The Lead is a podcast hosted and produced by Charlotte Norsworthy in the Cox Institute for Journalism Innovation, Management & Leadership at the University of Georgia. We talk about how to get ahead in the media industry by interviewing the people who did.

This episode of The Lead is one of my personal favorites. Jamie Lauren Keiles, a 27-year-old freelance writer, carries color with her wherever she goes. She’s a writer I’ve admired since I was an awkward 11-year-old reading her Seventeen Magazine Blog, so when she came to Grady for the Newscraft 19 conference, I had to pull her in for an interview.

I had a lot of fun preparing for the interview since Jamie’s writing takes a quick-witted, fast-and-loose pace. I felt as though I was interviewing a friend, and I think that comes through in the interview.

We discuss one of her most popular stories, The 24-Year-Old Coca-Cola Virgin (you should read it here), about how she never tried the southern nectar until she was 24. I hope you enjoy getting to know Jamie like I did.

Give it a listen.