Here’s What I Admire Most About Every Thought Catalog Writer

Holly Riordan

I feel like Holly is the student in school who always had her homework done three days early, but NEVER bragged about it. She is so industrious, so creative, and so prolific. There are days I stare aimlessly at my computer screen and think, “Wow, Holly would’ve come up with an idea ten minutes ago!!”

Mélanie Berliet

Mélanie has this bold fearlessness in her work. There is no topic too taboo, too risqué, to not be worth writing. In that way she is uniquely real, she isn’t going to censor herself for the internet — and from the woman whose personal website features a badass mostly nude picture of herself, this isn’t surprising.

Mélanie is also a tireless manager. When she isn’t writing, she is helping the rest of us write, which is a task that I would imagine resembles the herding of cats.

Kendra Syrdal

I remember when Kendra’s name first appeared in our company slack channel and I was like, “I gotta be friends with this person!” I had a giant friend crush on Kendra via Twitter for aGeS, and had even DMed her some writing to comment on.

Kendra has this insane work ethic. Like, sometimes I think I have a good work ethic, and then I rattle off a list of all the things Kendra does weekly. It’s insane. Since I came on full-time I quietly tried to compete with her, and I’ve pretty much never been able to pass her.

Ari Eastman

HAHAHAHAHA omg Ari. Before I started working at Thought Catalog I submitted my articles to two different writers. Whenever I wanted to talk about my feelings, I sent my articles to Ari. Not only did she read them, she gave /insanely/ valuable feedback.

Ari so clearly believes in young writers, and she believes their voice is important and they deserve a place.

Kim Quindlen

Kim is so freaking fun to talk to. I am dead serious. Even when we just send each other Slack DMs about regular ~corporate affairs~ I find myself grinning. She is so easy to get along with. She has also almost certainly sparked the largest number of all-company Thought Catalog jokes because she is hilarious.

Marisa Donnelly

Whenever Marisa posts a screenshot of her browser to Slack, it has like 12+ open tabs. She radiates this authenticity and rawness. She doesn’t always produce gigantic hits, but collects numerous comments on her articles because they are stealth bombs of passion for the readers that they grab. They make a genuine impact on people.

Before Marisa came here, nobody imagined that Thought Catalog could candidly publish articles about religion and faith (which for some people are HUGE parts of their lives), but through Marisa we attracted a huge amount of dialogue around religious belief.

Katie Mather

There’s a special place for people who can make me laugh. Then there’s people who can make me “fall out of my chair” laugh. That’s Katie.

Also one time I almost gave her a hug, but then remembered she didn’t like hugs, so suavely made it into a “peace sign” goodbye. She looked at me oddly for a minute and was like, “Jacob…were you about to hug me???”

Heidi Priebe

I remember one day when I was still really new at TC, and my articles were getting like 7 reads apiece — and Heidi sent me this message about how she thought I was doing a great job. She totally inspired me to keep pushing.

IRL Heidi is even more impressive than digital Heidi though. She is so warm, authentic, and hilarious. I remember laughing my ass off while scarfing down chicken & waffles at some v over priced chic Brookyln eatery. I’ve never met someone who believes in my work as much as Heidi does, and almost every “personal” article I write, I hope Heidi reads.

Rania Naim

I think most writers have to chose between being “popular” and creating “beautiful” work. Rania has this insane talent that allows her to do both. And not only does she do it her own way, she’s typically ahead of the curve.

Nicole Tarkoff

There are some times I think Nicole is just a series of code programmed to edit, and produce articles for Thought Catalog. She is seriously so efficient and productive! And then when she works on her own stuff, it somehow rocks too!?

Lauren Jarvis-Gibson

I’ve gotten to watch Lauren’s progress over the last year, and it is seriously impressive. The way she has been able to grow and continually improve is really inspirational. She just works at it. She set a goal to be a writer, and every day since then she has done a little bit to become a better writer. Her work ethic in that regard is so amazing.

Daniel Hayes

I admire Dan because he had the foresight to realize how great I was, and invited me to write for Thought Catalog two years ago.

Hahahahahahahahahahahaha JK (mostly).

Dan’s first career wasn’t writing, and it shows. He has this depth of knowledge about obscure topics (manufacturing economy) that don’t get as much attention as they deserve. He also got me to change my position on free trade, which was cool.

Becca Martin

I admire Becca’s wanderlust so. freaking. much. There is nothing in the world that makes me happier than a flight home, or being cuddled up in my bed with a space heater and laptop. Becca gets honest joy from traveling, and I wish I had it!!! I wish I wanted to climb mountains and cut through jungles and wrestle tigers (or whatever she does). That would be so dope, and I can only imagine that she’s an amazing storyteller.

Jim Goad

Most people have rules about what you can talk about — not Jim. Jim and I agree on very, very little, but we still talk. We don’t call each other names, we discuss, we debate — sometimes forcefully. But we are both people, ya know?

Chrissy Stockton

I remember when I started working with Chrissy more, I was always so intimidated because I found someone who believed in me. She had expectations, and high ones. I felt like I was working with someone who I could let down, because she knew what I was capable of. It was scary, and exhilarating.

Chrissy is the original ~creative~. She is so capable, talented, versatile. If I was teaching someone about digital media I would send them links to Chrissy’s articles. She is capable of getting people to read her shit, but often, it’s her quiet posts on our back page with 60 views that move me the most.