





I don’t usually post about copy I write for social. It’s a daily adventure. But I’m pretty proud of these puppies. In a few short months, they’ve taken home a couple of awards: Hermes Creative Awards – Platinum, and Graphic Design USA.
New York Chiropractic College landing page for email and retargeting campaign. See it live at more.nycc.edu.
Had the opportunity to interview some great students at Assumption College, and rewrite an introduction for a 2015 viewbook refresh.
This viewbook took home a 2015 Horizon Interactive Award – Gold.
Designed by Ed Macko at Elliance.
(click on each image to see a larger version)
If you would have told me two years ago that I’d be the exclusive writer for a biweekly equestrian blog, I’d have told you to tighten the reigns on your crazy thoughts.
The pig-tailed fifth grade me at horse camp would have been pumped.
The beast that follows me around all day with all kinds of curiosities (the distraction demon suitably known as my Erinyes) would have been overjoyed.
But I suppose that’s why I got a journalism degree in the first place — to learn and write about a million different subject areas. To go to the experts, and primary sources. People with real stories and real passion for their areas of expertise.
I’ll never stop learning.
So, 18 months later, here we are. I now know that there’s no place in the world like William Woods University’s distinguished equestrian programs. They’re a group of amazingly talented and truly intelligent people who are also completely down to earth, and great to talk to. They’re excited to share with me the outstanding things that are always going on: students who are pursuing equestrian to one day help veterans; National Championship-winning horses and students; a dedicated center for veterinary medicine; 100 percent career placement for their students.
Here are a few clips from the blog:
Selected posts:
February 1, 2017 – Equestrian Career Spotlight: Horse Rescue
January 4, 2017 – Q&A with Equestrian alum Leslie Potter
September 16, 2016 – Equestrian Course Spotlight: Introduction to the Horse Industry
July 6, 2016 – Communications Management in Equine Health
June 23, 2016 – The Morgan: Strong will, beauty and a little serendipity
March 25, 2016 – 5 ‘Who-knew?’ Facts about: Western
March 25, 2016 – 5 ‘Who-knew?’ Facts about: Western
March 4, 2016 – 5 ‘Who-knew?’ Facts about: Dressage
January 22, 2016 – Understanding horse communication
December 22, 2015 – William Woods Equestrian Team brings home National Championship
November 3, 2015 – ‘Catalysts for self-discovery’; Combining a love of horses with social work to do good
October 17, 2014 – Off-saddle workouts to build in-saddle strength
I also work with William Woods University to write an American Sign Language blog. With Jordan Chepke, I write an Education blog and Undergraduate blog.
banner image by Ed Macko
An Intro piece is a short and sweet first impression. It’s smaller — so counselors can carry more. It’s less expensive — so schools can produce more.
Read an excerpt:
This project took home a 2015 Horizon Interactive Award – Gold
I sat in the interview for the major publication — a big newspaper for a big city and its big surrounding metro.
I was a 22 year old college senior, desperate for a place to go and write when I was finished with school, but with no real experience besides a handful of unpaid internships and an editorial position at an online student publication.
I didn’t even want to write for this newspaper. I wanted to be a copywriter. But I suppose I figured I’d take this interview to get practice.
The editor sat across from me at a giant metal desk that took up two-thirds of the tiny, bare bones room they’d given him for the day to conduct interviews.
He’d come all this way to do some recruiting at our j-school. So there I was.
I shared with him some clips and attempted to charm (aka bullshit) the crap out of the editor.
“Well, unfortunately, we have all of our entry writing positions filled,” he said, “And, we actually only hire Yale grads.”
“Then why are you here?” I said.
“Why are you wasting my time?”
“Why are you wasting your time?”
Only I didn’t say that. I didn’t say any of that.
What I did say was nothing. Nothing memorable. I shrank into the itchy, woven chair I was sitting in that demanded slouching. The little confidence I did have deflated like a sad balloon.
–
I’ve heard horror stories about insane questions and hoop jumps interviewers ask of applicants. I guess It’s not unusual that people holding interviews come across kind of … douchey.
But what I think interviewers forget is that just as they’re interviewing an applicant for a right fit, applicants are also interviewing a job, a company, a culture, a boss.
But when you’re 22 and the economy’s in the toilet — especially the economy that hires WRITERS… with ZERO experience — you tend to lose sight of that fact. You put up with a douche bag or two.
I had seven interviews for a job once. Six on the phone. And for the seventh, they flew me down to meet the team. I left at 6am. The cab dropped me a mile away from the office. I walked to their high rise in 100 degree Texas heat in the middle of July.
I interviewed with the team for eight hours. They told me they liked me. They seemed cool. The work was copywriting. It wasn’t the sexiest copywriting. But it was a start.
And in the final hour, the whole team and I met in a conference room for rapid fire insanity. “Do you ever cry at work?” “Are you scared of moving away from Ohio?” “Do you clash with people?”… DO I CLASH WITH PEOPLE? Like, if I did, I wouldn’t tell you anyways.
You’d think I was going for a C-level gig. I wasn’t.
I’d wished I’d had the cajones to tell them their interviewing was ridiculous. That they should know by now if they liked me or not. I wished I’d had the walk-away power to, well, walk away.
But I had no confidence.
None.
Yet, I did have work ethic. And I had proof from keeping a minimum wage job for seven years. I had an auto-sorting brain that created outlines as stories unfolded. I had a ginormous heart. And spirit. And I also had drive.
If I could do it all over, I’d forget the bullshit. Because that’s all it is … bullshit.
I’d tell them straight up, “look, I don’t have experience. But I can promise you that I will work my ass off. And I won’t settle for good work. I won’t stop until I’ve done great work. And I can’t prove that until you give me a chance to.”
And if it was a company who decided they’d want to string me along for seven interviews and ask me questions about how likely I was to cry at the office, I’d walk away.
Imagine my surprise when I interviewed at my current company and they were interested in my heart. And my years spent volunteering. And they were excited to invest in me as a writer. And show me what kind of stuff we’d be doing as a team.
Our graphic designer and my now great friend applied to a position at our company right out of college that required 5-10 years of experience. In her interview she was honest and passionate (and had a kick ass portfolio which helped.) She told us straight up, “Obviously I don’t have ten years of experience, but I do have raw talent. And I know I’ll do great work.”
And we were sold. Our CEO and creative team created a position for her. And now she’s kickin ass.
Honesty in interviews, imagine that. That’s no bullshit.
William Woods University is a small, liberal arts college in Fulton, Missouri. Their story is one that I was excited to tell. They are well known for their amazing Equestrian and American Sign Language programs, but there are many more hidden gems — other areas where they’re pioneers as well, like education and adult degrees.
See a pdf of the complete viewbook.
A little ditty I wrote for the Elliance aha! blog about the creative process.