Jodi Martens has been obsessed with stories since she was a little girl, sitting with her nose in a book while her friends played games, dress-up and otherwise frittered away their childhoods (she still can’t skip rope, but she can recite lengthy passages from Anne of Green Gables). When she was five years old, she announced she was going to be a writer when she grew up, and got to work on making that dream a reality.

Now living the dream, Jodi brought together her love of storytelling with her passion for good causes and started Inkwood Communications, a marketing and fundraising agency for non-profit organizations. Inkwood helps non-profits tell their stories in a way that makes donors sit up and take notice – and take action.

And, just to make sure her multi-tasking skills stay sharp, Jodi also freelances on the side as a writer for magazines and newspapers and as a copywriter for esteemed companies like ImageX Media, helping them and their clients communicate their message with clarity and passion.

An East Coast native, Jodi cut her teeth in the communications industry as a speechwriter for former New Brunswick Premier Frank McKenna, where she learned the important skill of putting words in other people’s mouths. After partying … er, studying her way through a Bachelor of Arts in Communication Studies and a Master of Arts in Global Studies, Jodi started directing the communications and marketing efforts of major non-profit organizations such as Tyndale University College, the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada, and Food for the Hungry Canada before starting Inkwood.

In her spare time, she looks after her two lovely daughters, volunteers with the refugee and homelessness communities in the Lower Mainland, and dreams about sitting on the beach and writing a novel.

Jodi on the English language: “My friends think I’m slightly obsessive about using proper grammar, punctuation and spelling, but it’s because all of these “archaic” rules serve a higher purpose – to help us communicate in the most effective way possible with minimal confusion. I know I’m part of a dying breed, but I actually think the conventions of language matter. One of my favourite books is The Canadian Press Stylebook – who wouldn’t want to read that?”

Jodi on ImageX: “Working with a company like ImageX makes me feel much more trendy and cool than I actually am! They are a great group of people and I love trying to keep up with them creatively because it keeps me performing at the top of my game.”

Jodi’s must-read list: “I just finished reading The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins in one 4-hour sitting. Couldn’t put it down. The Time Traveller’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger still makes me cry. Anything by Anne Marie MacDonald. Ooh, The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak – one of the best books I’ve ever read. On the classics side, Jane Eyre, Pride and Prejudice, anything by J.R.R. Tolkien or C.S. Lewis, of course … and I must confess I’m a big Harry Potter fan, too. You can’t beat it for brain candy.”