All About Me

I tell Awesome Stories.

It started with journal entries where I documented family trips. Then it was photos I took to detail service trips to Appalachia. As I grew more confident in my abilities to engage with the outside world, the storytelling bug morphed into DJing at my college radio station and interviewing musicians busking on the streets and subways of New York City. Two decades later, I have paired an insatiable curiosity about urbanism, sustainability, and equity with stellar writing, photography, and broadcasting skills.

In some ways, this can seem like a solitary craft: One man with a recorder, a mic, or a camera, on a mission to change people’s minds about the role of street art, break down complex scientific concepts or explore the knottiest challenges of humankind, from racism to sexuality. But deep down, this is an endeavor marked by constant communication with others, from those who become sources to those who lend their expertise to help create a finished product.

For me, that first meant working closely with fellow “ink-stained wretches” in the trenches of the newspaper world, as a features writer in Connecticut and Georgia, and then as an all-purpose freelance reporter in New York City. When I embarked on a second career in academia, that world grew to encompass students and faculty members whose labors I was tasked with celebrating, as well as high-level deans, administrators, and alumni. It’s the kind of environment where multiple cooks work in a crowded kitchen, and not only have I succeeded in creating first-rate content in it, but I have also personally grown exponentially as well.

 Earn a master’s in urban studies and publish a book based on the thesis? Check. Master the intricacies of DSLR cameras so that my stories feature text and stunning visuals? Got it. Start a podcast from scratch and grow it every year, while overseeing every imaginable aspect of an exciting format? You betcha.

Every day when I sit down to write in my Brooklyn apartment, I soak up the words of George Bernard Shaw:

This is the true joy in life, being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one. Being a force of nature instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances, complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy.

Thanks for swinging by today. I hope it’s not your last visit.