Appfire

As Senior Copywriter for Appfire, my role in collaboration with our Creative Team, Marketing Team, and Founders, centers on defining and crafting Appfire’s brand narratives in ways that increase internal and external brand awareness.

Governance of the Appfire global voice and tone also falls under this umbrella, as well as the development of content strategies that support how copy is used across all of Appfire’s channels and audiences. 

This includes but is not limited to:

✔️ Collaboration with designers, art directors, and producers on high level concepts.

✔️ Shaping creative pitches, and clarifying complex topics into easy to understand language.

✔️ Creation of messaging solutions for scaling on-brand copy across teams, projects, and channels.

✔️ Articulation of a clear value proposition in words for current and future Appfire products.

Senior Brand Copywriter

Shutterfly, Inc.

As part of Shutterfly's core creative team, I partnered closely with other designers, creative directors, and internal marketers in strengthening the Shutterfly brand narrative across the web and all of its digital properties.

I was responsible for the execution of messaging standards for brand themes, campaigns, and positioning that encompasses a variety of digital and print platforms. My work included strong collaboration with other internal creative teams, and I had an active role in developing and maintaining the brand voice for Shutterfly and its related sub-brands. 

This included, but was not limited to, the creation of Shutterfly messaging guidance for brand themes, campaigns, and positioning to deliver cohesive messaging recommendations that ensured Shutterfly was telling the right (and best) stories to our customers and prospects at every touchpoint of their journey.

SPS Commerce

Digital content strategist and content curator, responsible for the creation of messaging, storytelling, and thought leadership content and e-commerce messaging strategies related to retail supply chain optimization and customer journeys as prioritized by the business. 

My primary function was focused on creating content to build and maintain relationships that promoted and built awareness for the SPS brand. In this effort I partnered closely with internal SPS product marketing, customer success, sales, and technology team peers in support of integrated content messaging including, but not limited to:

–– SPS corporate blog
–– SPS brand governance/style guide
–– Sales enablement messaging
––  Web and campaign content
––  Email content
–– Corporate events content

Senior Content Strategist/Copywriter

NEXT Precision Marketing

Led copywriting/content creation for a variety of key agency accounts. Within this role, I interfaced and collaborated with other internal Art Directors and Client Service Strategy Managers, and freelancers in delivering high-quality messaging solutions. I was also accountable for the successful development and optimization of internal workflow processes and for establishing best practices within the creative team.

Associate Creative Director / Copy

Jostens

Led content creation across every channel of the Jostens brand and its related sub-brands, including governance of brand-right, and SEO friendly content in the Jostens voice for B2C and B2B audiences. Oversaw the development and execution of content for over five Championship wins for professional sports teams spanning the NFL, MLB, NHL, and NBA: Super Bowl, World Series, Stanley Cup, et al.

Senior Copywriter

The Lucid Word LLC: Copywriting + Creative Consultation

Twin-Cities based creative consultant and senior copywriter. I provide creative direction, marketing strategy, and copywriting services for a variety of clients and industries –– both online and off. Some recent clients and help businesses of all sizes create brand personalities that convert prospects to customers. Elevating your brand is what I do best.

Principal/Senior Copywriter

Best  Buy

Responsible for ensuring all in-store messaging delivered a consistent holistic voice for Best Buy customers within all of Best Buy’s external communication channels. Worked closely with art directors, creative directors, environmental designers, and interactive design teams in developing content using print, interactive, and video platforms for significant drive periods, promotional offers, and exclusive campaigns. 

Set the vision, strategy, and lead the team that implemented an enterprise-wide Best Buy U.S. Marketing Copywriting Guidelines update that effectively directed internal partners and agency partners on correct copy usage of the brand. Oversaw BBY Copy Governance Team, which brought together writers from the Dotcom, Yellow Tag, US Marketing and Channel Design & Brand Identity teams to discuss issues around ongoing usage and formatting regulations that applied to the Best Buy Copywriting Guidelines.

Senior Copywriter - Best Buy Channel Design + Brand Identity

Managed and developed a variety of digital and traditional media materials for internal Best Buy Human Resource clients, including web content, articles for employees, presentations, brochures, trigger emails, video scripts, and newsletters. Worked closely with Employee Relations, Recruiting, Diversity & Inclusion, Training, Strengths, Measurement, and Talent Development teams. Created and managed the communications plan for Best Buy’s PRIDE Employee Business Network (EBN).

HR Communications Specialist 

Experience Life magazine - Lifetime Fitness

Coordinated editorial content for the LifeTime Fitness nationally recognized health and wellness publication, Experience Life. Responsible for editorial management and administrative oversight of the magazine project in addition to oversight of editorial traffic and content generation for publicity opportunities. Supported Editor-in-Chief and editorial team with the publication production schedule.

Editorial/PR Coordinator

I believe the best experiences are crafted by knowing who your audience is, listening to them, and developing an authentic and cohesive voice for your product, your company, and your community. 

My goal is to create messaging and conversations that inspire people to engage and companies to be the best versions of themselves they can be. Throughout my career, I've held roles in both agency and corporate environments, creating original and compelling content using both traditional and digital platforms and tools. 

I bring to the table a set of broad marketing communications experiences, meticulous writing skills, years of experience designing successful messaging strategies, and a deep understanding of how to craft fresh, compelling content that drives readers to act. I've helped shape messaging for industries spanning health and wellness, technology, consumer electronics, retail, luxury, real estate, manufacturing, consumer packaged goods, and non-profit — to name just a few. 

I am equally strong as a solo artist or as a creative conductor leading teams and projects and have done both throughout my career. I thrive in large enterprise organizations and small agencies alike, and I have helped clients from both categories in the development of unique messaging solutions that talk to audiences authentically and on-brand. I'm also deeply versed in assisting clients with brand development from the standpoint of shaping brand voice and brand personality.

If you look closely at the red circles, you can clearly see it's AI. Getting really hard to tell these days. 😂

At least the six-fingered hand is a relic now, right?  The machines are learning... just not anatomy.

[Also, the froth can’t decide if it prefers the top or bottom].

Michele Kamenar

Senior Copywriter & Front End Content Strategist | AI-fluent creative for B2B SaaS, B2C ecommerce & highly regulated industries.

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This happened in my DMs this morning. 
Someone reached out claiming to be a recruiter.
Their profile said otherwise. 

No recruiting experience. No connection to any staffing firm. 
When I asked about it, they said they just hadn’t updated their profile to reflect it yet. (The entire profile was of someone who is a content writer, not one detail re: recruiting).

It’s a small example of a problem that’s becoming 
much bigger on LinkedIn.
Fake recruiters are popping up everywhere, 
messaging job seekers, name-dropping companies, 
and sounding just credible enough to lower your guard.

It’s low-key predatory.

If someone’s story doesn’t line up with their public record, 
believe the profile, not the message. 
Don’t move the conversation off-platform. Don’t share personal info. 
Don’t click links or “verification forms.”

People looking for work already face enough uncertainty.
They shouldn’t have to navigate scams on top of it.

LinkedIn needs to do better on this front. 
Recruiters should be verified, with a visible checkmark, 
and their profiles should clearly reflect that role. 

Job seekers deserve better than this.

Senior Strategic Copywriter & Content Strategist | AI-literate voice & messaging leader driving authentic storytelling across SaaS, consumer & regulated industries.

I didn’t expect to discover the biggest insight of my career after being laid off.

A few weeks after the RIF in late August, I came across David Brooks’ book The Second Mountain … one of those late-night rabbit hole scrolls where you’re not looking for anything in particular, then boom, you fall into something that turns into a revelation.

For years, I climbed the first mountain … 

Built a career I cared deeply about. 
Led teams. Built brand voice systems. 
Crafted work that resonated. 

I earned trust. I mentored others. 
I helped brands and people grow. 
And I did it all with intention. 
With heart.

Then August happened.
A layoff announcement.
A sudden stop after years of steady momentum at a company I loved more than any place I had ever worked.

In the space that followed, I asked myself something I’d never really asked before. “Am I still climbing the mountain I wanted, or just the one I started on?”
That’s when the second mountain came into view …
Job titles or KPIs don’t measure it. It asks different questions. 

What do I stand for now?
What kind of work feels aligned? 
Who am I when the applause and structure fall away?

And that question feels even bigger right now. 
So many of us end up leaning so hard into our vocation that we forget what truly *drives* us without a role to anchor to. 
Without the “identity” of work, where do you anchor your value?

At this moment, we are collectively finding ourselves living through one of the most rapid and dramatic technological crossroads the working world has ever seen. 

AI is reshaping how we write, think, create, and lead. 
The pace is relentless. 
The shift is profound. 
Content isn’t just being made differently. 
It’s being defined differently. 

That tension is real, but especially so, for creatives … the strategists, creators, and leaders alike.

Out of sheer necessity, people are making pivots that seem wildly different from what they’ve done before. 
Others are building their own way entirely because the path ahead isn’t as clear as it used to be.

The valley between the mountains isn’t comfortable. But it’s honest. 
And maybe that’s the point. 

To stand still long enough to realize what you’re building toward doesn’t have to look like what you’ve done before. People who’ve been climbing long enough don’t crumble in the pivot. 

They get intentional. 
They HAVE to.
They learn to see differently. 
They build careers the way they build lives. 

Brick by brick. With vision. With resilience. With truth.

So if you’re reading this and are in that space too … between what was and whatever comes next, I see you.

This isn’t starting over. 
It’s starting true.
And maybe that’s where the climb gets interesting.

A little “out of work” inspo for my job-seeking homies. I’m holding space for you today.

Stay the course. 💪🏼 

Acknowledge all the feelings, they’re valid. 

You’re capable, confident and qualified. The right thing will find you. 

I just know it.
xx

¡Ay caramba!

This is what happens when nobody reads the copy before it goes out. 
The paper runs a story with ChatGPT’s suggestion still sitting in the middle, like a sticky note that accidentally made it to press.

I just saw a book do the same thing. Prompt text printed right on the page. 
That is not a glitch. That is a habit.

AI can crank out words. It cannot feel shame. 
It does not care if you look foolish in 12-point type.

That last mile belongs to human eyes. 👀 

So keep the tools, sure. 
But pay the editors. Keep the proofreaders. 
Let the copy nerd in the corner give it one more read.

Machines make it faster. 
Humans keep it from being stupid.

Clearly, this is not enough. The flood of "me too" responses to my post about the rife scamming problem here from the other day is evidence of that. Story in comments.

Your brain wants the big career moment.

The promotion.
The new title.
The announcement.

You crave instant results.
But that’s not how it works (if only it were that easy or simple).

Truth? 

Career growth compounds through small repeated actions, not vision boards, motivational mantra cards or wishin’ and hopin’.

(Hey, no shade on manifestation habits!)

The real move-the-dial stuff?

Weekly coffee chats that build relationships. Thanking someone publicly to build reputation.

Sharing credit in meetings to build trust. Following up within 24 hours. Keeping your manager updated before they ask. 

Introducing two people who should know each other.

Consistency.

Most people wait for motivation. High performers automate the behavior. 

They send the follow up email every time without thinking about it.

Stop chasing flashy career moves.
Build habits that make the move inevitable.

Tell me the unsexy habit that’s actually moved your career forward.

What a fabulous update to start the week with! It only took 3 years to get here! 😂

Absolutely worth your time. Great podcast. Learn how to identify all the 🚩 flags. There are so many you may not know about. #recruitmentscams

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