Earned Media on a Budget

Not every strong story starts with a press office or a formal organization. These projects show how I spot (or create) a hook, package it clearly, and generate earned media by making it easy for audiences and journalists to care.

…it also shows that I know how to have fun!

Crowd Sourcing for Good

Here is a set of community driven storytelling projects designed to rally attention and support around real people and local programs. I built the narrative, created the assets, and worked with outlets to place stories in ways that respected the subjects and served the audience.

KETV story on how we raised money for a broke college student to buy a car

Benson Baseball

How my friends and I raised money to help Benson High rebuild its baseball program.

Viral Ford Taurus Commercial

A short, high concept video and listing created to sell a used car that turned into a national earned media moment. I created the concept, produced the video, and managed the attention when it hit. Coverage included trade publications, viral blogs, radio interviews, and a narrowly-missed opportunity to appear on Ellen.

ABC News
Car Throttle
Daily Mail
Fast Company
Gizmodo
Jalopnik
New York Daily News
Road and Track
The Verge

Bring Back the Astro

In 2020, my friend Brian and I campaigned General Motors to begin building the Chevy Astro van again. It was a guerrilla marketing campaign born out of our shared love for a specific 1999 Astro van that I purchased years earlier, turned into a camper, and traveled the midwest in before ultimately selling it to Brian who made some all-wheel-drive memories of his own in it.

Brian and I spent several months growing a community on Instagram through audience-centered storytelling, before officially launching our campaign, which led to coverage in Car and Driver, GM Authority, WOWT, and others.

bringbacktheastro.com
change.org petition
@bringbacktheastro on Instagram
open letter to GM CEO Mary Barra

Podcast Guest

Here’s a recent on-camera example of how I communicate in a live, unscripted setting. I was invited onto the Agency Rocket Show, a podcast produced by Daycloud Studios. Daycloud is a local marketing and branding agency that has hired my production company, Huge Creative, to support client work.

In this episode, we talk about collaboration, creativity, and what we are building at The Bay. The conversation reflects how I show up publicly when representing an organization. It reflects my ability to speak comfortably about complex work without relying on scripted remarks.

The Bay Omaha Building Announcement

This project marked a major milestone for The Bay in Omaha. We announced and broke ground on a new youth center in the Benson neighborhood as part of a $20+ million investment, with the facility expected to open in early 2027.

I led communications and event coordination for the announcement. I wrote an embargoed press release and media invite, oversaw run of show, coordinated guest speakers, and ensured youth voice and representation were central. I also planned our owned content coverage with scheduled social posts and day of capture.

For earned media, I worked directly with reporters to shape two complementary story angles. One outlet focused on the building details and what is coming to the space. Another focused on the youth we serve and why this building matters to them.

I also provided the media with pre-approved photo and video assets that my team captured. This helps us further guide story direction, and provides flexibility for the reporters.

KETV-7

WOWT-6

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Media: Omaha Girls Rock Joins The Bay

This project involved sensitive change messaging around the transition of Omaha Girls Rock into The Bay. Omaha Girls Rock (OGR) was a beloved organization with deep community roots, but financial challenges led to a pause in programming and a search for a sustainable path forward. The goal of our communications work was to honor OGR’s legacy while clearly explaining what was changing, what was staying, and how youth and families would be served moving forward.

I led the communications strategy and coordinated execution with key stakeholders. That included close partnership with OGR leadership and staff, The Bay’s executive leadership, and internal teams, with an emphasis on clarity, respect, and trust. The plan centered the OGR community, preserved dignity, and ensured the transition felt like a continuation and expansion of impact rather than an ending.

Joint press release
Collab social post
Feature story placement with Omaha Magazine

Co-Founder Departure

This project required careful change communications during a sensitive leadership transition. A co-founder, Mike Smith, exited The Bay after 15 years of building and helping to grow the organization. The goal was to communicate the news clearly, respectfully, and consistently across audiences while protecting relationships and maintaining trust.

I led the communications strategy and execution, coordinating closely with the board president. That included aligning key stakeholders on tone, message, and timing, then translating that alignment into public-facing materials that recognized Mike’s contributions and reinforced stability and momentum for the organization, while not detracting from our mission.

Press Release
Social Media Post
Silicon Prairie News Article

Organization Name Change + New Website + New Messaging

Rabble Mill was formed when The Bay and Hear Nebraska merged in 2017. In the seven years that followed, the organization suffered from fractured brand recognition, confused audiences and even more confused employees. In 2024, I helped guide the co-founders toward a strategic rebranding from Rabble Mill to The Bay, which clarified who we are and unified our story.

I led the communications strategy and rollout, working closely with other leaders on the team, and cross-functional partners.

My team delivered a customer and stakeholder-centered full website rebuild, updated visual branding, refreshed messaging, and launched assets that helped staff, board, partners, and the public quickly understand the change.

Click on the featured assets and read about how they came together, below:

Website Rebuild

Myself, two designers on my team, our Operations director, and an outside developer were the project team tasked with building our new website. We scrapped the old (rabblemill.org) and built thebay.org from scratch.

We met with internal stakeholders to learn about their business needs and explore how the website could facilitate. From there, we created a wireframe, which provided the developer guidance on how to build out the website.

We leveraged in-house design experience to guide the developer on the look and style of the site, which not only helped us maintain branding cohesion, but also cut the overall project expense in half.

How We Talk About Ourselves

Our Programming teams experimented a lot on the way to figuring out what engages youth over the years. While necessary for a young organization, it led to challenges in how we talk about ourselves.

My team conducted a full-scale messaging audit, and developed a warehouse of evergreen printed materials, videos, one-sheets, presentation decks, design templates and copy. So whether you’re posting to social media, presenting to the board, or teaching a kid to ride a skateboard, we’re all speaking with one voice. [view brochure here and watch the video below]

NYSE Closing Bell

One of the many special events I managed recently was Union Pacific’s celebration for being on the New York Stock Exchange for 150 years. In addition to the half-dozen or so videos I produced to supplement the event, I also coordinated a complex multi-camera live stream to convert a normally in-person event to virtual.

Railway Age
Omaha World-Herald

Network Interviews

At Union Pacific Railroad, I built the process and technical setup that allowed our team to produce national television interviews completely in-house, without relying on satellite trucks and external producers. We moved to a modern workflow using professional lighting, sound, and cameras, then connected with networks through platforms like Zoom, Hangouts, and Skype.

In addition to the technical production, I worked directly with network producers to coordinate interviews, manage timing and audio, and ensure everything ran smoothly in a fast-moving live environment. This work reflects how I operate under deadline with media stakeholders and high-visibility expectations.