Category: Our Team

Kara Wahlgren is a full-time freelance writer based in South Jersey, and has been writing for GLES since 2008. She specializes in personal finance, health, and entertainment coverage.

After graduating from Rutgers University with degrees in Journalism and Communication, Kara worked on-staff as Deputy Editor of Twist magazine. Her work for GLES has been published on AOL, MSN, Chase, HotJobs, and SeniorsForLiving.com.

She currently writes the monthly entertainment section for Penthouse magazine, and has also written for Huffington Post, Glamour, Marie Claire, New Jersey Monthly, Women’s Health, and a variety of teen magazines and photography websites.

A viral marketing guru, she specializes in creating engaging and share-worthy blog content for clients.

Fun Facts About Kara:

• She’s slightly obsessed with Disney (OK, completely obsessed) and has been to the parks more than 20 times. Her favorite movie is “Cars.”
• She moonlights as the owner of Kiwi Photography and was named one of the 30 Most Influential Wedding & Portrait Photographers by Brandsmash in 2014.
• She can do a round-off back handspring.

Diane Franklin is a freelance writer and editor who has worked on the GLES team since 2013, writing about business, employment, healthcare, and senior living topics. She has served as one of two lead writers on OurParents.com, a website that helps families with aging parents find the best senior care solution for their loved ones.

Diane also has written hundreds of articles for business and trade publications, including leading magazines for the credit union and retail paint industries. She also writes press releases and marketing proposals, provides content for websites and blogs, manages social media programs, and provides editing services for projects ranging from single-page sell sheets to full-length books and manuscripts.

Fun facts about Diane:

• She lives in St. Louis, Mo., with her husband and two daughters.
• She’s a lifelong fan of the St. Louis Cardinals.
• She spearheaded the launch of The Faux Finisher, a quarterly magazine for professional decorative painters, and served as the publication’s executive editor for 11 years.
• She is the co-founder of Your Decorating Resource, a consumer website of home decorating ideas, and a sister website, FocusonFaux.com, which features articles for professional decorative painters.
• Visit Diane on LinkedIn!

Janene Mascarella is a New York-based lifestyle journalist. She is the Beauty Director of BELLA NYC Magazine, a GLES client that produces a highly popular women’s service magazine in New York City. She has also contributed to Mint.com, Parent Society, and SeniorsForLiving.com as part of past GLES projects.

Janene also serves as a weekly online columnist for Parade magazine, and has had her work published in a variety of publications, including The Washington Post, Newsday, CNN, Cosmopolitan, Self, Glamour, Health, Cooking Light, Women’s Health, Scholastic Parent & Child, Woman’s Day, Parenting, Parents, Family Circle, American Baby, Weight Watchers, Working Mother, Fodor’s Travel, USA TODAY, AOL, AOL Travel, and many others.

Fun facts about Janene:

• Janene enjoys tackling a wide range of lifestyle topics, from baby care tips to far-flung trips and everything in between.
• She’s a member of the American Society of Journalists and Authors (ASJA).
• She declared to the world in the sixth grade that when she grew up, she would be a writer. (Now’s she’s living her dream!).
• Follow Janene on Twitter, aptly named @MrsWrite.

 

Freelance writer (and absolute deadline junkie), Jarrod Thalheimer has spent more than 15 years creating entertaining and effective content – cross-platform – throughout North America. His work has appeared in such cool and interesting places as BellaNYC, MSN, AOL, Q Magazine, The CollegeBound Network, BestoOfTheWeb, Off Centre Magazine, OK Arts and many, many more.

An honors graduate of UCLA’s creative writing program, Jarrod has written and produced numerous short stories, several stage plays, and even a few movie scripts. He is also the creator of AdFool, the weekly, cult-fave column that sliced and diced all-things advertising for more than six years.

Along the way Jarrod also found time to design a few crazy apps, promote an ITF pro-men’s tennis tourney, and even executive produce an independent film or two (Chariot and Zero Charisma). And he managed to do all this while still remaining a somewhat satisfactory husband to his amazing wife and (fairly good) father to their five children. He will sleep when he’s dead…..

Fun facts about Jarrod:

• Jarrod ran with the official torch during the 2010 Winter Olympics
• He once acted with Suzanne Somers in a movie; his big line: “It’s a KEY lock!”
• He shares a birthday with John McEnroe — “You cannot be serious!”
• At one time, he was licensed to drive an 18-wheeler … just like BJ and the Bear!
• Jarrod is GLES’ go-to man for humor writing (can you tell?!).
• He can be reached (and/or stalked) at LittleBlueTruck.com.

Robyn Tellefsen has been part of GLES since its inception, performing research analysis, copywriting, editing, copyediting, and proofreading for Online Degrees magazine, Learning magazine, BELLA magazine, SeniorsForLiving.com, EcoOutfitters.com, ClassesUSA.com, and others.

As a contributing blogger for ParentSociety.com, Robyn pitched and developed first-person narratives and informative slideshows on the topics of parenting and marriage. She has also served as one of two lead GLES writers for OurParents.com, a website that helps families with aging parents find the best senior care solution for their loved ones. In addition, she is a contributing writer and editor for a variety of other GLES accounts.

Robyn is also a freelance copy editor and proofreader for textbook publishers, educational technology companies, advertising agencies, and individual authors.

In her 12-year tenure as a writer and editor for The CollegeBound Network, she ran a variety of departments and features for national and regional issues of CollegeBound Teen magazine and SUCCEED magazine, and conceptualized, reported, and produced weekly education and career content for The CollegeBound Network’s suite of sites. Robyn has a bachelor’s degree in communications from Wheaton College (IL).

Fun facts about Robyn:

• She lives in Staten Island, NY, with her husband and two children.
• She loves reading young adult fiction and singing in her church’s praise band.
• She has pitched, developed, and written hundreds of print and online articles about higher education and careers.
• She line-edited the most recent four editions of the leading college textbook in the field of communication theory.
• Connect with Robyn on Twitter and LinkedIn, and check out her writing portfolio at Contently.

Dawn Allcot is a full-time freelance writer, editor, and social media marketing consultant with close to 20 years of experience writing for print and online. Working closely with GLES, Dawn’s current and past client list includes such websites as Amex OPENForum, YahooJobs!, EcoOutfitters.net, SeniorLiving.net, The CollegeBound Network, and more.

A former magazine editor, Dawn specializes in creating content to help small business owners generate leads and enhance brand recognition. She writes about a broad range of topics, from personal finance and parenting to home remodeling, health, and green living. She prides herself on being able to make any topic fun and accessible for nearly any audience. Applying this skill, she frequently writes for technology companies and audiovisual technology trade magazines. She also manages social media for a number of firms, large and small.

Fun facts about Dawn:

• She was editor of a paintball magazine for several years and has earned awards and commanded games as a scenario paintball player.
• She occasionally dabbles in PR in tandem with social media consulting.
• She doesn’t believe writers should always write what they know, but, instead, what they have a passion to learn.
• Having said that, her husband, two children and three cats are a constant source of material – and amusement – for this writer.
• She wants you to visit AllcotMedia.com and follow her on Twitter at @DawnAllcot.

Dawn Papandrea is a freelance writer, editor, and content specialist with more than 15 years of print and online journalism and custom content experience. She’s been a senior editor with GLES since its inception, and worked alongside Gina on the editorial team of The CollegeBound Network for 14 years.

Dawn specializes in personal finance, careers, higher education, real estate, and lifestyle topics. Her publishing credits include Family Circle, Parents, WomansDay.com, CreditCards.com, Amex OPENForum, and many more. In addition, Dawn creates branded content on behalf of clients ranging from Walmart to Experian to Samsung.

As far as “old school” reporting skills, Dawn honed those while earning her Master of Arts in Journalism and Mass Communications from New York University.

Fun facts about Dawn:

• She recently scaled some walls as part of Gina’s 5K obstacle race team.
• She’s a lifestyle blogger at LivingOnTheCheap.com, and contributing writer at NewsCred.
• She’s a member of the American Society of Journalists and Authors (ASJA).
• She lives in Staten Island with her husband and two boys.
• She wants you to visit her super awesome website and follow her on Twitter at @DawnPapandrea.