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Katie Fussenegger serves as Executive Vice President of the Kentucky Derby Museum, where she helps lead one of Kentucky’s most iconic cultural attractions with vision, creativity, and a deep love for the stories of the horse.

Before joining the museum, Katie spent more than a decade as President & CEO of ShelbyKY Tourism, where she built a reputation for innovation, collaboration, and community impact. She’s a proud University of Louisville graduate and holds her CTIS certification through Indiana and Purdue Universities.

Katie has held leadership roles across the state and beyond, serving as chair of the Kentucky Tourism Industry Association & KY Bourbon Horses & History Region, President of the Kentucky Association of Convention & Visitors Bureaus, and twice as President on the international stage of Skal International Louisville. She’s also a graduate of Leadership Kentucky, Leadership Louisville, and Leadership Shelby.

Her work has earned her recognition as one of the Lane Report’s Top Women in Business, Louisville Business First’s 20 People to Know in Tourism & Hospitality, recipient of the Way to Go Woman in Leadership Award by Today’s Woman Magazine, and a 2024 Forty Under 40 honoree by Business First, chosen from over 600 applications.

A passionate advocate for tourism, hospitality, and community growth, Katie brings both strategy and heart to everything she does.

Kentucky Derby Museum

https://www.derbymuseum.org/

https://www.instagram.com/derbymuseum/

https://www.linkedin.com/company/kentucky-derby-museum

Connect with Katie on Instagram @CocktailsandTeacups

Kathie’s note: You know how some people just remind you of sunshine? That’s Katie Fussenegger. Always happy, always smiling. I met her on a fam trip (which stands for familiarization, not family) with three other freelance writers in the fall of 2019. We toured a Saddlebred farm in Shelby County, a pumpkin patch and several other tourist attractions, and had some fabulous meals and camaraderie. I still think about those people and places!

Writers Rotation intro/outro recorded at Dynamix Productions in Lexington, Kentucky.

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Patty Pell is an 80-year-old new playwright. She has written snippets all her life, including poems, short stories, two children’s theatre programs, sales training videos, radio spots, and the finest, most talked about obituary tribute that the P-burg Sentinel ever published.

Patty and her daughter, Laurie, wrote Momma Won’t Die based on the last weeks they spent with Gigi in the summer of 2021. Those days of living with three generations of Southern women became the most important time in Patty’s life. Everything else seemed a footnote.

Like the characters in her favorite plays, Steel Magnolias and Crimes of the Heart, Patty hopes audiences will see the characters in Momma Won’t Die and say, “I know these people.” Patty gives special thanks to the Del Shores Writers Workshop for their suggestions and support. She brought in a revised scene every week for two years. She could not have finished this play without them. Momma Won’t Die became a true collaboration of love!

Follow Patty and “Momma Won’t Die” on FB and IG.
https://www.facebook.com/mommawontdie
https://www.instagram.com/mommawontdie

Join the Kickstarter campaign (March 17 to April 16, 2026) to fund the stage premiere of the play in June in Dallas.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/pattypell/momma-wont-die-a-world-premiere-play

Kathie’s note: Patty and I were roommates and workmates a thousand years ago! She is quite entertaining, and always gracious.

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Patty McGee is a nationally recognized literacy consultant, speaker, and educator with a passion for transforming classrooms into spaces where language and learning come alive.

With decades of experience as a teacher, coach, and advocate for delightful literacy practices, Patty has worked alongside educators across the country, partnering to unlock the full potential of their students through innovative and practical teaching strategies.

Not Your Granny’s Grammar is her third book. Connect with Patty at www.pattymcgee.org.

Kathie’s note: Patty sent me an email out of the blue! What a delightful note it was, and I said absolutely yes to inviting her on the podcast. My mom was a teacher, so I've always had a soft spot in my heart for them. Yay for teachers.

Writers Rotation intro/outro recorded at Dynamix Productions in Lexington, Kentucky.

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