I started chronicling life in stories and journals just about about as soon as I could hold a pencil. With a newspaper editor for a dad and a mom who was relentless in encouraging me to express myself, I thrive on language and communication.
Computers offered an upgrade in scope of my writing endeavors, and the advent of the blogosphere has been yet another extension of that. I can't imagine a more exciting time in history to be a writer.
In my senior year in Oberlin College's creative writing program, I got my first paid writing job as a blogger for the admissions office. Talk about a sweet gig!
At the time, I also worked for Oberlin College Press - a small university press specializing in poetry and translation - and its biannual poetry journal, FIELD. Here, I got a taste for editing, proofreading my first full book manuscript and learning the ropes of the editorial process from start to finish.
As a young adult, I moved to Seattle and began freelancing for Outdoors NW magazine, where I eventually worked in-house as an assistant editor and social media coordinator. I got to work on a lot of great story assignments, meet and interview a slew of Northwest icons in the outdoor industry, and even do a little traveling here and there.
The feverish zeal for the outdoors that permeates the Pacific Northwest caught up with me quickly. I began working full-time for the outdoor retailer REI, where I contributed to the REI Blog and Expert Advice Pages, and worked as a copywriter on the product information team.
After a brief stint handling communications for a mobile startup company, where I wrangled everything from email communications to video scripts to social media posts, I now work as the Associate Editor of Trail Runner magazine in Carbondale, Colorado - telling stories about trails I love and runners I admire, editing content for the print magazine and website, testing out gear and running shoes, and writing about it all.
The many passions in my life - running, snowboarding, contemporary literature, personal development, business and entrepreneurship, education, the outdoor industry, web design, health and wellness, mountains, and the lives of everyday individuals - exist in a symbiotic relationship with my writing. I learn about others, I am inspired to live more fully, I do my best to follow that intention, and in turn, I write about my experiences. I hope that by doing so, I can play a role in the global movement to make our world a better place.
