Thea Chard

Thea Chard

Writer, Editor, Designer, Content Producer, Feminist, General Awesome Person

A LITTLE ABOUT ME

Hey there, Internet! I’m Thea, a writer.a designer.an editor.a publisher.a producer.a feminist.a freelancer.a coffee?addict.
Based in Seattle. Did my time in NYC and LA.

LATEST TWEETS

SERVICES

WRITER

I’m a journalist, screenwriter, blogger, content producer, marketer, happy wordsmith & all-you-can-type writer monkey.

EDITOR

What can I say?I love me some red pen! I’m okay at revising my own work, but fantastic at editing?other people’s!

DESIGNER

I’m a digitial designer and UX/UI nerd who loves building products that imrove the way we live. It’s my total jam!

PUBLISHER

I help authors make their publishing dreams come true?with everything from project management to book and jacket design.

PROJECT MANAGER

Years of freelancing have made me a Jack-of-all-trades, bootstrapping boss. Got a problem you need solving? I’m your gal!

JOKESTER

I make jokes when I’m happy, sad, sleepy, stressed and energized. And when all else fails, I try to laugh and help other do the same!

WHERE I’VE WORKED

FUN FACTS

682+ BOOKS READ

371 IDEAS TEXTED

2 STAND-UP SHOWS

136 CRAZY THOUGHTS

MY WORKS

A Thread So Fine

A Thread So Fine

The debut historical fiction novel by Susan Welch. Work included: Cover Design; Paperback and ebook Interior Layout Design; Promotional Marketing Materials; Strategy; Account Administration

Don’t Tell Me It Can’t Be Done

Don’t Tell Me It Can’t Be Done

A redesign of Ray Barnett's forthcoming 2019 autobiography. Work included: Cover Design; Hardcover, Paperback and eBook Interior Layout Design; Promotional Postcard & Marketing Materials Design

Meet Kaus

Meet Kaus

Kaus offers its clients customizable insurance bundles designed to keep costs low and make the process of getting insured simple, straight-forward and easy. See the case study.

Microcopy 101: How To Write For Successful Products

Microcopy 101: How To Write For Successful Products

This comprehensive introduction for Designlab covers what microcopy is, how to use it to improve the UX and UI design process, the 7 dos and don'ts, and a 3 freebie microcopy 101 checklists.

You Are the Boss: Take Control of Your Financial Destiny

You Are the Boss: Take Control of Your Financial Destiny

Book design, custom graphics and book strategy for "You Are the Boss: Take Control of Your Financial Destiny," a half-half memoir, half-financial self-help for anyone looking to take control of their financial lives.

Designlab: UX Academy Journey

Designlab: UX Academy Journey

A 20-part blog series for Designlab, chronicling my experience as a part-time student in their six-month UX Academy, Weingart cohort.

Hinsdale Lake Terrace

Hinsdale Lake Terrace

Original marketing content providing a thorough scope of the Chicago real estate market.

Only Believe

Only Believe

A memoir by Ray Barnett. Work included: Cover Design; Hardcover and ebook Interior Layout Design

We Are Absolutely Not Okay

We Are Absolutely Not Okay

Anthology of true stories by fourteen teens coping with difficult pasts and seizing new futures.

View All Stories at Xconomy

View All Stories at Xconomy

While at Xconomy.com, Thea wrote an average of four to five stories daily. Want to see them all in one place? View the complete works.

Toward a New Land Speed Record: A Day in the Life of the North American Eagle ?Turbojet Car? | Xconomy

Toward a New Land Speed Record: A Day in the Life of the North American Eagle ?Turbojet Car? | Xconomy

44 Volunteers. An 11-year journey. The goal: 800 miles per hour.

Washington Startups Bring in $51.7M in September, Healthcare, Internet, and Software Sectors Lead in Deals | Xconomy

Washington Startups Bring in $51.7M in September, Healthcare, Internet, and Software Sectors Lead in Deals | Xconomy

Every month we take some time to look at the deals Washington tech and biotech companies inked in the month prior, and compare them to recent trends. Unlike our weekly investment deals roundups, these monthly features give us the opportunity to look back through both the large investment that made big headlines when they broke, as well as the smaller ?under the radar? deals that may have gone unnoticed.

NW Energy Angel Kiki Tidwell Seeks to Professionalize Angel Investing Through Kauffman Fellowship | Xconomy

NW Energy Angel Kiki Tidwell Seeks to Professionalize Angel Investing Through Kauffman Fellowship | Xconomy

Kiki Tidwell, when she was growing up, had planned on entering the family business. She was raised in Hawaii, and throughout her childhood she and her parents traveled to Aspen, CO often to tend to the family restaurant. When Tidwell graduated high school, she enrolled in the hotel and restaurant management program at the University of Denver.

Born to run, but in which year?

Born to run, but in which year?

The oldest working man in Britain, at the age of 101, trains to run the London Marathon, stopping only for a beer and smoke break.

Casual Connect?s Main Theme in 2010: The Intersection of Casual and Social Gaming is a Game Changer | Xconomy

Casual Connect?s Main Theme in 2010: The Intersection of Casual and Social Gaming is a Game Changer | Xconomy

Two years ago our very own tech editor, Greg Huang, found himself questioning what exactly ?casual? gaming was. That was before he attended his first Casual Connect, a three-day conference that draws over 3,000 casual gaming professionals to Seattle very year.

Novel Seeks to Marry Casual Games With MMOs in ?Empire & State? | Xconomy

Novel Seeks to Marry Casual Games With MMOs in ?Empire & State? | Xconomy

I have never played a massively multiplayer online (MMO) video game. Okay, that?s not entirely true. I played World of Warcraft once. In college. I was experimenting. But that was it, I never got hooked. I guess I failed to see the point of getting so invested in the virtual world, when I could barely keep up with all of my interests and responsibilities in the real world.

Wearable Art: Amy Claire Brings Artistry & Innovation to Fashion

Wearable Art: Amy Claire Brings Artistry & Innovation to Fashion

Sneak peak at fashion designer Amy McCormick's fall line of wearable art, part of new label Amy Claire.

McKinstry Innovation Center Cozies into Position as Cleantech ?Accelerator?, Director Elsa Croonquist On What?s Next

McKinstry Innovation Center Cozies into Position as Cleantech ?Accelerator?, Director Elsa Croonquist On What?s Next

Perched atop two floors of parking on the McKinstry campus, the Seattle-based consulting, construction, and energy firm has built the first real space of its kind dedicated entirely to fostering the local cleantech industry. The McKinstry Innovation Center is fast becoming a 24,000-square-foot oasis for up-and-coming clean energy startups.

Write Havoc

Write Havoc

A blog full of writerly thoughts on writerly living.

An ancient mystery set in stone

An ancient mystery set in stone

A new excavation at Stonehenge seeks to prove that it was not a shrine of the dead, but rather a temple of healing.

Three Wise Men

Three Wise Men

A rabbi, a sheikh and a pastor walk into a bar... Seattle's own "Interfaith Amigos" take on questions of religion and sensitivity together.

Campaign against Heathrow expansion hits new heights

Campaign against Heathrow expansion hits new heights

Greenpeace environmental activists fight a proposal to add a third runway to London's Heathrow airport by protesting on top of a plane on the runway.

Inquest of Diana’s death presses on

Inquest of Diana’s death presses on

Over a decade after the tragic deaths of Princess Diana and her partner Dodi Fayed, Dodi's father and Harrods department store owner Mohamed Fayed insists the royal family plotted to kill the couple.

Ming the gap, please

Ming the gap, please

My favorite "Dirty Laundry" column: What the London Underground's cautionary catchphrase "Mind the Gap" tells us, daily, about the meaning of life and our place in it.

Technology Alliance Showcases Four New Companies in Biotech and Cleantech, and Revisits One Past Presenter | Xconomy

Technology Alliance Showcases Four New Companies in Biotech and Cleantech, and Revisits One Past Presenter | Xconomy

The Technology Alliance put on its fifth ?Innovation Showcase? at the Rainier Square Conference Center earlier this week in Seattle, where a handful of up and coming local technology and life sciences companies presented their projects to a select group of entrepreneurs, businesspeople, academics, and potential investors.

The Must List

The Must List

Seattle magazine's top "to dos" for the month, from the symphony, to Seattle's first annual steampunk symposium, to a festival all about fungi.

The best things in life are free

The best things in life are free

When this writer inherits a 18-year-old Mercedes Benz otherwise destined for the junkyard, she learns the best (and worst) things in like really can be free.

Battling my inner narcoleptic

Battling my inner narcoleptic

The struggles of a perpetual night own on a quest to wake up early and actually function during daylight.

Bar Hop: 9 Million in Unmarked Bills

Bar Hop: 9 Million in Unmarked Bills

Bar hop on over to 9 Million in Unmarked Bills for a Bonnie & Clyde-meets-Belltown experience in Fremont's old Triangle Lounge.

British accents make it all better

British accents make it all better

When a spoonful of sugar just doesn't do the trick, two friends adopt British accents and chat away their worries.

Call me a scab, and hand me a pencil

Call me a scab, and hand me a pencil

A starving student falls victim to a short-lived fantasy of becoming a studio scab during the 2007-2008 Writers Guild of America strike.

What a Waste of Paper

What a Waste of Paper

Vonnegut, the Los Angeles Times (lost) book room, and a young writer amidst a mini existential crisis when faced with the unknown future of a writing life.

DPS and the lonely heard club band

DPS and the lonely heard club band

Campus police accuse this writer of rabble-rousing revolutionary activities with Sgt. Pepper on a midnight stroll gone awry.

Road Trip: Allison Inn & Spa

Road Trip: Allison Inn & Spa

Check out the latest in eco luxury living on this month's Road Trip to the Allison Inn & Spa, a new 35-acre resort in Newberg, Oregon.

Running on empty, in cute clothes

Running on empty, in cute clothes

A girl who can't run attempts to pound the proverbial pavement, as exercise, as therapy, as meditation, as a means of escape.

The pain of going home for the High Holy Days

The pain of going home for the High Holy Days

A young woman struggles to answer her 93-year-old grandmother's unending question, "Why don't you have a boyfriend?" (Because she had dementia and kept forgetting she'd already asked it. A lot.)

The Foodie’s Calendar: OysterFest!

The Foodie’s Calendar: OysterFest!

Seattle magazine's top recommendation for the local foodie looking for their next culinary fix.

Killing time with maps, or the geography of boredom

Killing time with maps, or the geography of boredom

How does a proper college lady combat boredom on a lazy night in? By obsessively studying African geography, that's how!

Not home for the holidays

Not home for the holidays

When a bus merges into your car and you don't have enough money to go home for Thanksgiving, remember home is where your teddy bear lives and roommates can be the best friends you've got.

WORK HISTORY

2009 +

Freelance Writer, Editor, Designer & Publisher

ME, MYSELF AND I

I work as a freelance writer, editor, print and digital book editor, and web designer and consultant, and spend my free time tying to make people laugh on dimly lit stages all around Seattle (formerly NYC). It’s tough work, but I wouldn’t know any other way.

2018 +

Content Creator & UX Academy Student

Designlab

I write original design-focused feature stories for the Designlab blog and Medium channel, as well as a chronicle the student experience in the Designlab UX Academy part-time track in a blog series exploring the coursework, the field of UX design and related design topics.

2018 +

Content Officer

Webship Solutions

Lead content strategy, creation & multimedia storytelling development for Webship Solutions, an agile digital agency startup specializing in web-based branding and digital account management for a fast-growing, multi-industry client base. Current roster includes local small businesses, artists and entrepreneurs, as well as large energy and technology companies.

2016-17

Marketing & Client Services Specialist

CBRE Affordable Housing

Created custom content & multimedia marketing collateral for national client base, focusing on economic, technological and investment-based development surrounding the aordable housing market, while serving as client liason managing needs from research to execution. As part of the marketing and client services team, I also managed a redesign of our offering memorandum marketing collateral, keeping in line with corporate branding guidelines as well as creating a marketing brand guide and teaching internal workshops on design skills training and best practices.

2011-16

Research Assistant

Endless Picnic Films

Conduct investigative research and fact-check several film and documentary projects, including the 2014 Cannes nominated ?Jodorowsky?s Dune.?

2011-16

Script Supervisor

Endless Picnic Films

Assisted with production and post-production tasks on various documentary, commercial and narrative shoots, including Endless Picnic?s original web series, ?Good Work, Johnson!?

2012-16

Personal Assistant

Deena Levy Theatre Studio

Assisted prominent NYC acting teacher with various tasks, including designing marketing materials, managing web content and social media presence, bookkeeping, office management, student outreach and liaise, and stage managing showcases.

2012

Production Assistant

THE KNOT

I?copy edited, fact checked and oversaw design items for publication in the upcoming winter/spring issue, and generally?assisted in the implementation of a tight editing?schedule to ensure production?deadlines were met.

2011

Assistant Media Manager

URBAN PHILMS

I assisted with data capture, management and logging of tapes, as well as equipment preparation during film shoots, and handled the?implementation of various tasks during set-up, filming and post-production.

2011

Transcriber

SHARP ENTERTAINMENT

I transcribed tape, interviews and b-roll for numerous reality TV shows, assisting story producers in the editing process for each series.

2009-10

Assistant Editor

XCONOMY.COM, SEATTLE BUREAU

As the assistant editor to the Seattle Bureau of Boston-based business news startup Xconomy.com, I pitched, researched?and wrote?features stories, breaking news and briefs on technology, business and economic news with local and regional ties.?

2009-11

Managing Editor

QUEENANNEVIEW.COM (NEXT DOOR MEDIA)

I served as the editor, writer, photographer and web administrator of hyperlocal community news site QueenAnneView.com from 2009 to 2011, providing daily multimedia coverage of local issues, events, features & breaking news in Queen Anne, Seattle. During my tenure, I worked?with news partner The Seattle Times on a pilot project partnering the local paper with hyperlocal publications around town to promote citywide multimedia projects and community-based coverage.

2009-10

Social Media Director

RC STRATEGIES GROUP

I helped small businesses develop, implement and manage their social media-based online presence, as well as oversaw the?RC Strategies Group online platform via company blog, Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn profiles.

2009-10

Editorial Assistant

SEATTLE MAGAZINE

I wrote monthly feature stories and reviews of Seattle-area restaurants, events, arts and culture subjects and local figures, regularly?pitching stories, conducting research and interviews, fact checking copy, and assisting editorial staff in the production cycle and planning of future issues.

2008-09

Digital Media Assistant

AMERICAN PUBLIC MEDIA

I converted, edited and transcribed audio stories from APM’s Marketplace & Marketplace Money programs for online viewing using AP style and HTML editing, managing the web?packaging of story copy, pictures/graphics and audio/video multimedia clips.

2008-09

Online Editor

DAILY TROJAN

I managed and curated the DT’s daily online content and presided over the layout of dailytrojan.com, as well as spearhead multimedia development through?ongoing blogs, podcasts, image galleries/photo essays and more.

2008

Staff Writer, London Bureau

LOS ANGELES TIMES

I wrote news and feature stories for the Los Angeles Times’ foreign desk, “World” section. Additionally, I assisted the London bureau chief with interviews, research, editing and background reporting for various follow-up pieces.

2007

Editorial Assistant

LOS ANGELES TIMES

I assisted the LA Times Calendar and Metro sections with daily production needs, including collecting and?distributing proofs from press to newsroom for final editing before printing.

2006-07

Features Editor

DAILY TROJAN

I managed submissions under the DT Lifestyle desk, oversaw a team of staff writers and editors to assign, edit & develop stories. I also wrote?a weekly Lifestyle column entitled ?Dirty Laundry?.

2007

Editorial Intern

SANTA MONICA DAILY PRESS

I researched and reported news and features stories, as well as assisted with daily?production duties.

2007

Staff Writer

ANNENBERG RADIO NEWS

I researched stories, conducted interviews and scripted news pieces, as well as cut sound bites and built audio story packages.

2006-07

Design Director

DAILY TROJAN

I served as the Design Director of the Daily Trojan, heading up the day-to-day design as we went to press,?managing a?staff of designers, and launching the paper’s 2006 redesign.

2005-09

Staff Writer

DAILY TROJAN

I researched and?wrote?stories for the Lifestyle & City sections, assisted in?fact checking, copy editing and section design for the Features desk.

EDUCATION HISTORY

2012

Scene Study

DEENA LEVY THEATRE STUDIO

I studied two-person scene performance for two years at the Deena Levy Theatre Studio, culminating in a professional showcase in June 2013.

2011

Improv & Sketch Comedy Writing

UPRIGHT CITIZENS BRIGADE

After moving to New York in 2011, I began taking improv and sketch writing classes at the famed Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre

2009

Print and Digital Journalism & Creative Writing

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

I earned a Bachelor’s Degree at the University of Southern California, where I double majored in Print Journalism at the Annenberg School for Communication, and Creative Writing.?There I began my journalistic career, publishing in the Los Angeles Times, USC’s Daily Trojan, and the Santa Monica Daily Press before graduation.

EDITING SKILLS

FINAL CUT

AVID/PRO TOOLS

PREMIERE

DESIGN SKILLS

INDESIGN

PHOTOSHOP

ILLUSTRATOR

DREAMWEAVER

DEVELOPMENT SKILLS

WordPress

HTML & CSS

Google Analytics

Javascript & jQuery

COMPUTER SKILLS

FINAL DRAFT

INCOPY

MICROSOFT OFFICE SUITE

APPLE iWORK

TESTIMONIALS

SUSAN WELCH

SUSAN WELCH AUTHOR, A Thread So Fine

Thea Chard has many fantastic professional qualifications, but top among them is her unwavering can-do attitude backed with true design skills.? I entrusted her to design my historical novel book, from cover to content, after a bad mis-step that had left me feeling insecure about my entire project.? With Thea, I was swept up in a current of positivity and talent. Her eye for design elements was just the beginning.? I deeply appreciated her willingness to go outside of her already large box to push her design concepts ever further. Her proactive, honest and reliable communication with me throughout the process never let me down.??Thea continued to assist me with book launch activities that would have been overwhelming without her experience.? If you want your project to be both professionally designed AND fun – finding Thea Chard will have been a very lucky discovery.

STEVEN BLUM

STEVEN BLUM WRITER / REPORTER, VICE Media

Thea Chard has been invaluable to me as an editor. She has an uncanny ability to understand the ingredients necessary in creating an illuminating, original, entertaining story. Her relentlessly positive, can-do attitude always make you feel encouraged and supported. She’s also incredibly well-read, helping you place your story within the current media ecosystem. I would recommend her to any writer or publication in need of editorial guidance.

INGRID RICKS

INGRID RICKS AUTHOR / ACTIVIST

Thea knows who she is and has the rare ability to transcend age and connect?with anyone she meets. She?s a gifted writer who moves seamlessly from?copywriting, to community journalism, to creative writing. But it?s her fearlessness?and passion to stretch herself and carve her own path that sets her apart.?Thea?s not scared of uncertainty; she thrives on it… She?brings a wide and varied writing background??from journalism and creative?nonfiction, to short stories, poetry, blogging, and humor writing. Give her five?minutes of your time and you?ll understand why you need her.?

JOYCE CHEN

JOYCE CHEN EDITOR, US WEEKLY / FOUNDER SEVENTH WAVE MAG

I had the great privilege of working with Thea first as a lifestyle writer under her editorship and then as her editor when she assumed the online editor position at USC’s Daily Trojan. Thea was the first editor to ever take on the newly created position, and she met and exceeded my expectations. She was proactive in finding new ways for the paper to expand its web presence with the use of more photo galleries and a more user-friendly interface. She was a great asset to the team with her can-do attitude, journalistic know-how and open lines of communication, and wouldn’t be anything less for any future company or employer she works with.

LESLEY WASSERMAN

LESLEY WASSERMAN MASTERS DEGREE CANDIDATE, NYU

Thea Chard’s editing skills are superb in every sense of the word. She can seamlessly adapt her expertise according to the style of writing she is editing, from lyrical poetry to subject-specific technical essays. She is a master at perfecting word flow and honing in on powerful diction to convey the topic at hand. ?As a woman who holds a B.A. in Creative Writing and a B.A. in Print Journalism, Thea’s acute attention to detail is one of her strongest assets, as her eye and mind are vastly versatile. Thea was an enormous help to me when I was applying to graduate school. With her keen attentiveness to enhancing the foundation of my essays, I received admission New York University, Columbia University, and Sciences Po Paris. Thea’s ability to edit and augment any writing style is unparalleled.

DOWNLOAD MY RESUME

You can download my resume in pdf format if you like. I currently work?as a freelance writer and editor and am always looking for new and interesting projects to get involved in. I love what I do!

DOWNLOAD RESUME

VIEW MY LINKEDIN PROFILE

You can view my LinkedIn profile. I currently work as a freelance writer, editor and general word monkey. View my portfolio and follow updates on my work here on my website.

MY LINKEDIN PROFILE

LET’S GET IN TOUCH

Thea Chard

Thea Chard

theachard (at) gmail (dot) com

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Seattle, WA

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Hi, there! I’m Thea, and I’m a freelance writer, designer and multimedia storyteller based in Seattle, WA. I enjoy telling engaging stories that engage, evoke and empower.

My background in both the media and content marketing amounts to more than ten years of experience in multimedia communications. As a writer, journalist, and book designer and editor, I honed my skills in interviewing and research, narrative composition, and creative project management. My passion for storytelling in all forms serves as a valuable pillar strengthening my work in UX design and informing my personal approach to user-centered ideation.

When I’m not designing and writing, I enjoy reading, baking, camping, and doing crosswords with my partner (in between episodes of our favorite streaming shows, that is!) I’ve also been known to wake up in the middle of the night in a fit of inspiration from time to time, ever appreciative of the spark it ignites in both myself and my work.

A lover of lifelong learning and trying new things, I am always looking for opportunities to grow, develop new skills, and create beautiful works with others.

Sound like your cup of tea? Drop me a note and let’s chat!