Who is Kathryn Sprandio Ells? Oh, I’m glad you asked.

I’m the 4th of five children, only girl, so I will jump at any chance to talk about myself.

I grew up in Chestnut Hill, Northwest section of Philadelphia. So in Philadelphia, but some say not in Philadelphia, but there’s a sign “Welcome to Philadelphia” less than a mile from my house. Philadelphia is a city of neighborhoods, so it’s Philadelphia. Get off my back about it.

ANYWAY.

I went to Mount St. Joseph Academy for high school. Not in Philadelphia. In Flourtown, but right outside of the city limits. SPES MESSIS y’all. IYKYK.

I made a huge leap and went down the street to Chestnut Hill College for my undergrad degree in English and Communications.

Yes, I know what you’re going to ask. “Wait, Kathryn, did you go to college on the SAME street as your high school?” I’m glad you asked because that’s exactly what I did. I mean, when you know what you like you stick with it. You don’t have to go far from home to get a good education. Both the Mount and CHC are run by the Sisters of St. Joseph who are a collection of very smart, driven, and dedicated women. And next question you have, yes I did live at school even though my family home was up the street.

After school, I stuck around (surprise, surprise). I bumbled along and found some freelance work in Chestnut Hill. I started my own “business” called Social Butterfly. I say “business” because it wasn’t really an official business (I did have business cards). I partnered with the Chestnut Hill Business Association to create a social media initiative for the shops and worked in the community center for a bit. I taught people about Facebook. I spent a lot of time meeting people in Starbucks. I wrote articles for random small publications.

I continued that freelance life while attending Arcadia University. Yes, I went a LITTLE BIT further from home for grad school at least. I graduated from there in 2013 with my MFA in Creative Writing. That year I also turned 26 and was no longer eligible to stay on my parents’ insurance, so naturally I began working for my Dad’s medical practice. Gotta get those benefits.

Working in an oncology medical office gave me a huge perspective shift. I was a patient navigator (scheduled appointments), check in girl, I did business administration tasks, social media postings, medical credentialing. You name it and I probably did it. I learned a lot about appreciating my lot in life, business, how awful it is to sit in traffic for an hour after you’ve worked with people for 10 hours, how to bite my tongue and treat my Dad like a professional boss rather than my Dad. You know, the solid foundational life lessons. Ever grateful for that opportunity, and of course never done working for the man.

The point of all this pizazz is, I’ve always kept writing. Whether it’s any good, I don’t know. My Mom likes it so I have one fan. She’s the one who told me to go to school for creative writing. “You’ve always been good at writing. Try that.” Okay, sure, so here we are. I have a website, a blog, two self-published books (one of which she illustrated, HILARIOUS because she’s not an artist).

I’ve been blogging since 2013. Wow, that sounds like a long time. I feel old now.

CURRENTLY, I’m a stay-at-home mom of four children (five if you count my husband). I left my most wondrous creative creations for the end of this lengthier than I expected biography. I told you I’m happy to talk about myself.

These crazy and beautiful days, I utilize my creative writing as a cathartic outlet to share humorous, authentic, and inspiring reflections on modern motherhood. I’m so grateful to be with my kids all day every day, even when they are hitting me over the head with a Buzz Lightyear action figure and begging for snacks. But, like any normal human, sometimes I need a minute.

Thanks for taking your own minute (I’m sure this took longer than a minute to read, sorry not sorry) to get to know me and hopefully love and adore my bleeding heart and buy my books.