I’m Mercedes,
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a ❧ creative coach and ❧ writer — and a lifelong multi-hyphenate, curious and enthusiastic. I’ve primarily worked as a ❧ journalist and editor in the spheres of design, culture, and place, and thanks to reams of story interviews and fifteen years of management, I’ve become especially adept at easily making authentic, collaborative connections. So last year, I launched a ❧ coaching practice.
I’ve centered my coaching work in creativity because, to me, creativity is a life force, both spiritually and scientifically: Across disciplines, it’s clear that we were meant to create. We’re also meant to be together, and as my work expands, I’m increasingly interested in facilitating interdependence. My upcoming efforts are coaching teams and facilitating group coaching, and in time I’d like to coach people as they form worker-owned cooperatives and other collective structures.
My writing has appeared in Elle Decor, New York Magazine, Curbed, and Metropolis, among others, and I’ve worked as an editor, creative director, and strategist with a résumé that includes senior roles at Adobe, Vox Media, and a suite of brands under Soho House & Co. Independently, I’ve enjoyed a wide range of work, from academic copyediting to publication design and production.
I’ve given interviews about people-first product creation (Humans and Computers podcast), recommendations for the best work-from-home ‘fits (The Strategist), comments on “Live, Laugh, Love” decor (The Outline), tips on managing up down and to the side (Online News Association), and a talk on “whole places” (Palm Springs Art Museum).
In my formative years on the internet, I ran Womanzine (toosexyandweird.com), a nonlinear webzine that allowed me to work with my friends and other cool people of the internet. In 2013, I got to work with some of my favorite tech and culture friends and writers to create a print version for the world’s first emoji art show at Eyebeam.
Ask me about any of it.
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Gaetano Pesce at Coming Soon New York
Shari Mendelson at Pamela Salisbury Gallery
You can find me
on Substack, where I publish my coaching newsletter, New being being new,
and on Instagram, where I also run an account for my love of vases and vessels.
I’m not doing journalistic writing at the moment, but I’ve linked you to some of my favorite past stories.
Design and photography are by me, unless noted.