The copy work.
The craft behind the brand.
Three years writing for one of the biggest retailers in America — campaigns that had to work at scale, across categories, across cultures, and across languages. Here's a selection of that work and what made it matter.
Target was launching its first AI-powered gift recommendation tool for the 2024 holiday season. My job was to name it, write the campaign copy, and help shape the language of the tool itself.
I went through a lot of options — including Bullseye's Fetch!, which was fun, playful, and very Target. But we ultimately landed somewhere different: if this was a genuinely new feature built on AI, the name should just say what it is. Something clever risks confusing people. Something clear earns their trust. The tool became the Bullseye Gift Finder.
From there I wrote the headlines and story blocks — the copy that contextualized the tool and invited shoppers in. I also worked directly with the UX designer to think through the customer journey inside the tool — how many questions to ask, how to phrase them, and how to make sure the language was accessible to everyone, not written for a narrow slice of who actually shops at Target.
Target was building a dedicated hub for kids with different learning styles and disabilities — and for the parents supporting them. The goal wasn't to make these shoppers feel singled out or medicalized. It was to make them feel seen, supported, and welcome in the same store everyone else shops at.
I came at it from the kids' perspective, not the parents'. Kids don't think about disabilities — they think about playing. And when everyone's playing and having a good time, everybody wins. That instinct became the headline: "When everybody plays, everyone wins."
The challenge was writing inclusively without making inclusivity the point. The copy needed to center joy and belonging without drawing attention to itself.
Target wanted to build a hub for content creator tech — cameras, microphones, lighting, streaming gear — aimed at a generation that grows up watching creators and genuinely sees it as a viable path. The audience was mostly teens, with some adults in the mix.
Internally, there were real conversations about how to approach this. Leaning too hard into influencer culture felt irresponsible. But being too cautious would make the copy feel out of touch — and condescending to the very audience we were trying to reach.
I took myself out of the debate and just wrote for the person on the other side of the screen. Not trying to be cool, not trying to moralize — just meeting a creative, ambitious audience where they were. The headline became “Get the influencer glow-up you deserve” — aspirational but self-aware, which felt right for a generation that’s fluent in both ambition and irony. From there I wrote distinct subcategory copy for vloggers, streamers, podcasters, and casual creators, each with its own personality.
Target sells refurbished and pre-owned electronics — tech that works just as well as new but costs less. The problem is shoppers don’t always know what labels like “certified refurbished” or “pre-owned” actually mean, and the unfamiliarity breeds doubt. The copy needed to meet that skepticism head-on without being defensive about it.
I leaned into a conversational tone — honestly, that’s my default register. The headline became “What’s the deal with refurbished products?” and I love it because “deal” is doing double work: it’s asking what’s going on, and it’s nodding to the savings. One word, two meanings, zero confusion.
The product type labels were provided by Target, but I tweaked them to feel more like something a person would say — less retail-speak, more approachable. Three product types, three distinct tones, each one calibrated to what it needed to prove.
Beyond category work, I contributed copy for Target's most culturally significant campaigns — in English and Spanish. This required a different kind of care: copy that honors real communities, avoids tokenism, and holds up to scrutiny from the people it represents. It's also where being a native Spanish speaker stopped being a résumé line and became a genuine creative asset.
Target wanted to speak to Latino and Hispanic shoppers during Latino Heritage Month — not by saying “we know your culture” but by simply acknowledging that these shoppers are already here, already buying, and deserving of a dedicated experience that helps them celebrate.
Spanish isn’t one culture. It spans dozens of countries, regional expressions, and generational differences. The challenge was writing copy that felt warm and celebratory without leaning on colloquialisms or phrases that would resonate with one community and alienate another. Neutral but never flat. Inclusive but never generic.
Target didn’t call this translation — they called it transcreation. The Spanish copy wasn’t a literal conversion of the English. It was a parallel creative act: same intent, different voice, built from the ground up in Spanish to feel natural to a native speaker rather than imported.
Target's annual Pride campaign — a celebration of the LGBTQ+ community through limited-edition products, apparel, and content. This particular year came with internal pressure to scale back the campaign significantly.
Email copy for a campaign that required care, historical awareness, and a tone that honored the moment while driving action. Written to resonate, not just convert.
Category copy for one of the highest-traffic retail moments of the year — written across toys, electronics, and entertainment to cut through inbox noise and drive clicks at volume.