I learned the power of storytelling in third grade when I wrote a play about a dog and a cat getting married and having a son, who was a mouse. It got rave reviews from my classmates and, of course, my mom. In fourth grade, I learned the need for an editor when the Valentine’s Day edition of my classroom newspaper featured notes about students who had crushes on each other. When I saw two teachers kissing backstage, I thought it would be sweet to add them.When I handed out my newsletter, my classmates enjoyed it. But it also got a lot of attention from the teachers and the principal. It turns out the teachers I saw kissing were married – to other people. Not long after that, one of the teachers went to a different school and my principal became my first editor.Since then, I've been hooked on telling stories that inform people and make them feel something. I spent most of my career as a journalist at newspapers from small to large.My teams won stacks of awards, but the biggest prize was the difference our work made. We forced governments to do business in public, schools to do a better job of educating children and public safety departments to be more open. We also shared stories about the people and programs making a difference in their communities. Ultimately, I transitioned to corporate communications., focusing on stories that show the companies' heart and impact.First, I told stories about Florida Blue's extraordinary outreach to help its members and the communities where they live. Stories about how nurses and social workers help people get healthy and find assistance paying for necessities, like rent, utility bills and medications. Stories about the lasting impact our foundation's programs and grants make around the state. And stories about employees who make a difference at work and in their communities. I also reported and wrote the scripts for the monthly internal newscast, which featured about 10 stories, and wrote the scripts for our president and CEO’s weekly videos to employees and the communities served by Florida Blue and its parent company GuideWell.Most recently I had the honor of writing stories about Bristol Myers Squibb, a company whose passion to help people and to spread good around the world is like nothing I’ve seen before. The company has programs that provide medications to people worldwide who can’t afford them, employees around the globe who ride bicycles to raise money for cancer research and a Foundation that has made a global impact.I can't wait to see what's next.
Listed skills include Ap Style, Incopy, Newspaper, Headline Writing, and 31 others.
