Work experience
Freelance writer & content strategist. July 2017 – present
For your business: I help brands tell compelling stories through the written word—blog posts, bylined articles, social media content, white papers, you name it. I’m also a seasoned pro at running social media strategy for brands, including managing paid promotions across Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter.
For your publication: I’m a writer and journalist with nearly a decade of experience. Recent essays and articles have appeared in Racked, POPSUGAR, The Billfold, A Practical Wedding, PR Daily and Milwaukee Business Journal.
BVK — Milwaukee, Wis. April 2016 – July 2017
Lead and execute PR and social media programs for clients including Dominican Republic Ministry of Tourism, Carmex, Bryant & Stratton College, Maine Office of Tourism, Wyoming Office of Tourism, Moffitt Cancer Center and CHRISTUS Health Care.
STIR Advertising & Integrated Messaging — Milwaukee, Wis. February 2015 - April 2016
Managed PR and social media programs for STIR and its clients; coordinated RFP responses and helped generate new business for the agency. Secured PR placements in local and national news and trade publications; wrote award-winning nominations for Women of Influence in the Food Industry and Milwaukee Business Journal’s 2016 Women of Influence awards; generated social media strategy, implemented social media best practices and ran day-to-day social media content and advertising across Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, LinkedIn and other channels for B2C and B2B clients; helped run blogger influencer program for B2C food brand.
Clients included: Milwaukee Area Technical College, Rural Mutual Insurance, Asenzya, Cousins Subs, St. Joseph’s/Candler.
Girl Scouts of Wisconsin Southeast — New Berlin, Wis. Sept. 2013 - February 2015
Voice of GSWISE on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn; managed GSWISE.org and provide CMS/website training to staff; raised brand awareness by establishing relationships with the GSWISE community on social media and the web;Â pitched Girl Scout stories to local media; translated documents from English to Spanish.
Iowa City Press-Citizen — Iowa City, Iowa June 2012 – August 2013
As Digital Editor I handled the digital operations (namely online, mobile app and tablet app) for the daily newspaper. I also worked in collaboration with The Des Moines Register on HawkCentral.
Council on International Educational Exchange (CIEE) — Seville, Spain Sept. 2011 – June 2012
I coordinated the CIEE Seville Study Center Blog. Duties include: recruiting student bloggers, providing students with guidelines for effective blogging, editing all content, publishing SEO-friendly material.
The Chronicle of Higher Education – Washington, D.C. Jan. 2011 – May 2011
I interned in the Students section of the national publication (circulation: 245,000). I wrote daily news stories and long-form features and edited audio interviews for the “Say Something†series. I also covered events in the capitol.
Metrosource magazine – New York City, New York June 2010 – Aug. 2010
As an editorial intern I wrote art and entertainment articles for the bi-monthly LGBT publication, including book previews and an overview of exhibits in Spanish art museums.
State Farm Insurance Corporate Headquarters – Bloomington, IL May 2009 – July 2009
I wrote news and feature stories for company websites and magazines as a Public Affairs intern.
The Daily Iowan – Iowa City, Iowa Sept. 2007 – Sept. 2009
As a Metro reporter I covered the Women and Minorities beat, filmed and edited video to appear with my articles online and also wrote several arts and opinion columns.
Professional MembershipsÂ
- American Society of Journalists and Authors – August 2017 to present
- Authors Guild – December 2017 to present
Education
University of Iowa – Iowa City, Iowa
- Double major in Journalism and Mass Communication and Spanish (GPA: 3.97/4.00)
- Graduated Phi Beta Kappa with High Distinction and Honors in Journalism (Dec. 2010)
- Honors thesis: comparative feminist critique of women’s beauty magazines
- Bilingual – over ten years of Spanish experience
- Study abroad program in Seville, Spain (Jan. – May 2010)
- Lived in Seville, Spain between Sept. 2011 – June 2012
Other work experience
Junta de AndalucÃa — Seville, Spain Oct. 2011 - June 2012
English Language and Culture Assistant at I.E.S. Félix RodrÃguez de la Fuente; responsible for creating ESL materials and team-teaching classes to students between 12 and 16 years old
Editors, Inc. — Lisle, Illinois June 2011 – Sept. 2011
Editor of supplemental materials for college-level textbooks
Johnson County Department of Public Health – Iowa City, Iowa Aug. 2010 – Dec. 2010
Volunteer interpreter for Spanish-speaking clients during medical clinics
Staff Language and Culture Services – University of Iowa Human Resources Jan. 2009 – Dec. 2009
Assisted in creating activities to aid English Language Learning students; planned and promoted events; translated university documents from English to Spanish
Honors
- PRSA of Wisconsin Southeast 2017 Paragon Award of Excellence for #NaturallyDR social media campaign
- First Place for Content Programming: Breaking News in Gannett’s 2nd Quarter 2013 Awards of Excellence; For the Iowa City Press-Citizen’s staff coverage of major flooding that hit the area and threatened to worsen.
- Finalist for a 2011-2012 Fulbright Program research grant in Spain
- Council on International Education Exchange Student Recognition Award for excellence in journalism while studying abroad (Nov. 2010)
- Selected to work on the Student Project at the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists 2010 Association Convention in San Francisco, Calif. (Aug. 2010)