Curiosity, journalism skills and luck have allowed me to explore eclectic topics in my freelance writing and editing career, ranging from how food and dining can change gentrification to grants to help preserve historic Route 66 as well as historic restaurants. I have a soft spot for the southeast. I write about eastern Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Alabama, with an emphasis on Nashville, where I live. I love to get outdoors. I write, edit and consult for several publishing companies.

I have decades of experience telling stories for an interesting cross-section of publications, including: Preservation, Entrepreneur, Condé Nast Traveler, Chicago magazine, the LA Times, Outside Business Journal, USA Today, Real Simple, Health, Wine Enthusiast, Crain’s Chicago Business, the Atlanta Journal Constitution, Marketing News, Rolling Stone Country, AARP, the Nashville Scene, The Tennessean, National Geographic, Teen, and many others. I write guidebooks under the Moon imprint.

Before freelancing full-time, I worked for the Rochester Business Journal, Prepared Foods, and as a researcher for the Chicago bureau of Forbes. I was the executive editor at Mobil Travel Guide.

For more than a decade, I was a contributing editor for Chain Leader magazine. I covered breaking advertising campaigns of restaurant chains in the U.S. I served as a section editor for Entrepreneur for six years.

I conducted oral history interviews for the Shoah Foundation. This experience helped prepare me to write my first graphic novel, It’s Her Story: Irene Sendler, which was published by Sunbird Books in May 2023.

I have a B.A. in fine arts from Vanderbilt University and an M.S.J. from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University, and took courses at the Kellogg School of Management’s Center for Nonprofit Management. In my free time, I hit the water on a stand-up paddleboard. I spent more than a decade paddleboarding in all 50 states and co-own Nashville Paddle Co. I dig in gardens (mine is a certified Tennessee Smart Yard), organize and compete in dragon boat races, make hand-blocked hats, and take a lot of mental notes.

I am a member of and past board member of the American Society of Journalists and Authors and won the 2024 Food and Drink Article Award from the organization. I am a two-time finalist for the Chicago Headline Club’s Peter Lisagor Award. My article on at-home pet first aid for Woman’s Day magazine once won the Dog Writers Association of America general interest magazine Maxwell award. I chaired the Writers & Editors One-on-One Conference. 

I have a responsibility to my community. I am a past member of the board of directors of Friends of the Forest Preserves and a past trustee of the Fountain Valley School of Colorado, Tennessee CASA, the Tennessee Clean Water Network, and the Cumberland River Compact, where I chaired Nashville’s annual Cumberland River Dragon Boat Festival for several years. I was honored to receive the Compact’s Tributarian Award in 2014 and joined the group’s advisory board in 2021. I’ve co-chaired the Nashville Jewish Book Series and served on the executive board of the Master Gardeners of Davidson County.

I am regularly interviewed for TV, radio podcasts, and in print publications. Past appearances have included: City Cast Nashville, SUP Radio Show, WGN Radio 720 and WGN Midday News, Nashville Restaurant Radio, Today in Nashville, National Geographic Traveler, DeSoto magazine, and others.