About Katie Morell

My investigative journalism career started at age five.

Back then, I was a reporter on assignment—or so I thought—interviewing neighbors and friends with my clenched wrist as a microphone. My camera crew, a.k.a Dad hooked up to an 80-pound Betamax video recorder, diligently followed me, catching every word of exactly how a kite got stuck in a tree, how my sister felt about her Cheerios or what my Mom was doing in the kitchen. I was destined to be a news anchor.

This thought followed me all the way to journalism school at Michigan State University, but after my first day of an internship at a local news station, I knew life in front of the camera wasn't for me. I had a passion for writing stories, so I switched to print journalism and never looked back.

For the past 10 years, I've been to incredible places, all for the sake of a story. I’ve balanced on the edge of a 1,109-foot building in Asia, handled tranchulas in the Peruvian Amazon, interviewed teens in drug rehab, floated above deserts in hot air balloons, and sang in front of thousands at a Chicago Cubs' opening day baseball game. I am passionate about getting to the root of an issue, learning all there is to know about the people involved and conveying the story’s larger meaning to the reader.

Previously, I worked as an editor for Meetings Media, publisher of business travel magazines Meetings West, Meetings East, Meetings South, and Meetings MidAmerica. My experience also includes time as a correspondent reporting from Michigan's state capitol and a crime reporter for a Detroit suburb. Today I am a full-time freelancer in San Francisco and a proud member of the American Society of Journalists and Authors.

My credits include USA TODAY, Hemispheres, Crain's Chicago Business, American Express OPEN Forum, Destination Weddings & Honeymoons, Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times, University of Nebraska Magazine, Brandeis Magazine, University of Chicago Magazine, among others.

When I am not chasing a story, you can find me running, practicing yoga, traveling (recently returned from a year in Asia, Australia and New Zealand), or spending time with my husband, Tyler, and beagle, Lucy.