This website is dedicated to my freelance work as a Toronto-based journalist covering local arts and culture.
(At present I freelance outside of my day job, as a full-time reporter for subscription-based marketing publication Campaign Canada, where I cover daily news in the industry and anchor The Message marketing podcast, as well as the Gen C podcast in which I interview emerging marketing professionals.)
That being said, I have experience covering a vast array of subjects including municipal news, business, style, mental health, relationships, internet trends, as well as marketing and advertising. I hold a bachelor of Journalism from Toronto Metropolitan University, with a minor in English literature.​
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In my freelance work I cover everything and anything that falls under arts and culture, including– music, film, contemporary and vintage fashion, visual and performance art, new businesses, real-estate and design, events, food and drink, etc. I am well acquainted with the different pockets of Toronto's arts scene, and have developed a network of reliable sources built on trusted friendships and community.
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My objective as a journalist is simply to arrive at a place where I can write about local arts and culture full-time, in a manner that is sustainable. My dedication is to Toronto and its creative communities. Since I hope that the right person will read this one day, and help me do exactly that–I've taken the opportunity to detail my strengths below.
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I approach my work with a great degree of empathy (more on that below), and inquisitiveness, and take efforts to ensure interviews feel comfortable and conversational, but also that the interview subject feels they have agency in the interaction. While I know how to ask questions to quickly and efficiently get to the heart of a story, I am mindful that creative minds don't work in linear ways. The best narrative elements often come from long, genuine conversations– a process of time and energy which I cherish and will always be willing to expend.
My work has been featured in publications like Fashion Canada (formerly Flare Magazine), Style Canada, Toronto Guardian, BlogTO, Moneywise, and Yahoo. Presently I contribute consistently to Streets of Toronto, Toronto Life, Range Magazine and The Toronto Star.
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I'm always open to accepting pitches that pertain to arts and culture in Toronto. Please reach out by email if you'd like to share a story idea with me!​​
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Approaching my work with "radical empathy"
I really want to have a reputation as a community-oriented journalist who exhibits an exceptional amount of empathy and I'm continuously thinking about ways to make that known to community members. There are a lot of understandable concerns about engaging with "the press" and what can happen if you share your story and it's misportrayed. My hope is to quell these concerns by acting as a trusted middle person between the creative community and the writing institutions that offer exposure. Here are some ways in which I strive to imbue my work with radical empathy:
1) If we can align our schedules accordingly, I will sit and listen to someone for hours. I have literally done a five hour interview and will never cut someone off who has a lot to say.
2) I strive to be and am a very unintimidating person to talk to. I am soft-spoken and docile myself, and I love to listen. It's funny because most of the people I interview apologize for "rambling" but it's never actual rambling . I think people are just uncomfortable being given the platform to speak for so long without being cut off. So when they go "on and on" they feel like they're saying more than is necessary, but actually the reason that is helpful to me, is because when a person instinctively speaks about something they're passionate about, so many conversational gems arise that enable follow up questions that I otherwise wouldn't think to ask. So ramble away!
3) To be clear, the reason you are safe to "ramble" with me is because I'm not going to publish everything you've said verbatim. If you say something particularly long-winded (full of "ums" and "likes"), I'm only going to use the words that eloquently exemplify the intention and feeling of what you've shared while maintaining your personality and tone of voice.
4) To make the interview process more collaborative in order to support this, I like to remind people that they can pause at any point during our conversation to rephrase something they've said, or ask how I've interpreted it. You are also welcome to share any hesitations and fears that you may have about the ways in which the story could be misportrayed. It's important that this happens during the conversation or soon after, as editorial policies prevent interview subjects from seeing drafts once they've been submitted for editing and publication.
5) I personally have experience with mental illness and neurodivergent thinking, so I am very patient as well as particularly equipped to navigate neurodivergent conversations. I'm also always open to feedback about ways in which to make interviews more comfortable, so please feel free to share if you have any thoughts.
Get in Touch
Pitching note: I'll do my best to reply to all pitches, and to offer feedback, if for some reason I am unable to write about the topic. Reasons may include my limited capacity as a freelancer, a publication's budget, or a publication's editorial scope. I truly wish I could write about everything that comes my way and appreciate any time taken to send me a pitch. Below is a list of topics that I'm currently writing about, and which presently fit into the editorial scopes of the publications I regularly contribute to.
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New businesses (restaurants/ bars; vintage stores; contemporary retail stores; events spaces; galleries, etc.)
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Creative services that community members in Toronto can interact with (i.e. a social event; a rentable space like a recording studio; a service like a class or workshop; something that pertains to a current trend; something that pertains to the current news cycle in Toronto, etc.)
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Stories of creative entrepreneurship (i.e. quitting your full-time job for a side hustle, forging an alternative career path)
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Stories about creative/community initiatives that seek to better the city of Toronto (example)
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Toronto Life Kiss and Tell series: Toronto based dating/sex stories that are funny/ wild/ interesting (semi-anonymity: no photo, real first name but no last name, age, and a vague version of occupation).
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Toronto Life Cost of Living series: Toronto residents of varying occupations breaking down living expenses/ incomes.
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Toronto Life interior design series: Toronto residents with unique spaces who can speak about how they put it together, what's in it.
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Toronto Life memoir series: Toronto residents who have experienced a big life pivot, like quitting their job to pursue a side hustle full-time. Here's an example: “I quit my job to host trivia full time. Then I got on Jeopardy!”
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Streets of Toronto "Growing up Toronto" print series: people who grew up/live in Toronto who are doing remarkable things e.g. actors, athletes, artists, etc. (example)
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*While I am always looking to meet new creatives in Toronto, a creative pursuit in itself may not translate to a story (i.e. if you are a musician or artist pitching your own work.) In order for a publication to take interest in a story, it has to be unique, or offer the community some way to interact with it. i.e. a creative doing something that hasn't been done before/ a creative who has reached a unique milestone / a creative selling something compelling to readers or offering something for free. I'm happy to talk through this more should you email me with a pitch you're unsure about. In my experience, sometimes people have great stories, but just need help packaging them in the right way.
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