I care deeply about using new technologies to create relationships, empower individuals, and transform organizations. I'm a marketing professional, proud Upper West Sider, and lover of startups and pop culture.

A few months ago, my friend Jason passed around a link to ToughMudder. If you’ve never heard of it, ToughMudder is a hardcore 10-12 mile obstacle course designed by British Special Forces (aka my version of hell on earth).

“No way!” I thought to myself. “I’ve never run 10 miles in my life!”

I found myself agonizing over the website, watching video after video of people scaling 10 foot walls, jumping into lakes, running through fire, and yes, sprinting towards live electrical wires. I felt intimidated, out of shape, and scared. Because of this, I knew I had to sign up.

My general approach towards fear: You don’t run away from what scares you. You run to it, face it head on, and conquer the crap out of it.

So yes world, I am officially signed up for ToughMudder New England. The race is taking place on July 14 and will be the ultimate test of my strength, stamina, and sheer will power. I’m confident I’ll be in good company (I have some of my best pals doing it with me) and I know that crossing that finish line will be one of the most rewarding feelings ever.

I have 115 days to train, which means hitting the gym or park 4x/week, healthier eating, and a much earlier bed time.  If you’re looking for a crazy excuse to get into shape, you want to run up a ski slope and get electrocuted, and you want to hang in Vermont this July, join the team! I can email you the registration link or just go to the New England page and join “Down In My Plums”.

Check out this video for a peek of what I’ve signed up for:

After graduating from college and entering the workplace, I found it increasingly more difficult to maintain a personal blog. What are future employers going to think about me if my writing is too personal or informal? What will my coworkers think if I update regularly? Will they think that I’m blogging instead of doing work?  How can I even attempt to write about professional topics when everyone else is ________ (better, smarter, etc.)? 

I think we all make excuses about why we should or shouldn’t blog as professionals. For me, I blamed it on time and insecurity.  I replaced long-form blogging with tweets, tumblr posts, flickr, and good old fashioned journal writing. Rather than worry about carving out a personal brand and a chock full of zeitgeist commentary, I focused on chronicling my personal and professional growth offline.

In the past two years that I haven’t been blogging, I’ve been experiencing what some may call joie de vivre. I still work my ass off, but because I love what I do, it barely feels like work at all. This coming May will be my two year “2torversary”, a significant milestone marking the longest I’ve stayed at any job. I also just hit the two year anniversary living in the same apartment on the Upper Best Side of Manhattan (yes, Best, not west). It’s the longest I’ve lived anywhere besides the house I grew up in. There’s a hearty dose of joy and a wonderful balance of work and play that I’ve been looking to find and sustain almost my entire life.

The other day watching the Grammy’s, I was so inspired by this Chipotle ad. I believe it came out a few months ago, but it’s the company’s attempt at telling the world that they’re all about healthier, more sustainable food (I’m guessing there are still people who associate Chipotle with McDonald’s even they parted ways back in ’06).  The ad uses a great cover of Coldplay’s “The Scientist” sung by Willie Nelson.

I love the video because it’s brilliant marketing, but it’s also a great reminder that you can’t move forward if you don’t remember who you are. In a lot of ways, blogging again is my attempt at falling back in love with the basics. When I was 12, I started a blog because I loved the idea of chronicling stories of my life, daily musings, ideas, and people that were important to me. I joined Facebook because I liked the idea of connecting with my friends. Twitter in ’06 was simply a way for me to document what I was doing and working on. These activities served no professional purpose, but instead, celebrated one of my favorite lessons of all time, “Happiness is only real when shared.”

In future posts, you’ll find me blogging about being social both at work and play. I’ll write about social media marketing and how I think social learning will fundamentally change education. I’ll share adventures with friends and all the wonderful things I love about living in New York City.

In the words of Coldplay, “We’re going back to the start.” Thanks, Chipotle.

A few weeks ago, I left my position as a Digital Strategist at Porter Novelli in pursuit of a new opportunity at 2tor, Inc., an exciting edu-tech startup that I believe is changing the world of higher education as we know it.

In my new role, I’ll be the Community Manager for USC’s Master’s of Arts in Teaching program, helping connect students and alumni in both online and offline channels. This new position has me working alongside a team of visionary leaders in the higher education field and immersed in a diverse community of more than 1,000 educators and students across the country.

As I start this new chapter, I’m forever grateful to the team at Porter Novelli for the lessons they imparted on me. Their unique approach to strategic thinking, unwavering commitment to their clients, and unbelievable attention to detail gave me newfound respect for PR professionals and brand marketers. If you ever get the chance to work alongside Stephanie Agresta (friend, mentor, and geek girl extraordinaire), John Havens (actor, all things augmented reality, mr. congeniality), Joel Johnson (strategic planning guru, swagger king, powerpoint wiz), Israel Mirsky (lover of emerging tech and small puppies), Karen Hartline (queen of karaoke and events, my left coast lover), Heather D’Amico (the skinniest fat girl with the best laugh you’ll ever meet), Greg Tedesco (my #strongisland counterpart), Nicole D’Alonzo (the sweetest gal on the web) and Christina Petroni (my separated sister at birth) – take it!  There are so many agencies out there, but I truly believe that PN’s integrated approach, their heart and rockstar talent sets it apart from many.

And so, here I am once again, joining another all-star marketing team led by Jeremy Johnson (too cool for school, but one of the smartest, kindest, and most driven individuals I know) and Marcus Cohn. I’ll be going back to my higher ed roots (I used to work in Admissions at Barnard College), revisiting platform technologies (shout out to Mzinga!), and putting all of that Porter Novelli strategic thinking into practice.

In the word of my new Trojan friends, FIGHT ON!