I have over fifteen years of experience delivering communications and marketing initiatives for some of Canada’s most respected organizations, including local and national publications, major Canadian universities, and recognized professional service firms.

I started my writing career in journalism, where I spent nearly a decade bringing a critical eye to political, social, and economic issues. I’ve interviewed global thought leaders, local activists, and elected officials at all levels of government and written hundreds of articles for weekly print publications such as the Kitchener-Waterloo Echo, Pulse Niagara, and View Magazine. At the national level, I regularly contributed to Inside Entertainment, Canada’s top entertainment magazine, where I interviewed award-winning artists and profiled up-and-coming talent. In addition to my professional work, I’ve lectured on the writing process at Mohawk College, where I shared my strategies for taking an idea from pitch to print.

I’ve also been in the digital marketing space since 2002, when I built my first websites and started blogging. Since then, I’ve designed, built, and managed over thirty blogs, newsletters, websites, and social media accounts, creating graphics, writing code, and producing content for a wide variety of audiences. I’m the person behind the popular academic blog Invocatio, online music magazine Dixie Tucker, and websites for the Hamilton Cycling Committee, the York Christian Apocrypha Symposium, and the Network for the Study of Esotericism in Antiquity.

My extensive professional work in communications and marketing blends real-world experience with extensive university and professional training in languages, communications, and digital strategy. Whatever it is, chances are I’ve done it.

With professional fluency in ancient Greek and Latin, I’m an award-winning academic researcher whose work on the intersection of law, identity, and religion in Greco-Roman antiquity has been published in peer-reviewed journals and presented at conferences in North America and Europe. 

Cited by leading scholars in the field, my research focused on marginalized religious practices in antiquity, including magic, cursing, and esotericisim. I’ve written and presented on Neoplatonic philosophers, religious social networks, and I was one of the first persons to translate a number of Greek manuscripts and Latin artifacts into English. In addition to shedding light on often overlooked historical phenomena, my research offered an essential re-framing of contested issues in Greco-Roman religion.

I earned my bachelor’s degree (hons.) from York University, where I graduated summa cum laude at the top of two rigorous programs. I also hold a Master of Arts degree from the University of Toronto’s Department for the Study of Religion, a top-ten internationally-ranked program, and completed PhD coursework at York University’s Department of History and the University of Göttingen (Germany).

I’ve won over twenty  academic awards, including the CSSR Essay Prize (Master’s Level) and the prestigious Joseph-Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarship, which is awarded to Canada’s highest-calibre scholars. I was also a national finalist for the SSHRC Vanier Graduate Scholarship, the highest award for PhD researchers in Canada.

A Registered Yoga Teacher (Yoga Alliance RYT-200). I offer private, online classes taught primarily in Hatha and Vinyasa yoga styles.

My approach to yoga is to create an accessible practice that focuses on health, well-being, and self-acceptance. I especially enjoy helping those who are new to yoga practice, are coming back to yoga after a break, or those living with mobility issues. I believe yoga is for everyone and that everyone can do yoga.

I’ve been practicing yoga since a friend suggested I read Richard Hittleman’s Yoga back in the early 2000’s. Since then, my personal practice has grown to embrace a wide variety of yoga styles. The ability of yoga to provide not only physical benefits, but also positively impact an individual’s well-being, is what keeps me practicing.

My Instagram account, YOGA FOR OLDS, provides accessible yoga tips for Gen X-ers and Elder Millennials, with a realistic and humorous edge. Drawn from my real-world experience as a yoga practitioner and aging woman, I share advice on everything from how to modify yoga poses to choosing the yoga mat that’s right for you.

With formal training in public relations, voice over, and improvisation, as well as real-world experience working in media and communications, I offer a straight-forward, knowledgeable, and relatable voice that quickly gets to the core of an issue with honesty and insight.

I have a wide range of public speaking experience. I’ve led seminars at several post-secondary institutions, made presentations at some of the most competitive academic conferences, and I’ve been a regular guest on podcasts, appeared on numerous websites and blogs, spoken at public events, been featured on radio broadcasts.

I’ve been fortunate enough to speak on topics as diverse as Bundesliga soccer (Go, FC Heidenheim!), curse tablets in antiquity (Spooky!), and local initiatives (Because I care about our community!). Whatever the matter at hand, I approach my topic with a forthright candor and confident enthusiasm that quickly instills trust and openness.