Katy Jo’s Kitchen

Since I was a child, surviving in nature has been fascinating.  The games I played would be to find edible flowers and plants in nature, to pack “survival kits” and to build forts using the simple resources nature provided.  As I’ve grown, I’ve noticed that I’ve become much more reliant on the amenities of the western industrial world and strive to fight a dependence on life as we know it.

With global warming causing what seems to be a dramatic increase of natural disasters, there is a heightening sense of a need to be prepared in the back of my mind that is a burgeoning passion.  Planning for disasters and leading others through and out of their wake is a cause I’d like to develop into a career.

I believe my interest in this field is well-justified as US News and World Report in the March 24/31 2008 edition states, “The field of emergency planning has grown.  Of course, emergency planners prepare for and respond to other disasters, such as fires, floods, tornadoes, earthquakes, outbreaks of highly infectious diseases, and major accidents.  The field has formalized, with 250 bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral programs in place or in the works.”

Those who have been around me during basic stressful situations such as taking care of 7 kids or getting to a gate at the airport will vouch that I’m pretty down-to-earth and relaxed.  The people I’ve aided and taken care of during extremely stressful and traumatic situations will say that I am naturally skilled at quickly planning to get the situation under control and the involved parties fully recovered.

My personality and developed skills would be really useful in a disaster relief environment.  Although I’ve not worked in this field professionally yet, I believe that I’ll excel here as I am a natural leader, excellent under stress, incredibly dependable, adaptable and flexible, very organized and detail oriented as well as a good listener and skilled communicator.

I’ve started doing research on the field and would really appreciate anyone who has advice for my journey.

Some goals I’d like to consider accomplishing are to complete graduate studies in Crisis Disaster Management or in public health, FEMA Professional Development Series, ICS (G190-G196 & IS 195) training, NIMS (100, 200, 700 and 800) courses, The Professional in Emergency Management (IS 513) course, Recovery from Disaster: The Local Government Role (E 210) training, IAEM Certification and the Emergency Manger (IS 1) training.

Some job titles that I’d like to pursue are: security manager, Incident Response, Policy & Planning, Training and Exercise Coordinator, Manager, Program Manager, Emergency Response Team and Risk Management Program.

Some organizations I’m interested in learning more about are USPHS Commissioned Corps, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, American Red Cross, GEMA/FEMA, Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Georgia Environmental Protection Division, Center for Disease Control and State Emergency Response Commission

Here is my Disaster Relief Resume for whomever may be interested.

Have you job searched in the past few years? If so, then you understand all the dynamics of being a “Full-time job searcher”. Chime in if your experience is anything like mine.

You can’t sleep at night and when you do your dreams are of the places where you envision yourself working. Even before you break into a new position and uncover all the stressors that go along with that job you’re already having nightmares about it. At my last company (a start-up) when things got stressful and we worked 12 hour days we’d have what we call “Zoi-mares” - our subconscious’s literally exuded work.

You find online applications that take over an hour to be pointless because you’ve never met someone who was actually hired because they filled out an online application so you skip most of those jobs.

You forget what kind of job you wanted when you started looking and anything that pays starts to look appealing. Then, you send out a blast of applications for jobs you’d take but don’t really want and realize you’d be miserable and are back at square one.

You write your resume over 15 times because it just doesn’t encompass what you have to offer and looks, well… let’s say not how you want it to look.

You spend 12 hours a day in front of your computer and on the phone.

Cooking and cleaning are very appealing distractions and when you set aside job searching you do other productive things like rearranging your file cabinets or under your sink just because you’re so overwhelmed with the “search”.

You realize how stupid and wasteful of time watching TV is.

Each day you wake-up with a plan and it rarely works out that way.

Your dogs cry when you leave because they’re so used to being around you 24-7 that they get attached.

The upside of job searching is that my house is cleaner, I’m exercising and eating well, my dogs are happier and I have my life’s goals visualized better than before. The downside is, well, that I haven’t found a job!

I know one thing is true. At the end of the day I cannot settle for a job where I’m not doing what I want or working towards a goal that I believe benefits the world because I won’t be happy in the core of my heart. Susan Pinker (the author of the below quote) points out that this concept of doing what makes us happy has long-been seen as a weakness of women but is becoming more widely accepted and appreciated. Whew.

So I’ll take a long bath, meditate, eat fruit and veggies and drink enough water, create a new recipe, play with my dogs and enjoy where I am today. I hope you do the same no matter where you are today J

“Maintaining a close social network comes easily to many women, but until recently the skills required to keep people connected–being a good listener, communicator, and ‘mind reader’–seemed invisible next to more quantifiable traits, such as gifts in math or science. Whatever was associated with the male model of success was considered to have more merit. But now that empathy and altruism are being measured and linked to a longer, happier life, what was once taken for granted may acquire new luster. If most women prefer pursuits that connect them with others or allow them to make a difference over competing for the biggest paycheck, then the extreme male model of work will make them miserable or disconnected, as it did for many I profiled. The fact that they could change jobs to incorporate their wider interests is a benefit of postfeminist Western democracy. The ability to follow your inclinations instead of doing work that others think you should do is a feature of free society.”–Susan Pinker, from the Sexual Pardox: Mena, Women, and The Real Gender Gap (Scribner)

I love personality tests every once in awhile probably because I normally feel pretty good about myself after I complete one.

Not only do personality tests but so do self-awareness and history identify the following as traits of my personality:

“An Animated Leader”

Creative

Analytical

Practical

Personable

Innovative

Intellectual

Honest

Strategic

Disciplined

Confident

Open

Earthy/Imaginative

I look at the world with a fresh and set my own trends. Routine is not my goal as I’m a go with the flow type. I march to your own drum and enjoy being in charge more than working and compromising with others. I have keen observational skills and thinking is your idea of fun. I have an affinity for the outdoors and enjoy the chance to get physical. I’m a natural teacher and leader. I am friendly and have a genuine desire to help others. I’m an undeniable go-getter who knows how to get what I want in life.

On the DISC profile I’m straight up d.i.s.c.

Tickle.com
My Personal DNA

What are you? Knowing who you are is pivotal in being happy with where you are whether it is at home or in your career.

Check out the tests I referenced above and the BBC’s website on the brain.

First and foremost, here is my Resume because I’m looking for a job and appreciate YOUR HELP in finding one. This is my Linked In Account for further employment and networking information.

Due to personal issues, I relocated to Atlanta/Alpharetta from Nashville on Jan 1^st 2008 and am now looking for a full-time job. Job searching is hard work and a full-time job all at once. I have to admit that playing with my dogs and cooking that next recipe that I’ve compiled in my notebook are top distracters for procrastination (sorry to the IRS that my taxes are NOT). Being pretty creative and able to see the big picture helps me be an excellent project, product and business manager focusing on communication, efficiency in processes, cost-effectiveness and contingency planning.
I’m hoping that if you’re an Atlantan native you may be able to assist me in this journey. I know it’ll help you know best what I’m looking for so here’s a brief synopsis. My objective in finding a job is to secure a position utilizing my strengths of communication, efficiency in processes, cost-effectiveness, contingency planning, organization, production and overall management with an organization whose purpose is meaningful and whose environment is founded on integrity and respect.

A creative environment based on self-motivation, mutual respect and team building in order to accomplish a greater goal is ideal. I’m suited to be a project manager, product manager, coordinator or associate.

As one can observe from reading my resume, I’ve worked in quite a few industries doing a variety of tasks. Although some companies may view this as a negative aspect to my character, personally I believe that the variety of experience I’ve held enables me to bring a creative perspective to whatever role I fill in the future. I guarantee that every job I’ve held I’ve done to the best of my ability and with all of my heart. Being an entrepreneur and visionary isn’t something that is widely embraced by the run-of-the-mill employer which is understandable but disheartening. The upside is that I don’t want to be run-of-the-mill in any aspect of my life.

Disaster Relief is a very interesting field to me. I’m very good at handling stressful situations and have the ability to plan quickly. I think these skills would be really useful in a disaster relief environment and am looking into options here as well. Although I’ve not worked in this field professionally, I am an excellent person to get into the field as I am a natural leader, excellent under stress, incredibly dependable, adaptable and flexible, very organized and detail oriented as well as a good listener and skilled communicator.

I’ve worked with children for 12 years which is a differentiator to my experience and the knowledge I’ve gained in this field can be applied to many positions. Whether I find a job working with children or promoting ideas which make the world a better place, I simply want to find a job where I’m bringing positive benefits to others.

Industries by Priority

Printing/Publishing/Content - specifically educational content related but not limited to health/wellness/culinary/lifestyle/eco-sustainable lifestyles

Emergency Management

Management Consulting

Healthcare/Health Informatics Technology(HIT)/Health Informatics

Energy/Utilities/Green Collar Consulting - specifically alternate energy providers

Non-Profit - specifically Children’s Advocacy/Safety Organizations

Companies by Priority

*Note: These are the companies of which I am currently aware and is not a permanent all-inclusive list

Discovery.com

Howard Scripps Network

Atlanta Parent Magazine

Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta

American Red Cross

GEMA/FEMA

Cox Communications

Emory Healthcare

Center for Disease Control

McKesson Corporation

Ronald McDonald House

First Book

Global Fund for Children

Heifer International

United Nations Children’s Fund

Functions by Priority

Operations

Program Development

Emergency Planning Manager

Team Leader/Management

Project Management

Health Informatics Specialist

Systems Analysis

Consultant

Account Management

Business Analysis

Strategy

Contingency planning

Product Management

Production Operations

Recruitment

Creative Content Production

Communications

Contract negotiation

Research

Public Relations and Social Networking

Marketing: General Planning and Implementation

Online and Email Marketing

Customer Relations Management and Implementation

Writing/Editing

Business Development

Sales Support

Why I’ve chosen each Industry

Printing/Publishing/Content - The creation and communication of educational content for consumers is a means of unifying humans, eradicating poverty and genocide, creating awareness of global issues including the need to support sustainable local communities, and displaying human differences to be accepted and appreciated by one another.

Disaster Relief - Disasters and catastrophes happen and it seems as though their impact is increasing in the light of global warming becoming a bigger issue.  Survival and adaptation to new environments are always on the top of my mind and thus planning for disasters as well as navigating myself and others through their wake is one of my passions.  Additionally, “The field of emergency planning has grown.  Of course, emergency planners prepare for and respond to other disasters, such as fires, floods, tornadoes, earthquakes, outbreaks of highly infectious diseases, and major accidents.  The field has formalized, with 250 bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral programs in place or in the works” US News and World Report March 24/31 2008

Healthcare/ Health Informatics Technology (HIT) - Having worked with designing software and creating user-friendly web applications combined with my experience as a patient in the healthcare system equips me to launch into this field.  “Hospitals, insurers, and regional collaboratives are switching to electronic medical records.  Nurses and doctors are using computerized systems to guide diagnoses and treatment recommendations.  Healthcare providers are also collecting more data to evaluate quality of care.  As a health information systems analyst, you speak with physicians, nurses, and others to identify their needs and develop a blueprint to hand to the programmers for implementation.” US News and World Report March 24/31 2008

Green-Collar Work - Americans have become excellent consumers which has fueled our economy.  Our consumerism, though, has gone unchecked as far as the consequences and repercussions for the rest of the world and future generations.  The human population’s exponential growth combined with consumerism which goes unchecked results in an earth whose resources will not last, which is unbalanced across the globe and whose structure is currently dependent on the limitless supply of limited resources.  Combating what humanity has done so far and planning for changes which create sustainable local communities and environments is a role I want to play.  This includes municipality strategic planning for sustainability, ecotourism, and alternate energy research.

Non-Profit - Standing up for innocence, liberating the impoverished and neglected and fighting for what’s right is pretty meaningful.  Ending the marriages and sex trade of children and girls across the world, feeding children and providing clean water to communities around the globe, and giving kids an education and literacy are just a few of the causes that are worthy in just in my book.  Programs specifically related to children’s advocacy, safety and education are some that I identify with the best.

Kids, Parties and Dogs hold a place at the center of my heart and I’m available for related work in Alpharetta.

This is my 14th year providing child care and I believe more than ever in the words of Herbert Hoover, “Children are our most valuable natural resource”.

Additionally, hosting and planning events and parties has always been a hobby of mine. Halloween is my favorite holiday so I’ve done lots of Haunted parties. I’ve planned and hosted many children’s camps and workshops, sorority social events and productions, baby and wedding showers and numerous parties of my own!

As far as dogs go, I tend to get them and they seem to typically enjoy spending time with me.

Services Offered:

~ Overnights and vacation child and or pet care
~ Night-nannying for newborns and infants
~ Weekend/Weekday/Weeknight Child Care
~ Individual or Group Swim Lessons
~ Children’s Birthday Party Planning (games, food, favors, etc.)
~ Mini-adventures: (to parks, nature trails, Chattahoochee nature center, library, aquarium, zoo, etc.) - these work well when a new baby joins the household to get the older siblings out of the house and show them special appreciation

~ Parties and Event Planning: Event management, catering, flowers, decorations, Theme development, etc.

~ Elementary School Tutoring (specialty in math)

Rates:

Basic Child Care: 1 child $12 hour, each additional child +$1 hour, minimum 3.5 hours

Overnight Child Care: Basic Child Care Rate + $25 each night

Night Nannying: $65 for 8 hours, I sleep when the baby sleeps

Swim Lessons: 1 child $20 for 50 minute lesson, group (up to 4 children) $45 an hour and parents can arrange to do these at a pool of their choice or bring their children to my pool in Crabapple.

Mini-adventures: Basic child care rate + admission/gas fees

Tutoring: $35 an hour

Party and Event Planning: Starting at $25 hourly + supplies, Quotes available

Event Planning

These are pictures of (Clockwise From Top Left)

The cast of the Haunted Hay Ride from the Judd’s Halloween Party in 2005, My Doggie Delight Halloween Party for 20 in 2007, My Tacky Sweater Christmas Party for 15 in 2006, My Memorial Day Backyard BBQ for 30 in 2007