Kaycee Simpson (English ’12) is a communication specialist at Navy Federal Credit Union. She works with the senior executives and presents information to their stakeholders or clients. While she is thriving in this position now, the Lord has had to lead her step by step through years of faith.
During her senior year of high school, Kaycee sat down with her dad to look through the Pensacola Christian College catalog. “I [fell] under analysis paralysis,” she said. Unsure of which degree to pursue, Simpson spent a long time weighing her options. “My first thought was always, ‘But what if I can’t find a job?’”
“Up until graduating [from] high school, my life was planned for me. Adulthood seemed like this vast unknown and that ‘what if I fail’ constantly bombarded my thoughts,” Kaycee said. She loved working with children, and many people told her that she would make a good teacher. Eventually, she decided to pursue elementary education. “It was safe, and it was job security.” Despite the uncertainty that she faced, her parents encouraged her to remain faithful to the Lord’s leading.
One Step at a Time
During her first semester, Kaycee Simpson questioned whether God wanted her in elementary education. Since she had a long-time interest in law, she talked to an attorney she knew. He encouraged her to change her major to English. “If I didn’t pursue law, I would still have strong communication skills to fall back on,” she said. Little did she know that God was using her uncertainty to accomplish His plan.
Kaycee threw herself into every writing class she had—almost every writing class that PCC offered. She was grateful for one memory of Copy Editing when she struggled with her topic for the semester paper. Her professor, Dr. Robert Achuff, recommended that she write a paper about growing up Filipino American. “The idea came to him because we had a conversation about the Philippines, and his wife is Filipino,” Simpson recalled. In the end, she enjoyed incorporating her personal experiences into her semester paper. This and other experiences gave Simpson a deep appreciation for her teachers. “Each of my English professors was very encouraging,” she said. “I loved all of my professors at PCC.”
After graduating, Kaycee spent two years working for HealthStream Engagement Institute. She loved her job, and it provided a steady income while her husband, Daniel (Pre-Physical Therapy ’12, M.B.A. ’19), worked on getting his master’s. In 2018, Kaycee was faced with a layoff when HealthStream’s main competitor bought them out. She and Daniel scrambled to figure out what to do, and Kaycee submitted applications anywhere she could, including to Navy Federal Credit Union. “I saw the listing for a documentation specialist, but I didn’t think I fit the qualifications,” she said. She instead applied for an instructional designer position, but that was not what God had for her.
God’s Purpose and Plan
That May, Kaycee was hired as a documentation specialist at Navy Federal Credit Union in Pensacola, Florida. In college, she had chosen to take Journalism instead of Technical Writing because she thought she would never have to write technical documents such as industry articles or trade manuals. “The Lord sure has a sense of humor because my position as a documentation specialist was technical writing for member service representative manuals,” she said.
Navy Federal promoted Kaycee in early 2022 to internal communications specialist. She writes scripts, produces videos, and prepares presentations for senior and executive leaders. She’s often adjusting plans due to tight deadlines and demanding schedules. “I’ve been able to turn communications around quickly because of how I was trained at PCC,” she said. “While at times the writing classes were very rigorous, [PCC] taught me how to write quickly and under pressure.”
“Looking back, I now appreciate PCC’s demand for excellence,” Kaycee Simpson said. Decisions about her future have appeared daunting, but she has learned to live in the present and trust God with her future. “Stepping out in faith is scary, but it’s necessary to learn and grow. I can look back and say confidently that the Lord carried [me] through times of uncertainty.”
Read more about how God is directing and working through PCC faculty and alumni.