Faces in the Crowd: Cynde Smith

Propagate  |  720 words  |  3 min read

A Writer Who Rides

If you're on Route 28 in the Adirondacks on a summer evening, you might catch a red 2018 Indian Scout threading through the mountains. That's Cynde Smith. She's been riding since 1994—this is her third bike—and the roads up here, she says, are perfect for it.

Cynde and her husband Reuben co-own Tumblehome Boatshop in Warrensburg, New York, where they build and restore classic wooden boats and open their doors to the public. She does the marketing and plans the events: coffee-and-muffin open houses that draw about 50 people, and larger summer presentations with slide shows and boat history that pull in over a hundred. She's also, for what it's worth, something of a pet whisperer—she's taught several dogs (including her own labs, Louie and Eddie), and even her cat to speak and roll over. The neighbors are apparently impressed.

Cynde holds a degree in writing from the University of Colorado, and began her professional writing career at ACOM Healthcare (now part of Propagate) in 1999. After working her way up—senior writer, vice president, partner—she moved to the Adirondacks in 2008 with Reuben to pursue the dream of owning a world-class wooden boat shop in the Lake George area. At Propagate, her title is officially Partner, but that barely covers it. On any given day she's managing projects, writing content, art-directing for designers, or sitting with a client to figure out what they actually need before the team starts building.

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Q&A

You're a partner at Propagate, and often introduced as the “writer” on a project. But that doesn't quite cover it, does it?

No—my day-to-day has always been about moving the ball down the field for clients. Even though I do often play the role of writer on projects, there's a lot more to what I do. Project management, art direction, strategy, and a lot more.

Can you tell us about a recent project that you're genuinely proud of?

Recently, I'd have to say the work we've done for Bear Tide Oysters. It was a break from what I'd done historically, which was for the most part healthcare/pharma/life sciences. For Bear Tide, I had to sort of activate all of my skills—research to really understand the industry, and ultimately establishing the right voice for a specific audience. I love the look of that brand, too. So it's fun when the finished work sounds good and looks good.

I'm also proud of the start-to-finish work we've done where we had the chance to name a product or a company, design it, and then launch it quickly. The work is hard and the stakes are high, and that makes it a lot of fun.

You're a writer who also sometimes art-directs designers. How does that work?

We have designers who are great listeners and really care about their work. But sometimes it's important to have someone in the middle who can help the design team interpret what the client really needs. I get to spend extra time with the client, so I have all that additional context. I get to bring the strategy side of things into art direction and design.

What's an example of some interesting marketing that's caught your eye lately?

I like what 177 Milk Street is doing. The owner himself will talk about a product they've developed—a particular type of knife, say—and he goes into how great it is, how he uses it, why you need this knife. Then there's a whole write-up that goes with it. I appreciate how well that format works.

You've been in this industry for over 25 years. What's different about Propagate?

What we're doing here is the culmination of everything this experienced team has learned over our careers—what's smart, what isn't smart, what we believe in and what we don't, etc. We've taken all of that and crafted it into something special. All the combined experience and the wonder and the knowledge and enthusiasm, all coming together.

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