Updated in April 2025
As Block Club’s director of strategy, Caitlin Hartney can clarify complex ideas, draw out the story within any piece of content, and, if necessary, power-walk her way through a meeting. A historian by training and a writer at heart, she’s spent the past seven years shaping stories in fintech—starting with Plaid and now leading strategy at Block Club.
In this edition of 37 Questions, a humble nod to Vogue’s 73, Caitlin reflects on childhood idols, the podcasts she can’t stop listening to, and her relentless quest for a higher step count. She shares her love of history, her secret vice (a perfectly crisp Diet Coke), and her other secret vice (Love is Blind). Read on to get to know Caitlin—including her forever-favorite bakery and why her retirement plan involves a shovel, brush, and shaking screen.
-
Who were your childhood idols?
Jo March and Jane Goodall
-
What about them inspired you?
I guess I like a woman who does her own thing.
-
How did their influence shape your values or aspirations?
I think they made me eager to buck expectations, and they made me want to do big, important work. I also went to college and lived in New York City for a while, which may or may not have been subconsciously influenced by Jo.
-
What books were formative for you growing up?
Jane Eyre
-
What inspires you?
Good long-form journalism
-
When you have writer’s block, who or what do you turn to to get unstuck?
I think time is the cure. So, when I’m stuck, I stop and make a plan to get back at it another time, usually before dawn, when my family is still asleep, and my mind is clearest.
-
How do you know when a body of writing is finished?
When it’s due. Otherwise, it’s a work in progress.
-
Aside from writing, how do you creatively express yourself?
I don’t have another medium. Writing has always been my outlet. I used to practice it in all sorts of forms outside of work—but these days, my time is more constrained, so my writing is strictly professional.
-
Do you have a favorite podcast, book, or TV series?
I’ve become a Criminal junkie. It’s a remarkably well done true crime podcast that teaches you as much about the justice/injustice system, human nature, and society as it does the individual crime events at the center of each episode. The once-aspiring historian in me especially loves the stories set in bygone eras.
-
Do you have a routine you’re adamant about keeping up?
I walk as much as possible. I probably take 80% of my internal meetings doing laps around my neighborhood. Topping last year’s average daily steps is a minor obsession of mine.
-
How long have you written for fintech?
For seven years at the time of publication. I cut my teeth with Plaid.
-
Can you share a pivotal moment that led you to your current role as director of strategy at Block Club?
Before becoming a director, I was Block Club’s only copywriter and content strategist. The inflection point came when we consistently had more work and more opportunity than I could feasibly do on my own. It was clear we needed a team, and I was charged with building it.
-
Do you have a favorite Block Club memory?
Dare I say, I have some nostalgia for our in-office days? Don’t get me wrong, I prefer working remotely. But I also fondly remember the social benefits of being together in person.
-
What did you study in school?
History and politics at the undergraduate level and history at the graduate level
-
How has your past education or academic background influenced your career?
Completing an advanced degree program honed my ability to parse complex materials and subject matter, reach astute conclusions, and build clear arguments, and nothing serves a writer/strategist better.
-
What would be your career in an alternate universe?
Public historian, long-form journalist, or archaeologist. In retirement, I plan to volunteer for digs in the UK to scratch the last of those three itches.
-
If you could have a dinner party with anyone, who would you invite?
My maternal grandparents passed away before I was old enough to really appreciate what I could learn from them if I took the time. I would take a couple hours with them in a heartbeat.
-
What brings you joy?
My three-year-old daughter, in all her unfiltered, precocious glory
-
What brings you contentment?
A clean home. So, I am content for about 5 minutes a month. 🙃
-
What is the best book you read this year?
I loved North Woods by Daniel Mason. If the history of place is at all interesting to you, it’s a must-read.
-
What’s a fun fact about you?
About 20 years ago, I was one of those normal people selected off the street to appear in a fashion magazine feature about dressing for your body type. (Anyone remember Lucky?)
-
If you could have any superpower for a day, what would it be and how would you use it?
What superpower would you need to stop the world from hurdling toward destruction?
-
Do you have any pets? Tell us about them.
I have a German shephard/shar-pei mix named Maya, and she owns me.
-
What makes you laugh?
When it’s past my bedtime, and the fatigue-inspired delirium has set in, and I am unwisely scrolling though reels on social media, videos of dogs doing silly things make me giggle out loud.
-
What makes you nervous?
Public speaking
-
What’s something you’re bad at?
Folding laundry
-
Do you have any vices?
A cold, crisp Diet Coke from the can, no ice. These days, it’s a once in a while treat.
-
What’s your favorite place to eat?
I first knew I’d spend the rest of my life with my husband (then boyfriend) while we were eating jam- and butter-filled biscuits at Tandem Bakery in Portland, Maine. So, that place will always be special to me.
-
Where is your favorite place in the world?
Paris
-
Who should everyone be following on social media?
Blakely Thornton and Merriam-Webster, both on Instagram
-
What are you proud of?
My daughter, who is shaping up to be the most extraordinary human, in my totally biased opinion
-
What is the last thing you googled?
“kids manicures williamsville”
-
Where do you do your best thinking
On long walks
-
Have you binged any good shows lately?
Only if you consider Love Is Blind “good”
-
What is something you’d like to accomplish that is outlandish yet feasible in this lifetime?
That big, important work I aspired to as a child? I would still like to have that under my belt.
-
What are your goals for the next few years?
Make it out alive with at least some of our rights still intact. Call me an optimist.
-
What’s your impression of yourself after reading this interview?
I am the elderliest of millennials.