Derek MacDonald

About.

My bio.

I shape brands, stories, and software systems that people trust.

That’s the short version. I help people make sense of complex things. Untangling, revealing, translating, recalibrating—that kind of stuff.

My longer, more official-sounding bio below basically says the same thing, but with more detail:

Derek MacDonald is a writer and systems consultant who’s spent 15+ years building resilient marketing operations and enablement teams. He’s the founder of Unobstructed, a literary publication committed to elevating emotional clarity and personal agency. Derek credits his formative years as a wilderness guide and snowboard instructor with showing him that authentic storytelling is what best helps people navigate fear and uncertainty. This eventually led him to compete in The Moth’s StorySLAM competitions and to be featured on GBH’s Stories From The Stage.

Throughout his career, Derek’s been passionate about working with both students and organizations alike to help them better understand the crossover between systems thinking, outdoor education, and proactive mental health. In 2026, he was recognized as Massachusetts HOBY’s Volunteer of The Year, for his help facilitating annual workshops on leadership development, which he’s been doing with them since 2010.

Derek lives in Burlington, Vermont, where he likes building websites, running, and getting lost in a good book with a strong cup of coffee. You can learn more about Derek, his writing, and his podcast at derekmacdonald.com.

My background.

Writing is how I make sense of the world and my place in it.

When I created Unobstructed as a built-in-public multimedia platform, it was to show what it’s like to design and evolve an editorial system that prioritizes clarity, voice, and trust. Formative years spent as a wilderness guide and snowboard instructor showed me that stories—not explanations—are what help people navigate fear and uncertainty. That shaped my 15+ year journey through editorial strategy, content operations, and organizational alignment in a pretty major way.

Now, I’m proud to do work that supports billion-dollar organizations, lean teams, and global audiences across 37+ countries. I believe that has a lot to do with chasing a dream through the Rocky Mountain West as a kid from New England, and then finding a home, and myself, in Vermont years later.

My work.

I make sure messaging and values match, and that they’re consistent, across teams, channels, and platforms.

Doing that well comes from developing repeatable frameworks to protect strategy, decision-making, and publishing processes as things change (because they always do). So I like to find and prioritize the most effective puzzle pieces in a given situation to create leverage.

I’ve found it also makes things more efficient along the way.

Some of that looks like shaping:

• Content systems & publishing governance.
• Editorial direction & voice alignment.
• Long-form narrative strategy.
• Audience trust & retention.

If you’re curious how this looks in practice, you can view my detailed background (also pronounced ré·su·mé) here.

Thanks for being here.

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onward.