The strength of Gawker Media lies in the diversity of our talents and the fluid collaboration between team members. We Are Gawker Media gives you an inside look at who we are and what we do behind the scenes.

This week in We Are Gawker Media, I met up with Advertising Operations Analyst, Kate Maxwell, to chat about living in the Big Apple, advertising, and all things Maxwell.

A few years ago, you graduated from Central Michigan University and moved out to New York City. What's your favorite thing about living here? Do you consider yourself a "real New Yorker" (if you think that exists)?
My favorite thing about living in New York is without a doubt the feeling that you are where the action is. You're always on the brink of something wonderful here. There are so many choices of things to see and discover on any particular day. I have so many interests and curiosities to fuel, and this city just keeps on giving. Being busy and having 357,346,743 things to do in a day is exciting and New York can keep up with me!
However, there's no way I consider myself a "real" New Yorker. Michigan is and will always be where I'm from. I think it's possible to feel more and more at home in New York after living here a while, but unless one grows up in the city, I don't believe they can claim that title.

How did you first become involved in the ad industry?
I chose marketing as my major is college, but always knew that I specifically wanted to be in online advertising. Prior to Gawker, I worked in search engine marketing and it actually ended up being an excellent stepping stone to Ad Ops here.

Where did you find out about Gawker Media. Were you a fan of the sites before you started working here?
I was a huge fan of the sites. I always looked to Gawker as being on the forefront of the media world, and also kept up with its insidery happenings as well. It was an organization I always looked up to and hoped to be a part of someday. As fate would have it, I came to be here after speaking to a friend with whom I worked with at my first internship in 2007 (The famous James Del, our current Account Executive). He had since moved on to Gawker, and mentioned they were looking to fill a position I would be "perfect" for. So I came in, had some beers and some awkward (albeit funny) politically incorrect conversations with the VP of Sales, and the rest was history.

What's the farthest distance you've run? Do you have any exciting races lined up this year?
My favorite thing to do after work is run - running is my time to think, let go, and relax. I was a hurdler in college so I've never done a run more than about 8 miles as of yet. However, I put my name into the lottery for the New York Marathon this fall— so if I get chosen, I'll have to get used to running much longer than that! I've gotten into more multi-event sports lately though, I'm doing two triathlons this summer (Escape from Alcatraz in San Francisco and the New York City Triathlon).

What is your drink of choice?
I have three, depending on the social situation: Miller High Life, Pisco sours, and bloody marys.

If you could clone yourself and try a different profession, what kind would it be? Are there any other industries you've wanted to be involved in?
I'm very intrigued by the TV and film industry. I think I'd like to be a actress in my next life.

Please fill in the blank: All day I dream about _______ and ______.
When it's not Gawker-related, a lot of my thoughts are consumed by when and what my next meal is going to be. Most of the time my walk from the subway into work is mentally going over what lunch could be and who I can rope into eating with me. Have I had Calexico in the last week? Do I want that tasty Meatball Shop or soup dumplings? When I'm not thinking about food, I'm usually thinking about either a) running or b) the next event I can throw or fun thing I can plan for my friends. Oh, also traveling. My best friend moved away to San Francisco, but we still manage to see each other fairly often because we are great travel buddies and are usually planning some kind of trip. We went to Hawaii last year — rented a giant old blue van and explored Kauai top to bottom.
At night, I seriously dream about panoramas and ad delivery. I'm not joking. I dream about ad sizes and takeovers coming to life and delivery report excel sheets. Maybe I do need that vacation... :)

Want to tell us a little bit about your Owl Tattoo?
Y'know, this whole cute-owl-hipster explosion really chaps my hide. Owls used to be just another animal a few years ago, but now everywhere you look its owl jewelry, owl clothing, even hungover owls. I had the tattoo before this crazy fad, but I digress. I got the tattoo because owls have always had a very special symbolism to me - the night my grandmother passed away, my parents were sitting in our living room and heard a strange noise outside our living room window- lo and behold, a huge owl was sitting in our front tree. Since then, I've seen 10+ owls in my lifetime. How many have you seen? Yes, thought so. I'm still exploring and evaluating what I really believe in spiritually, but there's clearly a connection there. So, owls and me...we go way back.

Do you have secret talents (can you recite the alphabet backwards, clap with one hand, etc)?
Wow, I wish I could clap with one hand! Let's see, I can eat...a lot. My claim to fame is that I ate a 4 pound burrito a couple years ago without a problem and was even hungry again 2 hours later. I'm looking for a new eating challenge, if anyone out there knows of a good one in NYC.
I can also write backwards, as in mirror image writing, almost as fast as I can write forwards. Not sure what that will ever get me in life, but you never know.