Meet The Team
Here’s a sampling of the talents we’re proud to call colleagues in our grand adventure:
Laura Bergheim
Michael Gaylord
David Bergheim
Alex Kenin
Chuck Mancini
Marlene Tam
Diana Charkalis
Stephen Kent
Katina Johnson
Alyssa May
Hasan Ali
Emily Lutzker
Scott Loganbill
Jason Rogers
Khaleelah Jones
Holly Finn
Wil Masisak
Heidi J. LaFleche
Fritz Holznagel
Meghan Goder
Jennie Cohen
Karen Sulkis
Beth Silver
Bianca Connolly
Claire Orr
Eve Connell
Jaime Santillán
Ryan Bahrke
Alice LaPlante
Liz Tracy
Nafeesa Saboor
Zöe Desroches
Ben St. George
Marissa Berenson Yaar
Cynthia Badiey
Sherry Jones
Nichole Bernier
Abby Sinnott
Marie Dolcini
Mariah Bailey
Sonia Acosta
Stacey McLeod
Sabreen Swan
Becca Pratt
Nick Hartley
Adam Franklin
Art Anthony
Jason Morrow
Jeff Hunt
Laura Bergheim
Founder & CEO
Laura is both a writer and an agency head, building and managing award-winning editorial and content teams for 25+ years. She has written for global technology, retail, healthcare, travel, and financial industry brands, among others, and is the author/co-author of eight non-fiction books and author of two novels. Prior to founding Wordsmithie in 2010, Laura was Senior Program Manager for Content Strategy at Google, where she created and managed site and customer support content for Google Ads and other monetized products. She also founded two other agencies, served as Creative Director at Resource Interactive (now part of IBM), and managed the 20+ person feature-writing team at Lycos, back when dinosaurs roamed the internet in the late ‘90s. In 2017, Laura moved to her “happy place,” Rockport, Massachusetts, where she lives with her husband and cat a few blocks from the beach.
Michael Gaylord
Chief Creative Officer
Prior to moving to Madrid in 2011 (from where he also manages Wordsmithie’s European team), Michael served as Vice President, Digital for MTV Networks’ cable brands Nick at Nite and TV Land. He began his career in the digital shops of downtown Manhattan, and has extensive experience in creative direction, user experience, convergent programming, integrated marketing, and web analytics. Michael accepted an Emmy Award for enhanced television on behalf of his former TV Land team, and has had the fortune of interviewing many of his childhood idols, including all six Brady Bunch kids. An “avgeek” since childhood, his happy place is above the clouds in the latest commercial jetliner.
David Bergheim
Chief Strategy Officer
David joined Wordsmithie in 2014 following a 17-year stint working in marketing and career services at the Yale School of Management, Emory University’s Goizueta Business School, and the University of San Diego. In addition to his work as Wordsmithie’s Chief Strategy Officer, David is a political satirist with more than 50,000 followers on Twitter. His 2015 novel, Greenbeaux, was named one of the best books of the year by Kirkus Review. David has an MBA from Yale and a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature from the University of Arizona. He lives and works in his happy place of Tucson, Arizona.
Alex Kinn
Studio Chief
Alex has worked with Wordsmithie for over 10 years. An avid hiker, she has written two hiking guidebooks - Urban Trails: San Francisco and Urban Trails: East Bay.
Chuck Mancini
Chief Operations Officer
Chuck joined the Wordsmithie team in 2021 as an Operations Lead and is now serving as Chief Operations Officer. Originally from Boston and currently based in New York City, he brings over 30 years of experience working in various management roles in the telecommunications industry, with a focus on customer program management, client services and sales, and operations support. Chuck loves to travel throughout Europe and beyond (Spain is a particular favorite) and enjoys sharing his homemade desserts and creative cocktails with family and friends.
Marlene Tam
Design Director
Marlene brings vast experience in visual communications and creative direction that allows Wordsmithie to provide turnkey print and web deliverables to its clients. As Lead Graphic Designer for Google’s Global B2B division, she managed a team of designers and writers, and also led branding efforts for the full range of visual assets including Google Atmosphere, Google’s large-scale CIO summit. Prior to that, Marlene held Senior Art Director positions with Postini and AAA Northern California, Nevada, and Utah. She enjoys the healing practices of kung fu, qigong, tai chi and acupressure. Marlene’s happy place is time spent horseback riding on the beach.
Diana Charkalis
Talent Chief
Diana started her career in journalism in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., writing obituaries and making friends with morticians. From there she went on to write and edit lifestyle and entertainment content for USA Today and lead the features section for the Los Angeles Newspaper Group.
Since moving to Los Angeles, she has held editorial leadership roles at Disney Interactive, Demand Media, and Warner Bros., specializing in content development and strategy, branding, and editorial management. As a consultant, her clients include Fandango, Edmunds, Hearst Corp., and FTD Companies. When she’s not managing content projects for Wordsmithie, Diana teaches meditation and is continuing her studies as an ayurvedic health counselor. She loves to travel and hopes to one day revisit the Beatles’ ashram in Rishikesh, India.
Stephen Kent
Managing Editor
After traveling the world in his 20s, Stephen moved to the San Francisco Bay Area to jump into the 90s dot-com frenzy, working with five startups in 10 years. He subsequently made the sensible decision to join a non-profit that had a business plan, and later set up his own eponymous shop of editorial tricks and treats. Through more than 20 years of editing for publishers, magazines, search engines, angel investors, educational research agencies, magazines—and now Wordsmithie—Stephen has learned one very important lesson: Commas Save Lives! Outside of Wordsmithie, you’ll find him working on his book, tentatively titled Amateur Dad (Why? Because everyone else at Wordsmithie has written a book!), or chasing his two young sons down the snowy peaks in his happy place of the Sierra Nevada.
Katina Johnson
Studio Director
Katina started her career as a journalist, moving to the San Francisco Bay Area and taking a position with the San Jose Mercury News during the late 90s dot-com boom. From there she landed in tech as a writer, project manager, social media manager, and jack-of-all-trades at Yahoo!, Google, and Stripe. Like almost everyone at Wordsmithie, Katina is working on a novel and looking forward to the day when she can join the ranks of the novelists on the team. Her happy place is watching waves and waterfowl while smelling the salt breezes on the cliffs above Stinson Beach.
Alyssa May
Studio Director
Alyssa joined the Wordsmithie team in 2019 as a Project Manager. She has extensive experience in higher education, having served in a variety of marketing and communication roles, at the University of San Diego and MIT. Alyssa earned an MBA from the University of San Diego and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Merrimack College. She resides in Acton, Massachusetts with her husband, two beautiful daughters and two pups. She enjoys spending time entertaining friends, renovating her home, and heading to the beach. Her happy place is in San Diego, California, which will always hold a special place in her heart!
Hasan Ali
Studio Director
Hasan honed his skills in technology marketing over the past decade with stints at J2 Global, Feedzai, and Google. Now as a Studio Director at Wordsmithie, he continues to work with tech clients on marketing communications projects ranging from case studies and white papers to blogs, press releases, and more. Hasan has a master’s degree in communications from Northwestern University and a bachelor’s degree in marketing from Bentley University. Hasan’s happy place is exploring cities near and far, from Hong Kong and London to Dublin and Istanbul.
Emily Lutzker
Studio Director
With a passion for reaching audiences through messaging and visuals, Emily began her career as a designer, working with well-known brands like HBO, several of the MTV Networks cable nets, A&E, Deutsche Bank, Novo Nordisk, Stüssy, and ESPN Magazine. After academic endeavors in media and visual communication, she launched a tech startup that eventually pivoted to an innovation consultancy, where she became known for revitalizing brands, creative strategy and leadership, social impact, leadership communications, and building digital products. You’ll see Emily at various art events around New York City just about any night of the week.
Scott Loganbill
Studio Director
Scott has been called a writer, content manager, journalist, photographer, musician, outdoorsman, and program manager—in addition to several colorful names over his lifetime. These days he’s a proud Wordsmithie Studio Director and content writer. Scott started out at Google in the early 2000s, supporting its early advertising endeavors before moving on as a technical writer for Analytics and AdWords products. After a stint at WIRED, he wrote the earliest versions of the help center and API documentation for Dropbox. Another tour of duty at Google had him writing and managing end-user learning experience curriculums for its experimental projects. Now he spends time where he’s needed most as a dad to two daughters. His happy place is off on a travel adventure, soaking in the local atmosphere over a beverage, and maybe getting a little lost on purpose.
Khaleelah Jones
SEO and Social Media Lead
Khaleelah is a 2x exited founder and growth marketer. She started, scaled and sold her digital marketing agency, Careful Feet Digital, and was co-CEO of Ada’s List, Europe’s largest community for women in tech. Prior to her entrepreneurial endeavors, she led marketing departments for well-funded femtech and health tech startups in Europe and the United States. She now acts as a non-executive director for several SMEs and is a marketing mentor and teacher for Series A startups and founders. Khaleelah is in the final stages of publishing her first book, a history of women in the workplace. Her happy place is Primrose Hill in London, where you can find her on sunny days on a bench enjoying the view of central London.
Wil Masisak
Media Lead
Wil began his career in film working for Academy-award winning director Ron Howard and went on to gain one-hit-wonder success as a musician, recording I Want to Talk to You with his band, Chaz. He had a short stint with the band Wild Cherry and was inducted into the Iowa Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, winning multiple DownBeat Magazine “deebee” awards along the way. After years as a touring musician and record producer, Wil returned to film and audio production, co-producing The Steed, Mongolia’s Official Selection to the 92nd Academy Awards. He has produced and directed interactive spots for Sony Playstation, commercials for Better Oats, American Public Television, and the Cannes Film Festival. Wil has created many popular podcasts, including one of the industry’s longest-running sports podcasts. These days you’re likely to find him onstage, filming something in an off-the-beaten-path locale, or hosting living room karaoke.
Heidi J. LaFleche
Senior Editor
Heidi launched her writing career as a newspaper and magazine journalist, most notably as a Boston correspondent for People magazine. She transitioned into marketing communications for business, helping clients find the right words to engage their audiences. Heidi writes within a range of industries including technology, healthcare, financial services, legal services, education, and nonprofits. Her greatest satisfaction comes from revealing the “human element” in every story, helping clients and their customers shine a light on the good work they do in the world. Heidi considers taking walks in the park with her Boston Terrier mix, Cooper, her happy place.
Fritz Holznagel
Senior Editor
Fritz Holznagel is a veteran writer who likes to turn high-tech talk into clear, friendly words. He has written for Google, full-time and as a vendor, since 2004, as well as for clients like Ensono, Eventbrite, Kronos, GiveDirectly, and Intuit. Fritz’s special joy is rewriting to get rid of big words and jargon, and he leads corporate workshops on the topic. In a past life, Fritz won the 1995 Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions, represented the USA in the 1996 Jeopardy! Olympic Tournament, and won an Emmy for scripting the CBS special A Claymation Easter Celebration.
Meghan Goder
Senior Editor
With degrees in German literature and history, Meghan moved into the content marketing world from academia, where she has taught, written, and edited in both German and English. She collaborates with teams across Wordsmithie on projects ranging from education and business case studies to video scripts and social media blogs. After moving around the world as a military spouse, Meghan settled outside of Boston with her husband and well-traveled dog. Meghan cites Mount Monadnock in Jaffrey, NH as her happy place. Not only did she often climb this “most climbed mountain in the world” while growing up, Meghan got engaged and married in view of the mountain and still tries to scale it at least once a year.
Jason Rogers
Senior Writer
A graduate of the College of William & Mary and La Sorbonne in Paris, Jason has worked worldwide in content marketing, including serving as Director of Digital Marketing for the Chinese Language Institute in Guilin, China. Based in Washington, D.C., Jason covers the National Hockey League as a credentialed reporter and television analyst and has wordsmithed for high-visibility institutions and companies from the United States Congress to Google. He loves hockey, hip-hop, and original hyperbole.
Jennie Cohen
Senior Content Strategist
A former Google employee and longtime writer and editor who has worked extensively in the technology sector and beyond, Jennie holds degrees from Harvard University and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. She is dedicated to helping brands tell their stories as simply and beautifully as possible. Jennie lives with her family in Maplewood, New Jersey, where she enjoys begging her three young children to get off their screens and nurturing a pandemic-sparked passion for sourdough baking.
Karen Sulkis
Senior Content Strategist
Karen has been writing for public consumption since the fourth grade. Crusading editorials in the high school newspaper and humor writing at UC Berkeley gave way to magazine research in NYC, multimedia projects in Tel Aviv, and an arts column in Oakland. She’s launched e-commerce sites and written UI copy, campaigns, and concepts for Google Shopping, Levi Strauss & Co., Herman Miller, Yahoo!, and a slew of other tech, fashion, wine, and media companies. Karen has called San Francisco home for the last two decades, where just seeing the Golden Gate lifts her spirits.
Bianca Connolly
Senior Writer
With a combination of strategic creativity and business acumen, Bianca has worked as a senior writer, editor, and content strategist to create successful campaigns and content for several big name brands and agencies including Google, J.Crew, Razorfish, Intermix, Uniqlo, and Moda Operandi. She has also written for publications such as Condé Nast Traveler, Travel & Leisure, and Spirit of St. Barth. An avid traveler and meditator, Bianca loves tea time and visiting Big Sur.
Eve Connell
Senior E-learning Specialist
Eve writes, edits, and helps people, businesses, and nonprofits develop and elevate their brands. She turned her super practical degrees in French literature, philosophy, and linguistics into expertise in the field of e-learning, and also offers communication skills and leadership development coaching. A moderately successful cook, gardener, and photographer, Eve can be found hiking through forests, beachcombing shorelines, or paddle-boarding lakes in her spare time. Eve is committed to fighting racism and working for social justice.
Beth Silver
Senior Editor
Beth was born to be a dancer. In college, it became apparent that she had the ankles of a writer, and thus a new path was pursued. Graduating with a degree in Writing for Film and Television, Beth began her career working in political media, soon turning to documentary film, writing and producing for clients such as NBC, AARP, USA on TV, and PBS, where she received two Emmy nominations for a documentary on child and adult literacy programs. She then roamed the internet with fellow wordsmiths at Lycos in the 1990s, got hooked, and has been a copywriter and editor ever since.
Jaime Santillán
Senior Designer
Jaime is a brand designer and photographer with over 20 years of experience helping people and organizations put their best face forward. He strives to create work that enriches lives and communities, going beyond aesthetics to drive action, generate results and push for change. Jaime has worked with clients across many verticals from consumer products to pharmaceuticals and tech, including Adobe, Apple, Hewlett-Packard, The Walt Disney Company, 3M, General Mills, Nestle Harman/Kardon, Eli Lilly, Abbott, Pfizer, Sony, and Google, among many others.
Ryan Bahrke
Designer
Ryan has more than 20 years of design experience with clients in a diverse group of fields including higher education, technology, and financial services. In addition to working with Wordsmithie, Ryan leads a design team for a large audit, tax, and consulting firm and is principal of Ausländer Creative in Denver. He is a car guy, a co-host of The Steering Committee automotive podcast, and enjoys watching the movie Rushmore at every opportunity.
Alice LaPlante
Editor
Alice grew up in Chicago but escaped to Northern California just in time to catch the birth of the PC era. She was news editor at InfoWorld and covered technology in Silicon Valley during both boom and bust years. After winning a Wallace Stegner Fellowship for fiction at Stanford University, Alice started writing novels while keeping up with the tech world through freelancing. She was then awarded a Jones Lectureship at Stanford, and taught creative writing at Stanford for the next 15 years. Now a New York Times bestselling author, Alice has published four novels and five non-fiction books, as well as a bestselling textbook on creative writing, W.W. Norton’s The Making of a Story. In 2015, she moved with her family to her happy place of Mallorca, Spain. She continues to write novels as well as content for leading tech firms from there, while trying to convince stateside editors that it is possible to be productive in paradise.
Liz Tracy
Editor
Before launching a career in advocacy at a community-based nonprofit, Liz Tracy received her master’s degree in religion with a focus on Caribbean religions. She got her start in journalism through her side passion, a Miami culture blog, which led to a job as music editor at an alt-weekly. She has since penned articles for publications including The New York Times, The Atlantic, No Depression, and Orion on an array of topics like the history of fashion in country music, Beyoncé’s foray into Santeria, and sober parenting. Now based in Washington, D.C., she crafts content for political candidates, health care nonprofits, tech companies, and higher ed institutions. Her happy places are Miami Beach, singing karaoke, baking, and lounging on her couch watching PBS Masterpiece Mystery!
Nafeesa Saboor
Senior Writer
Nafeesa is a seasoned fashion content specialist, tastemaker, and blogger with experience creating branded content for emerging companies and established brands such as Harry Winston, Victoria’s Secret, J. Jill, and Club Monaco. She is the founder of Shoes N Booze, an online portal that “pairs” shoes with cocktails, providing readers with fashion, style, and drink advice, tips, and trend coverage. When she’s not creating content, Nafeesa can be found tasting her way around New Orleans, which is currently her happy place.
Zöe Desroches
Senior Content Strategist
A startup marketer turned content strategist and writer, Zöe began her career in venture capital. After accelerating startups for a couple of years, she joined a Bay Area startup, where she launched an employer brand program, revamped the customer marketing program, and wrote countless case studies and blog posts. In early 2019, Zöe moved to Todos Santos, Mexico, to live her dream of soaking up the desert sunshine, basking in rosy sunsets, and enjoying daily surf sessions (and, of course, writing). She specializes in B2B narrative-based content, and when she’s not writing or in the water, you can find her at her potter’s wheel.
Ben St. George
Copy Editor
Throughout his undergraduate studies in English at the University of Massachusetts in Boston, Ben put his passion for words to work as a satirist for a campus news magazine and as a writer/publisher for his local newspaper. Since graduation, he has worked as a copy editor for a book publisher and has both written and edited case studies for Wordsmithie. In addition to the occasional weekend getaway to the mountains and lakes of Maine and Vermont, Ben feels there’s no happier place for a die-hard sports fan and history lover to be than Boston.
Marissa Berenson Yaar
Senior Editor
As a lifelong writer with an early passion for short fiction, Marissa’s first brush with technology writing came as an editor and then corporate communications specialist for International Data Group (IDG). She has spent the last seven years crafting captivating marketing content for startups in adtech, SaaS, and cybersecurity, and supports Wordsmithie with case studies, web copy, articles, and blog posts. A once reluctant transplant to the suburbs, Marissa now happily resides in Needham, MA, with her husband, two young children, and their dog. She is a former design blogger and an avid world traveler, making her happy place anywhere she has never been before.
Cynthia Badiey
Senior Writer
With more than 30 years’ experience in writing, editing, and marketing, Cynthia specializes in distilling complex subjects into succinct messages. In addition to working with Wordsmithie, she is principal of Comma Writer, LLC, where she writes and edits marketing content for clients in a variety of industries, from technology and education to real estate and luxury marketing. When she’s not watching movies or relaxing with a good book, she can be found cheering for Stanford Football and the Oakland Athletics. A third-generation Californian, her happy place is anywhere near the ocean.
Sherry Jones
Senior Writer
Sherry is a seasoned print journalist, an internationally best-selling novelist, and a freelance writer specializing in cybersecurity and technology with a little travel on the side. As CEO of CyberSmart Writing, she has written for some of the world’s leading companies, including Deloitte, PwC, BCG, Adobe, Micron, Kaspersky, and, of course, Wordsmithie. When she’s not writing, she’s studying French, traveling to France, mastering the art of French cooking, or playing the music of French composers on her piano. Paris, anyone? Mais oui!
Nichole Bernier
Senior Writer
Nichole started her writing career as an editor at Conde Nast Traveler in New York, and has contributed features to a wide range of sports, lifestyle, and regional magazines. During her diaper decade working from home with five young children, she wrote a novel (The Unfinished Work of Elizabeth D, Random House), then discovered that storytelling skills could enrich the corporate world, too. As a content consultant, she works with companies to add clarity and creativity to their messaging. She has shaped assets, blogs, and op-eds in the technology, health care, education, energy, and political sectors, with clients including IBM, Yale School of Epidemiology, UPS, and athenahealth. Nichole’s happy place is raising chickens, fostering orphaned wildlife, and beekeeping.
Abby Sinnott
Senior Content Strategist
With over two decades of experience as a writer, editor, and content marketer, Abby combines storytelling and strategy to create content that converts. She has written about a wide range of topics for brands including InVision, Johnson & Johnson, Bayer, Expedia, Pottery Barn, and Visa. Abby was hired straight out of journalism school as a medical writer for the University of California, San Francisco, where she learned the art of translating technical jargon into accessible and compelling content. Following her passion for storytelling, Abby earned an MFA in Creative Writing and penned a novel plus a collection of award-winning short stories. She currently resides with her family and poodle puppy in London, England, a city she loves for its meandering parks and proximity to Continental Europe, which she explores as often as possible in search of her next happy place.
Marie Dolcini
Senior Content Specialist
An accomplished writer, editor, and marketing professional across a variety of industries, Marie brings over twenty years of experience to the ongoing battle against superfluous jargon. She’s worked as the global web marketing manager for Hitachi’s data storage division, as well as authored an award-winning coloring book on the history of Napa Valley, CA. When she isn’t wordsmithing, Marie can be found tending her backyard garden or on the tennis court as the head coach at Napa High School. Her happy place is Italy, having previously lived and worked at the American Academy in Rome with her family. A cat lady with a rescue dog and a degree in history from Mount Holyoke, she enjoys collecting musical instruments and can play a decent French waltz on the accordion.
Mariah Bailey
Senior Writer
As a mom to a new baby, Mariah is learning how to strike the right balance between work and life. Growing up in Washington State as the daughter of two writers, she attended Lewis & Clark College in Portland, OR, where she received a BA in Rhetoric & Media Studies and Gender Studies. Mariah moved back to her birthplace (and happy place) of Montana, where she met her husband and two step-daughters. Always a writer at heart, Mariah committed to the craft full time and is a successful cybersecurity and technology writer and the owner/CEO of Tech Talk Write LLC. In her writing and in her life, Mariah is happiest when she can share stories that empower people to make a difference in the world.
Becca Pratt
Senior Writer
Becca has spent her career chasing human stories and writing for impact while exploring every time zone in the continental U.S. Raised in the coastal town of Ipswich, MA, she earned a degree in environmental studies and creative writing from Middlebury College. Heading west to San Francisco and the wild world of startups, she honed her writing skills as part of Airbnb’s communications team and went on to head communications for sustainable seafood nonprofit The Future of Fish and venture studio West. With an M.S. in Journalism from Northwestern University, Becca launched her own business in 2019 writing and coaching for clients from fifth graders to finance CEOs. Now that she lives amid the sunny foothills of Golden, Colorado, Becca aims to take one outdoor adventure each day with her son in tow and her dog, Banks, leading the way.
Art Anthony
Senior Writer
Art is a writer and journalist based in the UK who gave up the big city grind to live the country life. With a broad range of expertise that stretches across tech, pop culture, and health and fitness, his portfolio includes work for Inverse, Costco, Fitocracy, Recess, and more. Art also dabbles in photography, design, and video production, racking up thousands of followers for his various architecture and sound design projects. When he’s not writing, you’ll usually find him playing video games, watching American sports, or on a hike. Art has visited half of America’s states and hopes to tick ‘em all off some day. 25 down, 25 to go!
Sonia Acosta
Senior Writer
With a dynamic and bilingual (English and Spanish) background in non-profit and tech, Sonia joined Wordsmithie after holding notable B2B and B2C positions at Girl Scouts of the USA (where she served as the cookie content lead – yum!) and Shopify. Born and raised in Miami, Florida, she is a proud, first-generation Cuban-American and Florida Gator alum. After stints in Chicago (Go, Ramblers!) and NYC, Sonia returned to the Sunshine State and settled in Miami Beach, just a few blocks from the ocean (her happy place!) with her two beloved chihuahuas, Ginger and Pepper. She loves afternoons at the dog park, beach days, travel, and making people laugh.
Lindsay Dilworth
UX Content Strategist
Lindsay started her writing journey in 2010 in San Luis Obispo at the small tech startup Mindbody. After 7 years, she moved to San Francisco for new adventures and accepted a UX writing position at Google, where she led content strategy for their B2B shopping tools. She excels at developing voice principles, facilitating terminology research, and crafting content that supports user needs and business goals. Ready for a new challenge, Lindsay left Google in February 2022 for the flexible freelance lifestyle. With her newfound freedom she has started an online Pilates coaching business, and keeps her UX skills sharp through her work with Wordsmithie. Lindsay enjoys physical activities like running and dancing. She also writes poetry and dreams of publishing a chapbook. Her happy place is anywhere in nature, ideally with good friends and music.
Jason Morrow
Senior UX Designer
Prior to joining the Wordsmithie team, Jason led several UX Design teams at LinkedIn, including Messaging, Search, Groups, and Events. Before LinkedIn, he spent nearly 30 years of his career leading design at companies like Yahoo!, Betaworks, and Google, where he was one of the first staff visual designers. He currently lives in Oakland, CA with his wife and dog, Salvador Dalí Parton. In his spare time he is an avid comic book collector and wine maker.
Holly Finn
Executive Comms Lead
Holly is a speechwriter based in Silicon Valley, where the ability to speak well is still a grail, not a given. She got her start as the editor of “How To Spend It” at The Financial Times, lead writer at The Times of London, and “Marvels” columnist of The Wall Street Journal, writing about how science and technology are changing us. She turned to speechwriting over a decade ago, writing for executives at organizations including Google, Facebook, and Stanford. Holly is the author of one book and the mother of one son. Her happy place is the south coast of England with family, friends, and – on very rare occasions – sun.
Claire Orr
Senior Designer
With a keen eye for detail and a passion for complex projects, Claire is a California-based, multidimensional graphic designer who’s worked for several major players in corporate branding and marketing such as Visa, Google, Oracle, GoPro, BlackBerry, and Meta. Her career has afforded her many unique opportunities over the past 30+ years, including supporting the Olympic Games, FIFA, and NFL sporting events, in addition to helping tech startups get off the ground. Never one to shy away from new experiences, Claire has a wide swath of interests from hiking to DIY, and loves to create big adventures out of day trips.
Nick Hartley
UX Content Strategist
Originally from North Carolina, Nick grew up in the competitive classical piano circuit where he won numerous competitions and awards, performing nationally and globally both solo and in orchestral ensembles. A graduate of Rice University, he led UX writing and content design for Google’s Fitbit emerging AI health solutions before joining Wordsmithie. A true polyglot (Deutsch, Español, 中文, and Latin, plus bits of Dutch, French, Italian, Portuguese, and Catalán), Nick is a voracious reader of fiction and fantasy, and as a foodie enjoys cafe hopping around Philadelphia, where he’s been based for more than a decade with his spouse and their Yorkie, Oliver.
Adam Franklin
Editor
With a passion for intentional communication, Adam’s formal knowledge of grammar and diction fuels his work for tech, tourism, and marketing clients as a developmental and structural editor, copyeditor, line editor, and proofreader. After several years at sea and a few more confronting creatures that live under houses, he can now be found in the Pacific Northwest, raising his two daughters (with the help of his cat), roasting coffee, and exploring the spiritual implications of the horror genre.
Jeff Hunt
Writer
A writer and editor his entire adult life, Jeff has most recently been editing university-level art school coursework as well as audio, text, and images for a local, award-winning podcast, Storied: San Francisco. His happy place is exploring the natural beauty of the planet, particularly Northern California’s Mendocino Coast surrounded by his wife, their two dogs, and good friends, food, and drink.
Sabreen Swan
Writer
A journalist-turned-copywriter, Sabreen started her career as a junior reporter at the BBC before becoming the youngest-ever Sub Editor at the London Evening Standard. Later, following a year-long stint working in Saudi Arabia, she developed some seriously itchy feet and decided to pursue a career as a freelance copywriter to have more freedom to work outside of London. Sabreen now lives in Rome, where she spends her days working on client projects, teaching English Literature at local high schools, and eating every type of pasta you can imagine. When she’s not writing or frantically pitching literary agents for her first novel, you can find Sabreen tending to her plants or sampling local Italian red wines. She loves the theater, historical dramas, and absolutely anything to do with witches.
Stacey McLeod
Senior Writer
Stacey has spent more than 20 years working as a journalist, UX writer and editor, content strategist, and content designer at news media outlets and tech companies like Google and Shopify. She lives in Halifax, Nova Scotia, where you can usually find her writing in coffee shops, recording and playing music with her guitar and musical saw, giving her best hook at the boxing gym, running after her kids at the beach, or scouring the city for lobster rolls.