That never came to fruition.

Luckily, though, she had a solid Plan B right from the start: to be a writer. She amassed spelling bee and poetry contest trophies as a kid, later graduating from Florida State University with an English degree and using her creative mojo to plan award-winning public service campaigns on everything from aging issues to sexual violence prevention. Before becoming a full-time freelance writer, she worked as the editor-in-chief of two of the nation's largest senior publications, served as a regional Emmy judge and reported to the Florida Governor's Office during her time as a state agency communication director. She’s been behind the scenes at NASA, too, helping the space program field press calls in the days leading up to a historic shuttle launch. 

Freelancing commercially and creatively since 2010, Amy takes on messaging and content development projects to connect organizations to the people they serve. Recent long-term projects include serving as a regular contributor to several digital projects powered by InterContinental Hotels Group, a weekly creative living contributor for Brit + Co, a weekly home improvement contributor for Bob Vila, and an industry blogger for the event production mavericks at Kennedy Creative Events. Previously, she spent two years as the contributing editor of Citygram, an immersive digital magazine focusing on Austin's local culture; one year as the daily social media manager for Impact Hub Austin at Vuka, a coworking community filled with social innovators and global changemakers; and three years as a writer for GM's innovation blog. Recent short-term projects include a series of blog content for Hotel Indigo; a piece on Visit the USA, the nation's official tourism website; and several projects for Google, including serving via EnVeritas Group as the local expert for Austin during the development of the new app, Google Trips.

Progressive innovation and ingenuity are common themes found in the subjects she covers—or, as she explains it, "smart people doing cool things." She spent 2011-12 as the editor of Milkshake, covering "good finds that give back," and on behalf of Milkshake, she penned a column on causes and conscious consumption for The Huffington Post. She spent 2012 through 2014 as the staff writer and content manager of TechStars NYC's highly-publicized alum, Moveline, and ended 2014 by preparing a series of ghostwritten launch content for Built In Austin, an online community connecting Austin's tech startups with future employees. In 2015-16, she contributed feature and front-of-book pieces to Morgan Stanley's Mosaic magazine and completed a series of special projects for the sales teams of Wyndham Worldwide and Visit Austin (formerly known as the Austin Convention and Visitors Bureau). Other recent gigs include culture pieces on The Hairpin, The Collective Quarterly and Refinery 29, culture and commerce posts for Austin's 2nd Street District blog, architecture posts on The Study at 1st Dibs, and city-specific posts on the real estate websites Estately, Lilypad and Zolo.

In the commercial sphere, Amy's writing has appeared on Alternative Apparel's "Common Thread" blog, as well as websites and blogs featured by media outlets like NBC's TODAY Show, Forbes, Newsweek, Daily Candy, Fast Company, TechCrunch, LifeHacker, The Golf Channel, Shape Magazine, CBS MoneyWatch and The New York Times. She's ghost-written executive articles that have appeared on CNBC.com and PandoDaily and composed bios, reports and website copy for industry leaders in the realms of wellness, coworking, social entrepreneurship, travel and transportation. In 2012, Apartment Therapy toured and shared her writing space, and early in her freelance career, her lust for travel and design fed her daily contributions to design/lifestyle blogs Interior Complex, Chic Traveler and Furniture Fashion. Now, her commercial and editorial work covers subject matter ranging from culture, design and travel to green living, creativity and social innovation.

Amy lives, works and plays in the weird, wild heart of Austin, Texas. To peruse a few writing samples, click here.