Welcome to Brazen Careerist!

About Me

Public Relations: I have successfully secured coverage from broadcast, new media and print channels as a result of earned media efforts. I am confident, knowledgeable and well-spoken when communicating with the press and the public, and passionate about creating effective public relations strategies. Also, thanks to my degree in Strategic Communication, and previous internship experience (most recently, Ketchum), I'm skilled in AAE level agency duties.

Writing/Editing: I am an excellent and fluid writer, with years of experience in delivering high-quality news stories, press releases, press kits, and other copy. As an editor, I am detail-oriented and skilled in catching and correcting errors.

Event Coordination: My experience on both sides of event marketing has left me with an ability to understand the entire process and efficiently plan and manage events of all types. This experience has left me with an aura of calm at client-facing and media events.

Work History

• University of Wisconsin-Madison
• Teaching Assistant
• August 2010 to Present

• I teach undergraduates in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication. I teach two three-hour writing labs a week, where I lead my 15 students in everything from writing amazing (and appropriately concise) leads to immersing themselves in the newest technology (from the Adobe Suite to twitter). It is an incredibly rewarding job, and I have the opportunity to constantly discuss and refine my own knowledge of both journalism and strategic communication.

• Flavorfull Blog
• Founder
• October 2010 to Present

• I started this food blog to showcase my writing and love of food, but I ended up falling in love with food blogging and becoming immersed in the food blogging community and social media space. I post approximately 1.5 times a week, always original content, which I create, photograph and write about. I promote the blog on twitter, facebook, foodbuzz, and linkedin--and of course, I promote it offline as well.

• The Badger Herald
• Beat Reporter
• September 2006 to September 2008

• At least twice weekly, I wrote stories on deadline for one of the top student newspapers in the Midwest. Most of the time, I covered campus and city events.

• James Danky and Associates
• Public Relations Intern
• January 2009 to June 2009

• In the months leading up to the launch of Underground Classics: The Transformation of Comics into Comix, I promoted the book online (via social media) and offline (via networking with bookstores, comic book stores, and art galleries and making featured artists available to media). I also coordinated with an international publishing company and a local art museum to plan the launch event.

• Fresco Catering
• Assistant Event Manager
• October 2008 to August 2009

• I collaborated with clients, vendors and event chefs to plan and execute over 40 events in a rooftop event venue, including corporate buyouts, fundraising events and weddings. I also managed a staff of up to 20 people and saw the events through from beginning to end, dealing with last minute requests and improvising when necessary to keep clients happy.

• Regan Campbell Ward-McCann
• Assistant
• October 2009 to Febuary 2010

• This was my first job in a big New York City ad agency, and although I was only a lowly assistant, I loved every minute of it. I tried my best to be a sponge and soak up all the lessons and company culture that surrounded me everyday. I also got to try my hand at naming some pharma products and writing a bit of copy.

• TheMarkets.com
• Marketing Analyst
• April 2010 to August 2010

• As a Marketing Analyst at the Markets.com, I was able to put my copyediting and PR skills to use by drafting and editing press releases and white papers. I also activated email marketing campaigns to increase and re-engage our user base and planned and executed client loyalty mailings. I learned how to analyze CRM results how to turn an excel grid full of numbers into meaningful data that could truly reflect our team's results.

• Innocorp, Ltd.
• Public Relations Intern, Public Relations Manager, Public Relations Consultant
• January 2009 to September 2010

• Innocorp, Ltd is a Wisconsin-based company in the education and health & safety industry. They create products that facilitate preventative education programs (like goggles and vehicles that simulate impairment). I started as a PR intern, but quickly rose to PR manager when I developed a PR program for the company that hadn't existed before. I created media lists, press kits, press releases and I built websites for two social marketing campaigns. I also managed three separate brands: that of the company, and two separate social marketing campaigns, and I planned and executed every aspect of our brands' attendance at events with over 50,000 attendees. Once I moved to New York City, I assisted Innocorp with community development to strengthen the community we'd built around the social marketing brands and wrote and distributed press releases as a consultant.

• Ketchum
• Summer Fellow
• June 2011 to August 2011

• I was selected as part of a group of 11, from a pool over 700 applicants, to be a summer fellow at Ketchum. While there, I was a billable employee, supporting the following accounts: ABSOLUT, Malibu, IKEA, Philips Consumer Electronics, Vita Coco and Snapple. I performed almost all AAE-level duties, including building and maintaining media lists, building media contacts, drafting and executing pitches, organizing loan closets and staffing media and client-facing events. I received very positive feedback about my performance and thoroughly enjoyed the agency culture, energy and workload.

Education

• University of Wisconsin-Madison
• M.A. Journalism & Mass Communication
• 2010 - 2011

• Fully funded by the School of Journalism for two years of study.

• University of Wisconsin-Madison
• B.A. Journalism & Mass Communication, Strategic Communication
• 2005 - 2009

• Graduated with Honors in Major (2009), Wisconsin International Scholar (2005-2009)