At the Society for Technical Communications Banquet, March 2015

About Lindsay

As soon as I learned how to read and discovered the magic of storytelling, I began sneaking flashlights to bed for reading after the lights went out. With a homebuilder, musician, and writer for a father and creative spirit, arts lover, and urban designer for a mother, I was encouraged to express myself. That also meant I learned quickly how to write and spell properly. It pains me to this day to find errors in ads and publications, on menus and street signs, and even in social media posts. Dear Twitter, I wish you had an edit button!

The Early Years

When I was 9, I began my career as an actress in community theater and decided I’d be a teacher if that fell through. I spent the first half of my undergraduate career at Meredith College, where I wrote for the literary magazine, The Acorn, and was a staff writer on the paper, The Herald. Eventually I transferred to East Carolina University, where I focused on education, but kept English as my concentration.

The first couple of years after college were spent teaching in Alaska and exploring a state completely unlike any in the Lower 48. There, I designed education programs and taught at Sylvan Learning Center and as a long-term substitute teacher. Life brought me back to NC, where I taught for a short period of time before exploring legal writing as a paralegal at a law firm with an attorney, whom I worked for in college.

I craved writing more creatively and about community, current events, food, subjects that educated the world and business/people to business/people interactions, social media, and technology. Technical editing, design and writing also interested me because of its need for detail. Not sure what industry or job title that meant for me, I changed law practices while I continued to explore which direction to take my career in. In my spare time, I began writing business reviews, developing my understanding and repertoire of social media, organizing events with a large meetup group, and joined a fashion nonprofit, contributing to their event planning and marketing blog. During the day I continued my work as a paralegal, doing account management, while pursuing a graduate degree simultaneously. After grad school, I worked some contracts in marketing and tech companies to gain more strategic communications experience.

The Present

Currently, I’m on the market for my next opportunity, preferring full time work in government, nonprofit, civic engagement, or political sector, but am open to consulting work, as well. I have done some work for state government, but also spent a year serving overseas as a Development, Outreach, and Communications Specialist with USAID at the U.S. Embassy in Lusaka, Zambia. Serving with Ambassador Daniel L. Foote and representing U.S. government foreign aid programs was the greatest honor of my life. I’m a devoted public servant, with 14 years professional experience.

I hold a Master of Arts in English concentrated in Technical and Professional Communications and Professional Communications Certificate. I achieved both of those in two years while simultaneously working full-time and graduated with a 4.0. I am a community builder and professional writer and editor, who proudly wears the hats “Issue Advocate,” “Communications and Outreach Manager,” and “Strategist.”

Holding On To My Dreams

Outside of my professional identity, I’m still very much a visionary about living a full life with gratitude and optimism and have loads of “favorite things.” Having grown up on the Outer Banks, less than a mile from the great Atlantic Ocean, I appreciate simplicity. I am fascinated by learning the “story” behind a place, since the Outer Banks hosts the story of the New World, known as America. This has also fueled my love of travel to places like Charleston, London, Paris, Toronto, Frankfurt, Johannesburg, Zambia, and exploring as much of North Carolina as much as I can see.

Supporting The Community

Community events excite me and I love a good theme party. Meeting new people inspires me and bringing people together for fun experiences fuels my fire, hence my being a “socialpreneur.” Ending a day with wine and a good book or movie is also pretty fantastic. Above all, I love the outdoors, no matter the temperature or the weather and I’m happiest near the water…fearless, but sensitive taking in the world hoping to change it for the better, especially through my advocacy work with RESULTS Raleigh and RESULTS, to fight poverty.

Causes I Am Most Passionate About:

Equity
Housing and Transit
Arts and Culture
Children
Civil Rights and Social Action
Education
Food
Health
Human Rights
Law
Politics
Professional Services
Social Justice

As you may have seen, a number of brilliant people have recommended me! If you’re in need of assistance with content, communications, branding, writing, editing, content strategy, social media, and event or nonprofit planning, please consider scheduling a consultation to discuss how my portfolio experiences and services can meet your needs. I have a variety of interests and qualifications on my resume which may be useful to you and your business. I’m available to work with clients local to Raleigh, Durham, Cary, Chapel Hill and other cities surrounding the Triangle of NC, as well as clients in other states. My work can be done on-site or off-site. Please contact me to get started today!