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DISCOVERY

I loved learning – particularly about history, culture, and why people do the things they do – but working full-time presented challenges. Fortunately, watching my mom all those years taught me how to optimize my time. I even managed to spend a year as a UCLA cheerleader. Lucky for me, it was the year UCLA’s basketball team won the NCAA title. As such, I flew with the team to places like Phoenix, Oakland, and Omaha – enchanting destinations when you haven’t yet been anywhere. When the season ended, I got a second job teaching dance classes on campus – though I was a Sociology major, I was also a trained dancer who spent summers teaching jazz and hip-hop at studios across the country – and put what I earned towards post-graduation backpacking in Europe. The travel bug had found me.  

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EXPLORATION

I visited five countries in 30 days on that first solo trip. (Subsequent treks in Asia and South America stretched to 90 days and more.) It sharpened my senses and buoyed my confidence. When I returned, I sold my belongings and moved to New York with a single suitcase and $400. I was becoming what, at 13, I set out to be. 

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The next decade was marked by waitering and the occasional dance gig. Of the latter, the most exciting was performing on a cruise ship. From April to November, 2000, I sailed the Caribbean dancing in Fosse-themed shows at night and doing odd jobs – think Shore Excursions receptionist, dining room host, housekeeping support – during the day. (The work wasn’t required, but I couldn’t help myself.) I also learned how to make an elephant from hand towels. 

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STORYTELLING

In my early thirties, I shifted gears – both because I couldn’t sing (a Broadway dancer prerequisite I’d failed to consider), and because I was eager to test the writing talent I’d been quietly cultivating since high school. This was yet another small step-turned-giant leap towards becoming what I’d always wanted to be. 

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I wrote advertorials for Gannett; essays for regional blogs; and product descriptions for an eCommerce firm. I sharpened my SEO skills as an SEO Content Manager for an online entertainment company in Tel Aviv, where I lived and worked from 2008 to 2011. I wrote culture and travel articles for Latina Magazine’s print and digital properties, and was Director of Content for its culinary website, TheLatinKitchen.com. I developed marketing collateral and drafted executive communications for Martha Stewart’s meal kit, guiding the brand’s messaging throughout the pandemic. Most recently, I led a five-member team at a360 Media, setting strategy and editorial direction for two of its digital women's lifestyle magazines.

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COALESCENCE

Working across editorial, marketing, and executive communications proved an ideal career trajectory. In each role, I acquired skills that strengthened my writing, refined my leadership style, and grew my business acumen; and the journey, though circuitous, clarified my holistic view of the media ecosystem. 

 

By understanding the functions of its many facets and the ways in which each connects and contributes to the whole, I’m able to think in terms both creative and economic – as in, What does customer data say about potential cut-through? How should declining median subscriber age change coverage priorities? Is rev share or click the best business model for referral partners? – and develop content and content marketing and distribution strategies that satisfy both. 

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INTEGRATION

I sometimes wonder what my life would look like if I’d taken a more direct route to my current career destination – if I hadn’t traded academic accolades for a year on cheer (because something had to give, and work paid the bills); if I hadn’t danced on a boat and chased my Great White Way dream; if I hadn’t moved to Tel Aviv; if I hadn’t gone backpacking; if I hadn’t insisted on looking around instead of looking straight ahead. 

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But then I think of everything I’ve learned thanks to that circuitous route, and how all of it’s woven into my writing, work, and world view. I’m a critical thinker, agile problem-solver, and effective communicator because of it; I’m a keen observer and empathic leader because of it; and I’m quick on my feet and calm under pressure because of it. Most importantly, though, I’m the thing that I’ve wanted to be since I was 13 – interested and interesting – and for that, I wouldn’t change a thing.

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