Marketing Projects

High-Impact Storytelling

I led with storytelling because it's weaved into all of my work. As humans, we feel before we think, so we're more likely to remember and act on information that engages our emotions. Facts can tell people what you do, but stories tell them why it matters. How well are you telling your story?

Below is a sampling of recent media stories that resulted from pitches I wrote and distributed as well as a link to blog stories that I've authored:

Screenshot 2025-06-11 at 11.06.03 AM.png

Digital Marketing & Social Media

Digital Marketing was my favorite course as part of my MBA – not only because I had the most outstanding performance among my peers in our paid search simulation, but also because I learned something that I was able to quickly apply in a real setting, directing the paid student recruitment campaigns for 19 charter high schools.

These high-performing campaigns included a combination of out-of-home advertising and digital marketing tactics, resulting in thousands of conversions at a cost well below industry benchmarks – and achieving the Count Day goal.

I developed and executed a multi-platform content strategy that increased blog call-to-action clicks by triple digits over the previous year. I authored four of the top six viewed blogs on Goodwill’s website, which has 600 published posts. I guided content strategy for 100+ social media pages across 40+ field leads and a combined audience of 100k+, increasing social media reach across all brand pages, including triple digit percent increases in engagement.

I love digital marketing because you receive immediate feedback that allows you to determine whether something is working or whether you need to shift direction or make adjustments. Marketers can have a significant impact when they use digital marketing tools strategically.

Videos

As a storyteller, my role in the end-to-end production of dozens of videos was critical to ensuring Goodwill's message and story arc resonated with our audience. We did not have an in-house videographer, so this involved selecting and working with an outside vendor to bring our vision to life.

In a cross-functional collaboration with the creative team, I led the development of the storylines and narratives, including who would be interviewed, where we would shoot, development of the interview questions, as well as participating in the interviews, ensuring we captured the story and that responses were aligned with the brand. I also reviewed and provided feedback on videos from a-roll through completion. A sample of the more than 70 videos I helped develop include:

Screenshot 2025-06-11 at 12.00.17 PM.png

Strategic Media Outreach

The media landscape has changed a lot since I first started pitching stories 17+ years ago, but the biggest lesson I've learned from shrinking newsrooms is that the easier you can make it on a reporter to deliver a high quality story to their audience, the more likely they are to follow up on your story pitch. My formula is proprietary, but the results speak for themselves – 164 media placements and a near-six-figure earned media value in 2024 alone.

In my most recent press release campaign (February 2025) announcing statewide commencement ceremonies, I targeted 11 media markets with pitches, resulting in eight published stories, including two major television outlets:

Earned Media

Published Author

Once upon a time, I had the audacity to send Arianna Huffington a direct email with an incredibly prescient story pitch asking if she would publish it on HuffPost. I don't know if it was actually her who responded, but someone replied with an invitation to join their contributor platform.

Although I have not written a political op-ed in a long time (2016), I took a lot of pride in being a contributor at HuffPost, where I was able to self-publish until the platform was shut down in 2018. I was also published in NUVO Magazine, a local Indianapolis publication. Samples of my personal op-eds include:

Award-Winning Writing

One way to create your own news is to earn external recognition for your client/organization, and during my time at Goodwill, I was the go-to person for writing nominations that got selected for awards. I submitted 14 nominations that were chosen for an award, including both local and international awards.

1EBC8471-8AAE-424B-B212-C2FB0CB731E9 (1).JPG

Publications

At Goodwill, I served as editor-in-chief for three flagship publications in which I led all aspects of content strategy, production, and distribution, in collaboration with the creative team.

In 2018, I directed a complete overhaul of an external stakeholder publication, previously called the Working Times, redefining its target audience, voice, visual identity, and content strategy to better align with organizational objectives. Read an issue of Achieve magazine.

In 2019, I launched an internal newsletter called Exchange as part of an internal strategic communications plan I developed after a thorough, organization-wide audit. The newsletter was delivered to more than 5,000 employees by direct mail to strengthen staff communication and engagement across departments.

I also led development of the Annual Report for nine years. In addition to developing the content strategy for each issue, I managed cross-functional teams, including editorial and creative, assigning stories, mentoring contributors, and ensuring alignment with brand, tone, and strategic communication goals.

Fundraising & Philanthropy

Collaborating with the Goodwill Foundation for more than six years, I developed a range of strategic communications content for a donor-facing audience (individuals and corporate donors) that included twice yearly appeal letters, donor receipts, impact reports, Achieve magazine, speeches and speaking points, social media management, email campaigns, program and video scripts, engagement tools, presentations, event communications, and more.

During my time as the foundation's communications manager, annual fund donations more than doubled, and Goodwill: UNBOXED, the foundation's signature annual event since 2022, raised nearly $1M.

11 November GivingShoesDay FND (1) (1)_e

Don't see what you're looking for? Additional writing samples available upon request.

Integrated Marketing Plans

At Goodwill, I developed and executed integrated marketing plans that leveraged multiple channels and platforms to tell high-impact stories that moved audiences to donate goods, shop, and give financially.

Integrated Marketing