what’s my story?
I am a public affairs and strategic communications consultant with more than 25 years of experience in corporate and political settings.
Fortunately, nobody pays attention to my hairstyle. I use that quote from Hillary Clinton because it exemplifies the often absurd reality of the modern media environment. It is also a reminder that political campaigns are the entrepreneurial training ground for communications strategy and tactics.
Fortunately, nobody pays attention to my hairstyle. I use that quote from Hillary Clinton because it exemplifies the often absurd reality of the modern media environment. It is also a reminder that political campaigns are the entrepreneurial training ground for communications strategy and tactics.
- I got my start in the Virginia State Legislature and then moved to D.C. to work at a premier strategic communications boutique. Training under the leadership of renowned presidential and political press secretaries from both parties, I progressed from administrative work to on-site client management on campaigns for corporations, trade associations, and government organizations.
- Instead of going to grad school, I quit my corporate job to work on a political campaign for a Volvo dealer who wanted to be Governor. I traveled across Virginia in a soft-top Jeep Wrangler and built a statewide grassroots organization before transitioning to the press office. We lost. And when I say we lost, I mean we got our butts kicked.*
- Working on a losing campaign is really humbling. It is also a great education.
- An old boss from the agency world called me to come back to work for him at a different, bigger agency where I worked with more talented people with whom I still collaborate today.
- Just a few months after 9-11, when my kid was not yet two, a string of business trips, including one to Dubai, prompted me to leave the agency lifestyle, rewarding as it had been. I freelanced and threw myself into community projects. The volunteer work didn’t pay well, but it was rewarding in other ways. I started my own firm, and here I am.
- You can find my professional bio here. Highlights of recent work:
- Message platform and communications planning/implementation for commercial real estate financial services firm
- Re-branding and enrollment marketing campaign for pre-K-8th grade independent school
- Media relations for EB-5 Immigrant Investor Visa Program industry spokesperson; staffed national media interviews and congressional testimony
- Internal communications for automotive industry-leader headquarters relocation announcement; tapped by boutique agency to join their team
- Highlights of my work at big agencies:
- Campaign that stopped city takeover of private water company
- Media tour featuring farmers as advocates for genetically modified seeds
- Communications support for energy and economic development projects in the U.A.E.
- Media events for opening the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
- Staffed press office for government-owned nuclear fuel company
- Media aide at first MTV Inaugural Ball**
*This story has a happy ending. The Volvo dealer stayed in politics, went on to become the Ambassador to Switzerland, and is now serving in Congress. So, good guys don’t finish last, they just keep running. And as much as I loved that Jeep, I drive a Volvo now.
**OK – so that was one night, but it was a really cool night when I was really young, and it’s fun to remember those days. REM, Soul Asylum, VJ Duff. My husband got to hang out and eat Eskimo Pies with Jack Nicholson and a bunch of rock stars while I checked media credentials. I guess he had more fun than I did, but it was still pretty cool.