My Story | by Warren Goldie
I’ve been fortunate to have assisted clients in a diversity of industries. I was a screenplay analyst for Hollywood production companies and a publications editor at the Shoah Foundation, a digital archive of 50,000 hours of Holocaust survivor testimonies based on the backlot of Universal Studios. While I was there, the foundation’s chairman was Steven Spielberg, for whom I ghostwrote articles for our international newsletter, Past Forward, which I had founded and edited. My mother, a survivor of Auschwitz, contributed her account to the project.
As a senior-level business writer, my focus is on brand development, content writing and copywriting. At FoodChain ID, I wrote and produced websites and participated in marketing campaigns that contributed to years of record growth. In 2019, the company sold for over $100 million, its corporate website one that I wrote and produced. I’ve been a subcontractor to Texas Instruments, the U.S. Department of Energy, Constellation Energy, and Voice of America. I was as a senior writer at IBM’s go-to marketing communications agency, now incorporated into Ogilvy.
A client once commented that I’m “good at writing about things you know virtually nothing about.” I took that as a compliment, since IBM’s enterprise software isn’t that simple to understand, especially coming in cold and writing on deadline. In a different vein, I’ve successfully “marketed spirituality” (which requires a deft touch) at the Omega Institute of Holistic Studies, Interface Foundation and Maharishi International University, all leaders in mind-body-spirit education.
I worked in B2C (business-to-consumer) marketing, most notably for CyberMedia, whose antivirus software dominated an industry. The company was named IPO of the Year by Red Herring Magazine. A website I edited and cowrote for Texas Instruments was a finalist for the Smithsonian Innovation award (based on the award application that I submitted). I’ve written scripts for corporate videos, documentaries, and museum kiosk displays. My essays have appeared online and in print. My novel, Waking Maya, rose to the top of its category on Amazon, remains on the Top 20 Best Spiritual Fiction list on GoodReads, and was Book of the Month at BookReview.com. Its ratings on Amazon and GoodReads top 80 percent positive.
But I didn’t find writing until I was 31. Fresh out of college I was a software developer at Lockheed Missiles & Space Company in California’s Silicon Valley, the proud holder of a top secret security clearance. I took a creative writing course and wrote an essay, “On Retreat with the Buddhists,” which was published by the Baltimore Sun, my adopted hometown’s largest circulation newspaper. I was off and running. I pursued my twin careers of creative and business writing, eventually transitioning into technical writing while working for a government contractor to the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Washington, D.C.. A few years later I made my way into marketing copywriting and digital communications, building a reputation as an idea man and formidable strategist, with honed instincts for marketing and a keen eye for design.
My writing journey has taken me on two seemingly different paths: the first, into the business and education worlds where I work to satisfy client or employer. I am tenacious in meeting and exceeding expectations, willing to go the extra mile. The second follows the trail of the storyteller seeking to discover, explore and dramatize life’s interesting truths, and produce stories that move and absorb audiences or readers. These seemingly unrelated paths can and do inform each other. I’ve used more than a few “fiction” writing techniques in my marketing writing. But, trust me, that’s a good thing…
If you have a project you think might be a fit for my skills and background, please contact me by email, voicemail (720-608-2311) or use this contact form. I look forward to hearing from you. Thank you.