Writing for Individuals

A ghostwriter for professionals.

You have ideas, expertise and stories. I turn them into crisp language, so you can share your brilliance with those who matter most.

Writing for Organizations

An experienced communications strategist.

You have experts with something to say, and news to share inside and outside the organization. I provide distinct messages and a strategy for using them.

Researcher of Urban Resilience

Harvard-trained in sustainability and environmental management.

I’m interested in helping cities find creative ways to solve their biggest challenges. I won an award for my thesis, in which I introduced a way to map, measure and analyze sidewalk shade—to make it easier to consider shade when designing for walkability, and to plan for more equitable access to shade across a city.

Clarity

Organizing jumbled thoughts into distinct messages, compelling content and memorable sound bites that showcase expertise and vision.

Strategy

Creating communications systems built on a hierarchy of messages designed to inspire, inform and influence thousands of employees or customers.

Simplicity

Simplifying complexity. Eagerly tackling new subjects—technology, science or business—and distilling the information for technical or lay audiences.

Long. Short. Serious. Fun.

I’ve written or helped write books for a university president, university professor and division chair, and corporate leader. I can do the research, design a storytelling architecture, and write the full content.

Websites are fun, because I get to help an individual or organization clarify their identity and share their vision in crisp language that captures their expertise and ideas.

There’s a meaningful story behind your data, and a good report will inspire as well as inform. I’ve written Corporate Social Responsibility and other reports that put a year’s worth of data and milestones into context to bring your achievements alive.

Harness your own expertise to share it with others. I’ve written scripts for dozens of hours of leadership training, and also crafted packaged do-it-yourself modules simplifying concepts like statistics and marketing.

I’ve ghostwritten articles on healthcare, energy, finance, biotech, high tech, travel, leadership, sustainability–just about any subject you can imagine.

I’ve created several assessment tools, where I identified metrics so C-level execs can measure progress related to organizational goals. For my thesis research, when I couldn’t find an existing method for quantifying sidewalk shade, I created one–learning GIS spatial analysis and 3D shade modeling.

Connecting people to their city and to each other. Turning the Pasadena, California municipal code into haiku, and placing stories as art installations on sidewalks around the city. The idea is to make the city and our fellow citizens feel like vital parts of our lives.

Biography

Writing isthinkingon deadline

Much of the work I do is related to communicating about risk and the urgent need for change—as when a large corporation needs people to work differently, specialized experts need to distill the complexity of their ideas, or community organizations want to share their stories of sustainability.

I specialize in taking something complex and making it clear and compelling, whether writing about genome sequencing for a client or turning Pasadena’s municipal code into haiku for fun.

I’ve spent my life simplifying things to their most efficient and minimalist state: a well-packed bag, a light footprint, a taut story.

My mission is to give you that same clarity—organizing your thoughts into distinct messages and memorable sound bites so you can share your brilliance with the people who matter to you.

I started my career at a global PR agency (Fleishman-Hillard in Los Angeles) where I conducted media relations campaigns for brands like 3M, Nestlé, AOL, Pioneer Electronics, Century 21 Real Estate Corporation, and several hotel/casinos in Las Vegas.

But I really just wanted to write.

So I became a freelance writer, working directly with agencies, corporations and individuals.

I help organizations, teams and individuals clarify and share their vision.

I write their stories and create strategies for telling those stories in ways that move their audiences to action.

Those audiences can be as diverse as consumers, employees, investors, general news media, and technical trade reporters.

Any and all topics are fair game.

Harvard-trained in sustainability, I won a prize for my thesis research related to urban resilience in heat waves—in which I proposed a method to help cities identify where people spend a dangerous amount of time in direct sun.

Global sustainability is the ultimate design challenge for someone who likes to tinker with systems to make them more resilient. It’s the study of global systems like energy, water, climate, urban design, land management and so much more.

I’ve also researched and written about fair trade, visiting artisans in El Salvador and producing a short web film about meeting coffee growers in Nicaragua. I reported on delivering healthcare to remote villages in Malawi for ONE.org, and wrote a white paper on rainwater harvesting for a client.

I’ve been a ghostwriter for CEOs and executives, helping them share their expertise in topics like healthcare, energy, financial services, change management, stem cell research, virtual economies, linguistics, and multiple other highly technical topics.

I can write about subjects for which I’ve had no training because my expertise is actually in synthesizing information.

I’m an expert at coming into a new situation, submersing myself in the topic at hand, quickly understanding the high-level goals and the ground-level details, and packaging that complexity in a way that’s clear and straightforward.

I specialize in deep-dive projects that require undivided attention over long periods of time, especially when they also require complicated story-puzzling.

  • I’ve ghostwritten or helped write three full-length books (and, of course, my own master’s thesis).
  • Wrote scripts for a series of 15 leadership training videos for executives
  • Ghostwrote dozens of high-level articles for Forbes based on 100+  hours of interview transcripts
  • Wrote and edited a 100-page catalog of training opportunities for marketers at a major consumer packaged goods company
  • Wrote several whitepapers on topics such as healthcare, virtual currencies, social commerce, online forums, and challenging the status quo in the automotive industry