// SAINT PAUL, MINN. · EST. 1987
Backcountry explorer. Maker of things that take time. Devoted to the company of good people. More than 15 years on the leading edge of communications.
44.9486_N / 93.1189_W · SAINT PAUL, MINN.
01 / FIELD NOTES
TERRITORY 01 · FIELD NOTES
Wisdom and experience earned in the backcountry is singular. I find it can’t be gained through other means. I’ve portaged through Minnesota’s Boundary Waters, pursued mule deer above the treeline on Utah’s North Slope and watched bull bison brace themselves against summer storms in the steppes of Teddy Roosevelt National Park.
I believe, without reservation, that America’s public lands are the crown jewel of human civilization.
WILD · EARNED · UNFORGETTABLE
TERRITORY 02 · CREATION
Raw creation has no diminishing returns. Especially the things that take real time. Rustic sourdough bread. A garden. A braise. A story.
I find the re-creation that comes through restoration of objects long forgotten particularly satisfying: Old copper vessels, 19th century beer crates, firearms from the Great War, cast iron pans (nearly) destined for scrap. The craft matters more than the product, and the process more than either.
PATIENCE · PROCESS · ITERATION
TERRITORY 03 · THE TABLE
Some of the most memorable moments of my life involve people around a table. Dinner parties or hours-long, overly elaborate board games. Winter cabin weekends where phones never escaped pockets. The conversations that leave us mulling the biggest questions out there. I adore the fact that hosting, in its many forms, is its own creative act.
In the end, good people make life worth living. That’s the whole thesis.
GATHERING · PLACE · PEOPLE
TERRITORY 04 · PROFESSIONAL
I started my career in newsrooms steeped in the analog — furiously scribbling notes in public meetings, (literally) running down breaking news, mastering the art of a phone call, of conversing with strangers, of developing instincts and curiosity. It’s a foundation that explicitly supported what came next: Leading the digital, editorial and AI practice in a Fortune 200 communications team. Storytelling drives my professional convictions; it’s a discipline I adore.
SKILLS & EXPERTISE INDEX ↗2005
Fesches-le-Châtel, France
Lived with a French family in the southern reaches of the Alsace region, quickly learning how to live deliberately and pace yourself through a five-hour Sunday dinner.
2006 — 2010
B.A. Journalism · B.A. Political Science
Earned a B.A. in Journalism and a B.A. in Political Science at the University of Minnesota, with hands-on work at the Institute for New Media Studies. That early immersion in digital publishing, analytics and content architecture wasn’t coursework. It was the start of a career-long obsession with how information moves.
2010 — 2012
Faribault Daily News
Covered municipal government, breaking news and pursued enterprise reporting for a daily newspaper. It was the kind of beat that made it impossible not to fall in love with journalism. I also helped overhaul the Faribault Daily News digital infrastructure, which was an incognito degree in how story and platform are inseparable.
2011
Scotland
Always homesick for a place I had never been, the Scottish Highlands changed the way I traveled, the way I told stories and the way I would treat strangers for the rest of my life.
January 2012
First Place · Minnesota Newspaper Association / Associated Press
First Place, AP New Journalist of the Year, issued by the Minnesota Newspaper Association and the Associated Press. Competed against reporters at all Minnesota daily newspapers.
2012 — 2015
St. Paul Pioneer Press
Produced and edited breaking news digital content for one of Minnesota’s largest daily newspapers, working across social, mobile and emerging platforms under real deadline pressure. Advanced the Pioneer Press’s social media strategy, drove significant organic audience growth and learned that distribution is storytelling.
2015 — 2016
St. Paul Pioneer Press
Led a web production team at the St. Paul Pioneer Press, participated in leadership editorial meetings and directed content strategy across social, mobile and emerging platforms for a major Minnesota newsroom. I championed audience analytics as an editorial tool. And perhaps most importantly, I shaped the role into something completely new, where data and instinct became genuinely inseparable.
2016 — 2018
Land O’Lakes, Inc.
Joined Land O’Lakes to lead digital communications strategy and discipline across owned channels for a Fortune 200 agricultural cooperative and farmer-owned brand. Combined editorial instincts with enterprise analytics to drive channel growth and brand awareness, my first role where storytelling became infrastructure.
March 2018
The Food Effect · Austin, Texas
Helped bring The Food Effect to life at South by Southwest in Austin, Texas, my first foray into experiential marketing and communications at scale. I still remember the feeling of standing in a room dozens of people devoted months to curating, wondering if anyone would show up. (They showed up by the thousands.)
2018 — 2023
Land O’Lakes, Inc.
Served as editor-in-chief for all digital and editorial content at Land O’Lakes, one of the largest agricultural cooperatives in the United States. Built and scaled storytelling platforms connecting farmers, employees and consumers to narratives, key messages and storytelling that drove measurable business outcomes and shaped enterprise reputation.
Summer 2021
North Dakota Badlands · Solo Backcountry
A week in the backcountry of Theodore Roosevelt National Park, mid-pandemic. The sound a bison makes pulling grass from the ground is now etched into my brain. That was not on my life bingo card. But maybe it should have been.
2023 — PRESENT
Land O’Lakes, Inc. · Fortune 200
Leading enterprise storytelling strategy, AI-enabled communications workflow development and editorial integration across Communications, Marketing and the C-suite at Land O’Lakes. I work at the intersection of narrative and technology, building the systems that define how a Fortune 200 company tells its story in the age of AI and vast technological and social disruption.
Fall 2023
Land O0’Lakes, Inc.
Worked with incredible partners to produce a pair of short documentaries exploring the role rural communities play in the American food system. It’s meaningful storytelling that also helped me rethink my own story. A tremendous, emotional, catalytic experience.
Fall 2024
Mule Deer · Solo Backcountry
Six days solo in the northern Utah backcountry pursuing mule deer. This was by most definitions unsuccessful. However, I don’t think hearing the bugle of elk from above the treeline at daybreak is an experience anyone should file under failure.
2025 — 2026
Kellogg Executive Education · Northwestern University
Completed Northwestern University’s Kellogg Executive Education certificate in Strategic Communication for Leaders, a program built for senior communicators navigating complex, matrixed organizations. It focused on executive presence, emotional intelligence and stakeholder alignment.