THE WRITING LIFE — From childhood plays to a writing career
Note: The Writing Life is a column that focuses on how writing can impact one's life. It features Wisconsin residents.
 By Mary Jantz
Kelly Cheramy’s passion for writing began before she could even cross the street by herself. Her earliest memories involved writing her own Christmas plays for her twelve brothers and sisters to perform on Christmas Eve.
“I would write the programs, get the props ready, and it became tradition,” she recalls. Little did Cheramy know that if she stayed true to her passion she would someday be the publications coordinator of St. Mary’s hospital in Madison.
For the past three years, Cheramy, 43, has been responsible for all of the hospital’s external publications, including Community Connection and Golden Care Update. She also has a hand in developing other publications for physicians, nursing school alumni and St. Mary’s employees. She lends her talents to a variety of advertising campaigns all around the city, including radio broadcast, logos on billboards and any print related to St. Mary’s Hospital.
“I’m in charge of giving St. Mary’s a ‘branded’ look,” explains Cheramy.
Whether it is the graphics on Dean and St. Mary’s vans seen around the city or the hospital stationary, Cheramy aims for a complimentary and consistent appearance for all print. In other words, it is her job to make sure the company’s logo of the red heart and black print appear on anything and everything that represents the hospital.
While her quest for a journalism degree began at St. Benedict College in central Minnesota, Cheramy completed her college career at St. Cloud University. At just 16, Cheramy was typing press releases for her hometown newspaper, which were sent to the newspaper from various companies. Motivation and confidence led her to complete a feature interview all on her own, gaining so much praise from her boss that she was given her own writing assignments. She was even named editor of a special teen section insert in the newspaper. Even with little experience or formal education in writing, Cheramy's actions proved her point: “The more you do and the more you’re willing to do, the further you’ll go."
Cheramy’s pursuit of a career in journalism took many twists and turns, yet she always managed to stay on the writing path, gaining new experiences each step of the way.
“I just kept adding layers,” as Cheramy calls it.
Cheramy was a general assignment reporter for the Eau Claire-Telegram, and then the LaCrosse Tribune. She went on to write for credit unions and then wrote fundraising materials for the UW Foundation before landing an editorial position at Beloit College, spending 10 years there as a publications editor.
As Cheramy’s path turned from higher education to healthcare, her transition enabled her to continue to seek inspiring writing opportunities that were more and more meaningful: “Education and healthcare are both providing a greater good for society,” explains Cheramy. It also brought her to St. Mary’s Hospital, where her level of commitment to her job is never-ending.
Cheramy, along with her husband, Dan, also owns her own business on the side. Their business, Cheramy Creative, offers graphic design and editorial services. Cheramy uses her many writing experiences to help contribute to this unique business.
When she’s not busy improving the whole of St. Mary’s one article at a time, or writing/editing material for Cheramy Creative, this driven writer is also a mother of two young daughters, Arianna, 9, and Marina,7. Not only is she an inspiration to them, but to everyone who has a desire to take the writing path. Cheramy’s many experiences have paved the way for the work she does so well. As Cheramy states, “Having lots of different writing experiences is key to success.”
Note: Mary Jantz is a Journalism Certificate student at MATC.
Photo contributed by Kelly Cheramy. |
