About Me

Kylie Badgley 

Journalist/Curious/Driven/Creative/Fearless/Passionate

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I believe you find out the most about people through their stories, plural.

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During my time at UT, I learned the danger of a single story (thanks to Chimamanda Adichie's TED Talk). Adichie's talk made me think about how one story is not the whole group's, race's or religion's story.

I came to school at UT with single stories about a lot of things. UT's motto

is about change and this school has changed me for the better.

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My first year at UT I had two random roommates. They were both black and completely different from one another. My single story grew to two stories. I was quickly introduced to many people in the black community at UT and that single story I had, grew to dozens. I don't believe in coincidences. It was no accident that the timing of me growing my number of stories coincided with the numerous accounts of police brutality, the Black Lives Matter movement and a black president leaving office.  I needed to know those stories more than I knew. They gave me understanding, and changed my mindset for the better.

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Before coming to UT, I played college volleyball. Being an athlete had been my identity for the past 11 years, but at UT I had to be someone else.

When I came to UT I had a single story of sorority girls and that was not me! At least, I thought. UT has 50,000 students, so you have to make it smaller for yourself. I met new girls through old friends and learned their stories. They were all in sororities, but they were not at all what I expected. They were awesome, down-to-earth girls with bigger dreams than putting their greek letters on the everything.

So after a year, I rushed and my single story about sorority girls became hundreds. Hundreds of stories about strong, intelligent people who had been through struggles, overcame them and were working towards a career just like me.

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I interned at non-profits, news stations and startup news sites. At every job I went into it with a single story of what I thought it was or how the people were supposed to be and I came out of all of them with more information, a new outlook and a deeper understanding of the business and people.

I didn't tell you these stories to show you how diverse I am or to get you to look past the greek letters on my Instagram, all I hope is that this will inspire you, like Adichie's talk inspired me, to listen and find more in people than the single story that you already know. 

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"The single story creates stereotypes, and the problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete. They make one story become the only story." -Adichie

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Everyone has a story and I want to tell the ones that aren't being told, the ones that challenge the stereotypes and inspire compassion and empathy, instead of creating strife and division. 

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I have my own story too and it's not the one you know about the volleyball player, the journalist, or the sorority girl.

I'd love to tell you it and show you how I can add a few new stories to your company.

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