Molly Watson Email & Phone Number

San Francisco, Ca, Us

Trains teams and partners with individuals to develop plans for execution, improve skills and habits, edit manuscripts, and otherwise help people become better and more confident writers. Specialties include academics looking to broaden their audience, new writers seeking to develop a writing practice, people with book ideas and don't know how to start, writers in the middle of projects not making the progress they would like, and teams who want to be on the same page to create consistent copy and content. Highlights include:Six Sense Descriptive Writing webinar, International Association for Culinary Professionals, 2023Food Writing for Travel Writers recurring guest lecture, Stanford Continuing Studies, 2019-2023Developmental feedback for Already Toast: Caregiving and Burnout in America (Beacon Press, 2022)Six Sense Food Writing six-week course, Left Margin Lit, 2020Writing workshops, Napa Valley Writing Symposium, 2019Professional writing workshop and guest lecture, Pomona College, 2015Developmental and line editing for The Plant Recipe Book and Decorating with Plants (Artisan, 2014 and 2019)Edited 280K words to the 100K required by publisher of Mastering Fermentation (Ten Speed Press, 2013)Food, recipe, and travel writing workshops, MediaBistro, 2008-2011

Collaborates with brand, content, and marketing teams to clarify voice and tone, develop guidelines, create content calendars, and up-level skills across the board. Highlights include:Konscious Foods (Fuse Projects agency): Developed brand voice, values, and mission for a vegan food company.OpenTable: Developed a clear brand voice and style guide for a global B2C audience of millions and 50K B2B restaurant partners. Led monthly brown bag writing workshops for the entire content team to up-level skills.LinkedIn: Led storytelling workshops for global marketing teams.Uber (Wolff Olins agency): Orchestrated brand voice and content guidelines from client pitch to launch of 2018 rebrand; led in-person and remote trainings across the US, LATAM, EMEA. MyFitnessPal: Focused writing and design teams on producing original content packages; instituted best practices.Munchery: Created a corporate tone that went beyond offers/discounts and inaugural style guides. Launched quarterly newsletters that increased orders 15% for targeted users. Coordinated the execution of an integrated content calendar to streamline workflow, generating $10K decrease in monthly expenditures.

San Francisco, California, Us

Owned brand voice across B2C and B2B at a global restaurant management platform.- Worked cross-functionally across brand, design, marketing, events, partnership, communications, and product teams- Spearheaded monthly content workshops to keep content quality high across all types and audiences- Developed strategy to strengthen and expand editorial content with limited team and budget

San Francisco, California, Us

Wrangled multiple competing voice guides used by different departments into a single brand voice used across B2C and B2B marketing, as well as product and comms.- Wrote company's first OOH campaign, DINE ON (success in San Francisco led to launch in five more metro areas)- Named products and events for impact and brand cohesion

Santa Fe, Nm, Us

Directed every aspect of a flagship website, from crafting content and social media calendars to assigning tasks to key personnel and managing the entire operational budget for the CEO. • Website Relaunch: Reimagined the flagship site with original content, regular contributors, and rich multimedia, generating a 600% increase in traffic to save this failing venture within the first six months.• Content Strategy: Orchestrated content sharing for 80+ award-winning magazines distributed across the US and Canada. Created clear brand standards for such content, raising the overall quality and producing a shared vision and sense of purpose for the program. Increased participation from 10 to 60% in the first year.• Content Creation: Brought on regular columnists to cover specialized areas and build brand loyalty. Initiated the development and distribution of a podcast to articulate the brand in a new format and provide a platform to participate in broader discussions about the corporate mission. Spearheaded the production of digital cookbooks to delight our audience. • Team Leadership: Led a national all-remote team before all-remote was cool. Instituted project management software solutions, check-in and QA processes, and team-building practices.

Provided executive-level leadership as a brand voice expert and content editor for businesses ranging from sole proprietors to global corporations. • Creative Director—Copy, Uber Rebranding (Wolff Olins Agency): Orchestrated the change in voice and content guidelines from client pitch to global launch for 2018 rebrand by auditing global content, collaborating across international teams and sub-brands, and conducting internal stress testing. • Digital Content Strategist, MyFitnessPal: Designed custom landing pages to target customer segments and devised a strategic plan to generate original content. Refocused writing and design teams on producing content packages, including videos and recipes. Crafted content calendar based on science-backed nutrition and seasonal eating requirements. • Marketing & Content Writing Specialist, LinkedIn (Wolff Olins Agency): Facilitated storytelling workshops for 100+ internal marketing and content writers, from designing bespoke curricula to producing content and collateral.• Web Content Specialist, Brava (West Ventures Agency): Authored consumer-centric website content to replace technical copy in preparation for nationwide marketing launch. • Lifestyle Branding Specialist, Haldi (Yung Studio Agency): Established and implemented a brand tone through website copy to better position a high-end beauty start-up soliciting investor engagement.• Corporate Branding Specialist, Grace Communications Foundation: Reimagined tone and messaging hierarchy by translating scientific data on sustainable foods into reader-friendly reports and infographics.

San Francisco, California, Us

I provided senior-level leadership regarding all aspects of the print, digital, marketing, product, technical, social, and multimedia content to support the aggressive growth initiatives of a national food delivery start-up. In addition to elevating the content quality, I implemented a creative content process to ensure compliance with copy, photography, and design best practices, and devised a corporate tone beyond distributing offers and discounts.• Corporate Communication: Created inaugural style guides for the culinary, marketing, and UX product lines. Managed attainment of all key print and digital initiatives including new product and market expansion campaigns. Increased brand awareness with co-branded assets with Roy Choi, Google Play, W Hotels, and Equinox.• Integrated Content Calendar: Coordinated the execution of a content calendar involving print, digital, and social to streamline workflow and refocus teams on content production and in-house social media posting, generating $10K decrease in monthly operational expenditures. • Brand Awareness: Launched print and digital quarterly newsletters to engage customers beyond their orders and keep the brand top-of-mind. Increased orders 15% for targeted users and allowed partner programs to triple.

I played a vital role in the development and execution of editorial, corporate, and copywriting projects ranging from writing articles and editing manuscripts to publishing Google Maps hotel listings and creating content for high-profile clients including Bon Appetite Management Company, California Visitors Guide, Consumer Reports, Elle, Every Day with Rachael Ray, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Weight Watchers, and Weber Grills.Major projects included:• Content Specialist, About.com/The Spruce Eats (2008 to 2018): Directed every aspect of content production based on user analytics to drive organic traffic to the local foods channel, resulting in 3M page views per month.• Lead Editor, Google (2013 to 2015): Led a two-year map-based global travel content project while directly supervising a 12-member team of highly skilled writers tasked with crafting hotel synopses across six continents.• Communications Editor, Great Places to Work (2010 to 2012): Consolidated extensive workplace data and employee surveys into user-friendly reports to drive high-impact decision making regarding large- and small-scale businesses.• Content Strategist, Kashi (2009 to 2010): Devised a strategy to produce healthy living content, overhaul outdated style guide, and author an editorial calendar while effectively managing budgets and assembling a high-performing team of writers and designers.

New York, Ny, Us

Developed and taught food writing and recipe writing courses for beginning and mid-career professionals. Taught both traditional workshops and online classes, providing structured assignments, critical feedback, and next steps for students to take on their food writing path.

Los Angeles , California, Us

Oversaw food and travel projects from scouting the stories to consulting with art directors on cover options. I even did the food styling on a shoot when the stylist failed to find us on the Sonoma coast.

Los Angeles , California, Us

Authored 100+ articles involving food, travel, and recipes for a lifestyle magazine with 1.2M circulation.

Wrote and edited food, education, travel, and style pieces for a wide range of clients. Highlights included restaurant reviews for citysearch.com, home and design articles for East Bay Home & Design, freelance recipe work for Sunset magazine, entertaining menus and guides for Safeway, Careers by Major book and a business case about Macy's department store for Wetfeet Press, curricula development for the Alliance for Life-Long Learning (a consortium for Stanford University, Yale University, and Oxford University), and editing work for Stanford University Press.

In my first publishing job, I wrote food, wine, travel, and style stories for a short-lived luxury lifestyle magazine aimed at the "Bay Area executive." There is no doubt that it was a ridiculous publication, but I learned a ton because the editorial staff of three wrote the entire 100+-page magazine every month.

Doctor Of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Modern European History

Master’S Degree, Modern European History

B.A., History