Hi, I'm Nancy Branka.

I worked in communications for most of my career and now am enjoying writing fiction and dabbling in art. This website is my attempt to collect this work in a single location.

My career has taken many twists and turns, but none as significant as working at a tech startup, which I began in my late fifties. For four years, I headed up content development and strategy there. My novel Employee 6 Is 54 grew out of that experience, being the oldest person (by far) on a small team. After leaving that company, I founded Startup Decoder, a website for those who are mid- and late-career in tech. This work has raised my awareness of the last culturally accepted “ism”–ageism–which is very real. And nowhere more so than in tech.

In previous lives, I’ve worked as managing editor of Executive Travel magazine, have been a freelance writer, and have handled communications for trade associations.

I’m currently writing a mystery novel, a new challenge as I fabricate and pull together clues, hoping to pull them all together at the conclusion! I’ve also been enjoying writing short stories, a more “manageable” medium that often is a vessel for expressing what has interested me in my travel and everyday life.

Meanwhile, I’ve long had an interest in art, but have not had the time to pursue it in a disciplined way. An empty nest and the empty social calendar that comes with moving gave me the impetus to begin classes and explore mastery of a new kind.