United States
I am an experienced writer, editor and storyteller. My professional career began in journalism as a reporter and editor in sports, and my years-long exposure in print ranges from directing coverage for a daily sports department to owning a major beat for a national outlet.
Transitioning into marketing allowed me to nurture other skills, such as copywriting, content strategy and managing marketing campaigns. My experience in marketing has been an extension of the storytelling capabilities I developed as a professional journalist.
After turning in my reporter's notebook, I also started a website dedicated to stories about Black motherhood. I created and now manage an online publishing platform that houses news, features, commentary and more.
I was the copywriter on this brand page, where I interpreted a strategy brief to develop new copy. I collaborated with in-house designers, strategists and SEO experts to complete the new page while adhering to brand and agency standards.
I owned this page of The Home Depot's Memorial Day ad, which included writing product copy, confirming offers and messaging and gaining stakeholder approval for some product highlights.
This is a specialty Pro ad to push a new Workshops program. I worked with senior managers and designers to develop the format and messaging. I wrote the copy based upon our collective strategy. The page appears at the end of all the Pro local ads, which run online each week.
I served as the editor-in-chief for The Pride Post, The Home Depot's LGBTQIA Associate Resource Group. I recruited writers and designers, planned the content and deadlines, edited stories and worked with stakeholders to gain approval.
I produced a guide on my website to help mothers survive pandemic parenting in the middle of 2020. While I am passionate about presenting compelling and useful information to my audience, the piece was also put in place as an email growth strategy. I researched topics and collected surveys during the process of creating the manual. I wrote the copy and laid out the photo and graphic elements for the guide.
I collaborated with key rescue staff to coordinate content for each department as the newsletter's editor-in-chief. I went on to edit letters and copy from staff, ideate themes, write features and outsource design, offering direction to the graphic artist in order to meet needs of nonprofit stakeholders.
I worked with a writer to help her shape this interview into a compelling feature, complete with background, color, research and quotes. We deployed the inverted-pyramid format, with which she was not previously familiar, so she was able to gain a new skill in the process.
After the country lost its only all-Black women's swim team, I wrote a column in my post as the North Raleigh editor to address why these young swimmers need more representation -- not less. As an editor of the community newspapers at the N&O, I produced a weekly column.
I worked cross functionally with various departments to develop SEO copy for an online bath event. I collaborated with marketing, copy managers, designers and SEO specialists. The goal was to ensure the copy flowed in the brand's tone, style and voice while inspiring customers.
I collaborated with animal keepers to develop feature story on serval cat who was dumped at the rescue. The rescue was raising awareness for a campaign that discouraged exotic pet purchasing. I also researched across departments and gathered visuals and multimedia for the story.