My value as a digital media consultant: the ability to relentlessly generate new ideas, the technical chops to execute a good digital campaign myself, and the communications skills to explain digital strategy well.

 

My Professional Narrative

Agency - I spent three years as a senior digital strategist and then a senior director for paid media strategy at Purple Strategies in Washington, DC. On the digital side, I did everything from social media engagement, product development, and running entire digital advertising campaigns for major brands and trade associations. As a senior director, I focused solely on all paid media (not just digital), serving as the focal point for the firm's media buying offering. I then established my own digital media practice in the summer of 2016 and have been serving clients and partnering with other agencies since.

Media - In 2011 I was hired as a writer by Talking Points Memo (TPM) to cover the 2012 presidential election after receiving my Master's degree in journalism from NYU. My focus was the site's burgeoning data journalism vertical, PollTracker, one of the few political polling aggregators at the time. During the first few months of the job I started by focusing on the journalism side, publishing pieces on the upcoming 2012 presidential primaries and the crossover of politics and policy. As primary season approached, TPM decided to create a new web experience and an iOS app for PollTracker, delivering up-to-date polling information to users. I served as the product manager for both the app and the vertical redesign in addition to my editorial duties. Additionally, the site formed a partnership with Yahoo to house PollTracker and editorial content in their environment, which I also managed. In 2013 I was made Associate Publisher and focused solely on the product and business side of TPM. 

Politics - I've been captivated with politics since I used to read ahead in my 6th grade social studies textbook. After establishing my double major in political science and philosophy at Beloit College in Wisconsin, I spent the first semester of my senior year abroad in London where I was a research assistant to Diana Organ, a Labour MP in British Parliament. Coming back to Wisconsin, I started working on Democratic campaigns, starting on a winning state Senate campaign in the Milwaukee suburbs. Following the election I was appointed as an aide in Madison, moving up to become communications director. I then became deputy research director for Congressman Tom Allen's (D-Maine) run for US Senate in 2008, and then stayed in the state to serve as communications director for state house Democrats during the legislative debate on marriage equality and a major tax reform bill. 

Roles

Digital Media Strategist, Buyer and Consultant, Austin, Texas: July 2016 - present

Senior Director, Paid Media, Purple Strategies, Washington, DC: October 2015 - July 2016

Senior Digital Strategist, Purple Strategies, Washington, DC: September 2013 - October 2015

Associate Publisher, Talking Points Memo, New York, New York: January 2013 - August 2013

Editor, PollTracker Vertical, Talking Points Memo, New York, New York: July 2011 - December 2012

Communications Director, Maine House Democratic Caucus, August, Maine: December 2008 - September 2009

Deputy Research Director, Tom Allen for US Senate, Portland, Maine: May 2008 - November 2008

Communications Director, State Sen. Jim Sullivan, Milwaukee and Madison, Wisconsin: March 2006 - April 2008

Education

New York University, M.A., Journalism, New York, New York: 2009 - 2010

Beloit College, B.A., Political Science and Philosophy, Beloit, Wisconsin: 2000 - 2004

My Work Cited In Media