Stephanie Kramer

Biography

Smiler and Chief Operating Officer of Urban Times :-)

My Urban Times Story

The first time I heard about Urban Times’ existence was in 2010 on one hot summer’s night in Camden’s Lock Tavern. Alex and Charlie were telling me about their master plan: to create an online magazine which would shy away from the gloom and doom infesting much of media today and instead present news with a silver lining- solution driven content. As a fellow optimist myself I couldn’t wait to go home and check it out. As close friends of Alex and Charlie, and having all attended UCL together, I was familiar of their devotion and passion but that didn’t prepare me for how great the site was. I was hooked from the get go. At first UT became a hobby of mine, whenever I felt like knowledge I went on and surfed, but little by little I realised I had to be involved in what they were doing. I had to vaporise and become part of this breath of fresh air.

As ever, Charlie and Alex welcomed me with open arms saying that my involvement could be as big as I wanted it to be. This is now a piece of advice I pass on to many of the people interested in contributing with UT today and it rings true. There are no barriers at UT provided that your ethos aligns with theirs: optimistic forward-thinking. This is the best set of rules I ever heard! The rest came so naturally and month-by-month my commitment to UT stepped up a gear. Sitting at UT meetings cemented my desire to make up part of the team. The relaxed atmosphere yet energetic zest for growth, where impossible is nothing, made me feel at home. Meeting our CTO Rory I knew that I belonged. You could say the ‘dynamics’ just worked.

And I hope to say: the rest will become history :-)