Hi!
My name is Mary and I’m a freelance consultant using my experience and expertise to help others pursue their passions and promote their businesses in a digital landscape.
Read on for more information on my qualifications and skills, experience in the workforce, and the ethics and values that guide my work.
I’ve had the opportunity to build expertise in both theoretical and hands-on courses. Through my academic experience, I’ve built the comprehensive and versatile skillset needed to succeed in the modern world of digital media.
Here are some of the highlights of my academic career:
- Majored in Business Administration with a Marketing emphasis, Equine Studies minor, and Multimedia Authoring concentration
- Earned a Master of Arts degree in Digital Media Strategy by completing client-based digital marketing projects and taking classes on analytics, design, and project management
- Achieved a cumulative 4.0 GPA at both the undergraduate and postgraduate level
- Worked as an academic coach and peer educator
- Served as equestrian club historian, community events chair, and president. As president, I led the club through a complete restructuring process and maintained operations during the COVID-19 pandemic
- Competed with the VFIC Ethics Bowl team
- Received a Digital Marketing Certification from Stukent
Over the last 10+ years, I’ve developed experience as a coach, small business owner, photographer, and digital media specialist specializing in data analysis and content creation.
Around age 12, I started coaching swim and riding lessons, helping with my barn’s social media and website, and taking and selling photos at horse shows. When I was 17, I launched On Course Photos – a small business offering horse show photography and portraiture to the Shenandoah Valley.
When I went to college, I turned OCP into a profitable part-time venture by applying knowledge and theory from my courses. I also continued to grow my love of coaching by working as a peer educator and a coaching intern in the riding program at school.
After graduation, I joined the Community Engagement team at 211 Virginia. In that role, I cover a service area of 26 counties and cities and specialize in data analysis, including reporting on the performance of our digital channels.
Now, I split my time between my full-time role with 211 Virginia, managing On Course Photos, and, of course, consulting for local businesses.
Through riding, I’ve learned hard work, self-discipline, and the importance of taking accountability. I’ve also seen firsthand how powerful giving each other a “leg up” can be, especially in an environment where the playing field is not always level. As I’ve grown older, these values and practices have stayed with me both in and out of the barn.
I spent most of my childhood reading horse books, watching horse movies, and begging my parents for riding lessons. I took my first lesson when I was six years old, and the rest is history. Over the past 15+ years, I’ve competed in hunters, jumpers, and equitation, coached lessons, trained horses and ponies, and learned some important life lessons on the way.
Making the equestrian sport more equitable and accessible is a passion project of mine – and one way that I try to do good. Most recently, I’ve written about accessibility and elitism in the world of competitive English riding and led efforts to preserve intercollegiate riding opportunities at Bridgewater College.