Where community strategy
meets intentionality.

In 2009, I got my break in journalism, having secured my first full-time job as a reporter, photographer, writer, website manager, and photo editor. Working as a reporter for a weekly newspaper in a suburb of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Middletown, was where I marked the beginning of what I thought was a remarkable career. 

By 2012, I’d won several Keystone Press Awards for reporting and writing. I felt like it was time for a raise, and since my newspaper wasn’t offering any incentive to stay there, I decided it was time to leave. 

I got an interview with PennLive, The Patriot-News, a publication that just won (In 2012) a Pulitzer for covering Jerry Sandusky. I sat in on a meeting with the decision-makers who chose what would be on Page 1 that day, and after an extensive interview, I was passed up for the available opening. I was told I lacked experience and needed to work with a smaller newspaper in the daily market. The transition I made was being able to negotiate my “increase in pay” (Making $14.50 per hour up from $11/hour I was currently making) at The Sentinal, a publication in Carlisle, and what was mostly considered a “stepping stone” that I needed in my career. 

The joy I felt every day, driving to that job for the next three months, was something I never felt in my life. I thought, “I’ve made it,” I’m here. I’ve been “accepted” and am “a good writer.” 

The only job I could get then was becoming a cops reporter, meaning I covered crime most of the day and night, working 3-11 pm shifts. Most notably, I made mistakes such as incorrect spelling, getting a naval officer’s title wrong, and reporting about a shooting in a rural home before confirming sources. 

What I learned from that experience was that I wanted to tell the stories of those who don’t have a voice, not just cover “doom and gloom” all the time, with no training, and editors who would read a few sentences of an article I was submitting for publication and say, “This is shit, you need to do this faster and better.” 

Since I don’t respond well to this coaching style, I made some rookie mistakes that, in hindsight, could have been handled differently. However, I was running around trying to do too many things, which dramatically made my work suffer. While I could blame them for not giving me the tools to succeed, a lot wasn’t in alignment with myself.  

This sense of joy quickly stopped when I was fired under 90 days into my contract due to “errors” that led to my demise. The reason I was fired wasn’t that I was a lousy reporter; it was because I wasn’t doing the work that was meaningful to me. I know that now, and it’s what has led me to this path of community building.   

According to YouMap®, Communication is an influencing strength, and those with it in their top 5 have the following in common: I like to explain, describe, host, write, and speak in public. I find it easy to put thoughts into words and am a great conversationalist and presenter. People like to listen to me; my words pique their interest and inspire them to act. 

Unsurprisingly, I spent so much time improving my communication skills after leaving the journalism industry in 2013 because I was still interested in being a writer and a journalist. 

It took me years to work out the feelings of failure, the shame of being fired, and the wisdom that gave me the grace to tell myself that being let go and having to decide to leave the journalism industry was the best decision I’d ever made and I continue to write, create, and develop a sense of integrity with the stories I share about my personal experiences on my blog, Capture My Best Life. 

Ten years later, I can communicate; it is the most crucial element of my business. This skill I’ve honed over the past decade as a creator, blogging about my personal development journey, has brought me to writing this book and sharing stories with community builders on the Community Strategy Podcast.