Oversee sales and growth marketing teams to grow Indiegraf network of high-impact independent news operations

Indiegraf is a platform for independent journalists and publishers. We provide an engine to drive audience and revenue growth so publishers can focus on producing meaningful journalism. In my role, I help recruit and onboard publisher partners based in the U.S. and Canada.

I helped various news operations establish locally and expand nationally, including my role as TAPinto’s Director of Content. I also covered the journalism industry for Local Media Association and Indiegraf, gaining insider access to unique operations doing innovative work. My byline has appeared in the following online publications: Austonia, Texas Highways, 3rd & Lamar, Our Community Now, The American Leader, and The Report (startup business newsletter)

• Oversaw 60+ journalists across 34 editions (6 metros)• Worked directly with writers on investigative reports• Digital leadership during COVID-19 & Hurricane Harvey• Established editorial training and continuing education• Increased quality standards amid national expansion• Implemented and maintained the company’s first CMS

I help manage eight Austin-area publications for a thriving hyperlocal newspaper company.

I started as a suburban editor for our Cedar Park/Leander edition before being promoted as our Central Austin editor. My time with this up-and-coming monthly publication has helped improve my analytical skills when covering stories, especially any development and drought-related news.

As night and weekend editor, I was third in charge of the editorial department. The role allowed me to edit and design content as well as write my own business-focused stories. I also was responsible for helping fill any gaps in news coverage once the reporters ran out of hours—meaning I wrote many of the Sunday front-page stories.

My first full-time job out of graduate school landed me at one of two Milwaukee daily newspapers. I covered Milwaukee County government, a body led at the time by Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker. Working for a construction-focused newspaper helped me gain expertise on development news coverage.

What started as a summer news internship developed into a two-year partnership while I attended graduate school. I wrote news, features and sports pieces as a regular freelancer for the Central Indiana publication, allowing me to stay fresh until I finished school.

A role normally reserved for two graduate assistants, I instead worked alone in one of the only college writing centers geared exclusively for journalism and telecommunications majors. I tutored more than 150 students through one-on-one sessions that school year, gaining valuable teaching experience.

The journalism department each year recruited many of the state’s top high school journalists for a new program, which I helped lead my first year of graduate school. I connected the students with professionals, wrote grant proposals and helped select the next class of recruits.

The Ball State University student newspaper published much of my in-class homework during graduate school. In addition, I regularly covered the school’s Student Government Association, including a pivotal and oftentimes contentious election.

After years covering the student governing body at my undergraduate school, I decided to make the most of my fifth year as an undergraduate by running on a ticket with the incumbent vice president. The experience helped me learn a lot about the inner workings of a university.

My second internship had me working as a full-time copy editor for a daily Quad Cities publication. I regularly edited stories, designed pages and made lofty editorial decisions not typically granted to interns. The publication even offered me a full-time job out of school, but I chose to go to graduate school instead.

I worked my way up the editorial ladder during my four years at the Western Illinois University student newspaper, culminating as editor my senior year. The paper was fortunate the next year to receive state general excellence honors. The experience cemented my love for journalism.

My first internship occurred the summer after my freshman year at my hometown newspaper. The experience went so well that I returned to work as a freelance contributor the next seasonal break from school. I still keep in touch with my sports editor when possible.