We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Stacey Kaleh a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Stacey, thanks for joining us today. What do you think it takes to be successful?

You define what success means to you. That’s something I was fortunate to learn early on by watching my parents create the life they wanted in their own way, on their own timeline.

For me, the definition of success includes putting my time and energy into causes I believe in and working for organizations with cultures that align with my core values: family, gratitude, and curiosity.

In essence, consider myself successful when I’m doing something I’m passionate about to advance a mission that helps people and makes the world a bit better than it was before. As a writer, I feel successful when someone I’ve interviewed feels that I’ve shared their story accurately and with care, or when someone I’ve featured sends a personal note to let me know how much a story meant to them. It’s these votes of confidence that I cherish. If I can help one person, one nonprofit, one brand step into the spotlight to engage and help more people, I’ll take pride in the small ripple I created that led to something larger and more impactful. While I’m always dreaming big and coming up with new, specific and lofty goals, this holds true as all else seems to change.

I truly believe that if you are able to identify and stick to your core values and what you are most passionate about, the possibilities are endless!

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I’m a writer, creative thinker, and communications strategist passionate about Ethical AI, the arts, and giving back to my community. I’m a fourth-generation Austinite (often called a “unicorn”) and believe, naively or not, that I have something to contribute when it comes to making my city and community the best they can be. I’m a live music fanatic, museum maven, and lifelong learner driven by curiosity. Most importantly, I’m mom to two amazing daughters and partner to the love of my life.

As far as my career goes, I started with a fiery passion for great stories, delivered in well-designed, well-articulated, fun and accessible packages. An unforgettable art history elective course took me down a winding path from the study of advertising and public relations to the study of museums, and I landed my first professional role as a communications intern at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York (talk about a dream-come-true!). I fell in love with the energy of NYC and its arts community and stuck around to earn my master’s degree in Museum Studies at NYU, where I brought my background in communications into the mix and wrote my thesis on re-branding art museums to grow audiences and engage accessibility. A series of life-altering events taught me that being close to my family was more important than chasing opportunities in the big city, and I moved back to Austin to be near friends and family, marry my incredible husband of 13+ years, and continue my museum communications work at the Blanton Museum of Art, which just so happened to be in the process of rebranding. So, I got to put my master’s thesis into practice almost immediately (when the stars align, it’s beautiful!)! Re-thinking my career goals, now keeping in mind that I felt it was important to live in my hometown and help shape its trajectory, I branched out to support nonprofits more broadly. I’ve been privileged to work for some of the best causes and brands around, from Keep Texas Beautiful and Don’t Mess With Texas to I Live Here I Give Here and The University of Texas at Austin. I have led large, multi-stakeholder campaigns like Amplify Austin Day, which raises funds in support of more than 750 local nonprofits, and GivingTuesday, a global philanthropic movement linking more than 70 countries through generosity. It’s a complete joy to work with so many partners and witness the major collective impact that follows true collaboration, and an absolute thrill to see communities take action to support the causes that mean the most to them. I’ve held every role you can imagine in communications, from intern to coordinator to department director and CCO, and have learned so much along the way.

Currently, I’m a freelance writer and co-founder (with my husband and Creative Director, Brian Kaleh) of Kaleh Media LLC., a creative firm focused on video storytelling, and am the Manager of Partnerships and Programs for Good Systems at UT Austin, an interdisciplinary research initiative focused on designing, evaluating, and building ethical human – AI systems for the benefit of society. I also serve as Communications Chair for the new Austin AI Alliance, which brings together universities, large and small companies, nonprofits, government officials, and entrepreneurs to propel responsible innovation and use of AI technologies.

If you would have asked me ten, or even five, years ago if I would be working in artificial intelligence, I probably would have laughed. How do you go from art museums to AI? But you never know what doors are going to open for you. I like to keep an open mind, continue to learn, and constantly challenge myself, so when the opportunity arose to bring my passion for ethics, leading large-scale collaborations, and, generally, helping people learn about important things together with my curiosity about how AI technologies are impacting society, I couldn’t pass it up. I can now see an entire new realm of possibilities that are exciting to me. I also better understand the urgent need to ensure that AI technologies are used for good so that they benefit everyone, not just a subset of the population, by breaking down silos between academia, industry, nonprofits, and government and bringing more people to the table at every stage of the design and deployment process. I’m more motivated than ever to get behind this mission.

Some experiences that have really shaped me include volunteer roles and interviews with exceptional, values-driven people. Through interviews with women leaders and by volunteering and serving in advisory capacities for community organizations like Leadership Austin, Preservation Austin, Austin PBS, and the Austin AI Alliance, I’ve come to know some of the most inspiring people in this town. I value these relationships and am so grateful for the creative leaders who have generously shared their stories with me – they fuel me.

Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?

There are so many amazing resources around that are completely free, but frustratingly hard to find! For example, most universities will allow auditors for classes, and there are tons of nonprofits that offer entrepreneurs and creatives free equipment, training, and meeting space. In Austin, the Austin Public Library allows all residents to book beautiful meeting spaces. Austin Public has a producer program that loans out video and audio equipment after a training. UT Austin has oodles of free course materials, offers many free public programs, and you can apply to audit classes.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

I want to leave the world better than I found it. I believe we all have a hand in shaping the future, and I just want to do my part to make sure the future is bright.

From a communications standpoint, I’m driven to get important information to people in a way that is accessible, helpful, and empowers people to take action for what they believe in. There’s so much knowledge out there, and I don’t think it should be buried in jargon or complexity, or tucked away in an archive – there have to be fun and easy ways to learn!

I also just can’t imagine not being surrounded by great art, great stories, and great music. A life surrounded by art is a life well-lived, and if I can integrate those passions into my work and get paid for it, all the better!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.kalehmedia.com/
• Instagram: @txwinegirl
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stacey-ingram-kaleh-b5b66725/
• Twitter: https://x.com/aestheticvoyage
• Other: https://medium.com/@curious-optimist

Image Credits

Photos by Brian and Stacey Kaleh. Curious Optimist Logo design by Stacey Kaleh.

Photo of Brian and Stacey Kaleh (art background) by Annie Ray Photography.