Biography Continued
During her last semester, Heidi took on a public relations internship with American Family Insurance in Madison, WI. Upon graduation in 1991 with a degree in Technical Communication Management and Journalism, Heidi was hired into the Government Affairs Division at American Family as a development analyst. She has been promoted through the management ranks twice, and today Heidi remains in the Government Affairs and Compliance division as the political action director. In her role, she is responsible for ensuring compliance with state and federal campaign finance laws and directing the Fortune 400 company’s grassroots program. It’s a far cry from the journalist that lies within her, but Heidi finds time at night and on the weekends to make time for her passion.
Having fallen in love with her husband of more than 15 years in 1990, Heidi put several writing dreams on the back burner, including publishing a novel and working for a major national newspaper, to start a life with Jeff. Obviously when her sons, Noah and Payton, joined the Krumenauer home and additional responsibilities and business travel required more of her time writing took back seat. To fill the void, Heidi volunteered to develop the Ronald McDonald House of Madison's newsletter upon their opening. She remained a co-editor and writer of that publication for several years.
The pursuit of publishing a book (or several) has simmered inside for years, and in the summer of 2006 Heidi made a monumental decision to pull out some of her old writing skills -- and book ideas! Since November 2006, Heidi has contributed to seven books and released her first book in September, 2007 called Why Does Grandma Have a Wibble?. Additionally, mulitiple publishing houses have expressed interest in her many book projects. Aside from her corporate management position, Heidi has taken on a freelance role, providing articles to several magazines and local newspapers. Heidi is a frequent contributor to CBN.com’s music department and Credo magazine where she provides interviews/articles for such Christian music notables as: Michael W. Smith, Casting Crowns, Natalie Grant, Jeremy Camp, Matthew West and many more. She's even had the pleasure of interviewing NASCAR's oldest driver, Morgan Shepherd.
Heidi's mission is to help students realize their writing dreams at a young age. She has started speaking locally to student groups about the publishing opportunities that are availabe to young writers.
Heidi and her husband, Jeff, raise their sons, Noah (10) and Payton (7), in Stoughton, WI.
Heidi Krumenauer ~~ HJK Communications LLC
