Archive for the ‘Meet the Team’ Category

Meet the Team- Marnie Bii

Monday, June 22nd, 2015

rsz_marnieToday’s interview features one of our columnists, Marnie Bii. Marnie has been writing for PeKu since April of 2014. In this time she has covered a number of topics for us, including pets, travel, fitness, shopping, and home decor. I have found her articles to be both inspiring and informative. In fact, on many a Monday after reading her bargain article, I have gone in search of these shopping steals!

Rather than embarking on a list of the fashion buys I’ve bought, let me introduce you to Marnie!

MPK: When you aren’t writing articles, what do you like to do with your free time?

MB: As a mom of two young kids, I don’t have a lot of actual free time. Luckily, I love taking them to the park, doing crafts, playing games, helping with homework and teaching them how to cook. Whenever possible, I like to go on road trips and attend local races and car shows. I spend the late evening hours catching up on my favorite TV shows, playing video games and reading books.

MPK: You write for a handful of our publications. Do you have a favorite?

MB: As an anthropology major, I absolutely love to write about venues and events found throughout the world for Good Life Review. The research and writing process gives me a glimpse into those locations that I would not have enjoyed otherwise. With each new article I write, I add another venue to the long bucket list of places to visit as soon as traveling becomes a possibility. Feathers, Fins and Fur is a close second because I love helping people care for their companions.  

MPK: You write about pet products and caring for a variety of pets. Do you have any pets in your home?

MB: Yes, we have one black cat named Rocket. Since we nursed him back to health from four weeks on, he thinks he is more people than cat. He loves to curl up in the kids’ arms like a baby and play chase games throughout the house. When the kids are not home, he slowly stalks through the house alternately calling for the kids and pouting on his cat tree.

MPK: In your bio, you note that you enjoy the automotive and gaming communities in Seattle. Are you a gamer?

MB: When time allows, yes, I love to play video games alone and with the family. Since I’ve recently turned my attention to the games we have for our consoles, I have uncompleted PC games piling up from the last few Steam sales. I am also slowly working my way through the Pokemon world on my 3DS. I am excited to start up Fantasy Life as soon as I complete the main story on Pokemon. As a family, we frequently build new worlds together on Space Engineers and Terraria.

MPK: What fun facts would our readers be surprised to learn about you?

MB: Just a few things:

  • For the last year, I have closely followed the LCHF keto diet to improve my health.
  • I enjoy the challenge of piloting RC cars on pavement, dirt and grass surfaces.
  • I recently obtained a couple new RC cars, a HPI Sprint 2 Drift 350Z and Tamiya XV-01 Lancia.
  • I have only been to two states, Washington and Michigan, and never out of the country.
  • I am planning to go back to school for my Master’s in Library Sciences degree in the near future.

Meet the Team- Mary Regan

Monday, April 27th, 2015

Mary-259x400This month’s interview was conducted with the second of our two interns this semester. (Click here to read last month’s intern interview.) Mary Regan is filling the role of our Communications Specialist. A junior at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, she has been adding posts to several of our Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram accounts. Additionally, she is working on a new promotion that involves PeKu bracelets. Read on to learn more about Mary.

MPK: What do you do in your role as the Communications Specialist?

MR: In my role as the Communications Specialist at PeKu Publications I manage a lot of the social media presence of PeKu. I post the articles for Parched No More, Feathers Fins and Fur, Think Tasty, Your Parenting Info, and the general PeKu account to Twitter on a daily basis. I also write the Facebook posts for PeKu, pin to our 11 different boards on Pinterest, and manage the Instagram accounts for Think Tasty, My Fitness Tunes, and Good Life Review. I also recently wrote a press release about our social media expansions and distributed PeKu brand bracelets displaying our #PeKuLovesYou twitter hashtag.

MPK: What is your favorite part of the role?

MR: That’s a rough questions! There have been a few favorite parts. It surprised me a bit that one of my favorite parts of each day is reading all of the articles I post about. The advice and tips are almost always awesome and are things I can apply to my life, and I have totally tried some of the recipes and DIY ideas. I also really love what a learning experience this has been. My role has been much more broad than I expected, and I have learned so much about social media.

MPK: As a student at St. Anselm College, have any of your classes helped with the internship?

MR: The mediated communications class that I took last semester definitely helped me in some aspects of this internship. And, of course, my writing classes and English major background have helped me manipulate language in a creative way despite the limited-character posts on Twitter.

MPK: What are your post-graduation goals? (Or as that is a year away, what are your senior year goals?)

MR: My goal for next year would be to just finish my college career strong! My post-grad goals are definitely becoming clearer the closer I get to the finish line. I would like to move to a bigger city and find a job! I would love to work in social media or PR and eventually go to grad school. I love sports so working for a sports team would be my dream job, but it’s a very competitive market so I think this internship has taught me that doing social media or PR for a company would suit me well also.

MPK: What fun fact would our readers be surprised to learn about you?

MR: I think our readers would be surprised to learn that I am an avid runner. I run almost every day and ran my first marathon just before the start of my internship with PeKu. And, I am currently in training to run another marathon in May!

Meet the Team- Meghan Kelly

Monday, March 23rd, 2015

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAThis month’s interview was conducted with one of our two interns this semester. Meghan Kelly is filling the role of our Features Reporter. A senior at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, she has been busy working with our editorial team to create excellent content on a number of our publications, including Holidays Helper, ‘Bout Home, and Little Bit of Green. Read on to learn more about Meghan.

MPK: What do you do in your role as the Features Reporter?

MK: As the Features Reporter, I interview professionals and experts in their area of expertise and write up their information and advice for the public. Topics range from baking and gardening to home organization and décor.

MPK: What is your favorite part of the role?

MK: My favorite part of being the Features Reporter is learning new ideas with each different article. A few weeks ago I did a feature article on indoor gardening projects during the winter, and I interviewed Julia Loven who used a bag of gardening soil to grow herbs all year round. I loved the idea, and I want to try it next winter!

MPK: As a student at St. Anselm College, have any of your classes helped with the internship?

MK: I took a Journalism class last semester and learned guidelines for interviewing and citing my sources, which I use for every article I write. Where my English major has taught me punctuation and grammar and helped me develop ideas and present them clearly, the Journalism class helped me to foster an engaging, rather than literary, style of writing.

MPK: What are your post-graduation goals?

MK: This summer I have a journalism internship in D.C., which I am thrilled to start! The only downside is the internship begins the day after graduation!

MPK: What fun fact would our readers be surprised to learn about you?

MK: I am actually a black belt in Tae Kwon Do. I studied for five years before I graduated high school, and I return to train during the summers.

Meet the Team- Tania Cowling

Monday, February 23rd, 2015

SANYO DIGITAL CAMERATania Cowling is one of the newer writers on the PeKu team, having celebrated her one year anniversary this past December. However, although she’s new to us, she isn’t new to the world of parenting and crafts. Tania shares her knowledge in these areas through her weekly articles on Holidays Helper and Your Parenting Info. Whether you’re looking for a craft to entertain the preschool set, some ideas for family parties, advice on infants, toddlers, and preschoolers, Tania is your resource.

I spoke with Tania to learn a little bit about her when she’s not behind the keyboard.

MPK: When you aren’t writing, what’s your favorite thing to do with your free time?

TC: Well, family is so dear to my heart that I try to spend as much time as possible with them. My husband just retired so we have TIME to do as we wish — day by day, moment to moment. Then I have three grown children, married and who have given us grandkids. It’s the perks of parenting all over again. So dinners, playdates, and good old-fashion fun fills my spare time.

MPK: As a former early childhood teacher, you write about parenting the preschool set. Do you have a favorite topic within the parenting genre?

TC: I have always been an “entertainment” specialist during my teaching days and coordinator of “Mommy and Me” classes. So, I would say doing special activities, such as making homemade musical instruments together, creative dramatics with props, and even food construction, has been a favorite part of my parenting genre. I have also written books on these topics. Remember play equals learning.

MPK: You also share crafting projects for that age group. Is it difficult to find/create crafts that don’t require solid fine motor skills?

TC: Working with children ages 6 and under can be a challenge when crafting, but my blog posts are geared for a parent to work with the child together. I always give instructions for the mom to challenge her youngsters with a particular skill, such as with scissors or painting. Fine motor skills are developed through practice and repetition. And, having fun while you work on skills doesn’t hurt!

MPK: Do you make the craft samples yourself, or do you have preschool “helpers” that create them?

TC: Not having young children around my house daily or even weekly is detrimental to my topic, so I do make many of the samples. But, when the preschool grandkids or friends are here visiting I put them to work. And, I can safely say — they really enjoy this task.

MPK: What fun fact would our readers be surprised to learn about you?

TC: Now that we are empty nesters, my husband and I enjoy our pets. We’ve adopted retired greyhounds, have taken in two stray cats, and even raise four backyard hens. There’s nothing better than finding fresh eggs delivered by pets for your breakfast.

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