When I was 17, my parents hired a ‘Teen Whisperer’ to coax a career plan out of me. 

Ramona said a lot of things to me in that 90-minute conversation. Oddly, that my eyes were the color of the ocean meeting the sand. That maybe going to med school wasn’t in the cards. And that I should consider a creative career path. Which sounded great, because it gave me an opportunity to skip the rote memorization, the pencil-pushing… you know, the boring stuff. 

After a decade of writing my way through the dying Film/TV industry, I unearthed a passion for music and parlayed my writing skills into the foundation of a copywriting career.

I created my portfolio at the Book Shop School for Ads. During the program, I learned that the funniest headlines were often the least relevant to the message. I learned that crafting a coherent campaign means politely killing lots of good ideas. I learned that I can produce quality results with limited resources, even with a full-time job. I learned that I can wear a lot of hats, and “leader” is one of them. Most importantly, I learned how to take feedback and use it to strengthen the work.

Lucky for both of us, I’m still skipping the boring stuff.