Kate Kurka Gillum is the person behind the social media and email newsletters of Discover Ames. Kate previously worked in the email newsletter department at Meredith Corporation under publications like Food & Wine, Travel + Leisure, and Martha Stewart Weddings. She also spent time working as the digital marketing manager at a financial tech start-up before coming to Discover Ames.
Kate is passionate about building community and Iowa; working with Discover Ames gives her the opportunity to combine these two passions. She loves being able to share local businesses and hidden gems with the people of Ames and beyond.
“Central Iowa is a best-kept secret in my opinion,” Kate says. “We have amazing restaurants, beautiful hiking and biking trails, and the ‘Iowa nice’ mentality can’t be beat. People will search far and wide to find what Iowans already know to be true – Midwest is best.”
Kate is an avid reader and animal lover. When she isn’t curled up with a new book and her two dogs, Kate is likely to be hiking or trying a new restaurant with her husband, Hunter.
Kate’s favorite Ames memory: The first time I ever visited Ames was with my dad, an ISU alum. We were touring potential colleges for me to attend and spent all day in Ames wandering campus, visiting the buildings my dad used to frequent, piecing together the town I knew only from pictures.
