Blue Wire Team,
I’ve spent a lot of my life telling people I want to do something, and then doing it. I was 9-years-old when I told my mom I wanted a chance at the thrill of a lifetime: to ride my scooter to school, a 10 mile and three-gravel-road journey from our rural home. She said yes, thinking I would see the dangerous highway outside our neighborhood and swiftly turn around. I rode to the bottom of our road, looked left, looked right, and scootered straight onto the interstate road, tassels flowing in the wind.
After I survived the iconic 20 yard journey before my mom produced bloodcurdling screams that called me back, I started a photography business at 16. I pivoted to photojournalism and video in college. I created a magazine called Fools that employed 100 students at the University of Iowa. I flew myself to New York at the ripe age of 20 and met with editors at Condé Nast who smiled at me, pityingly, and explained that I needed to pick one lane.
When I asked to help on the audio team at USA TODAY, I had finally found what I was looking for in journalism: nuance. I could hear what guests we’re trying to say; the emotions, passion and feeling. The stories created themselves, and all I had to do was listen well, and emphasize those stories with editing, narration and music.
So last year I started Parks, a podcast about the creation of National Parks, retold by Indigenous storytellers, historians, and earth protectors. I started talking with Indigenous leaders, writing scripts, recording during a pandemic, editing, hiring a musician to score, and creating an entire documentary podcast on no budget. We launched the first episode a couple weeks ago, and on this episode I was the reporter, writer, and co-producer, specifically working on the flow of the episode.
I brought creativity, a can-do-anything attitude and a love to learn to the table at NPR, Outside Magazine, and now with my own journalistic project, Parks. I have extensive video production experience from documentaries to music videos including cinematography to footage and color editing. I’m the creative storyteller and quick learner you’re looking for on your team.
Thank you,
Mary Mathis