Meet Paula Johnson
Paula L. Johnson has been self-employed as a copywriter and designer since 1984. Her diverse client list has included:
• Artists, performers, and writers
• Business-to-business services
• Consumer goods and services
• Nonprofit organizations
Her work has won awards from Art Direction magazine, the Healthcare PR & Marketing Association, and the Los Angeles chapter of the International Association of Business Communicators. More important, her work has earned her repeat business from dozens of clients.
front page news
In 1997 she took a yearlong hiatus from her business to serve as managing editor of The Pasadena Weekly. She managed day-to-day editorial operations, streamlined the editorial content, oversaw a major redesign, and then helped the owner sell the paper, ultimately to Times Mirror.
bottom's up
Prior to becoming a free agent, she was the marketing communications director for Gravity Guidance, Inc., the company that launched an international inversion exercise frenzy in the early 1980s. (The tipping point was a scene in the movie "American Gigolo" in which Richard Gere's character hangs upside down to exercise.)
The company's incredible growth landed it in the #2 spot in Inc. Magazine's 500 Fastest-Growing Private Companies list in 1983. Months after receiving that honor, the company imploded.
IN THE BEGINNING…
Paula started her career as an account executive at Alfred E.F. Stern Company, where she wrote news releases, story pitches, and brochure copy for the tiny agency’s high-tech and industrial clients.
She earned a journalism degree from California State University, Northridge, and has completed design courses at Otis Art Institute and Art Center College of Design.
Today, Paula is a member of the Hillsides Volunteer Network. and the editrix of The Rose City Sisters online flash fiction anthology.