It’s funny—my degree in PR doesn’t have a lot to do with what I’m doing today. But it certainly helped me get my first job! Specifically, I took classes in marketing, writing and business, all of which gave me work samples and projects I could talk about when interviewing for internships or jobs.  

But what I use most today from that experience is my network. I made amazing friends during my time at Pepperdine, have stayed in touch with many people I met in classes and internships and have continued meeting new people by being involved in the alumni network. And all of those experiences have introduced me to people who have helped me along the way. I really can't stress enough the value of a strong, supportive network.

I was actually interested in both PR and journalism in college. But at the time—this was really before the age of social media and blogs—there was little overlap, and I felt like I had to pick one or the other. I loved to write, and I loved uncovering compelling stories, and you can do that in both PR and journalism. But I opted for PR because I wanted to try my hand at a variety of different things—writing, pitching, planning events, working with brands—and be more involved in the business side of things. Though I ended up switching to journalism later on, it was definitely a great way to start my career.

I’ve had quite a few different work experiences—from fashion PR and event planning, to marketing and corporate communications. Each one gave me skills that I use today. For example, my job planning 10,000-person events and overseeing 50+ volunteers taught me everything I know about project and people management. 

But most importantly, I’ve learned along the way what I do and don’t want in a job (both of which are equally important, by the way!). For instance, I know that I want to work on a close-knit team—my favorite and most effective work has been done when I’ve been very close with my co-workers. It’s why I feel so strongly about the strict “no assholes” hiring policy we have at The Muse!

Working for an internationally known medical center was an incredible experience—I’ve always been interested in healthcare, and GW is at the center of so much important research, work and advocacy.  

My roles there were to oversee the print magazine and to run four major websites. In both positions, I worked with a great team to transform the publications’ branding and content strategy, which is what I’m most proud of during my time there.

But while there, I realized that this work wasn’t what I was most passionate about in life. An eye-opening moment was when I wrote a feature article on the Dean of the School of Public Health, an amazing and powerful woman who had an incredible career story. I realized that these were the stories I wanted to tell, so I started doing some freelance writing in the career space. And that’s what led me to The Muse.

I met our founders, Kathryn and Alex, while I was still at GW (through friends of friends—your network is everything!). When they decided to launch The Muse, they emailed me an offer to be the site’s founding Managing Editor. My first thought was, “There’s no way I can leave my stable job to join a startup!” My second was, “There’s no way I can turn this down.” 

I know I had the skills to do the job, but the #1 thing I brought to the table was passion for what we were creating. Because of my own experiences, I felt so strongly that the world needed an incredible resource that would help people figure out what they wanted to do with their lives and then get there. This passion helped with everything—from brainstorming story ideas and recruiting writers, to surviving startup hours!

Ruthless efficiency! Over the years, I’ve set up a lot of systems to make sure that we’re never reinventing the wheel and that everything runs smoothly (though, to be honest, a lot of times, things look more smooth than they actually are). But the real secret here is to hire and work with smart, dependable people. 

On that note, I try to create an atmosphere of honesty, feedback and open communication with my team. We all often share our personal and professional goals, new things we’d like to be working on and what the rest of the team can do to make our lives easier. In my experience, it’s this support system that keeps people happy.

Many people assume that I either write or proofread all day, but neither is true—creating great content involves a lot of steps. First, our team spends time closely analyzing what our readers are engaging with and searching for, paying attention to what our friends are talking (and complaining!) about when it comes to their jobs and reading what else is out there on the web to see what we could be doing better. We also spend time finding the right writers to work with—people who share our voice, style and vision.

That process informs our next step: working with writers to brainstorm specific stories. Then, for each draft that comes in, our team edits for style, content and copy; and we finalize each piece by giving it a clickable headline and beautiful photo. Then the sharing process begins! 

The answer to both drawing people in and keeping them engaged is everything I mentioned above—creating epic content. You can’t grow a following—at least not a dedicated one—without regularly creating something that people want, need and think is awesome. That great content also is what has secured our partnerships—Muse content appears on sites like Forbes, Time, Inc. and Mashable—which has helped grow our audience.  

I also work with a fantastic marketing team, who have grown our email and social following to keep people coming back, set up partnerships with like-minded brands and optimized our site when it comes to SEO, and who help me brainstorm headlines every day. I couldn’t get our content into the world without them.

I was having lunch the other day with one of our columnists, and she posed the best hypothetical question: “What would the world be like if everyone loved their jobs?” Think about it! Careers are such a massive part of our lives and identities, and when you’re not totally fulfilled and happy with what you’re working on, you’re just not the best version of yourself. But if everyone was happy with that part of their lives, we’d all be more creative, more productive, more generous, more excited—the world would be a pretty great place. That conversation really just put into words why I do what I do.

I certainly have a never-ending to-do list, but I also know it’s so important to rest, to take breaks, to make time for your hobbies and to not make work your whole life. There was a time in my life that I didn’t follow this advice, and it did nothing good for my creativity, productivity, health or relationships. Not to mention, it made me a super-boring guest at dinner parties!  

In my spare time, I love to cook, and I travel every chance I get (currently I’m on a “workcation” in Puerto Rico!). I’ve only lived in New York for a little over a year, so I spend a lot of time on the weekends exploring the city with my husband. Oh, and I always get at least seven hours of sleep a night!

You know, when The Muse first started, we were a site for women, because we wanted to talk about the issues women faced in the workplace—bias in negotiation and mentorship, systemic challenges to advancing to leadership and balancing work and having a child, to name a few. One of the reasons we broadened our audience is because these conversations can’t just include women—they need to include all of us.  

On that note, the #1 issue women in the US are facing is the lack of female leaders in our corporations and government. We won’t be able to make the best decisions for everyone or make any kind of large-scale change when a largely homogenous population runs both.

I’m really looking forward to what’s to come this year. My #1 goal at work is to make The Muse the best career content on the web. Right now, I’m hiring, which means I’ll have more of my time to devote to some new initiatives that will help us get there. We’ve got some pretty great stuff in the works—stay tuned!  

For me personally, I’ve been doing some speaking on career-related topics lately, and I hope to do more of it soon. I also have a book idea that I’m really excited about—I’ll just need some time to make that happen. I’ll certainly keep you posted.