I am a southern California girl who calls north Texas home, but a part of my heart will always belong to middle Tennessee. I’ve been married to my perfect match, Chris, for almost 12 years. We have a 7-year-old daughter, Ellie, and because we’re nerds, she has her own website {created before she was born}. All of us love dogs so we each had to have one of our own {that’s not exactly true}—Roxy {RIP}, Rigsby {RIP}, and Ruby Mae are all rescues who we adopted in that order. We also love music {especially concerts}, good food {healthy and tasty}, and books {so many books}. We are a family who believes that we were created by a holy God and that He has a plan and purpose for our lives. We endeavor to love others because He first loved us.

To say I’ve always had a love for words would be an understatement. At the age of 11, I began filling journals with words {mostly about boys, but that’s not the point}. Writing was what I turned to when I needed to process my thoughts, emotions, and dreams. I vividly remember learning how to diagram sentences in my 9th grade English class because it was like a fun game, like a puzzle. I always enjoyed English class because reading and writing never seemed like work—both were activities I chose to do in my free time.

As a teenager, I fell in love with the art of magazines. In bookstores or grocery stores, I would gravitate to the magazine section and dream of being a part of a team that made one. When it came time to choose a major, I easily landed on Graphics Arts. Less than a year after graduation, my dream came true. In February of 1999, I moved to Nashville to take a job, Assistant Art Director, at Vox Publishing, known for the titles Release and 7ball. I went on to work at two more publishing companies in a design capacity. One part of my job that I loved was inputting the final round of edits to a story that had already been laid out. I learned so much about good writing through working with great editors! Sometimes, as I was laying out the text, I would come across a typo or an error that I would report to an editor. I absolutely felt just as responsible for the copy as I did the design—both were integral to successful communication of the information.

Eventually, circumstances led me to start my own company, working on freelance projects for clients as a designer and also as an online content manager. Websites had become more important than print, and thankfully I had learned how to create and edit them as a hobby in college. I have had the opportunity to work with a variety of amazing clients over the years, but one client provided the foundation for my business—TobyMac. I worked closely with him and his management company True Artist Management for a little more than 17 years. My initial responsibility for the position that would come to be known as “WebGirl” was to update the website, but that grew into managing all things Internet related: website, e-mail, and social media. Written communication is central to all of those; I was at times the writer, the proofreader, or the editor.

As that season drew to a close, I realized that I have a passion for clear and correct written communication. Editing and proofreading are the perfect culmination of my past experiences. I’m excited to be on this journey and see where it leads!