If I had to describe myself in one word it would be “polymath.” Broadly speaking, I enjoy “knowing everything,” which is something of a misnomer because the more I know, the more I realize that I know nothing. And that has, perhaps, been the greatest learning of my lifetime—that in the scheme of everything, the foundations upon which we make decisions in our everyday lives is faulty, at best.
Nevertheless, we are confined to a sphere—literally—on and in which we must live. And that means working within the here-and-now applying what we’ve learned from history, are learning from current events, and applying that to future predictions. The biggest challenge to doing what’s right and/or making viable predictions is discerning fact from fiction.
The brief story of my life that follows will culminate with the understanding that because I’m able to see the big picture, think broadly, connect disparate sources of information, analyze data, see the many sides of differing points of view and ultimately find some iota of truth in all of that, I am particularly suited to crafting visions and strategies for a particular subject matter, business or idea.
Throughout my life I have always enjoyed the creative process—painting, drawing, reimagining, repurposing, sewing, crafting—whatever looks new and interesting. Currently I’m especially fond of block printing and working with textiles.
My affinity for math and science led me down a path of engineering. For four years I learned what was necessary to find success as a chemical engineer—I even worked as an intern for Mobil Oil Corporation in their labs for a total of eight months. The practicality of putting myself through school also led me to gain marketable skills in communications—editing, graphic design, desktop publishing, branding, etc., which I gained working for four years in the Clarkson University Communications Department.
Life brought me to Washington, DC, where the combination of my degree plus four years of working in communications got me started in a lobbying arm of a professional association, where I applied everything I knew to effectively manage that office. Here I created a grassroots database, campaigns and marketing materials. Plus I learned about many of the inner workings of Capitol Hill. In the meanwhile, this great new thing called the Internet was really beginning to take shape and become a key component of communications and marketing for organizations. I was drawn to learning how to design and build websites. Thus began my foray into web design and development.
Next up in my journey was a position with another non-profit organization where I began as a production coordinator for a very busy communications department, where I performed desktop publishing, proofreading and editing an managing the coordination, printing and delivery of hundreds of thousands of pieces of marketing and communications pieces, plus maintaining their email list, campaign strategy and delivery. It is here were I further developed and honed my skills in brand awareness, marketing and strategic development.
When a position opened up in the Internet Operations department I quickly jumped on the opportunity. Here I led the initiative to take the organization’s online presence to a new, industry-leading platform, paying close attention to creating a cohesive brand identity that branched across all departments in the organization. It was hugely successful.
What I really enjoyed about working for these organizations was the opportunity to work closely with all departments in the organization and learn on the job. Managing content from print to online and maintaining brand unity meant being involved and crafting the brand strategy of the organization.
From here I went on to a non-profit management company where I managed the websites and brand strategy for several organizations at once. The budget at this organization was much lower so I found myself doing all of the coding on the websites using an open source CMS platform based on the .NET framework and MS SQL Server. Additionally, I managed the email campaigns and desktop publishing of print materials.
With a now solid background in the open source platform, I ventured out on my own for the first time as a freelancer. This worked pretty well for a while, but I found myself missing the office environment and working closely with coworkers.
My next move brought me to large-scale email marketing using targeted marketing—one of the first of its kind in the marketplace. Here I managed campaigns with millions of recipients that were dynamically produced by algorithms that targeted content to the recipients based on user buying behavior. A lot of testing, template creation, client interfacing, data transfer, team management, SQL transaction coding and more were all part of the job. Ninety hour weeks were the norm as this was a startup company. It was an exciting and challenging environment, but burnout was high.
A transition to a position with a leading insurance company, as a senior consultant with a staffing organization helped me to see that high-level bureaucracy and siloed organizations are not a good fit for me.
I found a good fit for my skills taking on two clients in a nonprofit space for military where I again took on the role of communications and marketing director. Developing brand strategy, a rebranding campaign and strategy, website redesign, email marketing strategy and campaigns, database application development, graphic design, desktop publishing and overall strategic position of the organizations. By now it was evident that I really loved creating visions, missions and strategies for organizations. And I also loved and was capable of doing the hands on work.
I grew my agency by taking on a few new clients, plus a small staff of freelancers and used the knowledge gained over the years to build successful platforms for them. Once well established, the sites, campaigns and strategies could essentially run without me. I learned that I enjoy building things that can operate without my involvement so that I can move on to the next thing.
At this time I had two very young children and a nanny and wasn’t happy about letting someone else essentially raise them. With the idea that another business would allow me to make my own schedule and hire other people to manage the day-to-day operations of my business. Since having kids I had become particularly vigilant about using green cleaning products by making my own. Plus, where I live there are many families who hold top-level security clearances and cannot allow cleaners who are not US citizens into their homes without someone being there. An idea was born. I began a eco-friendly cleaning service staffed by US citizens. The business grew and was profitable, but the idea that I would be able to make my own hours and hire competent staff that could run the operation was erroneous—at least in the timeframe I had established for myself. Plus I really don’t love cleaning—that wasn’t really the dream I had envisioned for myself. This was a critical learning experience for me.
A desire to focus on raising my kids and homeschooling them put a stop to all external work in December 2015. Thus began a period of intensive learning. Numerous activities like volunteer positions, short-term leadership roles, direct marketing relationships, certifications, reading, soul searching, teaching, creating, studying, and more, have had a huge influence in bringing me to this next phase of my journey.
Taking on a role as an underpaid executive director taught me that it’s not worth it to sell myself short. In this role I studied hours to learn how to be an effective ED and how to run a successful organization. Homeschooling my kids teaches me how to be a good teacher and an even better parent. Patience is a key virtue. I’ve read and studied how to be a good parent, raise successful kids, and be an effective teacher. My main objective is to help my kids be lovers of learning. A great benefit to homeschooling is the opportunity to learn and relearn about many subjects. One I’m especially enjoying now is history, which I really didn’t pay as much attention to when I was in school. Teaching my kids about real history versus sanitized and inaccurate representations that are being taught in traditional schools is a benefit and a joy.
If someone had told me about all of the amazing benefits of being part of a direct marketing company I would have been highly suspect, but the truth is, a decision to try a product and join the company as a sales representative has done just that. And not because it is here that I hit the big time and built this huge team. It is here where I instituted self development techniques that increased my self confidence, acquired sales skills, and learned all about social media marketing and strategy.
But that’s not all. As I traveled along on my journey I decided to become a certified health coach. From here I learned how to build a membership platform. Then I earned CrossFit Level 1 and CrossFit Kids Certificates and taught kids CrossFit.
From here I began a video series on how to prepare meals from a CSA share.
In addition to all of these things I’ve spent time sewing, painting, restoring furniture, block printing, gardening, cooking, writing, and reading—lots and lots of reading.
Recent events have led me down a path of additional research to really understand current events from an historical perspective, which has compelled me to get involved in shaping policy at a local level. I strongly support our US Constitution.
The scientist in me has a need to know whether we are being told truths. I have researched extensively on the science supporting/discrediting what is being touted with respect to the Coronavirus pandemic.
I have a strong trust in the rules and laws of nature. A history of studying health and diet has educated me to the truths regarding how our bodies function to support overall wellness.
Today I aim to apply everything I’ve learned over the years to help make a positive impact on the world. I don’t believe everything I read. I do look for the ways in which things fit together and make sense. If something doesn’t make sense it’s most likely untrue. I seek truth. I seek better. I trust nature.