https://storyfirstcontent.com/welcome daily 1.0 2026-04-14 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a6276d6a8b2b082d9f23d0f/1620691322672-L686NJOP98YC7L8B29K6/unsplash-image-_4IGEPY0kZU.jpg Home https://storyfirstcontent.com/kefox daily 0.75 2025-03-07 https://storyfirstcontent.com/contact daily 0.75 2023-10-13 https://storyfirstcontent.com/books daily 0.75 2026-04-13 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a6276d6a8b2b082d9f23d0f/66b2ac91-a676-4b36-83ae-9e097c7b182f/ZO+Cover+JPG.jpg The Marked Age - Post apocalyptic America is Zo’s world. A land where technology has been lost to magic. Finally united under the Four Kingdoms, the New World land of Nosto is now threatened by an evil, enigmatic leader—Aquas Tocque. Imprisoned and tortured, Zooey Caine executes a murderous escape from The Rock aided by the dragon Ilya, her bonded Twin. Now on a quest to avenge her fallen family, Zooey and Ilya leave the West Kingdom driven by a vision of her beloved brother ensnared by the twisted mind of Tocque. Zooey and Ilya forge a cosmic alliance with three unlikely allies. A tall, quirky cartographer, an AWOL soldier with extra-human strength, and a fiery woman who can control water. Follow the alliance through this medieval land risen from the ruins of the past. Where dragons rule the skies. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a6276d6a8b2b082d9f23d0f/6f98be6f-7366-453c-b031-0793fa8d5e7f/FOUR+Cover+JPG.jpg The Marked Age - The Marked Age continues... Zooey Caine—in her quest to avenge the massacre of her family and the fall of the West Kingdom, is drawn into the underground operation of R.A.T., led by Jag Kassin, whose mission is to restore freedom to the Four Kingdoms of Nosto. Zooey, with her allies and sardonic, fearless dragon Twin, Ilya, hone their skills and cosmic gifts to align with R.A.T. in battling the tyrannical, enigmatic Aquas Tocque. Intertwined, is the history of the past and founding of Nosto. A land born from the ashes of America by The Four—seemingly ordinary people with extraordinary power. A dragon tactical team, mutinous family members, and lively southern affiliates join ZO in the second saga of The Marked Age series. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a6276d6a8b2b082d9f23d0f/2179a793-a792-48e3-ab49-f4b055bbce32/21+Cover+JPG.jpg The Marked Age - The Marked Age Ends. Ravaged by the enigmatic Aquas Tocque, the Four Kingdoms of Nosto have stood still—until now. R.A.T., the new-age rebellion, is heading West to face their enemies head-on. Determined to build their forces with unlikely allies, they’ll stop at nothing to defeat Tocque’s superhuman army once and for all. Now, Zooey and her dragon Twin, Ilya—along with their gifted companions—have their own cosmic journeys to complete. As they follow the all too familiar path home. Will the heroes defeat the villains and survive the inevitable carnage? The end starts at the beginning in the thrilling conclusion to The Marked Age saga. https://storyfirstcontent.com/tma-zo daily 0.75 2026-04-13 https://storyfirstcontent.com/tma-four daily 0.75 2026-04-13 https://storyfirstcontent.com/editorial-portfolio daily 0.75 2026-04-13 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a6276d6a8b2b082d9f23d0f/934a0a31-9d21-458a-8a55-ab735033f59f/Kate+Smith%E2%80%94Article+Image.png Portfolio - Make it stand out In 2011, I had zero dollars to my name and was living off Ramen noodles and the hope that someone would read my Glee spec script. The job market was difficult due to the lingering effects of the 2008 global financial crisis, and the screenwriting profession was even tougher, with studio relationships strained from the 2007–2008 writers’ strike. It seemed like an impossible market to find a job, let alone build a career, and I blindly followed my millennial ambition straight into the arms of contract work. I wrote everything from social satire to on-demand film reviews, and sometimes, if the powers that be were willing, I got paid. Little did I know I was part of something that would later become the “creator economy.” Read More https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a6276d6a8b2b082d9f23d0f/9f59ff3f-777d-4733-9383-b719addbd327/Kate+Smith%E2%80%94VP+Finance+Article+Image.png Portfolio - Make it stand out There’s a shift happening in boardrooms and executive meetings everywhere—one that’s redefining what it actually means to be a CFO. In this market, rife with volatility, geopolitical uncertainty, and relentless technological acceleration, the CFO’s real deliverables have changed. It’s no longer just about closing the books accurately or ensuring compliance. Those are foundational, but they’re not the only things investors, boards, or executive teams are looking for in their finance leaders. They want confidence. Confidence that the business can withstand disruptions. Confidence that our forecasts reflect reality. Confidence that we can model and pivot at the speed the market demands. Read More https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a6276d6a8b2b082d9f23d0f/e6745e64-a6c4-457d-b0f6-f65a587efffc/Kate+Smith%E2%80%94COO+Article+Image.png Portfolio - Make it stand out Fraud didn’t spike because of a single weak control. It surged because the economics of cybercrime changed. What used to require skill, patience, and technical depth can now be bought, packaged, and deployed at scale. Generative AI has lowered the barrier to entry. Fraud-as-a-Service has industrialized execution. Cross-border payments have increased velocity. Together, they’ve created a perfect storm. For businesses paying vendors and global partners, this is no longer a background risk. It’s an operational battleground. The question is no longer whether fraud will attempt to infiltrate your payments ecosystem. The question is whether your systems are built to stop it before money leaves the door. Read More https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a6276d6a8b2b082d9f23d0f/93917915-af27-4d2b-9a5c-d7fbd864871a/Kate+Smith%E2%80%94CAO+Article+Image.png Portfolio - Make it stand out In boardrooms and university lecture halls alike, the debate over the “150-hour rule” once felt academic. Important, but distant from the day-to-day realities of running an accounting organization. That is no longer the case. As of early this year, more than 20 states, including California, New York, Illinois, Texas, Ohio, and Virginia, have formally adopted or are implementing alternative CPA licensure pathways commonly referred to as “120+2” (120 credit hours plus two years of experience). What began as a policy conversation has quickly become a structural reality for accounting leaders. For those of us building teams inside high-growth, tech-enabled businesses, this shift is more than a regulatory update. It fundamentally changes how we recruit, hire, and retain talent. Read More https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a6276d6a8b2b082d9f23d0f/364e9496-4edb-47d7-951f-4f0c219393ad/Kate+Smith%E2%80%94President+Article+Image.png Portfolio - Make it stand out For the last decade, the growth playbook for digital platforms was “scale first, optimize later.” Ad networks, online marketplaces, and creator-driven platforms raced to acquire users, onboard partners, and rapidly expand their networks. Often accepting risk and inefficiency in the pursuit of speed. But today’s digital companies are entering a more complex, high-stakes phase of maturity. Growth is no longer defined by how fast a network expands, but by how reliably, transparently, and efficiently it operates at scale. There are new indicators of success, and the trends ahead highlight what it will take for digital platforms to move from rapid expansion to steady, results-driven growth. Read More https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a6276d6a8b2b082d9f23d0f/9eeb4af3-2daa-454f-bd14-5a33cf390bbd/Kate+Smith%E2%80%94CMO+Article+Image.png Portfolio - Make it stand out At the end of each year, I take a moment and reflect on the trends that have impacted my life— both personally and professionally. 2025 is no different. But instead of focusing my annual reflections on all things Grateful Dead or the wonders of Severance season two, my 2025 headline trend is the massive impact of Generative AI across businesses. We’re on the next big technology wave, and this one will likely create greater long-term impact than prior technical revolutions (like the web, cloud, mobile, and SaaS). We’ll see many business impacts from Gen AI in 2026, and also from other technical, regulatory, and economic trends. I decided to ask a group of smart people what they see coming in 2026, so I sat down with the Tipalti executive team to get their takes on what businesses should focus on. These insights, rooted in what Tipalti is seeing across our many global customers, offer a sharp view into the upcoming trends that are shaping the future of the technology and fintech industries. Read More https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a6276d6a8b2b082d9f23d0f/77944fe1-503b-4ead-83b8-e0a23eaa8bdd/Kate+Smith%E2%80%94CFO+Article+Image.png Portfolio - Make it stand out According to recent data from the U.S. Department of Labor, women make up nearly 60% of accountants and 53% of finance managers in the United States. Clearly, women today occupy roles in accounting and finance at significantly high rates. Recent research also shows that the majority of graduates with accounting majors are women, highlighting that it continues to be a promising career track for female professionals. As a result, many of us working in finance now have strong networks and supportive colleagues, including numerous talented women who have mentored or worked alongside us and fostered a deep sense of community. Read More https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a6276d6a8b2b082d9f23d0f/f8a2fbb6-cfd9-4311-93a1-3550f4eda2b5/Kate+Smith%E2%80%94CEO+Article+Image.png Portfolio - Make it stand out Over the past few years, our customers, like you, have shown remarkable resilience. You’ve navigated multiple disruptions successfully and are poised to resume growth. Despite these disruptions, it’s an exciting and rewarding time to lead Tipalti. Our solutions are at the forefront of helping companies respond to these unique challenges. Today’s organizations need to find efficiencies without sacrificing growth, and as growth becomes more difficult, adopting automation is critical. While helping our customers address these challenges, Tipalti is thriving, building momentum, and expanding globally by offering cutting-edge automation solutions. Here’s a recap of how Tipalti is meeting your challenges today and in the future. Read More https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a6276d6a8b2b082d9f23d0f/97a9062f-a1ea-4e8f-9579-3c37d62596de/Kate+Smith%E2%80%94Customer+Article+Image.png Portfolio - Make it stand out I didn’t plan on falling in love with accounts payable. But somewhere between my early years in business solutions and my move into the CPG world, it happened. AP stopped being just a function and became a vantage point. I’m deeply passionate about AP because it sits at the forefront of the business—whether people realize it or not. We touch everything. We’re the connective tissue between vendors and internal teams, between AR and finance, between strategy and reality. Every invoice, every expense, every payment tells a story about how a company operates. And when you care about people and data, AP is where those two worlds collide in the most meaningful way. Read More https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a6276d6a8b2b082d9f23d0f/092b9c85-f4dd-4c7d-b155-b4c0715d8c73/Kate+Smith%E2%80%94Influencer+Article+Image.png Portfolio - Make it stand out Christian Sanford studied accounting and finance at college before embarking on a varied finance career in banking and investments. After taking some time out to reflect and re-engage, he started QuantFi, an AI-enabled, full-stack strategic finance agency that supports scaling companies. Nick Levine: Why did you go down the finance route? Christian Sanford: It was pretty practical. I was pretty good at math and found that accounting came naturally to me. It was intuitive in a way that chemistry wasn’t. My college, Texas Tech, had a strong program that funneled directly into the Big Four, so the path was clear. I got my undergrad and a master’s in accounting. Read More https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a6276d6a8b2b082d9f23d0f/7b5d0b20-210c-4aca-8f3c-8c8f712bb684/Kate+Smith%E2%80%94CFO+Guide.png Portfolio - Make it stand out Byline: Sarah Spoja, CFO, Tipalti Ghostwriter: Kate (Wilson) Smith Read the Guide https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a6276d6a8b2b082d9f23d0f/cdef5212-6467-4a03-8da5-12e6e03c43a0/Kate+Smith%E2%80%94SME+Report.png Portfolio - Make it stand out Writer: Kate (Wilson) Smith Read the Report https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a6276d6a8b2b082d9f23d0f/1fa190e5-1f4c-4a8d-b93e-28165175d140/Kate+Smith%E2%80%94BFF+Podcast+Image.png Portfolio - Make it stand out Interviewee: Darius Ghassemian, Revenue Operations Manager, Tipalti Co-Host and Podcast Production: Kate (Wilson) Smith https://storyfirstcontent.com/tma-21 daily 0.75 2026-04-13 https://storyfirstcontent.com/stories daily 0.75 2021-08-08 https://storyfirstcontent.com/reniva daily 0.75 2025-05-06