Professional :

It has taken many steps to finally find my passion within the professional sphere. My undergrad time saw me spend a few years as a chemistry major before switching to History with concentrations in Early Modern Chinese history and German history during the interwar years and WWII, while continuing to learn Chinese. Eventually, I found my way into an Anthropology Masters program focusing on Archaeology and preservation with an interest in teaching at the collegiate level. I mean, who doesn't want to be the female version of Indiana Jones?!?! I was lucky to have the opportunity to be a GTA and help teach intro archaeology and intro biological anthropology. Unfortunately, I had my teaching dreams dashed when I realized I do not have a passion for it. 

From here, I took my second to last step to finding what I am meant to do. My Archaeology advisor is an expert with GIS, and through him, I found that I'm not cut out to be a shovel bum but give me a Total station, my Macbook, and ArcGIS any day! I'm extremely fortunate that I've been able to tailor my Anthropology program to fit my very specific needs. In May 2017, I'll graduate with my MA in Anthropology - specializing in Archaeology and GIS! 

And now to the last step before joining the big kid world! I'm so grateful to have scored an Analytics + Business Intelligence internship with AccuWeather Enterprise Solutions! And before you ask, yep, same AccuWeather as the popular app. Through AccuWeather, my GIS (mapping) skills have vastly improved but I also found that what I truly want to do is a blend of GIS with creativity and a people-focused career. My goal is to find a way to keep my feet in both worlds - GIS/big data AND creative. I want to convince the creative agencies that there is a need for someone like me to work in analytics with a strong bent towards mapping while still keeping my creative juices flowing. 

2019: What am I up to in my career? I'm currently working with Withum Digital out of the Withum DC office as a lead consultant specializing in Power BI. Withum was actually the very first job I applied to after graduating with my Masters in May 2017 - the job description was so perfect that I applied even though I wasn't excited about moving to DC when I really wanted to be in Denver or LA. After applying, I had a few interviews and was then put on ice. I continued to work at AccuWeather and took on some freelance opportunities until four months later, Withum called me back for the job. October 2017, I moved to DC and started at Withum Digital. I'm enjoying my Power BI consulting work within Withum and with external clients that incorporates using data from Practice Engine, Microsoft Dynamics 365, healthcare companies, non-profits, accounting and financials, and so much more than I can list here. 

2020: Working for Practice Engine, and leaving DC behind for NYC! PANDEMIC

2021: Power BI developer with Nespresso USA in NYC, and still dealing with the pandemic.

personal:

My name is Katie Coriell, and welcome to Kate from Oz. Just to clarify, I'm from Kansas (ruby slippers, the tin man, Toto, and NOT Australia) via South Carolina, Florida, California, and Nebraska (GO BIG RED) plus throw in some formative growing up time in Virginia, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, and Sardinia Italy. If you haven't guessed, I'm a Navy brat. Me, my mom, step-dad and siblings settled in Kansas while I was in grade school, but my father lived in Italy most of my life. Unsurprisingly, I have family flung across the States and sometimes world. My first flight was at 6 months old and the only time I've gotten sick on a plane. By the end of that flight, I puked on and destroyed two outfits, and came off the flight wrapped in my mom's jacket. Luckily for me and beyond living all over the place and having family about everywhere, my mom has always valued travel and family vacations to new places, so I've had the travel bug and this wanderlust spirit my whole life.

My goal with Kate from Oz is to provide a space to share my adventures here in the United States and internationally plus my forays into homemade booze, food, and my professional side of life. I'll cop to being a bit of a brat in my early to mid-twenties and using any and all money I could get my hands on to travel with and pay off later. And now that I'm in my early thirties, I'm a bit more responsible but I'm still trying to find every means possible to take amazing trips, like bucket list worthy trips, any chance I can. I want to provide inspiration and useful advice to regular people who have the regular things weighing them down like rent, student loan debt, pet expenses, car payments, medical expenses, health concerns, and so much more... YOU CAN take that amazing trip to Cuba, Morocco, Iceland, Ireland, Amsterdam, Australia, Portland, NYC, or New England. If you can find the means to save $1500-3000 (either per person or as a pair), you can travel overseas! And for a couple hundred dollars, you can have any amazing weekend in the States. Trust me, you can have an amazing adventure without breaking the bank. You can eat well, fully enjoy the local booze, and not feel like you're on a crazy strict budget. I'm like every one else, I've been in school + working and dealing with life's setbacks while living a full life in Wichita Kansas. but also planning for and enjoying that next amazing adventure in a new place!

In the next few months, these destinations will be added to Kate from Oz: Iceland, Ireland, DC, Portland OR, Cuba, New England + Quebec Road Trip, Denver and Colorado, American Southwest Road Trip (New Mexico, Arizona, Southern Colorado), New York City, Marrakech and Morocco, Madrid, Luxembourg, Germany, London and Cambridge (guest post), Paris + Edinburgh + Dublin (guest post), Amsterdam (guest post), Hawaii, Omaha, and Kansas!

A little bit more about me personally: I love travel and exploring the local culture and cuisine. I love spending time with my friends, family, and monster-sized cats.  I have no shame is proclaiming my love for pizza [one of my personal mottos: Never say no to free pizza]. I love hiking, boating, skiing, and just about anything to be out in nature. I’ll never turn down a ticket to a Huskers football game. Reading is always a plus. And I'm trying to improve my photography skills. If I'm hanging out with friends, you can find us at our favorite brewery, cocktail bar, coffee shop, or dive bar. In nice weather, we often combine these into a bike crawl. I never really learned how to ride a bicycle as a child - I was blessed with ponies and 4-wheelers so what kid picks riding a bike (seriously though, other kids had their parents drop them and their bike off to spend the night with a friend... my parents dropped me off at my friend's house with my horse or 4-wheeler). I mean, I was taught the basics but hadn't ridden in 20 years. Fall 2016 saw me buy a bike, and get comfortable riding around ICT!

Thank you for your help/time/advice on my website and portfolio: Rosemary Radich, Nikki Reiman, Jonathan Wood, Tim Loftus, David Hughes, Jamil Malone, Kelly Albrecht, Sarah Glenn, Chad McClure, Hannah Scott, .....

PS. I'm so behind on getting Kate from Oz current but I'm finally settling into my new big kid job with Withum Digital in DC that I'm finally starting to feel like I have the free time, energy, and creativity to get back in the saddle here. It is May 2019 currently so maybe by the end of the year I'll be caught up with my travel posts, blogging, etc.

February 2020 Update: Yeah, katefromoz hasn’t been given as much attention as it should. If you follow me on insta, you’ll see that life has been crazy! I’ve been traveling and adventuring, started a new job, and moving back to NYC this month. Oh and going on an Arctic Circle road trip to Lofoten Norway, Lapland Sweden, and a bit of Finland!

May 2021 Update: We are maybe coming out of the COVID pandemic in NYC but seriously questioning the CDC’s advice to just go with the ‘Honor System’ on who is and isn’t vaccinated… and we all know Americans are not good at respecting the Honor System. I made it through living a mile from Elmhurst Hospital in one of the epicenters of COVID, and I was lucky to NOT get the ‘Rona and now vaccinated. Travel is starting to pick up so that means I’ll prob still forget about my website/blog. Insta dm me if you ever want travel advice and recommendations!