Hey there, let me introduce myself.
Born in Little Current in 1978, I grew up not too far from Sudbury, in the former uranium-mining community of Elliot Lake. I have a twin sister and an older sister. My parents live on Manitoulin Island.
Elliot Lake is where I got my first real insight into the world of journalism. I worked at the Elliot Lake Standard in high school as the darkroom technician. Sounds important, but it was just a fancy name for developing film and printing photos needed for the paper at the time.
It was enough to pursue it in college, and I attended the print journalism program at Cambrian College.
My first real taste of the newspaper industry came in 1999, when I moved to Timmins for my first job as a reporter.
The Timmins Times is where I cut my teeth in journalism. It was a great time. Many reporters went to Timmins to get their start, but never stayed very long. I was there for almost 10 years, working for the Timmins Times and The Daily Press.
Following a brief stint in Alberta, my career path brought me here, to Sudbury, to work for Northern Life in 2011. I was hired as the city hall reporter, but was then moved to the position of online editor and then news editor, where I was put in charge of laying out the paper every week.
Fast forward nine years, and I now cover a variety of topics, with a focus on what’s happening in the courts.
I have a few career highlights I can share. I have been skydiving and SCUBA diving all in the same summer, and I’ve met some pretty influential people throughout my career.
Five years ago, my daughter was born. Her name is Imogen. She’s the apple of my eye and keeps me busy. Not that I needed an excuse, but she’s the main source of my dad jokes, and there are plenty. I also love puns, and can pun it up with the best of them. I attempt to work my puniness into headlines as often as I can when the topic allows for it (and when I can slip one by Mark, the editor).
In the summer, I like to golf, although I’m not very good at it. I prefer 25 C weather over -25 C weather. I know I’m in the wrong part of the world for this attitude, but I am not a fan of winter.
There you have it in a nutshell.
