My road to digital marketing has more switchbacks than the Continental Divide, although it’s arguably been just as fun of a drive. I was thirteen when I first asked my mom to get me a copy of HTML for Dummies in order to share my Beautiful Original Fictions™️ with the world via Geocities, but rather than take that as a sign from above that I was destined to seize my proverbial professional days online, I took my good sweet time exploring literally every other career path instead. I’ve studied and held jobs in the world of graphic design, the fine arts, education, and customer experience before finally landing into the beautiful lap of search engine optimization and copywriting.
And honestly? I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Why? Casting any Robert Frost allusions aside, there are some lessons you’re only able to learn outside a classroom – or in other classrooms that don’t necessarily look like your usual fare. I learned about audiences and their personas through chatting to active customers on the phone, the value of compelling narratives to catch a person’s eye in an art studio, and writing all sorts of copy simply by way of wordsmithing since I was that inquisitive little preteen in the year 2000. I’ve done anything from wireframing to writing press releases for academic institutions, hopped on emergency social media coverage for SaaS companies, and jumped in to help with publicity for art shows across the Midwest. In short, I’ve learned how to become something of a marketing Swiss army knife.
My professional journey has not only granted me a wealth of skills but also has granted me the wisdom and perspective to approach digital marketing from a holistic standpoint. Good SEO doesn’t start with arbitrarily buying backlinks or shoving keywords all willy-nilly into your copy, and reaching your audience isn’t simply a case of shoving a bunch of dollars into your Google Ad bid. Marketing is the art of connecting communities, all while telling your future audience the story of why your product is special. Ranking in search does nothing if you’re not telling folks the why, both visually and verbally. When you’re able to connect with your audience on a holistic level, that’s when you’re able to make magic happen.
Want to see other sides of me? Check out my art portfolio, peek at my (extremely casual and silly) Twitter feed, look at my thoughts on contemporary art on Instagram, see additional studio works on Behance, or connect on LinkedIn.