Several years ago… ok, many years ago, I headed off to college fully expecting to graduate with a meteorology degree. While the class was fun, I quickly learned that watching the fluffy white stuff in the sky wasn’t for me. I’d always loved rocks so I tried geology. Nope! Just a hobby!

An on it went until I took COM101. If ever a college student had a life changing moment, this was mine. Every class I took after this wonderful introduction – public relations, writing, copywriting, advertising – felt like an old comfortable shoe and a stiletto heel, all at once.

Fast forward through some real-world agency and corporate experience, and I found myself back in school, earning a master’s in communication at Boston University. This launched my wide range of product marketing experiences from shoes to garden supplies. I wrote for a few magazines, which wonderfully paired with my passions for gardening and photography.

I ultimately left the full-time corporate world for a far messier full-time gig: mom life. Though my hair may have looked like a hot mess and I usually donned running pants and a T, I was lucky to retain some freelance photography and public relations work which kept me with a toe in the door of the grown-up world.   

As my two daughters grew, I entrenched myself in volunteer work at their schools (usually publicity for the school and coordinating events), while continuing to build up my small public relations business working with the local media, including newspapers, magazines, television, and radio.

During the dreaded covid days, I did what any creative type might do – I wrote a novel: My Own Superpowers. It’s an upper middle-grade story about a girl who discovers she has ADHD, only to find that what feels like a struggle can actually become her greatest strength. I learned that writing it was the easy part. Getting published is a whole new challenge!

Today, I continue to navigate the publishing world, while working with the North Andover Historical Society in a marketing and public relations capacity. I’ve also turned some friend’s and neighbor’s thumbs green, and write a periodic gardening column for a local paper.

I now have two goals:

• Reboot my freelance marketing business focused on small-businesses
• Teach communication at a community college, because I still remember that magical moment in COM101, and I’d love to help spark that for someone else