Kathleen Miller Cook

Kathleen Miller Cook grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and has followed a career path as eclectic as it is accomplished. With master’s degrees in Journalism from Harvard (with honors) and in Labor and Industrial Relations from Michigan State, she’s always been drawn to big ideas, practical solutions, and new challenges. While attending MSU, she studied comparative labor systems at the University of Stockholm and held a research assistantship that deepened her interest in how people work, across industries and around the world.

In the 1980s, Kat made her way to Chicago, where she built a career in business management consulting. At the American Bar Association, she served as Special Assistant to the Executive Director, the first non-attorney to hold the role, and worked closely with the Board of Directors on human resources issues. She later became one of the first women in the country to serve as a principal in a retained executive search firm, building a legal recruitment practice and speaking regularly at industry events.

In the 1990s, Kat followed her passion for media and the arts to Los Angeles, where she joined Sounds of Film, Inc., a consulting firm serving international clients in the music and film industries. There, she worked on a range of projects at the intersection of technology, management, and creative production. Around the same time, she pursued advanced coursework in mass media research at the University of Colorado Boulder to deepen her understanding of evolving media landscapes.

In 2001, she founded Miller Media Research, where she helped small and midsize print media companies make the leap into the digital world, bridging traditional publishing with emerging online platforms.

That experience led her to HindSight Ltd. in 2004, one of the first companies to develop business software specifically for professional photographers. What started as a niche product for managing photojournalism and stock photography businesses grew into a broader software firm serving clients in healthcare and finance.

As a co-owner and a member of the Board of Directors, Kat helped guide HindSight’s strategy, finance, and operations.

Today, Kat lives in Saugatuck with her husband, James Cook, surrounded by art, nature, and a community she loves.