Hi, I’m Maddie!

I was born in Atlanta, GA, and spent most of my life year. However, my best childhood memories stem from the four years I lived in Knoxville, TN where I enjoyed camping in the mountains, playing softball, and cheering on the Tennessee Vols. Some of my hobbies include graphic design, painting, interior decorating, writing, baking, and going to concerts.

I chose Auburn University for its friendly atmosphere, supportive community, and beautiful campus. I was also a little biased because both of my parents went here and I saw first-hand how impactful Auburn was on their lives. Auburn has blessed me with lifelong friends and shaped who I am as a person in so many ways. If I could go back, I would choose Auburn all over again!

Through my time in The College of Liberal Arts, I was provided a balanced curriculum of creative freedom and technical structure. I had independence in choosing research topics that interested me, showcased my personality, and ultimately shaped my world perspective, while simultaneously learning design, writing, and PR techniques that I plan on incorporating into my career post-grad.

Some relevant corses I took include Document Design, Technical Writing, Multimedia Writing for Public Relations, Public Relations Messages in Style & Design, Social Media & Public Relations, Business Writing, and Public Writing.

Of these courses, I found Public Writing to be the most enriching. We built on a framework of strategies and tactics of public writing to develop a final project on a social issue of our choice that was implemented on Auburn's campus (which you can learn more about at the bottom of the Home page). From a marketing lens, Public Writing illuminated the importance of marketing design being not only visually appealing, but strategic in generating views and circulation based on a target audience.

I am familiar with the key principles of graphic design (contrast, typography, color, the golden ratio, etc.) and have experience putting these into practice. I have a working knowledge of Canva, Adobe InDesign, Illustrator, and Photoshop, and basic inbound marketing experience with SEO and blogging. I'm certified in Google Analytics, as well as HTML and CSS through Codecademy. I am proficient with utilizing social media and have gained marketing experience in producing promotional content for brands including Pretty Little Thing, Princess Polly, Chamberlain Coffee, Loving Tan, Talentless, and Clarins, on my personal platform.

In June 2023, I completed an editorial writing internship for an online publishing called YourTango. My position as an editorial writer involved pitching compelling article topics, designing thumbnails, and writing articles that covered pop culture and entertainment news. The internship lasted 18 weeks and required 20-25 hours of work per week, which I balanced with a 15-hour course workload that semester. By the end of the internship, the articles I wrote had amassed over 4.338M page views overall.

My internship at YourTango was beneficial in strengthening my writing skills, expanding my knowledge of SEO, and improving my ability to gather research and present it to an audience in an easy-to-digest format. I learned flexibility in the workplace through a trial-and-error process of experimenting with what the audience was most likely to engage with. In addition, I adapted my writing style to embody the "voice" of the company. All in all, the internship gave me an understanding of how to maintain a brand's identity and adapt to serve its best interest.

I look forward to using all I have learned as an intern and undergrad in the near future, and can be contacted through my email: madisonhaley0807@gmail.com.