Content Development · Research · Writing
Complex Topics. Clear Writing. Every Time.
I've spent my career taking complicated subjects and making them accessible — on public radio, in print, and in commissioned reports for clients who needed depth and precision, not approximations.
From 2015 to 2017, I worked as a freelance researcher for AskWonder, a platform that matched clients with expert researchers for rapid-turnaround intelligence reports. Clients came with specific, often highly specialized questions — market sizing, competitive analysis, industry fragmentation, legislative landscape, consumer behavior — and needed answers that were accurate, well-sourced, and written clearly enough to actually use.
I completed over 30 commissioned reports across industries as varied as airport retail, European metals distribution, nonprofit fundraising strategy, on-demand food delivery, and LMS platforms for higher education. No two questions were the same. That was the point.
The skill isn't just finding information — it's knowing what to do when the information isn't cleanly available, understanding when a source is authoritative versus convenient, and translating raw findings into something a decision-maker can actually read and act on. Each report required delivering a polished, professional document typically within 24 to 48 hours of receiving the brief. My background as a writer, journalist, and college instructor shaped how I approached every one: methodically, with a high bar for sourcing, and with the reader's actual needs — not just the literal question — in mind.
On Getting It Right When the Answer Isn't Obvious
Good research sometimes means clearly naming what you couldn't find — and explaining why. When a client asked for European metals distribution market size and the data simply wasn't publicly available, I didn't approximate my way to a satisfying-sounding number.
I documented every source I searched, explained why the specific figure was structurally unavailable, identified the closest proxy data that did exist, and let the client make an informed decision about how to proceed. That's the editorial instinct that journalism teaches you: the fact that something is hard to find is itself useful information. Transparency about methodology isn't a hedge — it's part of the deliverable.
Selected Reports
A representative sample across domains · each delivered to a real client with a real deadline
March 2016
Comparing LMS Platforms for Higher Education
I compared up to 10 online course platforms — including Blackboard, Laulima, and Moodle — with attention to cost and user interface. As an instructor in higher education with hands-on experience across several of these platforms, I was able to go beyond spec sheets and offer genuine comparative insight, including where vendor claims and real-world faculty experience diverged.
June 2016
Mobile Medical Cart Market Sizing — North America
I determined the market size for the mobile medical cart industry for a specific product line. The client explicitly wanted to see the reasoning, not just the number — so I documented my methodology step by step, noted exactly where public data ended and estimation began, and identified the gap between globally available statistics and the North American-specific figures they needed.
February 2017
Tapingo vs. Postmates vs. DoorDash — On-Demand Food Delivery Analysis
I analyzed Tapingo and how it differentiates from other on-demand food delivery companies, particularly in the college campus market. Required triangulating market data from McKinsey and TechCrunch with company-level competitor profiling — a mix of macro and micro that demanded careful scoping.
February 2017
Fragmentation in the European Metals Distribution Industry
How fragmented is the metals distribution industry in Europe? A classic research challenge — the specific data didn't cleanly exist. Rather than approximate or deflect, I documented exactly what I searched, what I found and didn't find, why the data was structurally unavailable, and what proxy indicators could reasonably substitute. Transparency over false precision.
April 2017
Multichannel Fundraising Best Practices for Nonprofits
Best practices and case studies for nonprofit fundraising campaigns integrating mass media, direct mail, online, and a donation-optimized landing page. A synthesis brief across multiple years of industry reporting — required identifying which publications covered this intersection and organizing findings by channel type without losing the through-line about what makes multichannel campaigns succeed.
April 2017
Innovation in Airside Retail — Global Survey
Who is innovating in airside retail, particularly in communication and technology for customer service? A genuinely global brief — findings ranged from Singapore to Sydney to Dubai — requiring synthesis across geography, business model, and technology type into a coherent picture of where airport retail was heading.
Your Subject Is Complicated. Your Content Doesn't Have to Be.
If you need someone who can go deep on a topic — understand it, source it carefully, and write it so your audience actually gets it — let's talk about what you're working on.
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