My name is Michele Foster. I am a native Californian.
PROFESSIONAL BIO
I discovered I had an affinity for writing during my academic career at University of California at Santa Barbara. It was also there that I began to stretch my proofreading and editing wings. One day, a classmate, after hearing a teacher read one of my papers in class (embarassing, thank you), asked me to proofread and edit all papers in his courseload, and asked if I would type them as well. I charged him per hour for the editing and per page for the typing. His grades on his papers improved dramatically and he was thrilled. As a result, he told another classmate about my services, and he also became a client. Shortly thereafter, a small but satisfied clientele was established and maintained throughout my years at UCSB.
During my senior year, another classmate of mine and I formed an academic club in which I wrote and edited articles for our departmental newsletter. Having previosly taken some journalism classes, I felt at ease writing news articles and editorials while my classmate designed the layout. This experience solidified my understanding that graphic design is not my forte, but writing and editing is.
Throughout my post-academic work history, there is a consistent thread of writing and analysis: Proposal generation, training manual and procedure development, research, sales and marketing analysis. Concurrently, I have had the opportunity to learn numerous software programs: All MS Office programs (Excel, Word, Powerpoint, Access), Dreamweaver, Adobe Suite (InDesign, Photoshop, Acrobat Distiller), Quickbooks and Microsoft Money.
Freelancing has allowed me to utilize my pool of knowledge to help others in their quest to bring their ideas professionally and accurately to the web and to print. Let me help you.
PERSONAL BIO
I spent my formative years in the bustling, yet horribly smoggy town of Pasadena, located in Los Angeles County. Taking a circuitous route to a formal education, I worked as a bookkeeper for two years after graduating high school. When I was ready to earn my bachelor's degree, I moved north to Santa Barbara and discovered a far slower pace of life in a much smaller town. In Santa Barbara, I found a wondrous paradise full of creative and intelligent people of all ages, cultures, and financial levels, existing in a town largely supported by the transient tourist and student populations. Two interesting notes about this wonderful town: At the time I lived there, Santa Barbara had more restaurants per capita than any town in the US and the most moderate climate in the world. With the beaches and the mountains within a few miles of each other anad the residents living in between, Santa Barbara in one of the best places in the world for anyone with an active outdoor life.
However, for anyone with financial ambition, Santa Barbara is a difficult environment in which to make a comfortable life. After a decade of the Santa Barbara lifestyle in which I received my Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of California at Santa Barbara, met my husband-to-be, and obtained my first low-paying corporate job, I, with my husband and cat, decided to make a financial move up north. Dan and I moved to Dublin in 1999. Back to the bustle of the big city we decided to go, but with less smog than Pasadena, and far greater earning potential than Santa Barbara. For Dan, this has been a bit of a culture shock (having been born an raised in Santa Barbara), but I believe he has adjusted well. For me, however, I felt immediately at home.
After years of working in a corporate environment, I am now doing what I love to do: Writing and editing. My mother once told me that it is easy to do what you love, but the trick is to make a living at it. I am learning this trick and fully enjoying the experience.
