I believe that a good writer is a correlator. She brings together two (or more) ideas to make new meaning. This is a huge part of my process. Lately, I get inspiration from just observing life as it happens. In fact, I’ve been thinking that I need to carry a camera with me at all times and start capturing the things that incite me and lead to ideas.

An example: last winter while I was in New England to meet with a client about their brand’s messaging strategy, I got stuck in the Manchester, NH airport due to a snowstorm. I sat there for 6 hours waiting to get out. I watched the snowplows go back and forth and I thought about what an amazing species we humans are, how our singular purpose seems to be coming up with answers to problems. And then the idea for my client’s primary messaging struck. They’re more than a solution (which is what everyone says). They’re THE answer to their customers’ problems. That sounds really simplistic, but I was able to craft their entire positioning strategy around that one moment of reflection and insight. And they loved it.