About

I am a writer and an editor living in Chicago, Illinois.

I’ve been a few places and tried a few things since graduating from Dordt College in 2002 (Psychology and Theatre Arts). Here’s a short(ish) history.

I was an actor and apprentice at Pacific Theatre in Vancouver, B.C. for a season, where in addition to running the box office, I understudied for the role of Dr. Jerry Mears in God’s Man in Texas, was a principal ensemble member in Ten November, and produced my own one-man show, 21A by Kevin Kling.

After the season (and my apprenticeship) was complete, I returned to Iowa for one year to serve as an Instructor at Hope Haven‘s Niessink Home, a group home for children and teens with developmental and learning disorders. I enjoyed the opportunity to develop treatment plans and work with children and parents to help them build more skills for living, working, and learning.

Next, it was time to see the world. Having spent time in schooling the Netherlands and backpacking throughout Western Europe and Morocco, I decided to join the US Peace Corps. Living in Chicago and working as a fundraiser while completing the lengthy process, I set my sights on South Asia, and received a placement teaching English in Bangladesh in 2005.

While my Peace Corps experienced is among my most cherished, my group was sadly evacuated after a mere 8 months in-country due to credible threats made to Peace Corps volunteers by a terrorist group within the country.

Picking up the pieces, I began working for Chicago’s Golden Apple Foundation in the development department while planning my next adventure. The travel and humanitarian bug, you see, hadn’t quite left me yet. I decided to spend time volunteering for several orphanages in Blantyre, Malawi over the span of approximately nine months. While in Africa, I created and ran a small donations project soliciting small gifts for hardworking individuals in and around Blantyre in need of some small assistance–school fees, training, or even a bicycle for getting to work.

I returned home, and, admittedly, didn’t yet know what I wanted to do with my life. I served as a field organizer with Greenpeace USA for one organizing term in 2008. While asked by the organization to lead another project, I had discovered that organizing, while a laudable profession, did not fit well with my need for structure and lots of time alone. I decided to begin moving in a new direction–one that would stick: writing

At Chicago’s NogginLabs, I began writing e-learning modules as a content producer. Unfortunately, in 2009 when the economy was approaching its darkest days, NogginLabs felt the pinch and was forced to lay off a number of employees. While the company was pleased with my work, I was among those let go due to my status as a recent hire.

I found a new home as Communications Coordinator at the Cancer Research Foundation, where I served happily for two years helping the organization through a transition period, readying their website, written materials, advertising, and filing system for a new administrator. I began freelancing while with CRF and made the full transition in 2011.

That brings us to the present. Whew. Someday I’m going to put that all into bullet point form to save space.

Since making the jump to freelance, I’ve written for doctors in California, cement barons and dentists in Chicago, website designers in the Ukraine, and coffee brokers from New York. In my spare time I write fiction and nonfiction, play guitar and piano, and throw a mean frisbee.

Whether you’re a prospective employer, an old friend, or a random web surfer, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. I’m sure we could think of something to talk about.