Former KBI Agent Falls in Love with Storytelling
Photos by Emma Highfill, Rose Wheat Photography
Katie Whisman spent 18 years analyzing violent crime scenes and advocating for justice at the Kansas Bureau of Investigation. Today, she coaches business owners through the Premier Advisory Group as a Strategy Consultant and Business Development Director.
What seems like two unrelated fields came together for Whisman through one powerful force: storytelling.
You might say Whisman’s career began in second grade. A lover of the “Unsolved Mysteries” TV show, Whisman tuned in every Wednesday evening to see what true crime was waiting to be solved.
“I became enamored by the investigated process and helping people with one of the most difficult times of their lives,” Whisman said.
After solving a 1978 homicide case as an intern, Whisman eventually fulfilled her dream of becoming a KBI agent. She was passionate about her job but working 60 homicide cases in five years took a toll.
“You’re seeing the worst of the worst,” Whisman said, “all day, every day.”
In time, Whisman decided she was ready for a change.
“I felt I had done what I wanted to do,” she said. “I helped a lot of people. But I wanted to be home more with my kids.”
In 2014, Whisman left crime scenes behind to become the first female executive officer to the director of the KBI. In her role, she advocated for the agency by leading special projects and working with the legislature. Sitting through legislative hearings, Whisman recalls wishing more people would feel compelled to help solve the state’s many challenges.
“I’d just sit back and say, ‘Gosh, if we could only tell the story in a way that people would get it,’” she said. “Not only in committee rooms at the legislature, but in a way that would inspire them to take action.”
Whisman found the opportunity to do just that while working on the Kansas sexual assault kit initiative.
A Change of Heart
When Whisman was first assigned to lead the initiative, her team’s task was to identify all unsubmitted rape kits (medical reports released by the victim to law enforcement for investigation) that had accumulated in law enforcement property rooms across the state. They identified over 2,200 untested kits and submitting them for forensic analysis. But still, the issue persisted.
Even after Whisman identified a link between the kit and a suspect, cases were still not getting investigated. So, they set out to determine why. Whisman and her team discovered a lack of trauma-informed training available to law enforcement and criminal justice practitioners. In response, Whisman and team trained over 1,500 professionals. But a significant barrier remained. Despite more cases making it to court, juries were failing to convict.
To give more victims a greater chance at justice, Whisman and her team needed to better educate the general public who made up the jury pools.
“I was like, ‘I’m just a cop, I don’t know how to do that, but I know we need to do it,’” Whisman said.
Whisman envisioned a public awareness campaign that would help the public shift from a victim-blaming perspective to a focus on offender accountability. Bajillion Agency won the bid for the request for proposal, and the work began.
Whisman watched Bajillion’s “Yes, this room” campaign come alive through videos, web content, posters and other pieces designed to educate Kansans and increase sexual assault awareness. Through her work with the agency, Whisman felt a new appreciation for the power of storytelling.
“If you are able to make an emotional connection with the audience, it has the power to not only change minds, but hearts,” Whisman said. “When the message spread in a way I'd never been able to do on my own — despite all of the networks and teams we had working together — that’s where it started to shift for me.”
The Right Chance at the Right Time
After the campaign launched, Whisman still felt a pull to make a change in her life. Ready for more work-life balance and intrigued by a new way of impacting people, the time seemed right to leave law enforcement behind. When the opportunity arose to work with Premier Advisory Group, an affiliate of Bajillion Agency, Whisman took it.
“It felt like the right thing at the right time for the right reasons,” Whisman said. “It gave me an opportunity to do something I was passionate about, but also be able to have time to myself and with my family.”
From day one, things were different. Whisman walked into the hip, open-floor plan office and had one thought: “This is so not a state government space,” she recalled. “It felt very refreshing.”
While working with business owners seems like a 180 from law enforcement, the project management and conflict resolution skills Whisman mastered at the KBI are key in helping entrepreneurs convert challenges to opportunities.
“This has given me the chance to work with people, understand challenges, bring visionary leadership and brainstorm,” Whisman said.
She also puts her analytical mind to work by helping to build and refine the company’s processes.
“I geek out on strategic planning and process improvement,” Whisman said. “I have really enjoyed creating systems to help make everything work together effectively and efficiently.”
Whisman admits she still has a lot to learn, but, a familiar law enforcement helps guide her steps: “Improvise, adapt and overcome.”
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