Hattie Spinka

Why this persona fits the audience

She manages a mid-sized church's weekly sign-ups, volunteer coordination, and one annual conference that includes registrations and donations. A staff team of 3 and about 20 volunteers rely on Planning Center, Mailchimp, and PayPal for different parts of the workflow.

• Age: 45
• Location: Columbus, Ohio, US
• Occupation: Church administrative coordinator
• Income: $62,000 annual household income
• Education: Associate degree
• Company size: Mid-sized church (150-200 regular attendees)
• Years in role: 8

“If I could just get people to sign up when they say they will, I might actually enjoy my job sometimes.”

Hattie Spinka has spent the last eight years as the administrative backbone of Columbus Community Church, where her organizational skills keep the volunteer engine running. A native Ohioan, she grew up in a family that valued service - her mother was a school secretary and her father a part-time janitor at their church. After earning her associate degree in business administration, she took various administrative roles before landing at the church, where she found work that aligned with her values. Her current role was created specifically for her after she single-handedly kept the church's annual conference running smoothly through several staff changes. She's proud of her systems (color-coded binders, printed backups, and a well-maintained volunteer spreadsheets) but knows they're not scalable. The church's recent growth has exposed the limitations of her current tools. She's resistant to change but practical enough to know that something has to give. Money is always a consideration - the church operates on a tight budget, and she's had to justify every penny spent on software in the past. Her biggest recent success was convincing the finance committee to let her try Mailchimp for newsletters, which she now uses extensively. Her biggest failure was that time she let a volunteer 'help' reorganize her filing system. Hattie is the kind of person who remembers every donation amount from last year's conference and knows exactly which volunteers need gentle reminders and which ones just need a nice note. She takes immense pride in her work but often feels unseen by the church leadership. Her dream is to hand over a completely organized system before she retires, though she's not sure if that will actually happen.

Background & daily life

A day in their life

Hattie's alarm goes off at 5:30 AM. After coffee and devotions, she's at her desk by 7:30, catching up on emails while Biscuit dozes under her chair. The morning is spent finalizing the bulletin sign-up sheet (she always prints two backups). At 10, she meets with the children's ministry team to troubleshoot last week's scheduling mishap. Lunch is often eaten at her desk while she updates the volunteer tracker spreadsheet - her personal pet project that she's been trying to get the church to adopt for years. Afternoons are a blur of PayPal donation confirmations, Mailchimp email drafts, and chasing down conference registrations. By 4:30, she's picking up her son from practice, but her brain is still at work running through tomorrow's to-do list. Dinner conversation is light until her husband mentions something about 'upgrading the church's systems' - at which point she puts down her fork and gives him the look that says 'we'll discuss this later'.

Lifestyle

Hattie lives in a modest split-level home in a quiet Columbus neighborhood, where she and her husband have lived for 15 years. Her days start at 5:30 AM with strong coffee and quiet time reading devotional books. She walks her golden retriever, Biscuit, most mornings before dropping off her high schooler at school. Weekends are a mix of church activities, grocery shopping (where she meticulously price-checks), and helping her college daughter with financial aid paperwork. She enjoys thrift store bargain hunting and has a Facebook group dedicated to sharing her finds. Health-wise, she's vigilant with annual checkups but admits her caffeine habit could be better. Money is carefully managed - her husband handles investments while she tracks household expenses in color-coded spreadsheets. Socially, she's the glue of her small group at church, always remembering birthdays and sending cards.

Work life

Hattie's job is a never-ending dance between spreadsheet chaos and volunteer goodwill. She manages the church's weekly potluck sign-ups (where people inevitably forget to sign up), coordinates the rotation of 20 volunteers for children's ministry, and handles the one big conference that brings in outside donors. Her office is a shrine to order - color-coded binders, labeled tabs, and a dry-erase board covered in upcoming deadlines. She loves her small staff team but sometimes feels like their personal life dramas spill into work time. The biggest frustration is when people promise to help but don't follow through, forcing last-minute scrambles. She's efficient with the tools she has (Planning Center for staff coordination, Mailchimp for newsletters, PayPal for donations), but knows there must be a better way to connect all these systems.

Relationships

Hattie's marriage is her bedrock - her husband of 20 years is her biggest supporter, even when she comes home frazzled after a volunteer coating fiasco. Her college daughter keeps her on her toes with last-minute financial aid requests, while her high schooler is blessedly low-maintenance (for now). Her best friend from the church quilting group is her sounding board for work frustrations, and she adores the elderly couple who always brings her homemade cookies on stressful conference days. The church's senior pastor respects her organizational skills but sometimes pushes too hard for last-minute changes. Her younger sister, a nurse in Michigan, is her voice of reason when she's overwhelmed.

How they decide

Cautious but practical. She researches thoroughly before making changes but will pivot quickly if something's not working. She values testimonials from people she trusts over shiny marketing. If someone at church has used a tool and recommends it, she's much more likely to consider it than if she just read about it online. She's skeptical of anything that sounds too complicated or requires extensive training.

How they sound

Hattie speaks in measured tones, with occasional bursts of enthusiasm when talking about things that work well. She avoids jargon and prefers plain language, though she does have a habit of saying 'OK, honey' at work when she's trying to gently redirect someone. She has a dry sense of humor that comes out when she's particularly frustrated with volunteer no-shows. Never curses, but will mutter 'oh my stars' when something goes wrong. She speaks directly to people in meetings but sometimes defers to the pastor when decisions get contentious. Her voice softens when talking about her family or long-time volunteers.