Behind the Docs

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:

1. What it takes to guide a team through major process and tooling shifts
2. Why tech writers need to balance accuracy, clarity, and empathy
3. Lessons learned from implementing structured content in a high-stakes industry
4. 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:

1. Her unconventional start in the field and how structured content gave her a major leg up
2. Lessons she learned on the job that no degree program could prepare her for
3. Why documentation deserves a seat at the table in product development
4. The future of AI in tech writing—and why writers should embrace agents, not fear them
5. 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.

In this episode, Ren Taylor sits down with Kaitlyn Snook, Technical Communicator at ACS Technologies, to talk about her journey into technical writing—from studying computer science to discovering her passion for communication and user experience.

Kaitlyn shares what it’s like to spend 13+ years at the same company, growing from technical writer to UX content designer, and how her team transformed from unstructured wikis to a modern structured content environment. She opens up about the unique challenges of writing for church management software, the importance of empathy in documentation, and why content should never be used to cover up a broken UI.

From creative ways to keep docs feeling fresh to the power of direct user feedback, Kaitlyn's story highlights how technical communication can make a real difference in people’s daily work.

In this episode of Behind the Docs, Patrick sits down with Matt Knight, Publishing Systems Manager at the Chartered Insurance Institute, to explore how more than three decades in publishing, typesetting, and learning materials production shaped his journey into structured content and content operations.

Matt shares how his team transitioned from traditional print workflows to DITA and Heretto, balancing the needs of structured content with the demands of large-scale learning materials. From troubleshooting XML quirks to training external subject matter experts to work directly in the system, Matt highlights the wins, challenges, and lessons learned along the way.

If you’re curious about what content operations looks like in a global learning organization—and how to make structured content stick in the real world—this conversation is packed with insights you won’t want to miss.

Patrick Bosek, CEO of Heretto, chats with content leader Barbara Green of ACSTechnologies about her unconventional path into documentation, from programming a typewriter to shaping enterprise content strategy. She shares lessons on scaling content, proving ROI, and the surprising ways documentation transforms customer experience.