Through my experience working in national and local newsrooms and corporate America, running my own trio of businesses, and earning a master’s degree in leadership and organizational development, I’ve grown a broad domain of expertise. I love working on customized presentations for groups. Within my wheelhouse is leadership, professional growth, organizational change, and editorial content.

I excel at creating a safe atmosphere for vulnerable and authentic sharing among the audience, and I’m known for my warm and approachable presentation style.

Whether you want to shake up your career, communicate better with colleagues or just clean your perpetually messy desk, we've all got changes we want to make that can accelerate our growth. To make sure those ambitions don't go the way of your New Year's resolutions (do you even remember yours?!), take a page from the executive coaching handbook.

You'll learn how to set smarter goals and improve your follow-through by drawing on techniques rooted in cognitive coaching, positive psychology and motivational interviewing. Leave the session with the keys to set clear goals and work toward them.

Uncomfortable, high-stakes, or just plain difficult conversations are a fact of life. Sharing negative editorial feedback, giving performance evaluations, or firing someone are all types of discussions we might need to hold as editors. While I can't promise these conversations won't still be hard, you can come to them feeling more confident and prepared with a few tips from the pros.

This presentation builds on research from Bruce Patton, Douglas Stone, and Sheila Heen; Kim Scott; and Brené Brown to help you discover ways to have better hard discussions.

What you'll learn:
- What makes difficult conversations so hard
- Ways to identify how you address conflict
- Tactics for better conversations when the stakes are high

Getting ahead is often about who you know — but how can you grow your network?

Whether you're angling for a promotion, raising your profile, or developing relationships, networking can help you meet your professional goals. Build your networking confidence and learn effective strategies to:
- Build external connections
- Make an impression inside the company
- Find community

Be sure to have paper and a writing utensil handy for this presentation.

Content marketing lives in the space between the worlds of editorial and marketing. And in the corporate world, it's all the rage.

What does good content marketing copy look like, and how can you edit to help it meet its goals? We'll go broad on the purpose of content marketing campaigns and the forms they can take. Then we'll narrow in on best practices, including search engine optimization and calls to action, so you can walk away confident in your ability to edit a digital content marketing article.

Editorial mastermind groups have been gaining in popularity in recent years, owing to the immense power they have for growing businesses and helping editors “level up.” The format of close peer group feedback, regular meetings, and readily accessible communication channels supports and challenges editors no matter what their stage of career or type of clientele. The Saplings mastermind group offers a guide to starting a mastermind group of your own and setting it up for success.

As editors, we're prepared to correct every misstep and smooth every line of writing until it's perfect. But what happens when you're up against deadlines and time constraints? Practical tips from one perfectionist to her fellow editors on how to triage your edits, manage your perfectionism and learn to let it go.

It can be tough when your manager doesn’t understand exactly what it is you do as an editor. But there are some effective solutions for creating a shared understanding of editing. We’ll cover tips for choosing your editorial battles and how to address pain points with clear communication.

Your parents. Your kiddos. Your partner. Your pets. Your plants. And, hey, let's not forget about yourself.

You have a lot of living things depending on you for care and attention. It's not easy to figure out how to meet others' needs while thriving in your editing career.

I don't have the answers. You know who does? All of you.

In this interactive session, we'll cover some common reactions to the stresses of caretaking. Then we'll break into groups to discuss and find helpful mindsets, top tips and positive solutions for editing while caretaking.

Soft skills can enhance your career growth and personal satisfaction with your work, whether you're a traditional employee, solo business owner, or manager of an organization. During The Saplings’ combined 75+ years in the editing industry, we have developed some very practical hands-on tools and techniques to grow skills such as time management, creativity, problem-solving, and emotional intelligence. Learn about concepts like body doubling, work/client grading, annual reviews, word of the year, and mastermind groups. We’ll discuss ways to work on yourself, work on your business, and work better with your clients.

With these tools, including templates we will share, you can dramatically improve your professional development, boundary-setting, relationship management, and self-care to feel, look, act, and be more productive and satisfied in your career.