A Michigan kid...

I was born and raised about 20 minutes south of Detroit in the most middle class, blue collar town you can think of. I come from a family of entrepreneurs - dad, uncle, brother, cousins... it was in my blood really (however, I'm still figuring out if the thing in my blood is "entrepreneur stuff" or just being just plain stubborn). Anyways, the burbs, they were great. But everything changed when I went off to college at Eastern Michigan University and moved to a town called Ypsilanti (that's Ip-si-lant-y). I was introduced to best friends, a diverse culture, a beautiful historic district, local food and music and hipsters. Lots of hipsters. They were so hipster, it was before being a hipster was even a thing. It was magical. I dove into the scene head first and the rest is really history.

Place has a funny narrative in my story. A creative town with a funny name introduced me to my eventual business partner (and Uncle B), I fell in love with townies wearing maize and blue and the soul of the South is where I was reborn. Along the way there have been many ups, downs, unreal experiences and the most beautiful little girl you've ever seen.

View my work and projects over in The Hustle.

2 Guys, 1 Panda

After being lured home from a brief stint in Chicago (worst job ever, ask me about it sometime), I co-founded Pakmode Media + Marketing with 3 of my best friends. That lasted, oh...about 6 months and then we were down to two of us, a perfect ying-yang, opposites attract thing. We started a print publication in 2008 (brilliant idea guys) and evolved from there. The thing we were good at was relationships and understanding the college market, so after a few more products we finally landed on Sports and Entertainment. Essentially we built an inventory of media through college athletic departments and an arts and entertainment magazine. We owned the rights to signage, radio, tv, print, social media, event space and more. If you wanted to reach the 18-34 demo in the Ann Arbor area, you probably had to work with us or a partner of ours. It was amazing. We did some incredible things and almost single handedly changed the culture of a region. For me, I was the "creative," the do-er.  

iSPY Magazine was my thing.

As publisher of iSPY Magazine I managed the editorial team (mostly managing our incredible Editor), laid out the magazine, built and managed the website, ran the social media accounts and acted as a cultural tastemaker (which I realize sounds super douchie, but in theory that's what I did). I hosted and organized festival stages, made monthly appearances on the radio and even managed to do the distribution of the magazine throughout Washtenaw County.    

We documented some pretty cool stuff.

Like the time Macklemore performed at the Blind Pig in front of a sold out crowd of 400, then not even 8 months later Macklemore and Ryan Lewis went on a campus tour and we passed on bringing him to the EMU Convocation Center (seats 8,000+) because he was too expensive, so he went and booked the Breslin Center in East lansing and sold it out. Someone made a whole bunch of money...we did not. That may be a better story for FuckUp Nights.  

The Ford Lake Frozen Leap raised over $100,000 for local charities.

Maybe my favorite thing we did at Pakmode (and trust me, we did a lot) was the Ford Lake Frozen Leap. This annual fundraiser was really a crazy party that ended with people jumping into a lake in the middle of February. After we figured out what the heck we were doing (it took a couple years) I was the host and emcee, created and executed the run of show. It was cold, some years colder than others, but it was great.

While I'm no longer a part of the day-to-day operations at Pakmode, my business partner is still crushing it. Check out what they've been up to.

A City Reborn

That brings us to Atlanta, my new hometown. Harper moved here with her mom unexpectedly and after about 6 months of writing myself out of my business, I packed up my truck and headed down. No place to live, no job, no friends or family, just me and my pride. The more I discover, the more I love this town. Atlanta's history is unique, it's people are diverse and we're really on the rise. It's a perfect place for me. I've learned so much about myself and learned from some of the smartest people I've ever been around.  

Points of Light Civic Accelerator

I landed my first gig with Points of Light and was essentially the marketing department for their Civic Accelerator. I've become passionate about social entrepreneurship and hope to launch my own in the not so distant future (check the blog for that post when it comes).

SUPPLY.com

I moved on from CivicX and developed the Creative Producer role at SUPPLY.com. A fast growing tech company, they helped me learn [insert buzz words]. I worked with a great team, (a really solid group of incredibly talented people) to produce content, handle recruiting and give a face and voice to SUPPLY.com here in Atlanta. 

Hands On Atlanta

The nonprofit world couldn't keep me away for very long! Joining an Atlanta institution like this is truly something special for me. As the Director of Marketing and Communications, I'm working hard to rally change-making volunteers, nonprofits who need help, and companies who want to do good. I'm so excited to finally be apart of a community again.