Evie Smith Hatmaker is a seasoned communications consultant, former roller derby star, and passionate advocate for the LGBTQ+ community. Originally from California, Evie’s path led her to Portland, where she has become a trailblazer in public relations, working with queer-focused brands and elevating voices that deserve to be heard. Known for her bold strategies and creative storytelling, she played a key role in the resurgence of pinball and the fight for inclusivity in the tech industry. Evie’s dedication to amplifying marginalized communities and her mission-driven approach to her work make her an inspiring force for change in Portland and beyond.
Can you tell us a bit about your background and what brought you to Portland?
I moved to Portland about ten years ago for love. About a year after my divorce from my ex-husband, I met Taylor at A-Camp, a queer camp that the website Autostraddle used to host. It was not love at first sight. We were both in situationships at the time, and I was pretty sure she thought I was annoying. She claims she thought I was intimidating. About a year and a half after that, we ran into each other at a tech conference in Las Vegas and started dating long-distance. Six months later, I moved to Portland. We celebrated our five-year wedding anniversary last week.
My professional background is heavy in consumer tech PR and communications. I started working at a PR agency the day after I graduated from college. I went from being a lifelong service industry worker to a desk jockey overnight. I worked in Silicon Valley at a super exciting time for about nine years before I moved to PDX.
Outside of work, I spent most of my life in California. Moved around quite a bit as a kid. My mom and I settled in Redding, CA in the early 90s. My Dad is a free-spirit who has never been burdened with things like a permanent residence lol. He spent time working in the service industry and living between Lake Tahoe, Catalina Island, and the UK (which, as a kid, was pretty cool to travel to those places).
How did you first become involved in public relations?
I actually wanted to be a writer, but out of fear of rejection and the need for health insurance, I opted to go into public relations right after college – which was a bit later for me (I’m a proud 2X college dropout!). PR just stuck. Also, I really love and crave stability, so the idea of job hopping and career change never felt like something I wanted to mess with. There were definitely a few hard years of learning, becoming a self-aware adult, and understanding what it is to be in service of the clients. I excelled at events and coordination, traveling with clients and entertaining them. Relationship stuff. I also took tremendous pride in securing good coverage for them. I became a superstar of the agency I was at.
What are some of your proudest achievements or milestones?
Earlier in my career, I was tasked with working with Stern Pinball, at that point, they were the last major manufacturer of Pinball machines in the world. I actually begged for the account when I heard it was coming into the agency I was working at. The mission was simple: create and execute a PR strategy for the resurgence of pinball and place Stern in the middle of that. Over the next 15 years, I would become one of the main storytellers of the fun, colorful, loud world of arcade pinball. I am really proud of the work I did with them.
One of the main things people know me for is doing PR for the now-defunct sex toy company Lora Dicarlo. And it was not just run-of-the-mill PR. I catapulted them onto a major stage by utilizing a strategy only I would have the balls to pull off. In 2019 before the company had even launched, I submitted them for a Consumer Electronics Show award, which they won. When we started to work on the coordination for the CES conference, the organizers decided (in writing!) to then rescind the award, citing an “indecent and obscene” clause. I then publicized this to every tech press person I knew, and it became the biggest story to come out of the conference that year. We received coverage in every major media outlet and kept them in the news for the next year.
How has your identity influenced your work and contributions to the community?
Once I was out and working for myself, I really only wanted to work with queer companies or at least make that my specialty. I’m really proud to say that I’ve worked with a lot of mainstream queer brands like Lesbians Who Tech, the HER app, For THEM and Wild Fang.
What challenges have you faced, and how have you overcome them?
In early 2016, I was fired from a PR agency here in Portland while I was recovering from a pretty serious knee surgery. I was not heartbroken about leaving the company (the culture was not a good fit), but it did create a hardship for me dealing with a medical injury and unemployment at the same time. It pushed me to start working for myself, and I ended up starting a PR agency that I ran for the next seven years.
What advice would you give to others facing similar challenges?
Hard times suck. The best thing I could do was practice radical acceptance and start looking at the situation as a gain and not a loss. What can grow in this new space?
How do you stay connected with the local LGBTQ+ community?
Most of my friends are queer, so I do feel like I have lots of micro-communities within the larger LGBTQ community. My immediate group of friends in Portland spend time doing things like playing Dungeons & Dragons, lifting weights, snowboarding/going to the mountains during winter, and camping during the summer. Lots of activities. I also love supporting and watching women’s sports.
Are there any specific causes or organizations you are passionate about supporting?
I really love and support the work that The Trevor Project is doing. They are saving lives, and that is what our community needs right now.
I’m pretty passionate about animals and animal rescue. All of my pets are rescues. My dog was actually rescued from Korea.
Also - Anything that elevates and amplifies women in sports!
Who or what inspires you the most in your personal and professional life?
I really admire strong, gusty women who are doing things or behaving in a way that is contrary to whatever the norm is supposed to be. All of my friends who run businesses (large and small) really inspire me. I love seeing what drives people’s passion.
I also get a lot of inspiration from fiction. Sorta silly, but there was a character on the TV show The Magicians, who was my guiding star when I really needed to be a powerful woman in various situations and settings. I would say to myself, “What would Margo do?”
How do you hope to impact the community through your work and actions?
It’s really easy to feel like what you do is fluff when you work in marketing and PR. I really worked to re-center my business around people, causes, and companies that mattered to me and that really resonated with prospective clients at the time, and there was never a shortage of work. The kinds of companies that approach me today are still usually mission-driven in some kind of way - which feels like a cool legacy and reputation to have.
What are your future goals, both personally and professionally?
Professionally, I would like to work with some bigger legacy brands. I have always been on the agency side of things (or working as a consultant). At some point, I would like to go in-house. (I say that, but the idea of having to regularly be somewhere with pants on at 9AM feels like a totally foreign concept at this point in my life.)
How do you see the community evolving, and what role do you hope to play in that evolution?
I really hope we are at a point where we can have nice things as a queer community. One of the most heartbreaking and emotionally exhausting things I have experienced working with queer brands is the wrath of the community when something gets a little too big or too popular. Also, I think the queer community has a tendency to turn its back on things that might not be for every single kind of queer person. I think having inclusive but niche groups like the Lesbian Culture Club should be the future and not an outlier.
What do you enjoy doing in your free time?
My absolute favorite way to spend a weekend is relaxing at home with my dog and wife. Doing face masks, cleaning, watching reality TV and reading classic literature. If I have to leave the house (LOL) it’s probably to go to the gym.
I do love watching women's sports (mainly basketball), hanging out with friends, eating good food, going to movies, playing D&D, going to shows/concerts.
I also love to go for what I call “Hot Girl Walks” during the day just to clear my head and move my body.
Can you share a fun fact or something people might not know about you?
I played roller derby for 12 years under the name Raven Von Kaos.
What are you working on for LCC at the moment?
Right now I’m helping with the communications, strategy and getting the word out in the media about LCC.
What unique role do you see LCC playing in amplifying and mobilizing efforts around women’s and trans rights, especially in the current political landscape?
I think queer women are a force of nature. Not intimidated or influenced by the patriarchy, we have the ability to lead the charge. We’re not burdened by tradition in the same way straight women/people are. We have the ability to organize, protect, and teach others.
Where can people connect with you or learn more about your work?
Instagram: @eviesmithhatmaker
TikTok: @frankieismyboyfriend
Website: eviesmithhatmaker.com
LinkedIn: Evie Smith Hatmaker
LCC: About Me
