During the nearly three years I spent as a reporter at Columbus Alive, I covered local retail, style, beauty, wine and the bar scene. My weekly writeups took me all over the city and had me telling the stories of everyone from Clinton Kelly of "What Not to Wear" to OSU's then-President Gordon Gee to the winner of Columbus Alive's annual "Best Bartender" contest.
After I left for my Victoria's Secret gig, I continued to freelance on a bi-weekly basis for four more, covering style and wine -- and maintaining that byline I'd come to love.
For my work on the six-page cover story "Road to the Runway," which followed one Columbus College of Art & Design student through the senior year of her fashion-degree studies, I was awarded second place in the 2009 Ohio Excellence in Journalism awards for non-daily newspaper features.