Portfolio – Selected marketing and communications work

Marketing Manager | 360Partners / (un)Common Logic

Digital marketing agency | Austin TX | 9/2016 – 4/2019

Led company rebrand: promoted rebrand internally; coordinated with outside providers of brand name, logo design, and web design; implemented all rebrand elements, from color palette in Excel charts to brand-congruent reports in Google Data Studio to all website content.
Created case studies telling the complete story of major agency client engagements based on raw performance data, old presentation files and recollections from managers.
Administered company website: updated look and feel in 2016; migrated from HTTP to HTTPS in 2017; implemented site rebrand, including all redirects and updates to old blog posts, in 2018; applied and maintained SEO best practices at all times.
Wrote, designed, and created all marketing materials: blog posts, videos, sales presentations, conference collateral, eBooks, checklists, infographics and a 96-page book for an SEO workshop.

Creative Manager | Intersil

Power management semiconductor manufacturer | Austin TX | 1/2015 – 5/2016

Oversaw international advertising program with media buyer in UK, ensuring coverage for launches and promotions using print ads, banner ads and Google AdWords.
Conducted independent research when results from outsourced SEO team were disappointing, made adjustments within AdWords that reduced irrelevant clicks by 28%.
Took ownership of $2M annual advertising budget, reconciled it with all outstanding international invoices to the penny.
Managed graphic designer based in Florida, helping her maintain and balance her workload, capitalize on her strengths as a designer and address her weaknesses.

Communications Director | Reliance Staffing & Recruiting / COATS Staffing Software

Sister companies | Virginia Beach VA | 11/2010 – 10/2014

Executed all marketing and communications functions for two companies simultaneously: produced online content, print collateral, email marketing, multimedia, marketing campaign design, social media presence, social campaigns, PR and communications plan.
Orchestrated mobile-friendly redesign of software website to move visitors through the sales funnel. Increased online requests for product demos by 50% in first year.
Created, executed and monitored 6-week social media campaign for job applicants. Engagement was up to 92% higher than non-campaign posts; campaign won national award.
Conceptualized and produced ongoing biweekly campaign for staffing company promoting top job candidates, using email, web content, print collateral and social content. Email alone boosted hiring of associates by 5-8% every 2 weeks.
Coordinated and executed mobile-friendly website redesign for staffing company to increase conversions, deliver clear messages to two different audiences (B2B/ B2C) and improve SEO; produced animated explainer video for each audience.

Instructor/SEO Analyst | Vectec, Inc.

Nonprofit technology consulting firm | Newport News VA | 2/2011 – 10/2014

Developed and presented seminars on all aspects of digital marketing for small businesses. Attendee evaluations consistently ranked me as an “excellent” instructor.
Analyzed small business websites for SEO and marketing performance, presented detailed reports with recommended improvements.

Founder/CMO | Sorted

Productivity consulting for creative professionals | 1/2009 – 11/2010

Used content, social media and earned media marketing, resulting in major coverage in local newspaper feature article, as well as a one-year follow-up.
Wrote biweekly expert column on productivity for local business publication.

Technical Editor | CIBER

Instructional design contractor | Newport News VA | 9/2005 – 10/2008

Edited and organized content of knowledge-capture classes for NASA engineers, in print, digital and online formats.
Developed style guide for all company projects; proof/rewrite cycle reduced by an estimated 10%, according to writers.

Copy/Wire Editor | The Daily Press

90,000-circulation daily newspaper | Newport News VA | 8/2003 – 9/2005

Created packages of stories, photos and graphics to communicate issues and facilitate understanding in readers.
Coordinated with designers, photo, graphics and news editors to ensure consistency of section and steady, deadline-oriented workflow.

Marketing Communications Copywriter | Metrowerks

Application development software company | Austin TX | 7/1999 – 2/2002

Wrote and edited copy for web, advertising, press releases and packaging.
Produced layout for packaging, flyers, advertising, direct mail pieces, product information sheets and other items for public and internal distribution.

Graphic Designer | Origin Systems, Inc.

Computer game company | Austin TX | 10/1994 – 3/1999

Met with product managers to complete creative briefs for every printed or online piece. Specified the intended audience, desired response and call to action for each piece.
Designed and produced packaging, documentation, advertising, media art and promotional materials for major computer entertainment company.

Freelance Writer/Editor/ Graphic Designer

Austin TX | 8/1992 – 2/2002

Wrote, edited, designed and produced marketing and communications pieces of varying messages, audiences and lengths.
Clients included the Texas Department of Transportation, Living.com and Motorola.

Intern | SPY Magazine

Satirical New York monthly | New York NY | 6/1992 – 8/1992

Wrote, edited, and fact-checked short items for magazine and concurrent book project.
Organized and managed copy flow of book project. Designed a production matrix to track progress of individual profiles within book.

I like school.

MBA, College of William and Mary, 2010

I spent 2 years in the Flex MBA program (classes 7-10 pm after a full work day), then decided to knock out the last year’s worth of courses in one semester as a full-time student. In my final semester, I created my own self-study class in marketing communications, which included interviewing marketing directors in six different companies in the region, and delivering a Master’s thesis about the discipline of marketing communications and how it applied to these companies.

MS, Columbia Journalism School, 2003

The Columbia J-school program has undergone some changes since I experienced it as a 10-month sprint from August to May. The program began with a month of intensive courses about all the topics a reporter would be expected to cover, went on to include reporting weekly from a New York neighborhood designated as your “beat” and finished with a 5,000+-word Master’s thesis of original reporting. During the program, I earned scholarships for feature writing and online/multimedia journalism. I served as copy chief and became the de facto software advisor and production artist for the New York Review of Magazines, a lab publication. I also edited, designed and produced the yearbook. It was a rather busy year.

BA, Humanities, University of Texas at Austin, 1992

The Humanities program at UT allows students to design a plan of study around a unifying idea or concept. I began with the unifying theme of environmental crises, but before long, I changed my focus to journalism, specifically the concept of objectivity, about which I wrote a thesis. The reason for my shift? I had begun working at UtmosT, the student magazine. I started as an editorial intern, then worked my way up the masthead until serving as editor-in-chief my senior year. The magazine won some Columbia Scholastic Press Association Awards that year, which made me kinda proud.