Writing With Sofie: Top 3 Takeaways

Dr. Lauren Philip has more than 15 years of teaching experience at Strayer University and The George Washington University, where she received her PhD in English and MA in Education Technology Leadership. She is an expert at helping students achieve their writing goals. As a former adult student, Lauren has empathy for adults who are going to school and working hard to balance it with their lives. Teaching is Dr. Philip’s passion, and she loves interacting with students.Top 3 TakeawaysHelp students understand the writing process and how it works.Focus on writing solutions rather than problems.Nurture the whole student and give support.

Charlene Walters holds an MBA in Management and a PhD in Business Administration & Marketing. She is a Business, Branding, Entrepreneurship mentor, speaker, and blogger who developed a Digital Entrepreneurship MBA program and is a featured expert on Entrepreneur Magazine’s Ask An Expert platform. In May of 2021, her book, Launch Your Inner Entrepreneur: 10 Mindset Shifts for Women to Take Action, Unleash Creativity, and Achieve Financial Success, will be published by McGraw Hill’s Professional Trade division. She is also the author of a memoir, Own Your Other, about overcoming tragedy and loss. Dr. Walters writes a blog called Entrepreneurship, Life Enthusiasm & Energizing Your Brand and has taught hundreds of business, marketing, and entrepreneurship courses and workshops for a number of businesses and universities. She also appears in/on many videos, podcasts, blogs, and media outlets.Books Mentioned: Storytelling with Data: A Data Visualization Guide for Business Professionalsby Cole Nussbaumer KnaflicUnscaled: How AI and a New Generation of Upstarts Are Creating the Economy of the Future by Hemant Taneja with Kevin ManeyThe 1-Page Marketing Plan: Get New Customers, Make More Money, And Stand out From The Crowd by Allan DibTop 3 Takeaways: 1) Overcome tragedy, move forward, evaluate what is important, & pivot.2) Work hard, find balance, & find time for people and other important things in life. 3) Be resilient, reframe your thinking, and develop a backup plan.

Kimberley Green is originally from New Jersey and moved to North Carolina in 2009 for a position at Morgan Stanley. She is also a small business owner of Creations by Kimberley, a small crochet business with signature pieces. She has her own band and performs all genres of music, as well as performing with other bands. She has performed in a few Off -Broadway plays and shared the stage with gospel legends like Donnie McClurkin, Tramaine Hawkins, and even sang background, and traveled briefly with Elisabeth Withers, who played Shug Avery in the Broadway play The Color Purple. In 2015, Kimberley decided to get her college degree and completed her Associates Degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Management in 2018 and completed her BA in HR Management in 2019. She is currently studying for her Securities Licenses for Investment Banking. Creations by Kimberley (Crochet by Kimberley Green)Top 3 Takeaways:Do your research Don’t overthinkBe mindful of your audience

Dr. Paula Hayes is a PhD in English and Textual Studies. She is a published author in the area of literary criticism and poetry, including the book, Robert Lowell and the Confessional Voice. Her literary criticism and original poetry have been featured in a variety of journals, and her poetry book, The Bushel and the Light, is forthcoming in 2021. She has worked in the field of higher education for over 20 years, teaching at traditional universities, corporate universities, and community colleges. Her experience gives her a unique view of the challenges students face when confronting their writing. She is currently an instructor of English at the University of Memphis.Top 3 Takeaways:Flexibility: With your students and yourself as a teacher.Empathy: Care for your students. Translation: Not all teaching approaches work for all students.Recommended Books: Robert Lowell and the Confessional Voice by Paula HayesBird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott Teaching Community: A Pedagogy of Hope by bell hooksTeaching to Transgress by bell hooksPedagogy of the Oppressed by Paulo FreireSmall Teaching: Everyday Lessons from the Science of Learning by James LangMindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol Dweck

Dr. Cynthia Miecznikowski is an Associate Professor of Rhetoric & Composition at UNC Pembroke who shares her on ground and online techniques to help writers create texts meant to be read by their chosen readers. Top 3 Takeaways: Polish your writing later in the writing process.Read your work out loud to your readers during the writing process. Learn how to break up your ideas for your readers.

Melody Dixon-Brown, MBA, Senior Lecturer, Department of Communication Studies, UNC Charlotte discusses how to teach business, interpersonal, and small group communication by using business processes and online teaching strategies.