Multi-Disciplinary Writer-Researcher-Storyteller-Strategist Seeks Fulfilling Work

An open letter to the universe (and anyone who might be hiring) from a woman with 20 years of skills and no tidy narrative

Terrific writer-researcher with many other skills seeks perfect job with Mary Poppins style letter …

Dear Universe (or Recruiters, or Hiring Managers, or Especially Small Business Owners and especially of arts and/or mental health and/or women-owned-and-operated businesses) …

I have 20 years of experience that doesn’t fit neatly into a traditional resume. But it makes me an excellent person to work with. And I’m looking for new work where I can share these skills in a way that helps someone else thrive.

Here’s the thing about twenty years of non-linear experience: there’s no checkbox for it. I’ve built things from nothing, multiple times. None of it fits into a dropdown menu. The algorithms don’t know what to do with someone whose experience spans social work and content strategy and grant writing and psychology and art criticism and workshop facilitation and emerging technology.

I don’t have a tidy narrative. I’m not going to pretend my path was strategic when really it was curious and winding and human. I’m a GenX woman with a complex life history and a resume that looks unconventional because it is unconventional. And I’m really, really good at what I do.

So this is my Mary Poppins letter. You know the one where the kids write down exactly what they want, and the universe delivers? Instead of trying to make myself fit, I’m describing the kind of work and the kind of people I’m looking for. Somewhere out there is an organization or a person who needs exactly what I’ve spent twenty years learning how to do. I’m writing this to find you. Or to help you find me.

If you recognize yourself in any of what follows, I would love to talk.

You need someone who can do deep research and synthesize what they find.

Reading, interviewing people, pulling together large amounts of information and making sense of it. Someone who can write interview questions and conduct the interviews themselves. I’ve conducted over 100 interviews using trauma-informed, neurodivergent-accessible methods. I developed my own Visual Interview methodology for people who communicate better through images than words. I know how to talk to people, and I know how to take what I learn and turn it into insights, frameworks, strategy, and writing that’s cohesive and clear.

You’re looking for a writer who can handle complexity.

Long-form, short-form, reports, articles, essays, books, grant proposals, content that actually reaches people. Someone who can synthesize complexity into pieces that bring together key points without losing nuance. I built a blog to 600,000 monthly page views. I’ve been a monthly columnist for eight years. I’ve written books that have been cited in peer-reviewed academic journals. I’ve written exhibition reviews and artist profiles and catalog essays for museums, galleries, and arts publications. I’ve written grant applications that got funded. Writing is the thing I’ve done the longest and the thing I keep coming back to. And if you’re tired of hiring people who can write but can’t think strategically, or people who can think strategically but can’t write, I do both.

You value frameworks that make complex ideas useful.

I love taking complexity and giving it structure. I created a Six-Part Creative Health Framework that helps people understand how health impacts their creativity across process, medium, content, productivity, identity, and sustainability. I use it in 1:1 consulting and workshops. I’d love to find work where I can continue developing this framework or apply this kind of thinking to new problems. If your organization wants to support employee wellbeing, reduce burnout in creative teams, or offer something meaningful to your community, I can design and deliver that.

You operate at the intersection of mental health and art.

I have a Masters in Psychological Studies from CIIS. I’ve spent 10+ years writing on therapeutic topics. My book The Artist’s Mind required years of research into how mental health has shaped artists across centuries. I’ve written exhibition reviews, artist profiles, art history essays, and catalog-style descriptions. This intersection isn’t a nice-to-have for me. It’s where I’ve built my career.

You want workshops that blend art, storytelling, and health.

Or you’re open to offering them. I’ve co-facilitated trauma-informed community art workshops for immigrants in three languages, helping people visualize and verbalize experiences with displacement, adaptation, and belonging. I’ve led healing circles at gallery exhibitions. I want more of this: the days when I get to be in a room with people, making something together.

You want someone who can speak to groups and share what they know.

I’m comfortable with public speaking, both in person and remote. I’ve spoken on panels, led presentations, and shared stories and information with diverse audiences. I’ve also sat on the other side of the table: serving on grant jury panels and other decision-making groups. I understand how to communicate to a room, and I understand how those rooms make decisions.

You value staying connected to what’s happening in your field.

Attending events, lectures, exhibitions. Staying in conversation with the community. I want work that includes this kind of ongoing learning and connection, and I’m good at bringing back what I find: writing about it, reporting on its value, synthesizing it into something useful for the organization.

You’re doing good work and you need people who get it.

Small organizations, women-owned businesses, arts nonprofits, mental health practices, community-based programs. You care about the thing you’re building. You’re tired of explaining your mission five times to someone who doesn’t understand. I’ve secured $50,000+ in grants for community arts programming and individual artists in 2 years. I’ve written for small groups and independent creatives who need to make the case for their work, and I want to expand this skill to help slightly larger organizations tell their story and fund their programs.

You’re figuring out content strategy and maybe AI, and you don’t want to lose your soul in the process.

If you’re a mental health organization tired of working with content people who don’t understand clinical concerns, I get it. I’ve been the primary content strategist for a nonprofit collective of 100+ mental health practitioners for four years. I’ve led platform migrations, managed editorial calendars, and built systems that actually work. I have extensive, up-to-date SEO (SEM/GEO) knowledge and I’m happy to apply it or advise on it, but my focus is content that matters to real people, not just algorithms. I’ve also spent recent years figuring out ethical AI implementation for therapists and mental health organizations, designing prompt engineering strategies for clinically accurate content. I’m not interested in AI that replaces human thinking. I’m interested in AI that makes human thinking sharper.

You could use someone to think through the business side with you.

I’ve run my own business for twenty years. I’ve made the mistakes and figured out what works. I can consult, advise, and brainstorm on everything from pricing to systems to sustainability. I’m not a business coach, but I’ve learned a lot by doing, and I’m happy to share what I know with people who are building something they care about.

You understand that we don’t all work the same way.

I’m disability-identified and neurodivergent. I’ve built my methods around accessibility because I needed them myself first. The Visual Interview methodology I developed exists because I know some people communicate better through images than words. The workshops I co-facilitate are designed for people who’ve been left out of traditional spaces. I do my best work with organizations that are open to different ways of learning, communicating, and creating.

You offer autonomy with periodic moments of real connection.

Give me a project, check in with me regularly, trust me to get it done. I’ve worked remotely for twenty years and I’m good at it. I managed a global community art project with 300+ contributors across three years. I finish things. I figure things out. I know how to stay on task without someone watching. But I also want the days when I get to be in the room: a workshop to facilitate, an event to attend, a panel to speak on, a conversation that matters.

Specific job titles aren’t as important to you as excellent work.

If you’re trying to match me to a job title, here’s the truth: my experience doesn’t fit neatly under one. I’ve done work that might be called Content Strategist, Qualitative or UX Researcher, Program Manager, Writer, Workshop Facilitator, Community Engagement Manager, or Consultant, depending on the day and the project. I’m less interested in finding the right title than in finding the right people: organizations that aren’t bound by rigid role definitions and can see the value in someone who brings a lot of different skills to the table.

You want remote staff or San Francisco hybrid option.

I have worked remotely for 20 years and I prefer it. I’m based in San Francisco and open to hybrid a couple days a week. And I’ll always show up in person when it counts. I just don’t need to be there every day.

You’re open to full-time, part-time, contract, or project-based work.

Good. I’m flexible on the shape of the thing. I’m not flexible on it being meaningful.

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Want more details?

I’ve written two other pieces for those who want the full picture:

Twenty Years of Work That Doesn’t Fit on a Resume walks through my actual experience, project by project: where these skills came from, what I did, and what it means for what I can bring to you.

The Professional Summary breaks down exactly what I bring and who I’m looking to work with.

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If any of this resonates, let’s talk. Email me or connect with me on LinkedIn.

If you know someone who might benefit from working with me, I’d be grateful if you’d pass this along.

That’s how these things work, right? The more people who share it, the more likely my Mary Poppins job will see it and find me.

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