I'm the founder and principal at North Star Writing, and I help people tell their stories. I left a job at a big magazine in the big city to set up my own writing business in northwestern Ontario. Today I work with both businesses and magazines, writing website copy, articles, blogs, podcast and video scripts and more. Researching just the right angle, finding a fresh perspective and getting to interview people from all walks of life still makes my heart go “ba-bump” after more than 20 years in the industry. My work covers diverse topics—everything from healthy lifestyles, food and travel, and parenting to eco-living, the outdoors, and profiles of both influencers and everyday people. I love that variety and I definitely never get bored with my job. 

 

 

The longer version...

For more than 20 years, I've been writing, editing and producing content for print and web. My first job was at Chatelaine, one of Canada's leading magazines, where I faxed a lot, assisted at photo shoots and ran the online book club back when the Internet was a shiny new thing. (Yes, it was a totally fun job.) Once I got up the nerve to ask to write a book review, my writing career was launched, and soon I was promoted to associate editor.
 

In 2000 I relocated to northwestern Ontario and started my freelance business, writing for magazines, websites and businesses. My award-winning work has been featured hundreds of times in national publications such as Best Health, Canadian Family, Chatelaine, Canadian Living, Cottage Life, Today's Parent, Reader's Digest, Canadian House & Home, and Outdoor Canada.

 

Over time, the focus of my business has shifted to corporate clients, and the research and storytelling skills I've honed with years of magazine work work really well in the business world too, bringing that reader-friendly, accessible magazine style to corporate projects. For more than five years, I've being doing content marketing writing for top brands and agencies like Upwordly Content, Bravado Designs, PACE Communications, Green Living Enterprises, Scotiabank, TD Bank, fyp.io and RE/MAX. From 2011-2014 I was a consultant on the Creative Services team for Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, where I contributed to newly relaunched 100 luxury hotel and resort websites, as well as the Have Family Will Travel blog, Taste by Four Seasons food blog and FourSeasonsMagazine.com. My newest project in 2017: creating and launching Tbaywithkids.ca, a website about stuff to do with kids in Thunder Bay. 

Government and corporate clients include the LCBO and lcbo.com, Amica, Ministry of Northern Development and Mines, the Ministry of International Trade and Investment, the City of Thunder Bay, Northwestern Ontario Innovation Centre, Mobile Health Network, the Arthritis Society, Human Performance International, DOM International, St. Francis Herb Farm, BillyYTZ.com, RBC, Toronto Hydro, NorthernOntario.travel, the Wengage app, and the National Aboriginal Health Organization. I also write for trade and B2B publications like Ignite (meeting planning, incentive programs and corporate travel) and Adrenalin (sports tourism). In 2016 I was nominated for a Thunder Bay Chamber of Commerce Business Excellence Award in the Tourism Partnership category. For a number of years, I've been a mentor in Summer Company program for young business owners via the Community Economic Development Commission.  

 

I hold a Honours BA in History from the University of Guelph (1996) and a Certificate in Book and Magazine Publishing from Centennial College (1997). Today, I live in beautiful Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada with my husband and daughter, in a house where you can see pine trees or mountains (and occasionally eagles) from every window. When I'm not pounding the keyboard, you can find me canoeing, camping, snowshoeing, skiing and binge-watching British TV shows.