About Sohini
I get these questions all the time — so an FAQ seemed in order:
What exactly do you do?
How did you end up here?
Why should I hire you?
No, really. Why should I hire you?
Do you have a résumé?
How long has Sohini.com been around?
What kind of clients do you work with?
What’s your story?
Where do you work?
How do you say your name?
Who did your site?
What exactly do you do?
I’m a communications and media relations professional. I’ve worked on strategic communications, content creation, and media relations. My portfolio includes print, radio, television, and the Internet. As well, I’ve helped clients and colleagues develop and launch several successful projects including online publications, audio programming, and on-line marketing.
How did you end up here?
Completely by accident! I’ve had to reinvent myself a couple of times. It started with the first week of graduate school, where I realized I would grow old before my time within minutes of beginning the academic life I’d aspired to since I was 15. But I learned a few things in all those seminar sessions. I learned how to hold a room’s attention and how to hold my own in intellectual blood sport. I also discovered that I despise jargon.
Then I wandered into public radio in Santa Monica, California, where I discovered that I herd cats well. I also learned how to develop a very nice “no” so that people would indeed have lunch with me again.
And then I moved east, where I happened into the non-profit world’s peace and global justice departments. All those years of having an opinion, articulating my position, getting people to do things, and never turning off the charm converged. Begin Sohini.com.
Why should I hire you?
Because I need the gig?
Kidding.
Jokes aside, it comes down to your time and my expertise. Some clients frequently have the right instincts, but lack the know-how or the professional background. Some can’t afford to wast the time on details involved in a comprehensive and effective communications strategy. That’s where I enter the picture.
No, really. Why should I hire you?
I worked for several years at KCRW-FM, Southern California’s highly regarded flagship NPR station, where the day job was managing the volunteers who help the place function. But what I really lived to do was produce Good Food, where I learned the joyous craft of audio editing. It’s also where I learned to pitch a story, work with the media, and figure out which 12 minutes of a fascinating half hour conversation really merited airtime. And bandwidth - because KCRW-FM was one of the earliest stations to go online 24/7.
More recently, I worked at Peace X Peace in Washington D.C. where I began in 2003 as a part-time intern and left in 2007 as director of communications. That’s where I learned to slow down, listen, and create an organization’s communications from soup to nuts. Much of what I know about strategic communications came from the years at Peace X Peace, where there were four people at a dining table when I arrived - mostly wearing yoga pants, and 14 when I left, some in suits, not a pair of yoga pants in sight.
Do you have a résumé?
Yes. Please take a look.
How long has Sohini.com been around?
Informally? Several years. Formally? I hung out my shingle in late 2007.
What kind of clients and projects do you work with?
As my resume shows, all kinds! I’ve worked in public radio and at non-profits. Sohini.com’s clients have included the D.C. Film Alliance, The Full Cup, and First Voice International. I also sit on the board of Star Light Ministries, which was featured on NPR’s Tell Me More with Michel Martin and the New York Times’ Freakanomics blog.
As I say on the home page, I’ve worked with non-profits, for-profits, small companies, not so small companies… the works. I care deeply about issues of social justice and human trafficking, and I thrill to foreign policy and geopolitics. I need to make a living like everyone else, but I’ve never taken on a client or a job just for the money. If I’m the wrong person for the job, I’ll probably tell you right away. Let’s talk and find out what I can do for you!
What’s your story?
I was born in India. My family moved back and forth between India and the Middle East and I spent several years in Oman, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain before moving to the U.S. for college.
I have a B.A. from UCLA in English and received my M.A. in literature from Rutgers University, where I focused on Shakespeare and post colonialism.
I now live in Northern Virginia.
Where do you work?
Have laptop and Internet, will produce! In other words, it doesn’t matter where you are. I’ve worked with clients in the neighborhood, and managed projects with players as far afield as Seattle, Washington; Bangalore, India; and Tokyo, Japan.
What does your name mean and how do you say your name?
I was named for a Hindustani classical raga. Pronounce the O, swallow the second syllable, stretch out the third. Altogether now… “SO-hi-nee.”
Who did your site?
The original Sohini.com logo was designed by my friend and colleague, Katherine Wimble. She’s in grad school now, but still does a bit of design on the side for a very few select clients.
The website was designed by Danna McCormick. Everyone should be so lucky to have a webmaster who put up with much indecision and several color palate tweaks, and offered invaluable input when I was in the weeds. If you need a site designed, look no further!