It was crystal clear to me from my first day at PEC that the cooperative cared deeply for their community. The problem? They weren’t taking advantage of telling those stories yet.

The ones about the mom and pop shop that have been around for decades.

The ones about the spot that everyone hangs out at on a Friday night.

The ones about those special places that have the power to bring together people of all ages and all walks of life.

The places that were powered by PEC while they empowered the greater Central Texas Hill Country community.

My idea-turned-epiphany led to a pitch that was quickly developed into a monthly-series titled, Heart of the Hill Country. I also partnered with my videographer on each project to co-produce, develop on-camera scripts and lead all interviews for video extension of the series, too.

This, by far, was the highlight of my day-to-day in the features writer role. I hope you enjoy reading and watching a few of these pieces as much as I enjoyed writing them.