Mission Statement & Ethos
I live my life by the pillars of art, curiosity, independence, nature, and movement.
My mission is to understand Earth and its people, places, and systems so I can share that perspective with others. My goal is to help people feel less alone and more seen, heard, and understood.
I’m a Virgo sun, so I’m organized and meticulous and stick to deadlines, and an Aquarius moon, so I’m highly inventive and think outside the box. I find solutions where there are none. And I’m a Gemini rising, meaning I’m very curious about the world and good with people.
I’m a writer, editor, and photographer who focuses on humanistic storytelling in words and images. I’m deeply curious and empathetic. I ask lots of questions. (My family will say it’s too many but who cares! There’s so much to learn and discover, not enough time.) I love feeling seen, heard, and understood, so I strive to give that feeling to others, being of service through words and images. I’m skilled at making dense content more accessible and lyrical.
I really try to live my life with honesty, sincerity, and integrity, and I believe this comes through in my work. That is always my intention. I aim to translate goals and missions into compelling narrative, while balancing holistic thinking and detail orientation.
Ethos and themes: Integrity, honesty, truth, beauty, art, authenticity, curiosity, nature, flow, intentionality, sustainability, the outdoors, travel, exploration, wonder, wandering, adaptability, creativity, movement, symbiosis, openness, adventure, empathy, sincerity, thoughtfulness, independence, deliberateness, expression, connection, discovery, community, balance, awe, gratitude, meticulousness, clarity, spirituality, time, love, gathering, portals, interconnectedness, metaphysics, philosophy, psychology, science, environment, caring, thoroughness, competence, intuition, humanism, close listening, critical thinking, accuracy, soul, resonance, awakeness
Approach
I offer humanistic storytelling through words and images. I work with individuals—authors, business owners, artists, makers—who feel they want their manuscript or proposal or grant to accurately reflect the story they want to tell, and in an engaging and clear way. Maybe they feel the language they’ve developed so far is dry and sterile and doesn’t accurately communicate their message and story. My goal is always to enhance clarity in the language so that the heart of the story has a strong beat.
Similarly, I work with individuals and businesses who want their photographic portraits to reflect their essence—who they really are—to show their personality and humanity. Maybe they’re shy in front of the camera and tend to come out awkward in photos. I see them, really see them, honor what I see, and provide its image in a photograph.
I help people discover and shape their authentic stories through words and images. I sift through noisy, irrelevant details to get to the golden nugget of a story—whether a brand or vision or a piece of prose or a funding request.
I craft images for individuals and businesses that feel intentional, soulful, and reflective of them and their best, creative selves.
When we work together, you can trust that I’m offering my own expertise gained through personal and professional experience and learned skills, not spitting out content churned from an algorithm. I offer fully human services. No AI here. This is all from my brain, heart, and soul.
Artist Statement
Writing
My writing can be categorized as speculative, but to me it’s my lived reality—dreams and memories and visions of lives past, (con)current, and future. I create a fuzzy realism so I can share how I experience the world. Much of my inspiration comes directly from my nighttime dreams and daytime visions, and mostly as visual imagery. I write to the image and see where the story takes me, often not knowing what will happen until I write it. I love outdoor adventures and visiting new places, so my stories also take inspiration from my travels.
Through my writing, I express a vivid yet dream-like sensuist perspective of the world and all of its nouns, with the ‘inanimate’ just as alive as the ‘animate.’ Everything is magical and glistening and full of adventure. In my creative writing, I channel stories from the universal ether—I’m a vessel—to reflect my insights of life here on Earth. My work invites the reader to remember youthful wonder and the sensation of learning something new for the very first time. It’s about trying to cradle in your hands the feeling of walking on crunchy dirt, the feathery touch of tall grasses and waxy wildflowers, bees and butterflies blowing by, the summer sun on your skin, and the fragrance of green and earth as you admire a massive mellow moose lapping water from a pond.
I am heavily influenced by spiritualism, ecocentrism, taoism, theoretical and metaphysics, and philosophy and psychology. I’ve always loved stories about quests and discovery, star-crossed love, and interconnectedness across time and space. And I love nature, adventure, and discovery, so the stories I write—like the stories I most enjoy reading—involve at least some reverence to these.
I’ve always loved the feeling that stories have given me. My personal life mission, as a writer, is to provide that feeling to others. To work in service of humanity, reflecting stories of itself back to itself.
I write novels. My novel-in-progress, Julia’s Orchids, is a climate fiction adventure tale set in 2032 where the two protagonists must save the world’s orchids before they’re rendered extinct by climate change. I’m seeking representation to publish my book.
I also write short stories. I am currently revising The New Moon, a dystopian frame story of a mother and her young son who is curious about the start of their post-apocalyptic world.
And I write essays and poetry. I’m working on an essay collection of stories from my solo cross-country road trip visiting 30 U.S. National Parks by my 30th birthday.
Photography
To make an exposure in photography, my camera and I absorb—and observe—light. The light is then balanced between aperture, shutter speed, and ISO, not unlike how humans strive for balance between mind, body, and spirit. I weave in my eye for detail, composition, texture, and color to make a photographic exposure, refracting what I see in this big, beautiful prismatic world. I try to capture a feeling crafted by a moment in time and space—a mere breath of existence. I love capturing the essence of a moment through making portraits—of founders, artists, graduates, mothers, and others—and through making snapshots of scenes of daily life across the world: a shopkeeper in Kathmandu, a pair of friends in their finest kimonos on a street in Kyoto, skaters in Venice Beach. We live in such a visually rich and compelling world and I love making images of these moments.
My aim is to make images that are soulful and poetic; not disposable content but fine art to sit with and revel in.
I enjoy working especially with artists, musicians, founders, makers, and overall creatives, as well as retreat spaces, boutique hotels, bespoke travel companies, and nature and outdoors brands.
Bio & Experience
I’m a bilingual, millennial reader, writer, editor, photographer, traveler, and nature lover. I’ve worked since I was 15, so for more than 20 years, across the public, private, nonprofit, and academic sectors.
I’ve published dozens of reported articles and interviews—from South Florida to Cuba—through University of Miami News on science, environment, climate, technology, arts, and humanities research and news, which included interviewing, writing, editing, photography, and digital asset management of web, social media, and print content.
I’ve written and edited more than a dozen research stories on the physical sciences, including from the Atlantic Gulf Stream aboard a Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science research vessel to collect samples of deep sea reference water to study dissolved organic carbon; across the South Florida Everglades to sample and test the water for algae and phytoplankton to study toxic algal blooms; and in the lab of biologists studying torrent ducks thriving in hypoxic environments in the Peruvian Andes.
My work experience spans federal government consulting in disaster recovery, climate change, and the environment, including writing and editing for international development projects, and working with small businesses, nonprofits, and NGOs, as well as private university and artists, creatives, and solo entrepreneurs.
I pride myself on my ability to sift through the noise to translate complex topics into digestible, accessible narratives. And I can easily move from thorough, meticulous attention to detail, to big-picture thinking and analysis.
I’ve supported dozens of projects, evaluations, proposals, and grants for contracts with federal, state, regional, municipal, and tribal governments, and for private and nonprofit clients, in fields such as architecture, design, engineering, construction, environmental design and engineering, water resources management, climate change adaptation, toxic waste remediation, chemical products, and more.
Throughout my career I’ve tailored my humanistic storytelling to wide-ranging projects—communicating stories of federally funded climate change and disaster recovery programs; distilling and promoting science and environment research; and helping small businesses win multimillion-dollar proposals in areas as diverse as coastal engineering, school design and construction, and military facility construction.
I’ve also written and edited academic writing, including graduate-level research papers in the humanities and social sciences.
I have a B.S. in Psychology from the University of Florida; an M.A. in International Politics focused on climate change global governance from American University; a Certificate in Creative Writing from UCLA Extension; a Certificate in Editing from Poynter/ACES: The Society for Editing; and a Street Photography Certificate from the International Center of Photography (ICP). I’ve attended writing courses, workshops, and retreats in the U.S. and Europe.
I have a deep knowledge of AP Style, the Chicago Manual of Style, APA Style, MLA Style, and Council of Science Editors (CSE) Style.
I am originally from Miami. For over 11 years I lived, studied, and worked in Gainesville, Florida, the Washington, D.C. metro area, Puerto Rico, and California.
I have brown hair and eyes and wear glasses and an analog watch. I have a large, rambunctious family (I’m of Cuban and Colombian heritage) and a Beaglier named Wilma. I’m a lifelong reader and writer and I love nature, travel, adventure, and spirituality.
Memberships & Certifications: Association of Writers & Writing Programs (AWP), Editorial Freelancers Association (EFA), ACES: The Society for Editing, Professional Photographers of America (PPA), London Writers’ Salon (LWS), UCLA Extension Creative Writing Program, International Center of Photography (ICP), National Geographic Society
Fun facts: I have more than 100 stitches on my knee, in a Florida-shaped scar. I learned film photography and developed photos in a dark room at age 17. I’ve been to 24 countries, 31 U.S. National Parks, and 39 U.S. states.
Things I love: Shipwreck survival stories, inner courtyards, hiking and backpacking, miniatures, indigenous flute music, trees, vintage photos of couples in love, expedition stories, cello music, hakas, the Transatlantic accent, synesthesia, drum solos, Wes Anderson films, fables and myths and folklore, hikes through an empty forest, time travel and time slips, almond croissants, things that are turquoise, the word ‘rigamarole,’ dancing light, philosophy, the Golden Spiral, vintage drawings of botanicals, and birdsong. And reading, of course. (I’m a big reader.)
