Tiffany Owens is a property caretaker/estate manager, marketer and freelance writer, specializing in travel, arts + culture, food + wine. Her features have appeared in a wide variety of both print and online publications. She has also worked as a managing and manuscript editor, publicist + staff writer during her 20+ years in the industry.
Experience
Freelance Journalism + Editing | TiffanyOwens.com | 9/02 to present
Articles featured on MSNBC.com, Vroomgirls.com, Groupon Getaways, Rand McNally, Home&Abroad.com, Collector’s Press, Maine Food & Lifestyle, Cranium games + Arizona Highroads.
Founder | ModernDayNomads.com | 11/11 to present
Follow Your Dream Job: Top work-to-travel listings, arts residencies, study programs, travel info + inspiration for North American globetrekkers and expats in the U.S. + abroad – includes a (will work for) travel + informational blog.
Private Estate Mgmt/Caretaker/Innkeeper | Modern-Day Nomads | 10/06 to present
Private property management/caretaking/innkeeping professional, has included management of HNW estates, inns and private businesses from midcoast Maine to San Juan Island, Washington.
Currently: Onsite Property Manager/Caretaker for private estate in Santa Fe, New Mexico’s Museum Hill neighborhood, since January 2020.
Tasting Room Sales | Noisy Water Winery | 1/20 to present Wine-flight tastings and sales of award-winning, New Mexico-grown and produced wines. Thirteenth-fastest growing business in New Mexico; won Small Business of the Year in 2016 and 2017.
Automotive Media Clippings Manager | Page One Automotive | 6/16 to 5/18
Organized, solicited, audited and filed automotive review articles in Page One’s NAVS database and with PR firms from professional industry journalists road-testing new press vehicles from automotive manufacturers, including Toyota/Lexus, Subaru and Infiniti.
Winery Tasting Room Sales + Marketing | Cuneo Cellars | 2/05 to 10/06
Wine-flight tastings and sales of Willamette Valley Pinot Noir, Syrah, Bordeaux, Riserva labels and many Italian varietals, such as Sangiovese, Nebbiolo and Brunello, to patrons of Cuneo Cellars. Included event work and promotional copywriting for winery.
Managing Editor of Corporate Logo magazine | 7/03 to 2/04
Monthly trade publication for the promotional products industry with 20,000+ national distribution. Duties included developing an annual editorial calendar, media kit and Buyer’s Guide catalog, advertising + PR concepts, assigning/copyediting stories, writing business and feature articles, working with the artist to design monthly cover/feature spreads, trade show participation and promotions, marketing to potential advertisers and growing subscriber database.
Contract Writer for Cranium Games | 11/03 to 1/04 + 7/04
In July 2004, created “Cadoo” puzzle cards to go in Burger King kids’ meals across the US. Created trivia cards and content for new Cranium “Turbo” game, released for Christmas 2004.
Contract Producer/Writer for MSN Mobile | 2/03 to 4/03
Wrote headlines for and posted daily news feed features and other site-related content to MSN Mobile home page and assisted in the selection of popular musical ringtone downloads that were promoted via the site.
Lead Editor for Microsoft/MSN.com home page | 10/99 to 9/02
In charge of daily headline and content writing and editing for various sections of the MSN.com homepage and influencing the thoughts and actions of 300 million unique users per month — more than the top 8 U.S. newspaper circulations combined. Provided fast-response, targeted programming for MSN homepage headlines to ensure that they contained relevant, timely content, including breaking news. Notable projects include:
- 9/11 tragedy: Provided continuous, up-to-the-minute news coverage in conjunction with MSNBC news editors for 23 straight hours on MSN homepage that saw daily records of more than 17 million hits. In the weeks following, provided hourly (and 24-hour on-call) news updates, plus coordinated links for MSN channels’ quick creation of a special donation page.
- Co-produced US portion of Madonna live Web cast concert from London and sweepstakes in tandem with MSN UK in November 2000: the international broadcast set (and still holds) a Guinness World Record as “Largest Pop Internet Concert” with 11 million viewers.
- Developed first-ever content/XML merchandising packages in conjunction with MSN Shopping that paired content across the channels with targeted sales initiatives. Exceeded every ROI by at least 25%. Most successful to date was Mother’s Day shopping content + Mom-O-Rama “find the perfect gift for Mom.”
- Death of ex-Beatle George Harrison: Published news of his demise immediately after it had hit news wires, before competition had coverage. Collected network-wide links to create a George Harrison memorial page for the MSN Entertainment channel.
- Olympics: Helped provide targeted programming via the homepage, specials pages and various designed “keystone” links to drive traffic to Olympics partner site during duration of the games. With our help, the combined sites of Olympics.com, NBCOlympics.com and MSNBC.com served a record 685 million page views during the month of February 2001.
- Assisted with ESPN partner channel kickoff: delivered more than 225,000 clicks in first three launch days.
Editor in Chief, Experience Hendrix magazine | 8/98 to 10/99
Conceived, planned, assigned, edited and wrote for 80-page bi-monthly national music magazine published by the family of Jimi Hendrix. Set and adjusted production schedule, enforced deadlines, oversaw workflow between all departments (editorial, art, photo, prepress). Maintained professional relations with publicity personnel of record labels and auxiliary and contract writers. Additionally, wrote and supervised copy for press releases, promotional materials, annual merchandise catalog and subsequent CD/album releases and reissues.
- Promoted to Editor in Chief after 4 months as Assistant Editor
- Expanded magazine scope from Hendrix fanzine to all-genre music magazine
- Increased circulation by 22%
Freelance Manuscript Editor for The Robins Literary Agency | 6/98 to 2/00
Edited manuscripts, with special attention to intensive character, story and style development, for to-be-published works of fiction and non-fiction.
Features Reporter/Photographer for Kent/Auburn Reporter newspaper | 6/98 to 9/98
City beat stringer; focus on new business and restaurant ventures.
Managing Editor, Professional Speaker magazine | 3/96 to 4/98
Responsible for the content and style, circulation and production schedule of monthly 36-page magazine [and subsequent Web postings], 11 quarterly newsletters and other association-related press and printed materials.
Art Editor, Hayden’s Ferry Review | 11/95 to 6/97
Solicited and selected artwork to be published in national, award-winning literary journal.
Visual/Public Arts Assistant, Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art [SMoCA] | 9/92 to 9/95
Wrote exhibition brochure and press release copy, assisted with curatorial duties and educational programming, and managed City of Scottsdale’s and museum’s private collection databases.
Education
B.A. in English from Arizona State University
Exhibitions
“Poem in a Bottle,” 2003 Art Detour/Phoenix and Herberger Theatre, Winter 2003
Professional Organizations
Women in Film/Seattle board member 1999-2000
Society of Professional Journalists
Residencies
Co-Leader, Artsmith Culture, Environment + Travel Writer Residency in Laredo, Texas with Visit Laredo CVB | December 2015
2013 Writing Fellow at Artsmith Residency, Orcas Island, Washington
Press + Interviews
How to work from anywhere – even the beach, CNN Business, Dec 2018
Nómadas modernos, a vida numa mochila, Público, Lisbon’s largest daily paper, Jan 2015
Follow your passion; you might write your way into new career, Las Vegas Review-Journal, March 2014
Freewheeling as a Modern-Day Nomad, From Remote Ranches to Haunted Hotel, Extraordinarium Journal, February 2014
What’s the secret to an endless vacation? Nine tips for becoming a ‘new’ nomad in 2009, by Christopher Elliott on NBCNews.com, April 2009
Read the full Press + Praise list here, including a recent mention in the Wall Street Journal, April 2018