Where I’ve been

MarketSpace Agency
July 2012 - April 2018

Where’s a girl with an advertising degree and a love of words to go after college? For me, it was MarketSpace, a boutique branding agency in Pittsburgh. 

Over the course of nearly six years there, I sharpened my writing skills, learned the ins and outs of the industry, collaborated with some incredible designers, found my creative voice, found my strategic voice, found out that a client’s voice can deliver courteous and curt feedback (and how to handle each kind), and wrote my way up from Copywriter Intern to Associate Creative Director.

Most importantly, I got a taste of many industries — health care, retail, transportation, education, finance — and learned the power of a strong brand voice…one that I can create from scratch, further develop, or simply spice up. 

GNC
May 2018 - June 2019

And then I went in-house. And dove into the 24/7 chaos of retail. And created brands out of thin air. And learned a lot about packaging. And said “sku” more than I ever could have imagined.

As the Brand Copywriter, I shaped the brand voices of GNC’s proprietary product lines — creating distinct, ownable personalities for each one and developing guardrails and guidelines to keep those voices strong. I did a lot of naming work, collaborated with research, strategy, and designers to develop comprehensive brands, and did my part to bring them to market. 

Tonic, Highmark Health
June 2019 - Now

From health crazed to health care, I left GNC to help grow Highmark’s in-house creative agency, Tonic. 

Initially taking on a Senior Copywriter role, I dissected and simplified the world of insurance before hopping over to the Allegheny Health Network (AHN) line of business to strengthen that brand’s voice. 

As the current Associate Creative Director, I manage a team of writers, and work closely with our design partners, as we make understanding and accessing health care easier. (Which is anything but easy.)

To date, we’ve launched a new brand platform, brought countless campaigns to market, simplified patient journeys, refined everyday touches, prioritized health literacy, talked about COVID and staying healthy (a lot), and broke just about every rule we could think of when it comes to health care marketing. 

Cliffs Notes

Work things:

• 13 years in the advertising industry, agency and in-house

• Copywriter by trade

• Passionate about developing and shaping brand voices

• Big fan of storytelling, video production, and beautiful design
  

Life things:

• Born, raised, and still based in Pittsburgh, PA

• My favorite name will forever and always be “mom”

• Penn Stater, not an obnoxious one, but one that’ll definitely let it be known that she went to Penn State.

• Big fan of cooking, reading, and a quality TV binge