NowKalamazoo's Explore & Connect shares stories about the arts, culture, creativity, passion, and skills found in Kalamazoo County around every city corner and down every county road. We hope residents and visitors are inspired, seek joy, and develop pride in our unique communities, shared humanity, and sense of belonging.

• Provide deep relationship-building through all communication channels and across multiple continents for virtual and in-person international exchange programs• Create and execute social media campaigns, blogs, and Mailchimp newsletters• Secure speakers, facilitate meetings, arrange transportation, assist in event planning, and welcome international guests for IVLP, Open World and other citizen diplomacy programs• Ran social media campaign and volunteered for Feed the Fight Kalamazoo effort, which raised over $100,000 in just over a year and delivered over 10,000 meals to front-line workers and earned the 2020 Healthcare Heroes award from Family Health Center; assisted in grant-writing, public relations/publicity, volunteer recognition, event planning and more for GTK (April 2020-August 2021).

Promote tremendously high consumer engagement for this independent insurance agency, including Facebook post engagement rates consistently 10,000+ percent higher than local and statewide competitors. Earned national award for Excellence in Technology and Social Media from the National Association of Professional Insurance Agents of in 2022 and First Place for "Best Business to Follow on Social Media" in Midland Daily News' yearly Reader's Choice Awards in 2021. *Research, write and submit press releases*Edit blog posts and website content with SEO optimization in mind*Study industry trends and local news*Increase product awareness and promote business growth*Enhance local and regional relationships and partnerships*Promote philanthropic and community-building endeavors*Maintain exceptional reputation management*Humanize the field of insurance*Create outside-of-the-box projects including popular Ieuter Man insurance superhero appearances*Foster team-wide and community-wide enthusiasm for social media initiatives

Reporting for variety of Michigan newspapers, magazines, and other publications*Published in USA Today*Wrote monthly Dining Out column for the Grand Rapids Press*Featured regularly on the front page of the Kalamazoo Gazette*Contributed stories to AP that subsequently ran in newspapers throughout Michigan*Contributed essays to a locally published anthology*Photo featured in Zymurgy magazine 2022*Press release composition and PR consultation for numerous for-profit and nonprofit entities, 2019-2022*Press release content featured in High Times magazine 2022

As CRM Manager for this rapidly expanding, vertically-integrated cannabis manufacturer and retailer, I served as the bridge between our manufacturing headquarters and our diverse retail partners, developing and rolling out SOPs designed to maximize guest experience and improve DEIA. *Specialized in brand likeability and customer recovery, responding to guest reviews on numerous platforms (Google, Yelp, Weedmaps, Tattle) and workshopping guest recovery efforts with our GMs. Our stores' Tattle ratings were regularly 20+% higher than our competitors, and 50-75% of guest incidents were reported by retail store guests as resolved or recovered.*Spearheaded an initiative designed to better track customer source data through the Treez POS system, resulting in 95 times higher customer source recordings. I also launched special initiatives to leverage this data and maximize marketing-spend ROI, working with store managers and customer service representatives to track customer return data.*Produced and edited newsletters and SMS/MMS campaigns through MailerLite, Omnisend, AlpineIQ, and Sprout with robust open rates (29 - 37%), helped plan and execute memorable events, and supported other marketing team efforts including social media management, graphic design, and more. *Saved company tens of thousands in my first six months in the role by scrutinizing CRM spends and negotiating group rates and discounts with partners including Tattle, Sprout, and Weedmaps. *Mentored and advocated for other pivotal team members who secured subsequent promotions.*Produced publicity materials for charitable partnership between Common Citizen, High Life Farms, and retail cannabis dispensaries featured in local, regional and national (High Times Magazine) media. *Advised our wholesale and Retail Ops teams on customer retention, customer loyalty, customer recovery, and brand succession best practices.

Netted three promotions in first two years at daily newspaper the Kalamazoo Gazette: Television editor/copy editor, general assignment arts writer, and the music beat / weekend magazine (FRIday section) editor position. Worked intensively with local sources to develop strong beat coverage and broke an investigative music news story later picked up by all major media worldwide.Worked as freelance journalist for local and regional publications for decades. Wrote monthly Dining Out column for the Grand Rapids Press, had a story published in USA Today, and covered arts and feature beats for numerous regional magazines.

As the face of Yelp in Kalamazoo, I served as an online and in-person tour guide for all things Kalamazoo and Southwest Michigan. I provided engaging daily content across all Yelp’s social media platforms (Yelp, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter) and interacted with local businesses and Yelp users throughout those platforms. I also contributed to yelp.com as a reviewer, photographer, and fact-checker and collaborated with local businesses to throw monthly unforgettable events. I produced an online magazine that reached over 30,000 readers per month as well as bimonthly newsletters for our most engaged users. Yelp Kalamazoo’s social media engagement, online user engagement, and event guest attendance and satisfaction increased exponentially during my tenure as Community Ambassador. *Quintupled Yelp Kalamazoo’s Instagram following in just over one year*Skyrocketed user engagement throughout my tenure*Won both team-wide contests (first-to-review and top photographer) in first year at Yelp*Developed phenomenal brand likeability through CRM expertise and highly personalized user interactions*Published monthly newsletters *Produced marketing materials for and promote events within my region*Host highly-rated, remarkable events monthly throughout Southwest Michigan*Spearheaded the first Yelp Kalamazoo Volunteer Initiative in conjunction with Dining Out for Life*Appointed to mentor new hire in larger market*Regularly mentored junior team members and filled in for regional manager during vacations*Ranked consistently among the top performers department-wide on all metrics*Planned and executed engaging virtual events during the Covid-19 pandemic