Defining family & home with The Voice of the City, Katie Guyer

I started working in Midland in June 2016 as the City of Midland’s Communications Coordinator, but I moved here in June 2020, so I commuted from the Thumb for four years. I had some connections there, but when that changed, I had two options: I could move back to Indiana, where I grew up, and start over; or, I could move to Midland where I already had a great network and a deep connection to the community. After considering all that Midland had given me in those four years, I relocated here.

Interestingly, although I grew up in Indiana, I'm Canadian. We moved to the U.S. when I was seven—just me, my mom, and my brother. The rest of my family remained in Canada, where they still live today. My mom remarried, and we moved to Indiana to be with my stepdad. Growing up so far away from my extended family could feel isolating, but it also fostered a sense of independence in me. Family, for me, became something I made for myself, whether through my stepfamily, school friends, or the relationships I built in each phase of life. It was never strictly about blood ties.

Moving to Midland wasn't a scary prospect because I had done something similar as a child and created connections that made this place feel like home. Now, it's just me and my daughter here, but when you ask me about my family, I'd say it's a large and loving one, filled with friends and colleagues who are like my family.
I grew up in Kokomo, Indiana, about an hour north of Indianapolis, and I went to Butler University in Indianapolis. I started as a biology major with dreams of becoming a veterinarian. I had worked in vet clinics, taken every science class available, and even participated in science fairs, but by the end of my first year, I realized I hated science. I've always been creative with a passion for writing and design, so I switched to marketing and never looked back.

After college, I spent the next few years in corporate marketing roles—primarily for smaller companies. I worked in transportation and logistics, commercial audio-visual, and my last private marketing role was with an e-commerce order fulfillment company. That experience gave me a strong foundation in digital communication, marketing, and sales.

In 2014, an opportunity opened up with our local economic development alliance for a marketing and communications manager. The role had never existed before, and it felt like a chance to return to my hometown and make the changes I had always hoped to see growing up. That was my introduction to the public sector. I spent two years in that role and had a brief stint back in the private sector in Saginaw when I first came to Michigan. Then, when the position with the City of Midland opened up, I knew I had to take it. My passion is public service and being part of positive change for a community.

When I first moved to Midland, it was a challenging time. The pandemic was in full swing and, on top of that, the dam failure meant I was working long hours and juggling crisis communications while trying to parent a three-year-old without any childcare. I was also going through the end of a seven-year relationship that I thought would last forever. It was an incredibly dark period for me, but I've always been driven by a sense of service and care as a mother and public servant.

During those hard days, throwing myself into my work was almost therapeutic, especially knowing that so many others had it worse. While I was dealing with heartbreak and exhaustion, there were people in Midland who had lost everything. Seeing their resilience helped me find my own. If they could get through it, so could I. Being there for them—being their sounding board, holding their hands through the crisis—kept me going.

I'm someone who wears my heart on my sleeve. Transparency and human connection are so important to me, and that's not something people traditionally associate with government entities. Midland is full of personality, love, and connection; I want to reflect that in our communications. In the past, the City's messaging had been very straightforward and professional but maybe too formal.

I believe that kind of communication doesn't always foster trust. I live in this community—I go to the same stores, my kid goes to the same schools. Why should we pretend we don't know each other when we're all working toward the same goals for ourselves and our community? Relating to people more humanly, especially on social media, drives me.

We all play a role in making Midland a livable and inclusive community, and the City can't do it alone. Yes, we maintain parks, provide accessible amenities, keep taxes low while still meeting the community's needs, and offer services that many other places don't. But beyond that, our staff live here too. They could work elsewhere, but choose to stay in Midland because they believe in this place. If we make people feel welcome, safe, and connected, Midland will be a community of choice.

I genuinely love Midland, and not just because of my job. I love it because it's unique. We have many amenities, activities, and events, yet we still have that small-town feel. With a population of 42,000, it's not a big city, but we offer attractions like the Center for the Arts, Dow Gardens, and the Santa House that you'd expect to find in much larger places. Communities three times our size don't have what we do. I think that's one of Midland's key draws—you can live in a tight-knit, safe community without sacrificing access to everything you want to do.

For me, bringing Adult Recess to Downtown Midland in 2018 was about giving people the chance to connect through play. We started the program with simple activities, but it's grown yearly, especially now with the Pedestrian Plaza. The City reuses items like hula hoops and giant board games we purchased for other functions to help bring the weekly event to life. This past year was the most successful season for Adult Recess, and seeing the community embrace it is fantastic.

Downtown Midland has been transformed. There's so much research showing how a sense of well-being and belonging is crucial for emotional and physical health, and that's also a critical factor in where people choose to live. With more people working remotely, they can live anywhere, and the quality of life we offer in Midland—things like the Pedestrian Plaza, The Commons, Tunes by the Tridge, and other community events—gives people a reason to choose us.

My daughter and I spend a lot of time at the Grace A. Dow Memorial Library—we're both avid readers—and walk everywhere. Midland is a walkable community, and I'd love to see that continue to improve. We also love going to Loons games and spending time downtown. I intentionally bought my home in Midtown so we could easily walk to all the great amenities.

Looking to the future, my biggest hope for Midland is that we keep building on this momentum of creating an inclusive, thriving community where everyone feels like they belong. There's still work to do, but I believe we're on the right path. As someone who knows what it's like to move to a new place and create connections from scratch, I know how important it is for people to feel welcome and heard. In Midland, we're making that happen.