Oak Meadow Acres

As a new business, this client requested multiple iterations of the same copy to help them find their brand's voice. They responded most to the playful and inviting tone in the second column. I've shared three samples for contrast.

 
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Clean And Direct

At Oak Meadow Acres, we make field trips effortless. As a family of educators with a combined 115 years of classroom experience, we know how to engage students. Our lesson guides, based on Georgia Early Learning and Development Standards, make lesson planning a breeze. And with our diverse curricula, you can experience fresh programming every time you visit. So go ahead. Come outside and play.

Playful and Inviting

Oak Meadow Acres is a 26-acre learning playground, curated by a family of lifelong educators with a combined 115 years of teaching experience. With programming built upon the Georgia Early Learning and Development Standards (GELDS), and the Georgia Performance Standards, we employ story-telling, artistic exploration, and hands-on collaboration to awake curiosity in young minds.

Folksy, Southern Charm

At Oak Meadow Acres, we spend our days outside. We grew up on farms, with dirt under our nails and just-picked veggies on our plates. Looking back, we had a pretty good thing going.

As adults, we built careers connecting with kids in classrooms. But now, kids are connecting more and more to their screens, and not to the world around them.

Now that we’ve retired, it’s our mission to get your students outside. We’ll teach them to explore, and discover the joy of getting a little dirty along the way.

 
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Clean and Direct

Students meet our animals and learn the roles they play on our farm, through stories, songs, crafts, and games (age 3-6).

Playful and Inviting

Our family of kid-loving animals will greet your students with brays and bleats as they arrive on the farm. Students will meet our donkeys, goats, chickens and ducks in a controlled, hands-on experience. Through song and creative movement, young students will become friends of the farm.

Folksy, Southern Charm

We love our animals. Your students will love them even more. Our donkeys, goats, chickens and ducks have all grown up around kids, and love attention almost as much as they love treats. Metina, our Palomino horse, is a blonde bombshell, and knows it. In our animal program, kids will meet the whole gang, and learn the role they each play on our farm.

 
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Clean and Direct

Our thriving pond and the creeks that feed it provide an interactive backdrop for lessons about animal life cycles (age 3-10), and stream ecology (age 10 and up).

Playful and Inviting

The aquatic habitats at Oak Meadow Acres provide a home to dozens of species of creatures, large and small. From turtles to tadpoles, and dragonflies to ducks, budding biologists will discover how these fragile systems provide a home to life of all shapes and sizes.

Folksy, Southern Charm

It’s peaceful here. But spend an afternoon sitting by the water, and you wouldn’t call it quiet. With hundreds of frogs, dragonflies, and jumping fish, our one-acre pond is always buzzing with activity. Whether learning about amphibian life cycles or analyzing water quality, we have programs that will engage students of all ages. Just make sure they don’t try and sneak a pet frog home in their overalls.

 
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Clean and Direct

Students experience the stages of food production, from planting to harvest, leaving with a seedling to plant in their own gardens (age 6 and up).

Playful and Inviting

Young farmers will connect with their roots as they learn how their food grows. In our kid-friendly garden, students will discover the miracle of growing vegetables, from seed to harvest, focusing on the different ways in which plants produce our food.

Folksy, Southern Charm

We’ve met kids who can’t tell a turnip from a tomato, bless their hearts. Our garden reconnects students with their food, organically. Since we grow what we eat here, we know the pride that comes from watching a seedling sprout into a delicious meal. As kids learn the different ways plants produce food, they’ll experience each stage of the process hands-on—even bringing a seedling home to plant in their own gardens.

 
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Clean and Direct

In our 16-acre forest, students learn to identify signs of a healthy ecosystem (ages 10 and up). For younger students (ages 3-10), we recommend our Enchanted Fairy Village, for a playful take on our role in preserving the forest.

Playful and Inviting

Our 16-acre forest is filled with wonders, large and small. Explorers will search the oaks, Georgia pines, and hickories for signs of the forest’s many living systems. Guided by enchanted trees and fairy houses, as well as our resident forestry expert, students will learn their role in protecting the forest.

Folksy, Southern Charm

On a hot summer day, stepping into the shade of our 16-acre forest is like drinking a cold glass of sweet tea. Whether strolling our trails, or sprouting acorns in our top-secret tree fort, kids find our forest mesmerizing. We’ll teach them how to identify trees, look for signs of a healthy ecosystem, and send them off with a seed to sprout at home.

 
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I was hired to create a new image for a small performing arts studio that grew out of an established business. The challenge was differentiating our brand from the existing company's, while offering similar services to an overlapping clientele. We focused on the image of a relationship-based environment that would nurture and support students. The strategy proved successful: The studio has grown over 400% since opening in 2014.

 
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At Class Act Performing Arts Studio, young people grow into artists of integrity. Our top-of-the-line training program will challenge both recreational and pre-professional students to become their best selves. Our faculty understands that there is more to performing than pointing your toes and kicking high, and promise to support every student’s development holistically. We believe that discipline, respect, and self-confidence walk hand-in-hand with artistry and grace. Most of all, we believe that artistry and community are interdependent and inseparable.

 
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At CAPAS, we believe that the best art is nurtured in a safe environment, where young people feel secure to explore the entirety of who they are. We expect the highest level of kindness and compassion. Bullying, in any form whatsoever, will not be tolerated. We are committed to building a positive, supportive, and inclusive environment, where young people can grow into artists of integrity.

In the CAPAS community, we expect our students to be outstanding role models among their peers. Acting with integrity means that your words align with your actions. We believe that our word is our most valuable possession, and work to build a community of character and trust. We ask our students to be thoughtful and kind in everything they say and do. 

 
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Class Act Performing Arts Studio is committed to making our training program accessible to all dedicated, hardworking students. Scholarship recipients are expected to be role models for their peers, demonstrating a positive attitude, exemplary attendance, and a driven work ethic.

 
 
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I collaborated with Brainstorm Theatrics to craft their brand voice for their very first web marketing copy. They wanted to lead with the warmth of their collaborative style, undergirded by a professional portfolio that speaks for itself. 

 

Brainstorm Theatrics provides musical services for a wide range of theatrical contexts. As an ongoing collaborative partnership ourselves, we take pride in our ability to make the musical aspects of theatrical collaborations accessible to all members of a creative team. Having approached theatre from various perspectives, as actors, directors, composers, and orchestrators, we speak multiple theatrical languages, and problem-solve accordingly.

We are Matt Castle and Frank Galgano, partners in both creativity and life. For over nine years, we’ve been making music together. Our shared creative spark seeps into every project, infusing our work with joy, levity, and healthy dose of fun.

As musicians, we are drawn to projects that employ diverse genres and styles. We love supporting new creative voices and nurturing developmental works to completion. Having worked with both upcoming artists and established titans of the industry, we are equally comfortable with the pressures of high-stakes events, as we are nurturing fledgling ideas. Most importantly, we want to work with people who are passionate about what they do and have something interesting to say.

Whatever you’re working on, we’d love to help. Send us a message, and let’s see what we can create together.

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Having worked for many years in the entertainment industry, I understand the challenges creative professionals face in shaping their public image. I help artists craft personal statements, targeted to engage key industry players.

 
 
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Joseph R. Walls Lighting Design

When I was eleven, my older brother crammed me into the trunk of Greased Lightning in his high school production of Grease. They needed someone small to set off the pyro and fog effects rigged in the car. In that moment, I tasted the excitement of making unseen magic happen onstage. I was hooked.

I bring that sense of childlike wonder to every project I work on. I love collaborating with teams that brainstorm ferociously, throwing all the marbles on the floor and seeing what flies into the air. Let’s dream up the impossible, and then join forces to make it an onstage reality.

As a colleague, I value communication, preparation, and hard work. I come into a process with a coordinated plan in place, but ready to provide adaptive solutions as our needs evolve. Most importantly, I love what I do. Approaching diverse projects with the same enthusiasm I had in the back of Greased Lightning, I’m always looking for the next frontier of theatrical collaboration.

 
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Lauren hooper, Actress

Lauren most recently starred as Kate in LaChiusa’s The Wild Party with B-Side Productions. Prior, she played Cassandra in The Arden Theatre's play adaptation of Beauty & The Beast (Barrymore Recommendation). Lauren's theatrical credits include Ragtime (Heritage Repertory Theatre, Weston Playhouse), Dreamgirls (Gateway Playhouse), and A Night at the Alhambra Café (Off-Broadway). Television and Film credits include Shades of Blue, For Colored Boys, King of Paper Chasin', and Lenox Ave. Lauren has modeled on-screen and in print for TRESsemé, Gina Made It and various stylists and boutique clothing stores in NYC.

During her time in the musical theater program at The University of Michigan, Lauren studied with world-renowned opera singer Shirley Verrett. She continues to refine her technique with Aaron Hagan, Bob Krakower, Andrew Stewart-Jones, and Victoria Clark.

 
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Lisa Dennett, Actress

On camera, I play spitfire broads who know how to handle themselves when situations get sticky. But my roots in improv have taught me how to cut through that sharpness with a sarcastic sense of humor, and back it up with a whole lot of heart.

My journey as a performer has been anything but typical. Through my work as a certified ASL interpreter, my world includes the vast community of artists and audiences with disabilities, who are too-frequently left on the periphery of the entertainment industry.

I’m singing again—and not just for my husband and my cat.I’m creating cabarets that tell the stories I’ve been collecting on this road less traveled. I am hungry for projects that prioritize diversity and accessibility. So let me be your singing, signing, saucy dame. Trust me, I’m your gal.

 

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When Carrie Fisher passed away in 2016, my short essay about our chance encounter generated traction on social media and various web publications.

It was Halloween, 2009. I had just moved to NYC 6 weeks earlier, and was working as a pedicab driver. That night, I dressed as a cowboy, and spent my evening carrying inebriated "sexy angels" all around the village.

I was weaving though standstill traffic on 5th Ave near Washington Square Park, when Carrie Fisher stuck her head out from the backseat of her limo. It was just past 7:30pm, and she was already late for her half hour call at Wishful Drinking, her one woman show at Studio 54.

There was desperation on her face when she asked if I could help her get out of traffic. I said, "Ms. Fisher, you hailed the one pedicab driver in Manhattan who is also an actor, and knows exactly where you need to be right now."

For the next twenty minutes, Carrie and her assistant cheered me on as I hopped curbs, plowed through crowds, ran red lights, and drove on the wrong side of 14th street to get her to the theatre. The assistant attempted to do her makeup while Carrie chucked Halloween candy at people on the street. I lied to a cop when she tried to stop me and told her I had a medical emergency. Carrie even offered to make her assistant pedal for me. I told her I wasn't any good at makeup, so we stayed at our posts.

Once we had cleared the worst of the traffic, I pulled over at 8th and 23rd and hailed a yellow cab. She gave me a kiss, a hundred bucks, and shouted out the window, "I'll tell the whole audience tonight that Kendal's pedicab saved the show!"

I waved back, breathless and sweaty, thinking how tragic it was that no one else was there to witness "Ms. Fisher's Wild Ride." After which, I promptly vomited in a trash can in front of Dallas BBQ.

A few years later, I saw her again at a swanky cabaret venue. I reintroduced myself to her in line for the bathroom before the show, and reminded her of that Halloween night. She barely feigned recognition. "Oh yes, nice to see you again." I was gutted. How could she forget the time we had spent together?

At intermission, I saw her storming across the room toward me. "Oh my GOD I remember! I had no idea what the hell you were talking about before." She gave me a hug, thanked me again, and laughed that it seemed like I had moved up in the world.

Indeed I have.

Rest well, Ms. Fisher.

 
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I wrote this as a tribute to the memory of a dear friend. As a writer, I strive to connect with my audience through the visceral nature of shared experience.

We all understand grief. 

 
 

Margy, I can’t get the image of your mouth out of my mind. It was just so parched, so hungry, so ready to let go. When I last visited, you begged for a drink. I’m sure water would have been enough, but who would blame you for wanting a stiff one? I wanted to wet your mouth with something, to ease your suffering, to rip out your IV and feeding tube and hang glide together out your window and across the Hudson.

But the problem was where to land. Watching you die in the hospital, I knew you wanted desperately to escape, to leave behind all the poking and prodding. And yet the hospital was the safest place to be. At least someone was there to wipe your brow, to turn an old lady’s body so you wouldn’t get bedsores, and to swab out your mouth.

“You have to get me out of here,” you said. You wanted me to take you to the beach. Oh, how I wish it could be so, Margy.

“Yes, let’s go to the beach,” I said. “Let’s close our eyes, and hear the crashing of the waves. Let’s feel the sun on our faces, relaxing our bodies, and listen to the laughter of nearby children as they build a sand castle.”

“No, no, no…Not a sunny beach. A stormy beach. I like the beach in winter on a stormy day.”

Of course, Margy. What was I thinking? The world was always a few shades darker for you. Your favorite song was “Losing My Mind,” from Sondheim’s FOLLIES. You were pen pals and friends with an inmate on death row. You were not afraid of the dark.

When I couldn’t take you out of the hospital to that stormy winter beach, there wasn’t much more to say. So we sang. We sang “Plain and Fancy,” from a musical about the Amish, because you knew the words. And then we sang “Amazing Grace,” even though you were an atheist, because I knew the words. Then we sang Carole King, because we both knew the words. You told me that “Beautiful” was your favorite, which I hadn’t known before. But when I sang it for you, I imagined what the lyrics might have meant to you: You didn’t have the kind of beauty that would land you on the cover of a magazine. Even in photos from your younger years, you looked as if you were wearing a body that didn’t fit quite right.

I know you were ready to go, because you asked me to help—not just go to the beach, but to leave your body behind. How I wish I could have helped you with that! I could see how trapped you felt, how desperate to leave.

The last time I saw you, I wanted more than ever to take you to that beach. You had just been discharged from the hospital to a nursing home in Inwood. Residents wandered the halls with blank stares in their eyes, hair reaching wildly toward the flickering fluorescent lights. I couldn’t find nurses anywhere near your room, and when I entered, you looked so alone. Your hospital gown was up around your neck, your blankets twisted, and your breast was exposed. You looked too vulnerable to be embarrassed, waking up as I covered you.

The skin on your lips was peeling off in chunks, like you’d been wandering in the desert. I guess we are all wanderers, in the end, looking for a way to get home.

I found a nurse and asked if she would come swab your mouth. She tossed me the sponge and the cleaning solution and said, “Here, do it yourself.” And I knew that you probably wouldn’t be turned, or swabbed, or cleaned the way you needed to be in this place.

I leaned over your bed with the sponge and wiped your mouth as best I could. The skin fell away in strips, but your lips looked pink again, which was a start. You held your jaws open wide like a little kid getting ready for the dentist. I scrubbed your teeth with the tiny sponge, until you told me you needed to spit—which, try as you might, you couldn’t quite pull off. But at least your mouth was moist.

I knew you needed to rest, so I told you I loved you, and adjusted your bed until you said you were more comfortable. And that was it. The last time I saw you.

Yesterday, I got a text on my way to work that you had passed in the early morning. I was walking to the train in the pouring rain. A wind advisory was in effect, and I was trying fruitlessly to keep my umbrella from inverting as I fought for every step I took.

I was angry. What had happened? Had you been alone? Were you afraid? Did you know what was happening? Why hadn’t I been there?

Only a day has passed, and I still have a lot of questions. But for now, it is enough to know that you are on a stormy beach somewhere, staring into the awesome power of the spray, singing…

"You’ve got to get up every morning, with a smile on your face, and show the world all the love in your heart. And people gonna treat you better. You’re gonna find, yes you will, that you’re beautiful as you feel."

 
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I’m a confident and capable interviewer. I’ll extract your brand’s story through easy, organic conversation. And more importantly, I excel at digesting that conversation into copy that connects meaningfully with your company’s end-user.

 
 

·      Tell me about how your team’s work is integral to the larger mission of the company.

·      Give me a sense of what your day-to-day is like on your team.

·      What functions of your team do people find most rewarding?

·      What key points do you want your user base to understand about your team’s role at the company?

·      What qualities would make someone excel in a role like yours?

·      How do you support your team in continuing their growth?

·      How would you say that your team operates differently from other teams in your company?