Why on earth should you read a personal profile in addition to a cover letter?
Because cover letters deliver on their promise. They cover, rather than uncover, the most revealing aspects of the topic at hand.
For example, my cover letter won't tell you that I was living in a facility for wards of the state and juvenile delinquents when I had the epiphany that generated this website. It was, in its own way, a very educational environment. It wasn't, however, the sort of place you might expect a 13-year-old to find an intellectual raison d'être.
I didn't find it. It found me.
Like the back of a Zen master's hand, it hit me one fine Michigan day that of all the man-made "things" in the world, the most durable were ideas... words filled with meaning. Countries rise and fall. Structures occasionally endure a century or two. However, ideas bridge centuries - even millennia - unblemished. (Ill-used and misconstrued, perhaps, but unblemished nonetheless!)
Ever since, words filled with meaning have been my life and livelihood. I grew to love poetry. I earned a writing award from the Detroit News while in high school. College brought me a degree in creative writing and fluency in a second language, German.
My professional education commenced with a job as a working copywriter and later, as a freelance writer. As such, I came to understand and appreciate the hard-work, commitment and integrity that characterized so many of my clients and employers.
Wrestling with words on behalf of the tongue-tied filled my portfolio with samples and kudos, but not my pockets. So, when a client asked me to take a job as a technical writer, I accepted. I had no idea what tech writers did, but I learned.
I'm still learning, as the rest of this website demonstrates.
In 2006, I left a sinecure with a wonderful employer to expand my horizons despite the offer of a considerable pay raise. It seemed time to grow in a new direction. It turned out to be a wrong turn, but I learned a lot, anyway.
The compliments I have since earned are indicative of my earnest efforts to be of service.
The details? They're in my resume and the rest of this portfolio. But feel free to give me a call (at 602.257.0857.) if you feel the urgent need to confirm them.
