Hi, I’m Ashley.
I am an experienced media specialist located in Longmont, Colorado, and originally from Spotsylvania, Virginia.
I am a graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia, where I received a Bachelor’s degree in Mass Communications, focusing on print journalism, with a minor in Italian. At VCU I participated in the Capital News Service program, which allowed students to work at the Virginia General Assembly, producing news stories that were featured in newspapers, magazines and websites for publications across Virginia. I edited stories for CNS for one semester and wrote for the program for the following two years.
In July 2009, I participated in the study abroad program at VCU and traveled to Italy for a semester. While there I studied at the Università di Stranieri in Perugia, located in the Umbria region of Italy. As I traveled through Italy studying the language and culture, I wrote an almost daily column on my adventures for a small local magazine in Perugia designed by students at the university.
Following graduation, I began working at the Hopewell Publishing Company in Hopewell, Virginia. I began as a Copy Editor and Page Designer and soon began reporting and taking photographs and videos for the newspapers as well. Shortly after being hired, I took over the production of the weekly arrest paper, Crime Time, which involves editing arrest reports and mugshots and then designing pages for the 16 pages of the arrest paper. I also worked in the graphic design department building advertisements.
At HPC, I was an integral part of the redesign of both newspapers under my editor, James Peacemaker. Together with the rest of the news staff we redesigned and relaunched the two newspapers while focusing on building our social media pages as well as producing a weekly newscast for our website.
I left HPC and my life in Virginia in July 2016 after being accepted into the graduate program at the University of Colorado Boulder.
I received a Master’s degree in journalism from the College of Media, Communications and Information at CU Boulder, with a certificate in Environment, Policy and Society. At CU my focus was in journalism, specifically researching and writing about environmental issues. I focused my studies on sustainability in food systems but also wrote about other environmental issues.
While at CU Boulder I worked on developing more multimedia skills including using video, audio, and the Adobe Creative Suite to produce multiple pieces. My studies focused on food systems and how the way we grow, eat and dispose of food has an effect on the environment.
During the summer of 2017, I worked as a Digital Media Intern at Active Interest Media, working for Clean Eating Magazine and Vegetarian Times. This position helped me to learn more about digital journalism and the techniques used when moving print publications into digital platforms.
In 2018 I began working with Live Naturally Magazine, also known as Optimum Wellness, as a Digital Production Assistant. With Live Naturally I helped to revamp their digital presence. I produce their digital content, taking articles from their print publication and turning them digital. I also schedule social media posts for the magazine on Pinterest, Instagram and Facebook.
I began a position with Digital First Media in September of 2018, working with Prairie Mountain Publishing as a Page Designer and Copy Editor. In this position, I design daily newspapers across Colorado and a few outside of the state. These newspapers include the Boulder Daily Camera, the St. Paul Pioneer Press, the Boston Herald and more.
Shortly after COVID-19 hit, I was laid off from my position at DFM. During my unemployment, I did several freelance jobs as well as supplementing my income by working for Instacart and Door Dash. In September 2021, I went back to work full-time with PYMNTS as a Copy Editor and Digital Production Manager. In this position, I edit survey instruments, decks, outlines, word documents and PDFs centered around different aspects of the finance world. I also build web pages for these reports to publish, including contact pages, landing pages and post pages, ensuring accuracy and SEO are top-notch.
In my spare time, I enjoy going to concerts, going hiking and camping, cooking and gardening, and playing with Garbanzo and Frank Zappa, my two kitties.
Thanks for visiting, and I hope you enjoy my work! Feel free to contact me with any questions or comments.