About Me? More like my biography.

In college, I was the Assistant Director at Cardinal PR where I developed media lists, pitches, press releases, and helped to coordinate events. Clients that I worked with include the Center for the Advancement of Faculty Excellence and young adult author Jessica Pennington.

My undergraduate experience included research on the reduction of communication apprehension and understanding image repair theory as applied to influencer YouTube apology videos. Specifically, my role within this research team was to collaborate with and project manage two other authors, collect and analyze data, research and compile previous literature, and write the literature review, analysis, discussion, etc. Our project was accepted into and awarded as a Top Paper in Popular Culture at the 2020 Central States Communication Association conference.

I also own and operate an established book blog, “Buried In A Bookshelf.” My responsibilities and experience include building relationships with authors and bloggers, facilitating book review tours, fielding pitches for books to review, and beta reading. I also write and curate various creative posts, such as reviews, playlists, author interviews, and more. In addition to working with authors, I take book photos to promote my posts and manage multiple social media accounts. I also started a podcast, “Courtship with Courtney Kurhayez” in April of 2021. It’s an entertainment podcast centered on books, movies, TV shows, etc. with a focus on character relationships and all things adaptations. For each episode, I design movie posters or alternate promotional posters.

At North Central College, I ran the social media for the campus book club from 2018 to 2021, and joined both the First-Gen program as a Social Media/Marketing Intern and the Office of Marketing and Communications as a Social Media Ambassador for the 2020-2021 academic year. In August 2020, I joined the team at Raise Your AQ as a Social Media/Marketing intern and continued my work with their team until 2021. Some of my responsibilities included managing their blog on Weebly, creating social media graphics, collaborating with industry professionals on marketing plans and materials, and attending weekly meetings with the founder’s book publisher.

I’ve been playing drums and singing for the past 18 years, and have been performing on stage with my band for over a decade. Double Identity released our debut EP, “Small Talk,” in 2018, followed by a single titled “Everything Reminds Me of You” in 2019. A new single, “Your Anything,” was released in June 2020. Our sophomore EP titled “Talking to Ghosts: Act I” was released in April 2022. (Psst! Stream all of the songs on Spotify — or anywhere you listen to music.)

For the past two summers, I have been one of the social media managers for the Bitter Jester Music Festival in Highland Park, IL. This role includes graphic and content creation, along with live event coverage across four preliminary competition nights, and one all-day grand finale.

Since the above paragraphs show that I have an unbelievable amount of time on my hands, I thought I’d also tell you some more fun facts about how I spend my time! If I’m not reading a book or scrolling through social media (which, to be honest, is most of the time), you can catch me parked on my couch, binge-watching the Hunger Games, Twilight, or Shadowhunters for the hundredth time, or making my way through all seasons of Chicago Fire and Chicago PD (I live in the Chicago suburbs, so I get to vaguely say “hey, I’ve been there!” during some episodes. It’s a treat for those watching with me.)