Kristen Stelzer

Founder @Writing & Consulting Partners, LLC

💸 MarketingCopywriterBusiness Owner🧑‍🔬 Engineer🧨 ConsultingCivil engineer

I'm a multi-faceted professional with over 25 years of experience spanning engineering, project management, and content strategy. I started my career as an engineer, working on everything from site layouts to utility projects. I became a project manager, leading multi-million dollar telecommunications and land development projects. I've negotiated with stakeholders, managed diverse teams, and testified at land use hearings. In 2018, I founded a writing and consulting business. Now, I help companies in the tech sector communicate complex ideas through white papers, case studies, and other content. I've had the pleasure of working with big names like IBM and the Linux Foundation and smaller businesses doing extraordinary things. I also specialize in ADHD-aligned projects and operations consulting. I use my own experiences with ADHD to help other neurodivergent entrepreneurs create systems that work for their unique brains. Whether crafting a white paper on blockchain or helping a business owner wrangle their to-do list, I focus on clear communication, creative problem-solving, and making complicated stuff easier to understand or handle.

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Work Background

Weirdly Wired WomenPrincipal Owner

Dec. 2022Washington DC-Baltimore AreaA late-in-life ADHD diagnosis made SO MUCH make sense. Now I'm focused on banishing overwhelm for ADHD entrepreneurs so they can actually enjoy the businesses they started. I provide ADHD-aligned project and operations consulting, helping clients create systems and processes that work with their unique brain wiring. I: ~Provide ADHD-aligned project and operations consulting for entrepreneurs ~Develop customized systems and processes that work with clients' unique brain wiring ~Leverage over 25 years of progressive career development in project management to create effective solutions

Kristen Stelzer Content & CopywritingPrincipal Owner

Oct. 2018Washington D.C. Metro AreaThroughout my career, I’ve served as a “translator” between engineers and the many non-engineering professionals I worked with daily. I was talking with bright people so I wasn’t dumbing things down. Rather, I was clearly distilling and presenting complex topics for a non-technical audience. But often I wasn’t only explaining things to them. I was also trying to gain their support. I had to address their questions and provide sound, logical proof to justify their buy-in. As a result, I developed a clear, rational, and persuasive style of communication suited to copy and content writing. ~Strategize with clients to develop effective sales funnel content and flow to improve lead generation ~Create B2B content focusing on technology and industry subjects including blockchain, cloud computing, AI, automation, oil-industry technologies, 5G, and telecommunications ~Clients include IBM, Linux Foundation, marketing agencies, and small- to medium-sized businesses ~Create and teach courses on business writing and proposal writing for engineers

Arcola TowersLand Use and Regulatory Director

Dec. 2021 - Dec. 2023Virginia, United StatesOnce in telecom, always in telecom! I couldn't resist lending my land development, telecom, and strategic planning skills to help build an exciting new tower development company. ~Applied my extensive land development, telecom, and strategic planning skills to support tower development initiatives for the first towers in our portfolio. ~Coordinated with multiple stakeholders to navigate complex regulatory environments

Milestone Communications (USA)Director of Land Development

Oct. 2013 - Jan. 2018Reston, VirginiaA former client helped me find Milestone. I was excited to get the developer experience that I was looking for and I got to learn a new industry, which I always enjoy. While I was there, I was able to use my extensive background to support our entire development team. I thoroughly enjoyed mentoring and coaching my team members. I also worked with the other company leaders on the strategic plan for the growth of the company. To that end, I initiated improvements to our reporting, project, asset tracking, and business development tools. ~Led multi-disciplinary teams entitling and permitting telecommunications towers across two multi-million-dollar funds ~Coordinated long-range planning at project outset, including identification of obstacles, preparation of timelines, and development of action plans ~Finalized and controlled the scope, schedule, and budget for each project, reporting results to the CEO ~Led public-facing information briefings and meetings with key stakeholders; presented and provided testimony at land use hearings ~Proposed and implemented process improvements to reduce soft costs, minimize risk of redesign, and improve average permitting timelines ~Interviewed, hired, and managed employees ~Wrote procedural documents to standardize processes

Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC)Design/Project Manager

Aug. 2011 - Oct. 2013Washington D.C. Metro AreaWhen the opportunity to work for the DOD-- a sizable land owner-- presented itself, I didn't want to pass it up. This was the first time I had left one job for another without a relocation being the cause. More than once I wondered if I was nuts to leave a stable job for something unknown. Here I coordinated projects through the Planning, Environmental, and Asset Management divisions of the Public Works Office. This was a kind of hybrid position. I worked with clients on projects they needed built or renovated on the facility, similar to a consultant. I reviewed the work of consultants for compliance with our requirements, similar to an agency. And I prepared proposals and reviewed bids and managed projects, similar to an owner. As most of my projects were building renovations, I was able to learn about HVAC, electrical systems, plumbing and other aspects of building construction, which was quite interesting since all of my previous experience involved everything outside of the building (and typically underground). It was a valuable experience and I'm glad I took the risk.

Loiederman Soltesz Associates, Inc.Project Manager

Jun. 2007 - Jul. 2011Lanham, MarylandAnother relocation took me to LSA (now Soltesz). Here all of my previous experience working in all phases of planning and design served me well. I started on an engineering team, but as the economic downturn took effect and the offices started restructuring, I was able to move into a role in planning and entitlement. Getting into zoning codes appealed to my tendency to be a little wonk-ish. I enjoyed managing the projects and providing mentoring for junior staff, but what I enjoyed the most was the ability to really forge relationships with my clients and with agency staff. The projects here were of a much bigger scale and a much longer duration than what I had previously experienced so these relationships were critical to success. I also enjoyed that I was working on aspects of land development beyond design; I was writing proposals, managing budgets, and delegating work to my team. I was enjoying my work at LSA but I wanted to expand my experiences beyond consulting so I started looking into opportunities to move into the land owner side of development.

Engineering ServiceProject Engineer/Project Manager

Jun. 2004 - Jun. 2007A family relocation brought me back to Mississippi. I found myself working with former colleagues from Engineering Plus who had both moved to this firm. Here I built upon the skills I learned at Cardinal and became more confident in my experience to the point of being able to defend my designs if necessary and to provide quality control on the designs of others. Here, like at Cardinal, I worked on all phases of land development though most of my clients were predominantly Rankin County and the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians. Getting a chance to work with the Federal Agencies associated with Tribal projects enhanced my agency experience, which had previously been limited to state and local agencies. I took my PE and became a licensed engineer while working here.

Cardinal EngineeringEIT/Project Engineer

Jun. 2001 - Jan. 2004Beaufort, South CarolinaStill quite a novice at design and engineering when I started here, this small firm and the mentors I found here provided me with all of the opportunities I could ask for to grow and learn. It was here that I had my "aha" moment that I was really working in the right field after solving a design problem for someone else with a simple, elegant solution. At Cardinal, I worked on public, private, and government development in Beaufort County and Jasper County, SC and experienced every stage of the design process from initial meetings with clients on their raw land to procuring certificates of occupancy. I learned zoning, presenting, site layout, grading, and the design and engineering of water, wastewater, storm drain, stormwater management, roads, and everything else necessary to get a project permitted, bid, and built. Cardinal remains the most formative of all of my jobs because of the opportunities I was given to establish a well-rounded foundation in land development. Though the company is no longer in business, I keep in touch with the former owners and other colleagues, who have evolved from mentors into friends.

Center for Marine ConservationStaff

Jan. 2000 - Oct. 2000Virginia Beach, VirginiaI knew I wouldn't be in Virginia Beach for long so trying to settle into an engineering position was not a realistic option. I took the opportunity to work as temporary staff for CMC (now the Ocean Conservancy) helping out with whatever they needed. I ended up researching the issue of invasive species in the Chesapeake Bay and organized a multi-state, mid-Atlantic conference on the topic. I also compiled and analyzed information received from the annual International Coastal Clean-up. It was a really interesting and cool way to spend a year.

Engineering PlusEngineering Technician

Jan. 1999 - Nov. 1999Meridian, MississippiHere was my first foray into engineering, I learned how to calculate drainage areas and flow rates for replacement bridge sites and prepare preliminary plans for new bridge structures. I also learned about things that we were never taught in school- like billable hours and how to write proposals. And I made connections here that would serve well when I found myself back in Mississippi.