A dedicated, business savvy, creative writer who has a thorough understanding of financial concepts ranging from worldwide financial and labor markets, to small business marketing and ROI. Through professional experience and interaction with management and business owners, has an intimate appreciation for entrepreneurship, strategies to accomplish organizational goals and the need to communicate this effectively to customers and employees.
Professional Experience
The Wenatchee Business Journal
Editor/reporter, 2010 – 2011
Responsible for reporting, writing, editing and designing page layout for a monthly 24-to-32-page business journal for North Central Washington.
- Created the editorial calendar, assigned stories and took photographs.
- Networked and developed professional contacts with business leaders in various industries throughout the community, and created valuable sources for stories.
- Wrote feature articles on subjects such as banking and finance, real estate, health care, tourism and agricultural production. (See clips page)
- Managed the publication’s website. Wrote, edited and uploaded content daily and increased exposure and readership through social media networks.
- Designed page layout with InDesign.
Marketing Consultant, Sales Associate, Carpenter
2008 – 2009
- Created marketing content for a Redmond-based construction company that helped generate nearly $2 million in immediate work (within 90 days), exposed the company to new architectural firms and broadened existing client base by approximately 10%.
- Worked as a sales associate and customer service agent for a Seattle-based SCUBA diving retail store.
- Built everything from stone staircases to concrete retaining walls as a carpenter for a Seattle-based construction company, while freelancing as a writer on the side.
Seattle Metropolitan magazine
Editorial Intern, 2008
- Wrote features on subjects such as new county legislation, developments in medical science and innovative businesses. (See clips page)
- Cultivated professional relationships with museum curators, gallery owners, theater managers, artists, and music directors in order to cover all upcoming events in the areas of film, visual arts and classical music performances for the magazine’s calendar section.
- Created event summaries, vetted lengthy feature articles, and helped compile massive surveys for lead cover stories.
Sabbatical
2007
Accomplished goal of traveling around the world (see travel section).
Tilton Pacific Construction, Inc.
Assistant Project Manager/Project Engineer, 2004 – 2006
Helped manage and coordinate the construction of large commercial construction projects ranging from $100,000 to $25 million in size.
Active liaison for high-level developers, architects, engineers and subcontractors.
- Created a filing system and kept all documents associated with approximately $15 million in added change orders.
- Managed detailed calendars, scheduled meetings and took in-depth meeting minutes to help coordinate the construction process, project plan changes and associated costs.
- Wrote and/or issued contracts, purchase orders, submittals, requests for information, change orders, blueprints, specifications, and billings, and monitored for compliance.
- Protected company’s interests and liabilities.
Comstock's Business Magazine / The Sacramento Bee
Freelance Reporter, 2004 – 2006
- Worked as a part time freelance reporter to improve journalism and communication skills while working full time as a project engineer.
Wrote numerous company profiles, feature articles and short news stories for a business magazine in Sacramento as a contract freelancer (Articles available upon request).
- Successfully pitched and wrote a full-page cover feature on Kite Boarding for Sacramento’s major daily newspaper (Article available upon request).
Travels
Lone journey around the world
2006 – 2007
The goal of my travels was to journey as far as possible and explore as many cultures as I could in the span of a year; traveling west until I was either back home or broke.
- Traveled through the countries and regions of New Zealand, Australia, Malaysia, China, Tibet, Mongolia, Siberia, Russia, Finland and Spain.
- Learned to adapt to new cultures and to be resourceful in strange environments.
- Traveled overland and overseas by boat, train, car and foot, often alongside local inhabitants as a hitchhiker and companion.
- Worked alongside local residents in various countries as a pearl farmer, fruit picker, boat carpenter, dish washer and janitor, in order to gain further appreciation for the culture, and to help finance my efforts to travel farther.
Education
Western Washington University (WWU), Bellingham, WA
1999 to 2004
- Bachelor of Arts, English with a creative writing emphasis
- Minor in Journalism
- Journalism Department Scholar Certificate of Recognition, presented for scholastic ability and service to the field of Journalism – WWU, May 25, 2004
Varsity Crew, 1999 – 2001
The Western Front
2002 to 2004
Worked as an editor and reporter for the university newspaper.
- Edited the weekly entertainment section of the university newspaper. Assigned stories to reporters, edited articles for content and copy, wrote headlines, collected art and designed page layouts.
- Covered the Whatcom County Council as a beat reporter, generated associated stories, and wrote news for a wide variety of subjects including art, sports, politics and community life.
Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
Student/Reporter, Fall 2003
- Studied travel writing, literature and the Czech language for four months in Prague.
Traveled throughout Europe, published an article in a selective university magazine and took numerous photos for a spring exhibit.
Other Related Activities
Newspaper Association of America
Intern for Presstime Magazine, February 2003
- Worked as a reporter for the NAA 2003 Annual Convention.
- Wrote stories on imbed reporting during the war in Iraq, the role of advertising in news-papers and spoke at length with major media owners about the role of journalism and the future of newspapers.
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