Meet Katie Young | Senior Content Specialist, Drone Operator, Ski and Outdoor Photographer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Katie Young and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Katie, we’d love for you to start things off by telling us something about your industry that we and others not in the industry might be unaware of?
I’m the Senior Content Specialist at Keystone Ski Resort. It is a lot more than just going on-mountain and shooting then editing content and calling it a day. The planning that goes into shoots with models includes organizing everyone’s schedules, scoping out locations, planning wardrobe and gear check, and once you’re done with the execution and editing then you have to go into organizing the assets and planning out how to use them. Then there’s running the social media channel, updating KPIs, strategy planning, shoots for lines of business at the resort, meetings for go-to-markets and partner deliverables, and a bit of office work in general. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a fun process overall and that’s why I love what I do. A big thing to remember is we are working with mother nature, and you don’t always get the perfect powder bluebird day to get the content you’re looking for, and so pivoting and making the best with what you can is vital to being successful.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Working in the ski and outdoor industry is truly a dream. What most folks would do as a vacation once or twice a year is my daily routine, and it took some time to get used to. The mornings are early, the days are long, carrying a backpack full of equipment while trying to shoot and snowboard isn’t an easy task. But when it comes down to it all I recognize that I am incredibly fortunate to be where I am. Looking back at the content I was shooting 3+ years ago compared to today I am so proud to see how far along it’s come. The creative process of photography is unique in the way that you can change your style whenever you want to. While I always strive to get better at action photography, living in Summit County has given me a passion for scenic photos, especially in the fall and winter.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Oh, this is so fun! This highly depends on the season, but if it’s the summertime we are paddleboarding on the Dillon Reservoir in the morning, grabbing lunch at Deli Belly in Frisco, and checking out a show at the Dillon Ampitheater in the evening (hopefully catching a great sunset.) If it’s autumn, we are stopping at Cuppa Joe in Breck for the best coffee then driving down Boreas Pass to check out the aspen changing and maybe doing a bike ride on the Frisco Peninsula if they’re into that. Winter means skiing all day (I enjoy snowboarding in resort as well as backcountry) and happy hour at Outer Range in Frisco. Spring is great for skiing as well! Especially Arapahoe Basin for fun sunny days and tailgating. Anytime during the year, I would bring a friend to The Cala in the Cove, one of the best pubs with fantastic food and an intimate setting.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Shoutout to Asteroid Day, the nonprofit organization that I worked for before starting my career in the ski industry. They were my first job out of college that came from this awesome internship in Luxembourg where I got to work on a video production team for a live broadcast. One of my professors at the Metropolitan University of Denver approached myself and a couple others about the internship and it didn’t seem like a legit offer at first. A couple months later we are a team working in Europe alongside astrophysicists, scientists, and others creating videos for “Asteroid Day” which is dedicated to informing people all around the world about asteroids. I know, it’s a bizarre niche company to get involved in. One of the co-founders is Brian May, the guitarist of Queen. We did an interview with Bill Nye the Science Guy on my birthday one year.

Anyhow, this job was remote after the work in Europe wrapped, so I was able to move to Summit County where I realized I wanted to be involved in the community out here and incorporate my love for snowboarding with my communications degree and passion for photography.

Website: https://kathleenyoung.darkroom.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kaytii

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kathleen-young-/

Image Credits
Photo #1- Loryn Roberson
Photo #2 – Sarah Mclear