About Juice

Cindy joined Baptist Health more than 35 years ago. She started as a graphic designer and went on to oversee creative services, media relations, events, and pretty much anything else related to communications.

Never turning away from a crisis, Cindy has managed internal and external responses to all types of emergencies from hurricanes and bomb threats to the H1N1 and Ebola epidemics and mass casualties.

Cindy is viewed by many at Baptist Health as the “calm during the storm” for any PR situation; in fact, there are days when there is a line of two or three colleagues at her door, seeking the advice and guidance that comes with years of communications experience.

2,818. That’s how many miles Juliette traveled on her road to Jacksonville. As a fresh Penn State graduate, Juliette moved from her native Philadelphia to Columbia, Missouri, to follow the bright lights of local TV news. It was a natural career choice for a woman who has always been curious about everything. Her broadcast journalism career took Juliette from Columbia to Austin, Texas, and then all the way to Jacksonville, Florida. Two hurricanes, a house and a wedding later, Jacksonville is home. Along the road, Juliette met people from all different backgrounds and realized the old saying is true: everyone has a story. As managing editor of Juice, Juliette gets to tell the most inspiring stories in Northeast Florida and beyond. While she plans to stay put in Jacksonville, Juliette likes to keep her suitcase handy – there’s a whole world to see! Outside of work, you can find her catching sunrise on the beach with her husband and two dogs, biking to brunch or cheering on her Philly and Penn State sports teams.

Power of the pen. That’s a phrase Deborah's late uncle, a priest and social justice advocate, engrained in her when she worked at newspapers throughout Florida. Through the power of writing, you can bring about great change. She's kept that motto throughout her journalism career as a social services and investigative reporter and during the last 12 years in marketing where she's worked in health care, higher education and the space industry. This is her second time working for Baptist Health; during her initial tenure, she helped launch many programs like the Baptist MD Anderson Cancer Center and the Stroke & Cerebrovascular Center. Deborah has a talent of breaking down complicated topics, whether interviewing health care executives, brain surgeons or astronauts. Throughout her career, she's also written about celebrities from race car drivers to actors – sometimes actors who are race car drivers!

Emilie used to play a game with her father: Take any object, and see what else you can see. That’s how the woodgrain of her closet door became a Modigliani portrait of an elongated and soulful female’s face. So it’s not surprising that Emilie grew to become a creative. And because she went to college originally to study nursing, it follows that she is now a graphic designer working in a hospital. The most intriguing aspect of her job, she says, is to reveal the invisible energy that lies just beneath the surface for dynamic messaging. (That’s also the most challenging.) Her inspirations are blues and jazz music, Rothko, Steinbeck and Tootsie Rolls. Emilie has a BA degree in design, but learned the most from a plethora of straight-shooter mentors, gregarious bosses, clients big and small, and life.

Tara became interested in art as a child and carried her passion through college. She started out as a painting and drawing major at the University of North Florida, then discovered graphic design. She fell in love with using imagery, color and words to evoke emotion and action. For sixteen years she has been a visual storyteller in the health care field, helping guide patients to healing. When she’s not designing for Baptist Health, Tara enjoys spending time with her husband, Sean, and their high-energy bengal cats, Taco and Buddy. She also spends a lot of time in the choir and helping with the kids’ programs at her church.

Wesley has been passionate about engaging stories and perfect grammar for as long as she can remember. Writing creative children’s books as a little girl eventually developed into the pursuit of a bachelor’s degree in Media and Journalism at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The Tar Heel born and bred newlywed landed in Jacksonville and is still on the search to find the best vanilla latte in the city. After dabbling in the agency life and leadership development, she was thrilled to land the position as a writer at Baptist Health. When she’s out of the office, you’re sure to find her exploring a new restaurant or running on the beach.

Born and raised in Jacksonville, Melissa enjoys weaving creative storytelling with her public relations expertise to create compelling narratives. A childhood obsession with meeting school reading goals led to Melissa serving on her middle school morning news program and high school newspaper, before eventually pursuing a bachelor’s degree in public relations at the University of Georgia. Melissa comes to Baptist Health from an advertising agency, where her storytelling helped snag clients local and national media coverage. Melissa owns a lot of red and black clothing and can be found calling the Dawgs on any given Saturday in the fall. When she’s not watching college football, you can find her traveling with family and friends, tasting a treat from every dessert shop she comes across, and (still) obsessively meeting her yearly reading goal.

Fueled by a lifelong love of research and storytelling, Emily worked in newspaper publishing before joining Baptist Health’s marketing and communications team. She cut her editorial teeth as an arts and culture writer in London, where she covered everything from climate change and archaeological excavations to rediscovered masterpieces and new techniques for conserving artworks.

After more than a decade of living and working abroad, Emily decided to return to the U.S. and is enjoying getting to know Jacksonville and the health care industry and spending time with her family. She has never met an antiques store she didn’t like, and often spends weekends in search of some long-lost masterpiece. But in the meantime, she’ll happily settle for a piece of vintage Pyrex or a bit of American Folk Art.

Call it ADD or just a penchant for juggling many things at once, Beth is always running from one Baptist Health community hospital to the next, handling a variety of marketing and communications projects. That’s A LOT of years of marketing and communications experience talking, the last nine with Baptist Health. A creative type who speaks her mind, Beth ran a communications consulting business out of her home for more than 10 years until a career in health care communications beckoned. When she’s not writing stories, planning events or marketing campaigns, the University of Florida grad and AOII alum can be found whacking balls on the tennis court. Unless she’s enjoying the beach with her husband. Or spending time with her two grown kids when they allow it.

Beverly, or Bev, has always had a passion for writing. What started as a creative outlet writing songs and lyrics, turned into an enthusiasm for crafting stories that would intrigue and educate others. Born and raised in Jacksonville, Bev graduated with honors from the University of North Florida, majoring in Public Relations. She got her first taste of health care communications through her role with a surgical nonprofit, where she fell in love with sharing the stories of its patients and medical volunteers.

Determined to use her skills as a benefit to her community, Bev secured a position as an Internal Communication Specialist at Baptist Health and a writer for Juice. Now, she gives team members the essential information they need, and provides her community with articles that are interesting, helpful and informative.

When she’s not typing away, she’s definitely listening to music, singing and playing piano, or watching a live performance. She also loves visiting the Florida springs, and spending time with her closest friends and family.

Johnny comes from a long line of medical professionals, but he didn’t have the brains nor the stomach to follow their lead. Instead, he spent more than 30 years in newspapers, doing everything from driving the circulation truck to covering sports and petty criminals on the police beat. Now, in his third act, he finally gets the chance to work as a writer/editor in the health care setting, but, sadly, still isn’t allowed to touch any of the equipment. He enjoys writing about a slew of health topics and obsessing over every one of his word choices. When he’s not banging the keyboard, he’s walking a trail in the woods, swimming long distances in the ocean and trying to figure out why his wife hasn’t left him after nearly 30 years of marriage.