About Me
Why am I the right person to help you?
I am a journalist turned MBA with about two decades of public relations and marketing experience. I combine my passion for storytelling and strategic communications perspective with a geeky fascination with the myriad tools for reaching audiences.
I’m trained as a life and career coach so I bring a holistic approach to exploring what success means to you. I don’t offer one-size-fits-all solutions, we work toward the kind of business you want.
I enjoy problem solving and making my clients’ lives easier.
I have the skills and experience to help you.
I’ve done several things in and around media: I went from reporting and editing into marketing and product management, and I continue to do freelance writing. I work for The Associated Press as product manager of the AP Stylebook part time and do marketing consulting and coaching the rest of the time.
I earned my bachelor’s degree in journalism from Central Michigan University, then pursued my Masters in Business Administration from University of Michigan in part because I saw the internet transforming the way we consume information. I remain fascinated by modern communication.
My marketing clients have included entrepreneurs, academic institutions, trade organizations, musicians, an independent grocer — I enjoy helping a wide range of organizations solve their marketing challenges. Because they come from diverse industries, I can cross pollinate ideas you might not usually encounter.
I love to travel — New Orleans is a favorite spot of ours — and host parties including living room concerts and weeknight spaghetti dinners. My personal blog, Newvine Growing, focuses on living life better. I’m curious about people and the world, and that informs my ability to come up with ways to solve your problems.
You’re overwhelmed keeping up.
When I moved to New York City in 2006, it felt so high tech having email right in my pocket on my BlackBerry. Then came YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, the iPhone … I do this for a living and I sometimes struggle to keep up with the constant changes in tools and how people communicate.
If you’re doing your marketing in addition to all your other responsibilities, of course it feels like you’re chasing a speeding train.
You don’t have unlimited time or resources so you don’t want to know what you can do, you want to know what you should do. I’ll work with you to come up with a plan that meets you where you are to get you to your business goals.
You don’t want to be pushy.
You want to earn a living, but you’re uncomfortable annoying people with too many emails or doing self-promotional bragging on social media. What if you turn people off because you’re coming on too strong?
I will create a marketing plan that emphasizes how you can help your customers by providing something they want. You won’t be begging people for their money, you’ll show them you care by meeting their needs.
You need help.
You aren’t failing somehow because there’s an aspect of your business you don’t intuitively know and love. There’s a reason we turn to lawyers and accountants and plumbers to help us with tasks we don’t have the time or skills to tackle.
Put your energy into what you do best, and let me help you tell your current and potential customers why you’re good at what you do.
