Welcome to A Dash of Paprika, my split-personality blog!

After years of trying to figure out how to write about work and non-work related topics without creating two different blogs, my designer partner-in-crime wrangled a solution through the magic of tagging and design.

You can read my freewheeling take on work- and content-related topics in the Dash of Business Paprika. I’ll write about my adventures in New York City and beyond in A Dash of Fun Paprika. No matter which path you take, I hope these posts brings a little zip into your day as you take a break in between meetings, get stuck in a subway, or wherever the words find you.

A Dash of Business Paprika A Dash of Fun Paprika

The 1918 Spanish Flu Gets Its Due

April 5, 2020

The 1918 Spanish Flu is having a moment. People don’t usually talk about the Spanish Flu unless another pandemic rears its ugly head, as Covid-19 is now. Just this week the New York Times published two articles about how New York City and Philadelphia fared during the Spanish Flu. While both cities suffered greatly it [...] Read More

Content Strategy at the MTA

March 7, 2020

Content Strategy at the MTA The recruiter was vague when we first talked. The project sounded interesting but I was happy where I was, and didn’t hear anything compelling enough to consider a move. That all changed on the next call when she revealed I’d be doing content strategy at the MTA. They’d just launched [...] Read More

Lucha Libre Family Night in Guadalajara

February 2, 2020

Lucha Libre on Domingoes Familiares Good vs Evil. Feats of strength. Speedos. Smoke bombs mixing with blinky lights. Masked men flying through ropes. And oh yes, glitter. There’s nothing quite like seeing Lucha libre on Domingoes Familiares, or family wrestling night at Guadalajara’s Arena Coliseo. Wrestling in Worcester and Guadalajara My brother and I [...] Read More

The Divine Lorraine Hotel At Last

April 30, 2019

My biggest and only regret from when I lived in Philly? That’s easy. It was not breaking into the Divine Lorraine Hotel to check out the shabby beauty hiding behind those grimy, graffiti covered walls. The Divine Lorraine Hotel: Love at First Sight I fell in love with the Divine Lorraine Hotel the first time [...] Read More

I Hate FAQs

February 4, 2019

Here’s a free idea for anyone thinking of redesigning a site: get rid of the FAQs. Each and every one. I hate FAQs. Hate, hate, hate, hate them. I hate them so much I’m not going to waste time making an FAQ image for this post. FAQs are a leftover from the interwebs era and [...] Read More

The Chairman Mao Watch, My All-Time Favorite SWAG

July 23, 2018

I’ve spent many a year in Corporate America, and I’ve gotten a lot of free stuff. I’ve thrown almost all of it away but one item remains: the Chairman Mao watch I got when I worked at Monster. Here’s how it landed on my wrist. I worked at Monster in 2005. It was past its [...] Read More

Taking the LIRR to Long Beach on the Cheap

July 23, 2018

One Friday night before a gorgeous weekend, my friend’s voice drifted into my head. “Take the LIRR to Long Beach,” it said. “It’s not far from the City and when you get off the train the boardwalk’s right there.” Going to the beach by public transit is surely one of New York City’s summertime joys, [...] Read More

My Free Nap in New York City

May 10, 2018

How much would you pay to take a power nap in the middle of New York City? Finding a few minutes of peace to recharge and plow through the rest of my day is something I’d pay for, but only if the price is right. Of course there are apps that grant access to hotel [...] Read More

Why is a Taxonomy Important?

May 2, 2018

Why is a taxonomy important? Our clients needed to know. They’d never worked on a web project before and didn’t understand why we couldn’t just add new top-level pages to their site whenever the need arose. We’d presented a ton of visuals but they couldn’t grasp how the taxonomy blended with UX and design to [...] Read More

My 2018 Vision Board

February 7, 2018

Last year I started freelancing for real. In December I was thrilled, and a little shocked, to see that 2017 was more successful than I thought it would be. I wanted the good juju to continue into 2108 so when I received an invite to Ripley Strategy’s 2018 Vision Board party to kick off the new [...] Read More

My Fabulous, Durable Travel Gear

January 1, 2018

Once upon a time I traveled for work as a content consultant. I took a trip about every three weeks and visited different cities in the US and abroad. The points I racked up during my road warrior days are long gone but my fabulous, durable travel gear remains. I’ve road-tested my gear on countless [...] Read More

My Confab Top Five: What I Learned at Confab Intensive 2017

October 29, 2017

Attending Brain Traffic’s Confab Intensive in fabulous Denver, CO was one of the best decisions I’ve made in 2017. As a freelancer I don’t always get the chance to interact with, and learn from, colleagues on a daily basis. I had a hunch Confab would fill that void and I’m thrilled my gut instincts were [...] Read More

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Emily is an amazing analytical human who can turn verbal diarrhea into pithy copy that cuts through the noise and makes an impact.

Calum Kilgour | Slingshot Edge

I’ve had the pleasure of working with Emily in several message development workshops. The workshops are intense and a lot of work, but made fun and exciting by Emily and her team. They are masters of pulling out the significant details and helping craft a message that communicates the true value of your products and services. Emily in particular is very astute in assigning value to ideas making it possible for the true message to rise to the top.

Michael Rocco | Power School

Emily is among the best writers I had the privilege of working with, during my nearly-20 years in marketing. Not only is Emily a great pro and a wonderful writer, who knows how to capture the essence of a story and pass it to the reader in a clear and precise way, but she is also a fun person to work with.

Ilan Vagenshtein | Marketing, Sales Enablement & Business Development

Emily worked with my team at iCrossing as a freelance Content Strategist for about 7 months and became an invaluable member of our team. Once she’s immersed herself into a project she becomes a go-to resource, retaining even the most minute details. I felt extremely comfortable when Emily took responsibility for a piece of the project because I knew it would be done well, on time, and she would be able to speak to any questions that our clients may have had.

Charlie Chapin | Associate Director of Operations, Essence

Emily is one of the most astute, analytical, and strategic forward-thinking executives I have worked with in a marketing capacity — all helped with a keen creative mind and an exceptional sense of humor. Her ability to synthesize complex business needs and devise a creative win-win solution for her clients truly sets her apart from her competitors. I would not hesitate to use her services when the need arises.

Jeffrey Hirschberg | Writer-Director/Film Professor