One Big Whale is a digital consulting firm that offers content strategy, design and marketing solutions.

Chalk & Clay is a baseball blog that publishes coaching tips, first-hand gear reviews and more.

I represented DC's West End neighborhood as an elected member of Advisory Neighborhood Commission 2A and served as Chairperson.

As a member of the communications team, I helped tell stories about NDI's important work promoting and protecting democracy around the world. I worked closely with the organization's regional and functional departments to identify opportunities to highlight their programs and accomplishments, and provided a broad array of communication support throughout the entirety of the process—from ideation, to drafting and revision, to digital publication. Some of my other responsibilities included: • Writing and publishing social media content for a global audience of 300k+ followers• Writing and editing feature stories and blog posts for the institute’s website• Designing tools to help my team track content production and measure outcomes• Coordinating an institute-wide effort to revise 70+ country-specific webpages

My internship in the office of Representative Dan Kildee (MI-05) focused primarily on conducting legislative research to support the Congressman's staff in the drafting of co-sponsorship recommendations. This process involved a deep dive into the potential impacts of proposed laws (with a particular focus on impacts to the district), and the production of a concise analysis of a bill's background, pros and cons, costs and other factors. I also helped the office's legislative correspondent draft letters in response to constituent inquiries about legislation, federal policies and Rep. Kildee's position on issues.Of course, I also carried out the typical array of administrative tasks expected of interns: staffing the office's front desk, answering constituent phone calls, opening and sorting mail, and hustling all over the Capitol complex to run errands for the staff.

I served as a regional leader for the highly-effective "Get-Out-The-Vote" effort that supported a stunning 8-point victory in Virginia's 2017 gubernatorial election. Our campaign knocked on nearly 4 million doors overall, and 1 million doors in the final four days. In addition to winning all three statewide races (governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general), we flipped an unprecedented 15 House of Delegates seats from red to blue. Some of my work in included:• Coordinating with individual campaigns to ensure efficient utilization of volunteer resources• Preparing, auditing and managing turf packets and literature allocations• Supervising six staging locations to maintain accurate and timely processing of field reports

My career as a music journalist came about organically. A childhood obsession with country music led me to spend my teen years writing songs and traveling back-and-forth to Nashville. I jumped at the chance study in the music business program at Belmont University (Go Bruins!), and later earned a degree in English literature. While I never managed to write a hit song, the experience of being part of Nashville’s music community, combined with my knowledge of narrative structure and literary criticism, made the transition into writing about music a natural one. My work has appeared in The 9513, American Songwriter, Country Weekly, M: Music & Musicians, Nashville Scene, Denver Westword, Houston Press, St. Louis Riverfront Times and other outlets. I’ve interviewed numerous Grammy winners, including artists as diverse as Taylor Swift, Merle Haggard, Darius Rucker and Barbara Mandrell. And my writing has been cited in multiple academic and professional publications such as the Journal of the Music and Entertainment Industry Educators Association, the Vanderbilt Undergraduate Research Journal, the ALM Daily Report, and a doctoral dissertation.

During the 2014 midterm election, I managed the general election campaign of the Democratic nominee for Florida’s third congressional district. The candidate was a progressive Democrat in a deep-red area, so the race was an uphill battle from the beginning. While we didn’t come out on top, I was proud to recruit and lead a team of dedicated staff and volunteers who gave the incumbent a run for his money. Some of my responsibilities included: • Managing the candidate’s schedule, including call time and speaking engagements• Briefing the candidate on issues and talking points, and playing a lead role in debate prep• Serving as liaison with key stakeholders, including the state party and donors• Setting and hitting weekly fundraising targets through direct asks and email marketing• Developing a victory strategy based on proprietary voter turnout projections• Developing a communications strategy and writing email, print and social copy

When I joined The 9513 as a staff writer, it was a fledgling country music blog with a small but dedicated following of about 1,000 readers. Over the next five years, my colleagues and I transformed that little website into one of the most respected and influential brands in the genre. Our success was built on a reputation for rock-solid editorial integrity; our music reviews were tough but fair, and our candid artist interviews never shied away from tough questions or controversial topics. Our coverage was voicy and opinionated, and although we ruffled many feathers over the years our audience knew our content was never compromised by outside influences.By the end of the site’s run, we had an audience of 250,000 unique monthly readers and had published stories written by many of the biggest names in music journalism. Personally, my time at The 9513 taught me the value of trust. We were successful because we were honest, and that’s a lesson I’ve carried with me to every job and project since. Great communication isn’t a product—it’s a relationship. As managing editor, some of my responsibilities and achievements included: • Managing the schedule and following up with writers to ensure consistent content• Editing and publishing news roundups, breaking stories, blog posts, reviews, and interviews• Monitoring website metrics and analyzing content and traffic trends• Expanding the site’s pace and breadth of coverage through the development of new content formats and the hiring of 12 writers

Worked as an assistant to Manatee Country Party Chairman Richard O'Brien, primarily on political strategy (debate preparation and research, speech editing) and early organization of the Democratic Business Caucus of Florida.

As head coach I was responsible for designing and implementing a season-long training program for an adult team playing the Czech Republic's second highest division, as well as youth teams in the 10-under, 12-under, and 16-under categories. This program consisted of pre-season (indoor) practice schedule that focused on fundamentals and conditioning, a week-long spring camp, and daily in-season practice sessions. My game-day responsibilities included overseeing field preparation, pre-game and in-game strategy, and end-of-day field maintenance.

In my first position after graduating from the University of South Florida, I learned a great deal about leadership and interpersonal communication. I was a non-German speaker instructing in English, and had to learn (sometimes the hard way) the importance of body language, non-verbal cues, and cultural differences in expressing ideas and building strong relationships. While I certainly made my share of mistakes, I was also proud of our success; in my first year, the team nearly doubled its win total from the previous season. I coached the adult team, which played in Austria's highest division, as well as a competitive women's fast-pitch softball team. My responsibilities included the development of a pre-season (indoor) practice schedule that focused on fundamentals and conditioning, a week-long spring training camp in Italy, and twice-weekly in-season practice sessions. On game days, I oversaw field preparation, pre-game and in-game strategy, and end-of-day field maintenance.