When my fifth grade teacher selected my story to read in front of the class, I knew I was going to be a writer. All through school I wrote poetry and what I called vignettes, now called flash fiction. I wasn’t encouraged to chase writing as a profession, so I chased after the “good job.” Even if the job had nothing to do with writing, I figured out a way to sneak it in by volunteering to write letters, newsletter copy, website copy, blog posts, thank you notes, social media captions and marketing campaigns, fundraising letters – anything that would allow me to put words on a page.
Like any good writer worth their pen, I love reading and learning. Every writing project I was able to take on, I studied the best practices for that writing form. I practiced my craft until it became clear to me that I could no longer deny that I am a writer. From poetry to prose, from project reports to Instagram captions, I am a writer.
Along the way, though, I gathered all kinds of other skills that feeds into my creativity. All the marketing skills, management skills, business practices don’t have to be separate (and most often are not) from my inner creative. I don’t have to choose between being a business person and a creative. I can merge the two and own my entire eclectic experience.
I am and always will be a writer, but all the things I’ve studied like literature, poetry, storytelling, religion, history, art, law, business, marketing, personal development, philosophy, English as a Second Language (ESL), French, event planning, accounting, banking, social media, copywriting, editing, plus more, informs my creativity. And my creativity informs how I approach business, making me better in both. We are not either/or. We are and/both.
Education and Associations, if you’re into that kind of thing…
- Written Storytelling Certification
- Kansas Author’s Club
- The Writer’s Place
- Former Literature Instructor
- Master of Liberal Arts: Literature Concentration
- Bachelor of Arts: Business Administration, major management