In this episode of Behind the Docs, Patrick Bosek interviews Dave Koelmeyer, the Content Operations Manager at IDEXX. Dave shares his unexpected journey from IT support to becoming a professional technical communicator.

He discusses the importance of consistency in documentation, scaling of technical content using structured content and a CCMS, and the significant role of advocacy and education to help colleagues understand the benefits of high-quality self-help content.

They also touch on the future of technical content with the integration of AI and the importance of understanding business strategy and stakeholder engagement.

This episode is ideal for those interested in technical communication, content management, and the evolving role of AI in documentation.

In this special episode of Behind the Docs, Ren sits down with Heretto’s own Jarod Sickler — philosopher-turned-structured-content expert, and one of the most genuinely thoughtful voices in the documentation world.

Jarod shares how a grad-school paper and a chance encounter in a Rochester coffee shop set him on an unexpected path into technical documentation (and eventually into Heretto). He opens up about the early days of learning DITA from scratch, the realities of content conversion, and why “doing life with a weight vest on” actually makes him a stronger practitioner.

Together, Ren and Jarod dig into:

• The moment documentation shifted from “supplemental” to “part of the product”
• Why structured content is seeing a resurgence thanks to AI
• What new teams should actually measure before adopting a CCMS
• Common misconceptions about content conversion
• The coolest emerging trends in docs and in-app help
• The joy of reuse, personalization, and helping teams finally break the copy-paste cycle

If you love docs, workflows, or a good origin story that starts in a coffee shop, this one’s for you.

In this episode of Behind the Docs, we sit down with Sandie Markle, content engineer and CEO of Blueberri, whose journey through food tech, structured content, and accidental content engineering is one of the most fascinating we’ve ever featured.

Sandie shares how a career pivot from finance to Shanghai led her into the world of recipe platforms, shopability, metadata, localization, and the early foundations of structured content—long before she even knew what the term meant. We talk about the realities of scaling content across platforms, building teams from scratch, navigating startup chaos, and how her experience helping home cooks ultimately shaped her philosophy on documentation and user experience.

We also dig into her new venture, Blueberri, where she helps food tech companies and creators turn content into scalable systems, and her upcoming book Create Once, Share Everywhere, aimed at bridging the massive gap between creators and technology.

If you love content ops, structured content, or just great stories about people who carve their own path into tech, this one’s for you.

Find Sandie on LinkedIn or join her book's early reader group!

In this episode, we welcome Laura Minaie to Behind the Docs!

Laura recently joined our team and brings a fascinating journey from editing training documents at Chili's to becoming a content strategist in the tech documentation world. She shares her 12-year career at Citrix/LogMeIn, discussing how she discovered technical writing, led a major DITA migration, and learned crucial lessons about proving the value of tech docs in organizations.

Laura also discusses the complex relationship between marketing and technical communications, the importance of structured content, and why future-proofing your documentation is essential.

Join host Patrick Bosek in conversation with Karissa Van Baulen, a customer education professional with over a decade of experience in technical communication and knowledge management. Karissa shares her journey from customer support at startup Hotjar through building education programs that saved millions annually.

Karissa Van Baulen has spent 11+ years in technical communication and customer education. She started at Hotjar as employee #23 and grew with the company through its acquisition, eventually becoming their Knowledge Base Owner. Her passion lies in knowledge management, documentation, and creating self-service experiences that genuinely help users.

Find Karissa Van Baulen on LinkedIn to continue the conversation about customer education and knowledge management.

The conversations keep rolling at LavaCon! In this episode, we’re talking to four guests who each bring a totally different perspective on content, tech, and the future of our field.

Sandie Markle, founder of Blueberri, shares how she’s bringing content strategy to the food tech world — and why she believes structured content is the key to helping creators treat their work like a true business asset.

Fabrice Lacroix, CEO of Fluid Topics, joins us to talk about what it really takes to unify enterprise content (and get execs to care). From “Undercover Docs” to agentic AI, this one dives deep into where content delivery and AI are headed next.

Sarah Feldman, representing both the Consortium for Service Innovation and the new Kinetic Council, explains why our industry needs a new professional home—and how she’s working to build it. Plus, she shares her hill to die on: less “us vs. them” between content disciplines, and more collaboration.

And finally, Tali Utz, a 23-year-old technical writer from Jack Henry & Associates, talks about what it’s like entering the profession in the age of AI—and why curiosity (and maybe a mid-college crisis) led him to this career.

From structured content to content delivery to community and career evolution, this episode captures the heart of LavaCon: inspiration, innovation, and a lot of nerding out over content.

We took Behind the Docs on the road to LavaCon 2025 in Atlanta!

Host Ren Taylor chats with some of the brightest minds in tech comm and content strategy — including Hannah Kirk, Noz Urbina, Kat Rierson, Manny Silva, and Sofiya Minnath — about how AI, metrics, and automation are reshaping the way we create, manage, and measure documentation.

From docs-as-code to knowledge graphs to real-world help site transformations, this episode captures the conversations defining the next era of content operations.

Buckle up for insights, laughs, and a front-row seat to the pulse of LavaCon.

In this episode of Behind the Docs, Ren reconnects with Randee Knapp, Tech Pubs Manager at ECHO Inc.—one of the very first people she met in the TechComm community.

Randee shares her journey from an unexpected start in technical writing to leading a team through large-scale change, including ECHO’s transition to DITA. Along the way, she offers candid insights into:

• What it takes to guide a team through major process and tooling shifts
• Why tech writers need to balance accuracy, clarity, and empathy
• Lessons learned from implementing structured content in a high-stakes industry
• The role community and mentorship play in career growth

Blending personal stories with practical advice, Randee shows how technical communication is as much about people as it is about tools and standards.

In this episode of Behind the Docs, Ren reconnects with Kimberly Voltaire, Technical Editor at Simpli.fi, after first meeting through a Help Site Assessment. Kimberly shares her journey from aspiring English professor to technical communications, how she built Simpli.fi’s first-ever style guide from the ground up, and why editing is far more than “just fixing words.”

You’ll hear:

✨ How Kimberly balances editing, UX, content strategy, and style guide ownership in her day-to-day

✨ Why technical editors wear more hats than most people realize—and why that’s a good thing

✨ The surprising challenges (and joys) of creating and maintaining a living style guide

✨ Her take on cross-team collaboration, from business development to marketing, and why tech comm needs a stronger seat at the table

✨ A candid discussion on AI—what it can (and can’t) do for technical communication teams

Kimberly’s passion for clarity, collaboration, and user experience shines through in this conversation. If you’ve ever wondered how to advocate for the true value of technical editing—or what makes a great style guide stick—this episode is packed with insights you won’t want to miss.

Kat Reierson, Senior Technical Writer at DocuSign, joins Behind the Docs to share how a single Google search set her on a path to a fulfilling career in technical documentation. Kat opens up about:

• Her unconventional start in the field and how structured content gave her a major leg up
• Lessons she learned on the job that no degree program could prepare her for
• Why documentation deserves a seat at the table in product development
• The future of AI in tech writing—and why writers should embrace agents, not fear them
• Her passion for building community, mentoring the next generation, and yes… even lobbing rubber ducks at conferences

This is an honest, funny, and inspiring conversation about finding your place in technical writing, advocating for docs, and shaping the future of the industry.