My story

I have been in the storytelling business since 1990. First in journalism, where I learned skills that are still fundamental to my work today, and then public relations (in-house and agency). I began working in digital content marketing in 2005.

My career began on a weekly sports newspaper in the UK called First Down, which covered American football in the days before the Internet. I climbed the ladder to editor-in-chief and also worked on publications covering basketball, tennis and food. I learned many skills during those six years that still benefit my work today, especially the importance of a good story.

In 1996, I joined the NFL as PR Director of its London Monarchs team, who played in a European league. The next two years were a whirlwind of TV appearances, radio interviews, photo-shoots and community work as we promoted the sport in the UK until the NFL decided to shut down the team.

After a stint in freelance journalism, I joined a PR consultancy in Oxford called Lefevre Communications as a media relations specialist. During the next five years, I worked on more than 50 accounts including Dixons, Currys, MoneyGram, British Telecom, Oxfam, NatWest Insurance, Corus Hotels, Dulux and Eton Group Hotels.

In 2005, I moved to Canada and joined AbeBooks.com as its PR manager. Located in Victoria, British Columbia, AbeBooks is an online marketplace for new, used and rare books. In 2008, my professional life took another turn when AbeBooks was acquired by Amazon.

Over the years at AbeBooks and Amazon, my role expanded to include digital content, on-site and email merchandising, social media, video, podcasting and B2B communications. I spent 18 years using stories to sell books and learned much about used and antiquarian bookselling.

In February 2023, I left AbeBooks to look for new adventures.

Everybody has a story to tell. Often people are so busy they don’t realize there’s a fascinating story behind what they do. My stories include:

  • Attending two Super Bowls;

  • Having brunch with Anthony Bourdain;

  • Adopting a rescue dog called Hunter;

  • Launching the Book Stories Podcast.