Laura McLeod

Portfolio

"People think that stories are shaped by people. In fact, it's the other way around... " - Terry Pratchett, novelist​

 

We connect through stories.

As an enterprising 8-year-old, I appointed myself the neighborhood reporter, wrote and illustrated stories about my block, and sold copies door-to-door to all the neighbors. Thankfully, they obliged, although it took a couple more decades before I considered myself a real writer. 

Now, much of my writing is in corporate communications, creating stories for a variety of audiences in different voices. I'm a solid editor and ghostwriter, with countless corporate documents, manuscripts (fiction and non-fiction), scripts, pitch letters, personal biographies and profiles, and so much more under my proverbial belt. ​Please see below for a handful of writing samples. 

Note: Most of my internal communications writing isn't included here; I'm happy to send samples on request.  

 

McKinstry, Inc. 

• (coming soon)

 

Angela R. Howard Consulting

• ​Consulting: Communications Playbook for culture change (consulting, concept, content creation)

 

Washington Permanente Medical Group (Kaiser Permanente) 

• ​E-Magazine: Spring 2021 Permanente Impact (starting with "Wellness", page 6 *on* the publication)

• Intranet Profile: PA Lenny Smith, on patient experience and anti-racism 

• Intranet: Recruiting for a diverse workforce, HR SVP perspective ​

 

Seattle Credit Union brand journalism (external audience)

• Pacific Northwest Backroads

• Be Security Savvy: Two-Factor Identification

• Be Security Savvy: 9 Tips 

• Best Places to Park in Seattle

• Auto Buying Guide (e-book) 

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Premera Blue Cross / LifeWise Health Plan (internal and external audiences)

• Communications plan: Customer Experience

• Video: Navin Singh's IronMan journey (storyboard and more)

• Video: LifeWise Ambassadors introduction (comms plan, storyboard, video program overall)

Living LifeWise brand journalism for the LifeWise e-magazine, Actively Northwest

• Beyond Goals: 4 Steps to Living a Meaningful Life (link coming soon)

• 60 Seconds of Mindfulness

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Ballard News Tribune 

"Green My Ballard" monthly columnist (print and online): Awareness building about the local/global connection to environmental issues. A sampling of headlines can be found below.​​

• Steps to Lessen Your Footprint 

• Urban Farms: Know Your Neighborhood Farmer 

• How Does Your Garden Grow?  

• Greener Living with Pets 

• Lean Times Equal Greener Lining

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More than just writing, I also produced the following as part of larger campaigns. These are favorites:   

• "Did You Know" campaign for Snohomish County Focus on Farming initaitive: Pocket brochure, 2007 (concept, content, oversaw art direction and production; developed corresponding ad, poster, and outreach campaign) 
  Successfully expanded County Executive Reardon's farming initiative by targeting marketing and PR efforts on vertical and horizontal audiences; this "Did you know" pocket guide was designed to fit easily in shirt or back pockets when distributed at the Evergreen State Fair, rather than litter the grounds like so many other fair handouts. 

• Brochure, 2005 for Seattle Center's Festal series of 20 cultural festivals: Annual brochure (concept, content - including tagline, oversaw design, production, and distribution)
  Overall, developed the Festal brand, their annual marketing and PR campaigns,  and helped event organizers navigate City of Seattle systems.  

 

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