About Me
Cindy Marie Jenkins is writer, editor, and educator who focuses on digital literacy, YouTube & media history, arts, culture, and communications. "I watch YouTube so you don't have to."
Hello & Welcome!
I'm driven by curiosity, research, and context, which I now funnel into three primary areas:
Creative Editor, OutThinkMedia.com: Since 2023, I work to give families the historical, cultural, and emotional context to understand how kids media affects their lives today. This includes hosting the podcasts Out Think the Classics, Out Think Influencers, and Out Think Media History (Patreon first).
Communications Collaborator with Creative Evolutions: Founded in 2022 by Douglas R. Clayton and Calida N. Jones, I strategize brand storytelling and distribution methods, including email marketing, conference proposals/events, and digital platforms.
Writer/Editor/Educator at CMJ Communications LLC: For fifteen years I've freelanced as a writer, editor, and educator. Call on me as a source for parenting topics such as YouTube, Influencers, working parents, and relocating your family.
Over the years, my expertise has been featured in BBC Culture, National Geographic, Business Insider, Wired, Care.com, Think of the Children, The Art and Science of Mom; podcasts include On Boys, Pop Culture Makes Me Jealous, The Scenic Route, and more.
Bylines include: Insider, Business Insider, The Mary Sue, StarTrek.com, The Beijinger, Jingkids Int’l/BeijingKids, VoxPopuli Winter Garden, Theatre Communications Guild, The Clyde Fitch Report, The Mom Forum, No Proscenium, Dwarf+Giant (a blog of The Last Bookstore), Time Out Beijing Family, Better Lemons, Theatre @ Boston Court and more.
The Long Story
Growing up between a library and a theater, I've always obsessed over how culture affects behaviors and how ideas change through communication, collaboration, and community. After graduating from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts (Directing major) and self-producing a number of theater pieces around New York City, I moved to Los Angeles so this Boston-born East Coaster could try something new. QI quickly started stage managing for both smaller spaces like The Fountain Theatre and as an Equity PSM and Mentor for Center Theater Group's education outreach programs like Speak to Me.
Between 2008 and 2010, I worked as Director of Education at Enrichment Works and created the role of Artistic Associate for The Antaeus Company. There I produced the classical theater academy, play readings and productions, while rebuilding their Arts Education program. Together with acclaimed actor/director John Prosky, we brought dialogues about identity and belonging, and villainy inside of a local juvenile detention center through Edmund and Edgar in King Lear.
Inspired by Eve Ensler and a love of tying history into our daily lives, I adapted a play in 2005 to raise money for children born in Chernobyl. In 2007, I was the keynote speaker for the Remember Chernobyl Conference in the UK, where I introduced a short film and helped these childrens' charities activate storytelling as an effective fundraising tool.
By 2011, I was on the Steering Committee for the Directors Lab West, working on outreach and inclusion; for over a decade, a team of six produced this international conference, from securing funding and space to curating elite special guests that can display the many different choices in career and creative paths these emerging visionaries could bring to our world.
I spent over a decade in Los Angeles as an outreach and marketing consultant for community organizations, the City of Los Angeles, entrepreneurs and the arts. My workshops used a highly organized and creative approach to help clients articulate their values and strategies; these included an NEA-funded workshop series to elevate the digital marketing plans of local theaters and a residency at Hollywood’s Theatre Asylum every June from 2011-2015. Back when hashtags built community instead of just indexing your content, I was one of three local Los Angeles artists who introduced the #LAthtr hashtag on twitter.
Starting in 2017, I started writing and speaking on how to make it work as a work-at-home parent, running online and in person workshops with parent advocacy groups like PAAL (Parent Artist Advocacy League) and libraries. While living and working in Beijing, China, as a Deputy Managing Editor for the leading expat magazine at True Run Media, I became a trusted authority on the emotional and pragmatic communications needed to relocate your family for work (The Relo Down Low). This included acting as editor for their 2021-22 Beijing School Choice Guide, a 100+ page magazine and online database of over 65 international schools (ECE through high school) in Beijing with up to the minute data on admissions.
While at BeijingKids, now Jingkids International, I also enjoy using my experience as a higher education counselor for international students as a writing coach and consultant when needed.
After living in China pre and during COVID, we repatriated to the United States in 2021; here I dug into hyper local writing before founding Out Think Media in 2023.
to be continued......
Find me online
Linkedin | Out Think Media | Creative Evolutions
Bluesky @Cindyoutthinksmdia
Instagram/Threads @Cindyoutthinksmedia
Email cmj@cmjcommunications.com