I’m officially a Sprucette! I joined the Spruce team last week as Marketing Manager, and was welcomed with warmth and smiles by everyone here. I’m sure our followers know how busy we are with a book launch and tour, along with the holidays coming up – just to name a few things on our calendar! With all these fun and crazy happenings, it is pretty important to have someone on board that can solely focus on marketing, public relations, social media, and communications. I can’t wait to see where the next few months will take us.
Here’s a little nugget of information on how I got involved with Marketing, in a crazy, round-about way:
My mom always thought of me as an “over-sharer” (while she is extremely kind in all her actions and would never utter a rude word of ANYONE, you could tell it got on her nerves by the amount of blushing). Examples of over-sharing include expressing my feelings even when not asked, telling an irrelevant story that has nothing to do with the current conversation (but I just thought it needed to be heard), and saying whatever what was on my mind as a child. Ok, sure. All children could be considered this type, but don’t they grow out of it?! Well, who knew that personality characteristic would come in handy in my adult life working in communications, marketing, and public relations! My career didn’t start this way. 15 years ago when I was a student in high school I thought for sure I was going to become an Art Therapist and change the world through my gifted insight into other people — not naive at all, right? Shockingly, the aforementioned gregarious personality trait never allowed me to be a quiet, peaceful presence to patients. Here’s a sample of my own Art Therapy in slow-shutter speed photography:
You could say my personal and professional history is more of a patchwork quilt than a smooth piece of silk. I am hands-on and can hang with the good ol’ boys thanks to growing up in a hardware store in the Ozarks, but I also know how to cater to upper class patrons at expensive restaurants in Midtown Manhattan. My parents owned a Coast-to-Coast chain most of my life, and I spent much of my childhood and teenage years putting together and taking apart everything I could find, fixing that broken seal on the toilet, and troubleshooting customers’ problems with weed eater line. Check out this retro gem of my dad right after we purchased the store in 1986.
Then I found my passion for art and went on to earn a BA in Fine Arts at the University of Central Arkansas. The day I graduated, I hopped on a plane to NYC with two suitcases and a head full of hope. I earned my MPS in Creative Arts Therapy from Pratt Institute and worked with inner city teens in an after school program and even worked in an inpatient, acute psychology ward. But I am a born Texan, and coming back to the Lone Star State just seemed so fitting. I packed up all my things and headed to Austin with no car, job, or place to live, and it’s been the best decision ever!
My story – in the most round-about way – leads me here to Spruce and it already feels like home, thanks to all the Sprucettes. I am so excited to share this amazing book tour with you by documenting and sharing every step of our travels and all the amazing people we will meet along the way. Be sure you are following and liking all of our social media links so you can keep up with the dream of this book tour becoming a reality!