About Me

If you’re on this page that means you want to know more about me.

Well let’s see…I was born and raised in Ohio. I have a degree in journalism from Ohio University—not to be confused with THE Ohio State University. I’m a Bobcat—not a Buckeye, although come football and basketball time I root for BOTH!

I was a cheerleader in high school and a member of the Forensics Team. Being a member of the forensics team helped develop my speaking skills. I am forever grateful to David Brunner, my high school speech coach, who made me his personal project and helped me to soar to the level of a national champion.

I’ve always been a communicator. I love to talk and get to know people. I am fascinated with the stories of others and how they’ve overcome some obstacle in life to go on and achieve something wonderful. I knew at a relatively young age that I wanted to work in some form of media—to tell positive stories of people. Unfortunately, traditional media isn’t about the business of telling the “good stories.” They focus more on the “if it bleeds, it leads” mentality.

My career has taken me to West Virginia, Boston, New Hampshire, Connecticut, North Carolina, Guantanamo Bay Cuba and Saudi Arabia.

Something you may not know about me is I worked for Merrill Lynch at one time and learned quite a bit about the stock market.

THAT WAS THEN—–THIS IS NOW……

Little did I know 20 years ago that my greatest challenge at that time would become my greatest passion and joy today. Back then I was struggling with my now-grown daughter— who used to believe the whole world spoke “ebonics!” Through my constant nagging about the importance of “good grammar” and teaching my daughter how to market herself to get a job, I discovered a sincere desire to work with young people and have become committed to helping them succeed in their professional and personal lives.

As a result of my 30 years of media experience, public speaking background, youth volunteer work and youth-based focus groups, I created the Your Time to Shine Workshop Series, which provides tools and resources young people need to market themselves professionally and with confidence. Along with a team of young professionals, we have come up with an engaging, fun and inspiring way to educate young people!

I’ve had the good fortune to be on both sides of the microphone. In addition to working for the media, I have also appeared as a guest on numerous radio and talk programs including MSNBC-TV and the locally-produced My Carolina Today. I was also featured in the New York Times for my first book. I’ve written four books total including the Amazon Best Seller, How to Get on the News Without Committing Murder and have written for, or been covered by the Huffington Post, Forbes, and Newsweek magazine.

Specialties:

Media Interview coaching
Preparing for a successful interview
Writing press releases
Voice and diction coaching