Maya Smart

Final Project-Freelance Journalist Maya Payne Smart
5/1/10
By Ryan Stone
stonerp@vcu.edu

Maya Payne Smart is a freelance journalist that has become so successful that she has started her own company and she has hardly any regrets.
Smart began freelancing for fun while she was working in another industry. She began freelancing full-time in 2006 when her husband’s moved to a place where there weren’t many journalism jobs.
Smart attended school at Harvard University and earned a bachelor’s degree in social studies. She also earned a masters degree in editorial journalism from Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. Smart also taught a journalism class at Clemson University.
Smart has her own website http://www.mayasmart.com/. The website has a list of articles that Smart has written and a list of her services. There is also contact information on her website.
Her husband’s job has led to them moving several times, which has allowed her to build a business that she can take with her anywhere.
Smart is married to VCU’s men’s basketball coach, Shaka Smart, which explains her current relocation to Richmond.
Smart has published articles for several magazines and websites such as Black Enterprise and CNNMoney.com.
On her website she has quotes from people she has written for. One quote from Stacy Cowley, a small business editor at CNNMoney.com says a lot about Maya.
“Maya fast became one of my go-to freelancers. Whether it's a story she pitched or one I've assigned, she does a stellar job of tracking down sources and delivering lively, clean copy -- and when extra elements like photos are needed to round out a story package, Maya quickly dives in to help us pull it all together," said Cowley.
Tennille Robinson is a small business editor for Black Enterprise magazine and put his thoughts on Maya’s work on her website.
"Maya is very responsive and eager to execute stories properly. She doesn't just look for point-by-point instruction but jumps right in and does research and reporting to make sure we were taking the appropriate angle and the pieces are being developed accurately. In addition to meeting deadlines, she makes herself available in order to thoroughly address additional queries and concerns from myself and the other editors."
The kind of articles that Smart enjoys writing the most are informative and inspirational stories.
One of the stories she has written that she is most proud of is about an after school program to help at-risk teens thrive in Savannah, Georgia. The story is located at http://www.edutopia.org/AWOL-intervention-at-risk-youth.
Smart loves freelancing and only has one regret about it.
“I only wish that I began building a support team sooner--bookkeepers, editors and interns can help boost freelancers' productivity and enjoyment,” said Smart. “You don't have to do everything yourself.”

Info Box: For more information about freelancing from Maya Payne Smart check out her blog posts at www.writingcoach.com.

Sources
1. Maya Payne Smart- maya@mayasmart.com
2. www.mayasmart.com