• So, tell us a little about what you've been working on since working for Overcup.

Well, for a little while there, a fellow Ooligan grad and I were running our own business providing services for self-publishing authors. Essentially, we helped with the editing and marketing, as well as the interior and cover design (she had a lot of designer experience, and presently still works as a book designer). We worked on some fun projects---a cookbook and an artbook to name a few. Eventually though, we both had too many other life pressures. We were both trying to sandwich it in to too many things. It also turns out taxes for two freelancers are a real pain. So we dissolved the business. 

• I understand that you've switched from publishing into environmental consulting. Can you tell us a bit about this switch? How does your degree in publishing impact what you do?

I kind of fell into environmental consulting. I started working at my present company as administrator assistant, then they kind of attacked me to be one of the consultants for the strategists communications group/public affairs. My focus is on stakeholder engagement and community engagement so I end up crafting a lot of messages and deciding who needs to be on a client's list of people to talk to. It isn't exactly related to publishing but I get to write a lot and knowing how to do things like provide correct specs to newspaper advertising departments does come in handy. 

• What projects and titles did you work on while at Overcup?

Let's see. I was an intern pretty early on--I was there for the launch of the Tall Trees of Tokyo and worked a lot on the Field Guide, including the launch. I also was around for the Portland Tall Trees book launch. Later I helped with marketing on Bucky, Tolly, and Ice Cream Work as well and TT Paris. I worked alot with distributing, and that kind of good stuff. I also did a lot of social media for Overcup as well. 

• What skills did you gain from Overcup that helped prepare you for your current job?

I learned a lot from Rachel honestly. We went through a few task tracking programs and project management tools. It was all the things I had gone over in the publishing program put to work. But the project management has proven to be especially effective in consulting. I also did a lot of social media stuff, which is helpful, because I do social media stuff now. It was a lot of pre-planning and looking at what worked and what didn't work, and figuring out ways to increase engagement. 

I feel like what I really ended up seeing working with Rachel was the intimate side of publishing. at Ooligan, you have like forty other people to deal with everything--at Overcup, there was really only like two and a half, at the time. Watching all the project management we attempted to use, examining how some of them worked better than others, thinking about how we were gonna track our SEO's, etc---all of this you don't really think about in publishing until you're in the thick of it. It was really a lesson for me.

• We'd love to know - What's your favorite book? Also, what are you reading right now? And what's your most anticipated read on your TBR list?

• What are you looking forward to in the future?

Non-covid times! Really though, being able to go out and enjoy the city again. Especially walking into the library and browsing for books. I miss that discovery process. 

It also seems like so many of us have had time for introspection and are looking at like---what are we doing with ourselves? It's a reckoning. I'm kind of doing the same thing. I would like to get back into publishing in the future. So I'm looking forward to getting more involved in the publishing scene in Portland again. It's something I miss.

Thank you so much to Poppy for taking the time to speak with us!