Awards

IRMA Awards | 2017

Gold for Best Profile Writing | Gold for Magazine Writer of the Year | Silver for Best Food Feature | Bronze for Historic Feature 30,000 or more APR

Great Plains Journalism Awards | 2017

Magazine Writer of the Year | Best Magazine Profile Writing

Diamond Journalism Awards| 2016

1st place winner, Magazine Narrative/Feature Writing

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Work Experience

March 2020 – Present

Freelance Editor | Inman News

• Copy edit, fact-check and proofread opinion and service articles, with careful attention to in-house (and AP) style, tone and readability. (Note: the team works 100 percent remotely.)
• Create, write and edit surveys, reviews and video blog posts on tight deadlines.
• Format contributor pieces for WordPress. This includes massaging copy, whipping up graphics for stories, and optimizing headlines, links and keywords for SEO.
• Assist Inman editors with proofing and producing daily newsletters when needed.

May 2018 – March 2020

Lifestyle and Food Writer, Social Media Coordinator | Visit Newport Beach

• Pitch, report and write blog posts covering the arts, style, health and fitness, with a particular emphasis on SEO.
• Highlight the best of what Newport Beach has to offer, and celebrate the places, travel opportunities and culture that make the city such a great place to live, work and play.
• Explore stock photo libraries and sourcing appropriate images that perfectly complement articles.
• Report on the restaurant scene for Dine Newport Beach, covering up-and-coming chefs, pop-ups, events and food news.
• Since Nov. 2019:
  • Develop and curate engaging content for Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.
  • Attend events and produce Instagram stories on the fly.
  • Execute a social media strategy that ensures growth across all platforms.

May 2018 – May 2019

Freelance Writer | Hawthorn Creative

• Craft compelling in-depth features for the agency’s clients’ custom magazines, which include Ojai Valley Inn magazine and Ayres Hotel magazine. This involves researching, interviewing sources and in most cases, experiencing various destinations in Southern California to generate exciting and vivid first-person narratives.
• Work closely with the creative team to meet aggressive deadlines.
• Deliver original photography to go along with features, while maintaining visual standards in harmony with the magazine’s aesthetic.

December 2017 – October 2018

Freelance Blogger | Laurel & Wolf

• Pitch fresh story ideas that are timely and relevant and cater to the readers’ needs.
• Write and report on interior design and home decor trends, covering topics like furniture, fabrics, colors, accents, lighting and room styles while maintaining a consistent brand tone.
• Source and edit images to complement stories, while ensuring the visuals fit the brand’s style and aesthetics.

January 2017 – Present

Freelance Writer | Arkansas Life magazine

• Create in-depth guides and feature articles about topics related to health and fitness. This includes consulting medical experts and extensively combing through research materials.
• Develop service packages that involve finding and interviewing a long list of sources and contacts—over 20 chefs, on one occasion, for a cover feature boasting the best pies in the state.
• Write a wide swath of pieces covering travel, popular culture, food, the outdoors and more.
• Keep a finger on the pulse of the state to stay on top of major news and happenings while working remotely from home office in California.

October 2017 – October 2018

Freelance Food, Film and Fashion Contributor | Style & Society

• Work quickly and efficiently to write and edit entertainment, celebrity and media content for the magazine’s close-to 20,000 monthly visitors.
• Attend fashion shows, style conventions and product launch events to identify trends and report on what’s cool before it pops.
• Collaborate with editor-in-chief to analyze story performance and strategize future coverage accordingly.
• Contribute to traffic growth through social media promotion and other marketing activities.
• Interview celebrities during red carpet events and write timely coverage on the fly.

December 2016 – March 2018

Freelance Writer | Various Publications

• Penned engaging pieces on local restauranteurs and businesses for Edible Ojai and Ventura County, an award-winning quarterly magazine that celebrates the foods, drinks and agriculture of Ventura County, California.
• Crafted profiles on local business owners for magazines like SCV élite and The SOMM Journal.

July 2016 – December 2016

Associate Editor | Arkansas Life magazine

• Worked in partnership with a team of writers and editors to produce monthly issues of Arkansas Life, Arkansas’ premiere lifestyle magazine with a circulation to the tune of 27,000.
• Produced content by pitching, reporting and writing section and feature-length stories.
• Led the production of the annual Style Setters feature package, which included coming up with a mood board, supervising photo shoots and pulling clothes from local boutiques.
• Reported ambitious feature-length stories that garnered several industry awards.
• Played an integral role in shepherding the magazine through its first substantial redesign. The months-long process involved everything from brainstorming ideas for a new mission statement and editorial content to introducing an elevated look and feel to the magazine.

July 2015 – July 2016

Assistant Editor | Arkansas Life magazine

• Was a Jane of all trades —wrote and edited FOB, BOB and feature articles and performed duties outside of job description in a small team where collaborative work was the norm.
• Copy edited The Modern Arkansas Table, a cookbook that features 40 new-Southern recipes from Arkansas based culinary innovators. This included testing recipes for accuracy.
• Managed and composed posts across multiple social media channels including Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
• Uploaded magazine content to WordPress while working closely with web developer to create responsive and eloquently designed pages.
• Scripted, shot and edited documentary-style videos to support and enrich written content.   
• Wrote several weekly e-newsletters with attention to clickable subject lines.

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Education

Magazine Journalism, Kent State University, Kent, OH | 2011-2015

GPA: 3.9, Summa Cum Laude

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Languages

English (Fluent) | Arabic (Fluent) | Georgian (Fluent) | Russian (Basic)