I like words.
I like words.
The real ones. Not the fake ones like “SALE-a-bration,” that, with a non-zero amount of shame, I’ve put in ads many times. Not “irregardless,” regardless of how lenient Merriam-Webster is feeling these days. Like most writers I know, I love an em dash and believe Oxford commas aren’t up for debate.
Because of my love for (and snootiness about) words, I write for a living.
I’m originally from New Jersey — though I mostly disown it — and grew up in Indiana, which makes me a HOOSIER. Let me know if you know what that means. Because none of us do.
Amid cowboy hats and F-150s, I got my undergraduate education in Advertising and Mass Communications from Texas State University. It took little more than an introduction to become hooked on creative advertising, and my time on the NSAC team shaped the course of my professional life. Shout out to Dr. Muk, who was, and I’m sure continues to be, an inspiration to young creatives. And who provided my life’s inaugural taste of the feedback “you need to push this further.” Many more of those to come.
After an internship in Strategy at Tribal DDB Worldwide, I completed the Texas Creative portfolio program while earning my Master’s in Advertising from The University of Texas at Austin. Along the way, I made a latta lot of lattés, freelanced a bit (writing, design, and photography), drank a lifetime’s supply of margaritas and queso, and accumulated a healthy Millennial’s worth of student debt. Alright, so I didn’t drink the queso.
Post-post-secondary school, in an effort to evangelize use of “y’all” across the West Coast, I trucked off to the place where it really is always sunny. While developing my experience as a Copywriter in LA, I watched with consternation as hyper-disciplined “Angelenos” ate bags of kale for lunch. Clean-eating aside, the ocean was stunning and never lost its novelty.
In a full circle return to my roots, I became a brand writer for the marketing team at Indiana University, and am now currently stationed back in Austin, Texas.
An innately curious person, I enjoy creating things and learning about human truths and how they translate into advertising, design, photography, and literature. I think you can learn from everyone around you. I think you should learn from everyone around you.
I’m fond of reading tangible books—partially because of their smell — and frequently, I pretend to love running. That part’s no longer true.
I’m pro-dog.
I find cats to be quite rude.
I cry easily at commercials.
And movies.
And if something happens to a dog in a commercial or movie, I’m doomed.
