Jennifer Coiley Dial

Relevant experience

• Attended Kent State University with intended major of Mass Communications & Journalism

• Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Information Technology, Ursuline College

• Twenty plus years in local government working in technology, graphic design and marketing

  • 12+ years in the Communications Department responsible for the production of the City's the bimonthly magazine, Shaker Life, as well as assigning work and managing the stable of photographers for the publication. Responsibilities included writing press releases, articles and website administration.

• Editor of Career & Lifestyle magazine (Women of Color Foundation)

• Co-author and publisher of CLEAN: From Reggae to Recovery

• Creative Director for Career & Lifestyle magazine and The Black Professional magazine (Black Professionals Association Charitable Foundation)

• Director of Marketing for a multi million dollar commercial construction company

• Director of Media for a multi million dollar medical cannabis company

• Director of Marketing for a local nonprofit organization

I love the written word.

Writing fiction since elementary school, and journaling since age 13, I've spent a lifetime reading hundreds if not thousands of books and articles. I've had more straight jobs created for me - at multiple companies! - than I can remember.

I got my first camera at around age 10. Between that and getting to digitally draw on my sister's Macintosh in the mid 1980s, I started producing graphic design long before I ever got paid for it. As a preteen, I worked on a newsletter for a globally popular music group. (As teenagers, my sisters and I ran an insanely popular fan club!) In high school, along with photography, I took more writing classes as electives than any other subject. Creating magazines and newspapers in journalism confirmed for me what I was supposed to do with my life. I was going to pursue a longtime dream to live in New York City as a successful fiction author.

After leaving Kent State University due to heartbreak with a boyfriend, I dove head first into technology and graphic design. As a young adult, I produced slick program books for ice shows, hockey tournaments and recreation classes. My aptitude for technology earned me a spot as the apprentice of our computer consultant. (There was no IT Department yet.) I got heavily into computer network administration, taking classes in Novell Netware Administration and Redhat Linux just for kicks. At the same time, I would learn to master leading graphic design programs including Harvard Graphics, Aldus Pagemaker (would later get absorbed by Adobe, eventually becoming InDesign) and Quark XPress.

My passion for this work lead me to major in technology at Ursuline College, graduating in 2004 after the unexpected deaths of my parents and the birth of my last child. Married with four children kept me working for local government for most of my adult life. I had more than my hands full. Regarding my safe position in government, my old school aunts told me: "You don't leave a great job like that."

My heart sank. I felt the dream slipping through my fingers.

I was a graphic designer in a side hustle long before it was ever called that. I created catalogs and books for authors of juvenile fiction. I created theater posters, banners, cd covers, promotional materials and many other large scale projects. I never forgot about my first love, though, which brings me here.

When I worked on a two-year-long book project with a local reggae icon, it reminded me, yet again, what I am supposed to do with my life. Now that my children are in their 20s, I have rededicated myself to writing and publishing.

Oh, in case you were wondering, CHRM are the initials of my children's first names.

CHRM Media is the publishing arm of Coy Lee Media, LLC