Brand Writer · Product Launches · Cultural Commentary · Hospitality Strategy
I write the kind of copy that makes people feel something before they understand why. Product launches. Brand narratives. Personal essays. Cultural criticism. I work in-house, take on brand partnerships, and pitch editors. Whatever the format — I find what's true about something and I make it land.
Published Essays & Criticism
Personal essays, TV criticism, and cultural commentary. My beat is the gap between what we imagine life will be and what it actually is — and the humor, faith, and meaning you find in that space.
A mom at school pickup said: "Thank goodness I was young before the internet and all of my bad decisions are somewhere on a Polaroid." What started as a laugh turned into a full reckoning with what permissive parenting actually means, what mistakes are for, and why a mother who grew up loose is now strict about the things that count.
A fit for: The Cut · Romper · Refinery29 · Zora
Read the essay →A Black mother watches a show about Black teenagers falling in love and realizes she's watching a depiction of what she always wanted TV to be allowed to do. On tact, representation, and the quiet brilliance of a show that trusted its audience completely.
A fit for: Vulture · The Root · ESSENCE · Shondaland
Read the essay →The neighbor sign goes up. And somehow that becomes the occasion for processing a layoff, a crisis of faith, a confrontation with shame, and the slow practice of surrendering control without surrendering hope.
A fit for: The Cut · Catapult · Narratively · Zora
Read the essay →The instinct that makes me good at UX research — pattern recognition as a mode of understanding — turns out to be the same instinct through which I experience faith, motherhood, and self-awareness. A soft theory on how God speaks through systems.
A fit for: Zora · The Margins · Catapult · Lenny Letter
Read the essay →On being the kid who always needed the context — not just the answer — and what it means to raise children with that same relentless need to understand why things are the way they are.
A fit for: Romper · Scary Mommy · The Cut
Read the essay →Brand Writing & Campaign Work
Product launches, campaign copy, and brand narratives across telecom, hospitality, and federal agencies. Strategy and voice as the same thing.
FirstNet is the only wireless network built exclusively for first responders. The challenge: translate highly technical infrastructure (dedicated spectrum, priority/preemption protocols, Band 14 interoperability) to people who don't read spec sheets — they run toward burning buildings. I led product storytelling across 50+ multi-surface campaigns (landing pages, email sequences, video scripts, sales enablement, retail collateral) that supported enterprise adoption across 18,000+ public safety agencies nationwide.
Outcome: Landing page conversion rates exceeded internal benchmarks by 23%. Email sequences drove 40%+ open rates (industry avg: 18-22%). Sales enablement materials cited as "best-in-class" by field teams.
What made it work: Technical accuracy without jargon. Human-centered narrative. Cross-functional alignment (Product, Legal, Sales, Engineering all bought in).
Led content strategy and UX research for three federal platforms (IRS, NOAA, Census) serving millions of users annually. The core challenge: translate complex policy and technical requirements into natural, accessible language that reduces friction and improves task completion.
Impact: 26% increase in task completion, 35% reduction in user drop-off, 68% decrease in error-related abandonment.
How: Redesigned error messages, alerts, and survey intros using clarity-first language and behavioral insights.
Result: 68% → 10% abandonment rate (83% reduction).
One complete product narrative per day for 30 days. Each piece opens with a human problem and closes with a product that earns its place in someone's life. No briefs. No safety net. Daily proof of range across categories, audiences, and surfaces.
Founded a strategic consulting practice focused on hospitality and experience design. Work includes UX research for luxury hotels and restaurants, AI implementation strategy, and brand positioning for experience-forward operators.
Current focus: Helping restaurants and hotels implement AI that enhances hospitality (not replaces it) through behavioral observation and experience validation.
About
I'm a writer and strategist based in Kansas City. I spent a decade in tech (AT&T, federal agencies) doing UX research and product storytelling before founding Gray Matters, a strategic practice focused on hospitality and experience design.
I write personal essays and cultural criticism on Substack, pitch editors, and take on brand partnerships. I'm a mom of multiple kids, married to Chef (not actually a chef anymore but the name stuck), and I run my life like a product manager runs a backlog — systems, not chaos.
My brain finds patterns before I've decided to look for them. I write product stories that work and essays that make people text their friends. I've never believed those two things were as separate as the industry pretends.
Currently Available For
Contact
Hiring manager, brand partner, or editor — I'm easy to reach and fast to respond.