessive. Thirteen years in, and still asking the most interesting questions of my career.
I began my career at Schlage, where I spent five years working my way from intern to the brand team, rewriting the brand voice from scratch, ghostwriting executive bylines, and gaining ownership over any copy that our brand placed into any channel. At some point my colleagues began calling me the “Brand Voice” and I’ve been living up to that ever since.
Since then I've built content programs from scratch for companies that had none, rebuilt programs that had stopped working, and managed content strategy for as many as twelve clients simultaneously across B2B tech, SaaS, healthcare, consumer goods, higher education, and more. The industries change, but he problems are usually the same: the strategy isn't connected to the execution, the voice isn't usable by the people who need it, or the system breaks down the moment you try to scale it.
That last one is what brought me to AI.
On Strategy, AI, and Why the Tools Are the Easy Part
The best feedback I've consistently gotten from colleagues and managers is that I'm strategic. Not just creative, not just a good writer, but a strategic thinker. And I've come to believe that strategic thinking is what separates the people who will thrive in an AI-saturated content environment from the ones who won't.
That’s because I believe the current tools are temporary. The automation platforms that are essential today will be obsolete soon, already beginning to be replaced by something you can build with a natural language prompt. The people who will still be indispensable when that happens aren't the ones who learned the most tools. They're the ones who understood the problems to be solved well enough to know what to build, and why, and for whom.
That's what I offer. I'm deepening my technical fluency through Make, n8n, SQL, and prompt engineering, not because I think the platforms will last forever, but because understanding how these systems work makes me better at designing the strategy around them. I know how to use AI to accelerate content production without losing the editorial judgment that makes content worth producing in the first place. And when the next wave of tools arrives, I'll know how to prompt my way into them, too.
That’s how I know that brand voice governance in the age of AI involves a lot more than just setting up a custom GPT or choosing just the right training materials. It requires an understanding of the overall system that your brand is using to weave that voice into materials, and a thorough mapping of each potential risk point — for starters.
A Few Things Worth Knowing
I'm based in New Orleans, which means I bring an unreasonable amount of enthusiasm to any conversation about food, music, or local color, but I work with teams and clients everywhere.
I've spent 13 years in this field and I'm still genuinely curious about it. The questions I'm asking now about how AI changes the relationship between speed and quality, and about how brand voice survives countless teams using the same generative tools, are the most interesting ones I've encountered yet.
If any of that sounds like the kind of thinking your team needs, I'd love to talk.
What people say about my work:
“Kim has a unique combination of skills that make her a fantastic writer. She is a phenomenal listener. Her deep understanding of the subject matter she represents informs her approach. She is a true creative. Kim's approach is always fresh and unique. She is a pro. Kim's ability to identify the right tone and "voice" for her work is not typical in my experience. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend her as someone that I trust to deliver great work regardless of genre, or environment.”
— Rob, Schlage/Allegion
“I’ve had the pleasure of working with Kim Steinmetz for four years. She’s hardworking, relentlessly creative, and always ahead of the curve when it comes to technology. Her innovative mindset in a fast changing world is matched only by her ability to bring fresh, compelling ideas to the table. Over the past year, she’s successfully upgraded her skills from ‘being a great writer’ to an AI forward leader on our team. I’d highly recommend her!”
— Rajat, &Marketing
“Kim is the kind of teammate every content director hopes to have — sharp, curious, and incredibly dependable. She brings a rare balance of big-picture thinking and precision, which shows up in everything from content and messaging strategy to SEO and copywriting.
She’s also quietly pioneering in the AI space. Kim has developed custom GPTs tailored to our work and has already started streamlining internal processes to make our content workflows more efficient. She’s thinking critically about how these tools fit into real-world marketing work. Kim loves a challenge to sink her teeth into.
What I appreciate most is her thoughtfulness. Kim asks smart questions, listens closely, and delivers work that’s both strategic and grounded in execution. She's someone I trust with the details and the context behind them, which is no small thing in a fast-moving environment like ours. Kim been a tremendous asset to our team, and I’m genuinely excited to see what she does next.”
— Beth, &Marketing
“Partnering with Kim was refreshing, from both her diligence, intellect, and work ethic to her ability to be creative and execute with little-to-no resources. She managed to help drive, or in many cases completely own, parts of our content strategy. Her dynamic mix of both creative writing abilities and a strategic understanding of how customers will engage with a brand and her efforts directly impacted Onebridge, leading to increase web traffic and customer engagement. She will be a wonderful addition to any team and organization, and I hope that our professional paths cross again in the future.”