About Me
I am a strategic storyteller with a naturally inquisitive nature and I’m passionate about the power of words.
Stories are constantly all around us, just waiting to be told. As a storyteller, I look for the best way to share these stories with the people they matter to most.
I do that every day as a digital content producer at WFAA in Dallas. As a storyteller, I write and curate articles for the station’s website each day. I create and manage hourly content on WFAA’s social media platforms to expand the reach of those stories. I deliver daily data-based performance reports to our editorial team and use that data to drive our content development. I find stories worth telling by listening to our audience, whether that's directly communicating with them or identifying trending topics and the questions they're looking to have answered.
Before I made the move to Dallas, I lived near the foothills of East Tennessee. A true community with a soul like Dolly Parton herself, I considered myself lucky to be a part of the rich tradition at WBIR Channel 10 of telling stories “straight from the heart.”
While there, I managed the station’s Instagram account and expanded its reach on the platform. I significantly grew the account’s following and diversified the types of content the station published there. Whether it’s IGTV, Stories or just a regular old post, we put content there, looking to connect viewers with the stories that resonate with them. I replicated that with my efforts on the station’s Facebook account, identifying when which kinds of content performed best on the platform. And of course, I also wrote stories for our website to share them in the first place. I wrote hundreds of articles ranging from bizarre and gruesome crime stories to how Tennessee had a connection to part of the evidence the Mueller Report found of Russian election meddling.
But I don't just tell others' stories. I also help them share their own.
I've worked with organizations like the Kinder Institute on Constitutional Democracy to help share those stories. I identified Kinder’s unique needs, long-term goals and social media strengths and weaknesses to develop a comprehensive campaign to create digital content and events, as well as increase engagement both on social media and in person. How did I do that? It all comes down to storytelling. Whether it's the academic programs, the guest lecturers or the bonds developed by its community of scholars, the Kinder Institute provides intellectuals with a unique academic space. That's a rich environment to find stories and ideas worth sharing. I found them, neatly packaged them and shared them via social media. I also developed and coordinated events to share these stories with prospective and current members in-person.
An alumna of the University of Missouri-Columbia, I received a dual major in journalism and political science, along with a minor in Chinese Studies and a Multicultural certificate. My journalism interest area was Convergence- Emerging Media. While there, I learned how to engage and entertain audiences on various social platforms, how to code, how to report, edit and produce enterprise and breaking stories and how to collaborate with people from all walks of life.
I've worked in front of the Supreme Court on decision days as a multimedia reporter, discovered arts and culture stories in Florence, Italy, and served as the creative producer for a finalist app development team in the Reynolds Journalism Institute Competition in collaboration with the Public Media Platform.
My dream job in ten years? I'm not really sure, because it probably doesn’t exist yet. I am sure, though, that I want to work in a collaborative and creative environment that values people and the connections that can bring us all together.
Awards and Accomplishments
Friars Chapter of Mortar Board- Tap Class of 2017
Mark Twain Nonresident Scholarship recipient
MU Journalism Abroad Travel Scholarship recipient
Missouri School of Journalism and College of Arts and Science Dean's List 2014-2018
Member of the Griffiths Leadership Society for Women
Kinder Institute on Constitutional Democracy- 2016 Kinder Scholar
Kinder Institute on Constitutional Democracy- 2015-2016 member of the Society of Fellows
Tiger Pantry Weekly Volunteer January 2015- June 2018