Victoria Colette

"Victoria is a one-of-a-kind employee who would benefit any organization and I endorse her without reservation. I served as Victoria's director during her prior employment with tiag (The Informatics Applications Group, Inc.) as a communications strategist/writer supporting the Office of the Under Secretary for Defense of Policy (OUSD-P) between 2010-2012. Victoria was a great asset to OUSD(P) and TIAG, providing a very unique skill set that Policy quickly found to be invaluable.

To spotlight the "good news stories of Policy" in an enlightening and compelling online format, Victoria created, launched and managed the Policy Weekly blog and Policy Backstories electronic magazine. Victoria facilitated every step from story topic brainstorming, background research, source interviews and photo shoots, to writing, editing, story and design layout, html programming, image editing, photo captioning, tagging/keywording, Web publishing and marketing. Victoria also established an editorial network, maintained an editorial calendar for Policy Team awareness of plans and progress for upcoming stories, and monitored site statistics. She also served as photographer for the e-zine and other Policy events.

Victoria remained eager to assist with various communications projects in other Policy components, working long nights and extra hours to produce exceptional product. As Policy Backstories continued to grow its audience, Victoria accomplished the mission to advance Policy's mission - in the most creative, compelling and timely manner possible. Successfully positioning the electronic magazine as a top site on the Policy portal in just under a year, Victoria single-handedly created a strategic communications portal - working tirelessly to make it successful. A good barometer of this success came in April 2011, when the site had reached such a large audience, it was referenced in an article by The Washington Post. Victoria's high-quality work was consistently praised by Policy employees both senior and junior, who lauded her for "adding color to the organization" and for "giving us a better holistic feel for who we are and what we do!"

"During my prior tenure as Special Olympics marketing and communications director, Victoria served as writer/editor on my team. A very talented writer with an engaging style, Victoria can be counted on to produce writing that is always compelling and motivational. She is able to capture the reader from the outset and maintain it throughout the piece, blending factual data, insightful information and emotional appeal, to make a point.

An expert researcher and reporter, Victoria is imaginative and resourceful in locating information and resources that make her work rich and enlightening. She is also a patient interviewer who can draw out her sources to gather background and quotes that distinguish her writing. Victoria can also be counted on to meet her deadlines, producing quality work on short notice, with tight turnaround times. She is able to manage multiple projects and keep them all moving forward with patience and a sense of humor.

On a personal note, Victoria is extremely fun to work with! Most certainly, Victoria would be an asset to any organization."

"Each time I work with Victoria Colette, I am always impressed to see how gifted she truly is. Few people are able to achieve such a synthesis in summarizing the core and key aspects of complex projects in such a compelling manner ... and in such a short period of time!

I am grateful for the amazing work Victoria did on our three websites during 2010, in addition to our executive summary and numerous other marketing/communications projects she's since produced for Silcord U.S. Productions — including The Orpheus Project, Catharsis Technique, and my personal music composition website.

Victoria also applied her social media expertise to create superb SEO content for my LinkedIn professional profile, and she continues to serve as social media trainer and support specialist for our company.

I remain impressed by the concise nature, clarity, and quality of Victoria's work, the creativity of her communications strategies, and the accuracy of her proofreading and editing. And always, Victoria works in a most friendly, informative, and useful manner."

"Victoria is a superb writer, but her real gifts are the energy and creativity she brings to every project. She asks all the right questions and digs deep, consistently going above and beyond to deliver products of the highest quality. Collaborating with Victoria is a delight."

"Victoria focuses on her work and takes great pride in her end product. She has an extremely strong skill-set and is a valuable resource for proofing, editing and writing. She is always eager for new projects and works diligently to surpass expectations, requiring minimal supervision.

On top of all these skills, Victoria is very helpful, kind and respectful to others with whom she works. She has added tremendously to our Communications team ... and I strongly recommend her."

"As a contractor in the Pentagon, writing about individuals and groups throughout the Secretary of Defense's Policy operations, Victoria had to continually learn about and interact with a wide range of people in order to produce high-quality written products on tight deadline. She always did this with notable professionalism, grace, good humor and skill.

Victoria is a very hard worker who takes her craft seriously. Her industriousness, her sense of curiosity, and her commitment to mission all served her in excellent stead here at Pentagon, and would be valuable qualities in any assignment she undertakes.

I am very glad to have had the opportunity to work with this dedicated public servant."

"Victoria is a conscientious and highly skilled writer/editor who possesses a rare ability to enlighten and motivate diverse audiences. Whether the content is creative marketing and communications, complex technical projects, or informative, inspirational copy for websites and intranets, she has a way of making topics and issues clear and easy to understand.

The products Victoria creates exemplify her strengths in research and communications. In every assignment, she also demonstrates admirable initiative – offering suggestions and proposing solutions to ensure clear, accurate content and enhanced user experience. She’s also a self-starter who works well, either independently or as part of a team.

From firsthand experience, I can happily recommend Victoria as a very talented writer and editor!"

"When Victoria and I worked together in the office of the Under Secretary for Policy at the U.S. Department of Defense, she proved herself to be an exceptional writer and publisher as creator of the "Policy Backstories" e-zine. She writes superb articles and is one of the best authors I’ve ever known. She always knows the best angle of attack to get the strategic message across and she's equally skilled at leveraging the right vehicle for best effect.

Victoria is also a perfectionist who bends over backwards to deliver, and unfailingly delivers what she promises. She refuses to compromise on quality, and regularly seeks appropriate guidance and feedback from story sources and supervisors. She navigates valiantly through any obstacles thrown in her way and is always where she’s supposed to be, even at the sacrifice of her personal needs.

When Victoria and I worked together within Policy, I found her to be an effective reporter and writer who reaches out to get story ideas, vets finished drafts and maintains a strong source network. Through exhaustive follow-through and follow-up, she met the challenges of interviewing busy staff in a restrictive environment and bureaucratic morass. She was rarely stymied by the unique set of obstacles that Policy generated as a blend of a Defense organization and a political one.

Victoria consistently earned praise from Policy employees both senior and junior. I highly recommend Victoria's work. She’s also a really great person and I personally enjoyed working with her."

"Victoria and I collaborated on several major projects while she was Lead Writer and I was a senior writer/editor in Donor Communications at the American Red Cross. I was impressed with her considerable skills as a writer and editor, and with the depth and breadth of her publications knowledge.

Victoria is a skilled interviewer who takes great pride in telling her subject’s story with passion, purpose and precision. She is a meticulous and tenacious researcher, and her solid work ethic shows in the finished product."

"Victoria is an exceptional writer with that rare ability to make the complex understandable and the corporate personal. She becomes part of your team and takes your success to heart."

"Victoria has a gift for storytelling, weaving vivid, concrete details together with action verbs to bring what she writes about alive for readers. She has served as a compassionate advocate for those affected by disasters, sharing their stories with donors who'd given to help."

"When Victoria and I worked together at SBN, I quickly came to trust her as a thorough and inquisitive reporter who aggressively threw herself into the story – not just finding facts, but figuring out the how's and why's behind them. She followed that up with a clear, readable and – when appropriate – entertaining writing style. She had a solid reason for everything she did in writing the story, and was willing to defend it in a way that was enjoyable and a meaningful part of the process of bringing a story to print. But most important, she cares deeply.

Victoria generated a surprising amount of excitement for our missions, values and success. She was always somebody I could count on to come through in a pinch, whether that meant working independently or under close direction with any member of our team. And she was on the constant lookout for ways in which she could add value to the company and product."

"Victoria is a fine journalist who writes with a rare intelligence, zeal and creativity. As Victoria's assigning editor, I could always count on her. While Victoria works well with others, she is also a true self-starter. Strong organizational skills are another part of what makes Victoria such a professional writer. She always takes great pride in her work, giving her all to every story, big or small."

"Whether it's full-time or freelance marketing/communications, writing/editing, web and social media initiatives, Victoria gives employers and clients 110% of her expertise and effort — and always makes their mission her top priority. She does all this with speed and accuracy, providing clever, compelling content. Her extensive research skills and ability to make the most of new technologies make her a valuable resource for organizations and individuals seeking to move their mission forward."

"Victoria is an amazingly talented writer, a skilled professional and an accomplished project manager. She possesses the rare ability of painting masterpieces with words. Her writing weaves a tapestry of eloquent story and her editing expertise is stellar. She is also the most well-organized and creative person with whom I've had the privilege to work."

"Victoria contracted with us to provide Web strategy and copywriting for our new Web site, and she did a wonderful job. She was responsive, sensitive to our philosophy, and very thorough. One of the great things about working with Victoria was that she fully embraced the project, and her work demonstrated her complete investment in the project, both professionally and personally. We are very appreciative of her work."

"Victoria is one of the most highly efficient people I know. She has been editing my work, both creative and professional for about 18 years now. Everything from my children's book to my resumes and my poetry has often passed through her hands. She will point out perspectives I missed, and she always delivers on time. I highly recommend her for any editing or writing project."

"Whatever the copy – be it for our program brochures, subscriber newsletters, Internet sites, media releases, or feature writing – Victoria turns out publicity materials that are vividly descriptive, genuinely entertaining and cleverly compelling.

Victoria also works well under deadline pressure, despite the time constraints. Drawing from her seasoned writing experience and impressive organizational abilities, she produces enormous amounts of quality copy in minimal time. We have benefited from her comprehensive capabilities, her keen ability to identify with a target audience, and her talent for producing quality copy."

"I enthusiastically endorse Victoria's creative writing talents and savvy marketing skills. She has an exceptional talent for researching an idea, event, individual, or business, to create a communications or publicity piece that is a factual, flowing and compelling read. She clearly has a knack for organizational and creative strategy, and her ability to identify with her audience gives her communiqués an added edge. In addition, Victoria's resourcefulness, reliability and professionalism make her a preferred copywriter."