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The Drawing Board was started by Nakita Valerio in 2009. Over the years, we have supported many amazing clients and the scope of what we do has changed from writing to full-on marketing support with the offer of eBook publications, newsletter authourship, social media management and much more. We were founded on the principle that talented people should be acting on those talents, whatever their business may be.

Let’s face it: the digital world is here to stay and if all of us are going to be using websites and social media to communicate, shop, share and live then we had better be doing it well. One of the biggest stumbling blocks that is facing companies, non-profits and charities these days is good, quality content on the social media and websites that keeps them informative, relevant and interesting. This is because of a very simple fact of life: Web designers and business owners are not writers.

We are writers. This is what we do. And even though we make it look easy, we are trained professionals in our trade and we make it our mission to uplift you and your business through our writing services.

What do you get when you cross three historians with passion for writing? You get The Drawing Board.

NakitaNakita Valerio
Owner and Head Writer for The Drawing Board

Nakita Valerio is an academic, activist and writer in the community. She is currently pursuing graduate studies in History and Islamic-Jewish Studies at the University of Alberta.  Nakita was named one of the Alberta Council for Global Cooperation’s Top 30 under 30 for 2015, and is the recipient of the 2016 Joseph-Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarship from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, as well as the Walter H. Johns Graduate Studies Fellowship. She has also been honoured with the State of Kuwait, the Queen Elizabeth II and the Frank W Peers Awards for Graduate Studies in 2015. She has been recognized by Rotary International with an Award for Excellence in Service to Humanity and has been named one of Edmonton’s “Difference Makers” for 2015 by the Edmonton Journal. Nakita is the co-founder of Bassma Primary School in El Attaouia, Morocco and the Director of Public Policy with the Alberta Muslim Public Affairs Council.

1395963_10152046806551411_1850691895_nRachael Heffernan

Writer and Researcher for The Drawing Board

Rachael Heffernan is currently completing a Master’s Degree in Religious Studies at the University of Alberta. In the course of her academic career, she has received a number of scholarships and awards, including the Harrison Prize in Religion and the Queen Elizabeth II Graduate Scholarship. During her undergraduate degree, Rachael was published twice in The Codex: Bishop University’s Journal of Philosophy, Religion, Classics, and Liberal Arts for her work on Hittite divination and magic and philosophy of religion. Rachael has also had the opportunity to participate in an archaeological dig in Israel, and has spoken at a conference on Secularism at the University of Alberta on the Christian nature of contemporary Western healthcare. Her wide-ranging interests in scholarship are complemented by her eclectic extra-curricular interests: she is a personal safety instructor and lifelong martial artist who has been recognized for her leadership with a Nepean Community Sports Hero Award. She is an enthusiastic reader, writer, and learner of all things, a tireless athlete, and a passionate teacher.

lizLiz Hill

Writer and Researcher for The Drawing Board

Liz came to Edmonton to do a Masters degree in History at the University of Alberta after completing a Bachelor of Arts degree in Art History at the University of Victoria. Her research interests include medieval and early modern social and cultural history, especially issues around medical history and persecution. In the first year of her Masters degree, Liz received the Joseph-Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarship from the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada, followed by the Walter H. Johns Fellowship, Queen Elizabeth II Graduate Scholarship, and the Field Law Leilani Muir Graduate Research Scholarship.She  presented at the HCGSA Conference at University of Alberta in 2016 and will be writing the entry on Leprosy in World Christianity for the De Gruyter’s Encyclopedia of the Bible and its Reception (forthcoming). She has worked as a Research Assistant at the University of Alberta, and as a contract researcher and writer for the Government of Alberta’s Heritage division. In addition to her work as a writer and researcher, Liz volunteers with the Art Gallery of Alberta and Latitude 53 Contemporary Visual Culture.

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The Drawing Board blog has steadily been growing in popularity since it was launched just over one year ago. With nearly 100 posts in that short time, The Drawing Board has been popular the world over for various posts on politics, business, the craft of writing, travel and much more. Not only has our popularity expanded in terms of where we are gaining traffic (see: The Drawing Board’s Popularity is International) but it has also grown in terms of sheer volume of numbers.

early-to-bed-and-early-to-rise-makes-a-man-healthy-wealthy-and-wiseWith over a quarter of the year left to go in 2015, we have already quadrupled our readership and the numbers just keep going up.

How are people finding us? As a content management and creation business, we believe in the power of content to revolutionize the online impact of a company. It should come as no surprise, then, that the vast majority of our traffic comes from search engine searches (mainly Google) that linked back to content on our blog. It’s as simple as that. The next highest sources come from social media outlets like Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter where our posts are automatically uploaded.

Does any of this translate to an increase in business? While our online traffic might not necessarily turn into direct clients coming in the door (although that *has* happened several times over the past year!) what is more important is the building of an online legacy that lends legitimacy to our business – the same work we do for our clients. This legitimacy results in increased business so that we and our clients who use our services can do what we do best: help others and uplift our communities through the important work we do. That being said, we have also increased the number of contracts from this time last year from four to twelve major clients – an increase of 300%! And that was accomplished without traditional advertising (all online and word of mouth) or any real initiative put forth to garner new clients. When we put a real effort in, we can imagine what kind of impact that will have on the number of businesses we can help.

Want to appear on our blog? If you are a writer or a client and would like to capitalize on our online success, feel free to approach us about having a feature article written about you or an interview published to highlight your incredible talents. We would be happy to support you and develop more content in the meantime!

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cousins  Inspired by a recent post we wrote for Behrends Group of Companies, we figured it would be a good idea to talk about why we named The Drawing Board as such! First of all, this business has not always been known by this name. Though Nakita has been doing online content management for various businesses and organizations since 2009, she didn’t officially name and launch it until August of 2014. This was done with the intention to expand our services and clientele base. Nakita had worked for the incredible Edmonton-based business, Optimum Health Vitamins and Kolya Naturals Spa and Apothecary for 8 years and it felt like it was time for a change. With the goal of setting out on her own within 6 to 8 months, The Drawing Board was born.

375078_10150782137025568_1715195333_nIn coming up with the name, Nakita and Michele brainstormed together regularly. We wanted it to be something catchy, meaningful and something you always come back to. We wanted it to represent modernity and freshness – exactly what our content would breathe into the life of your business. So what do you always come back to when you need new ideas? You come back to the drawing board!

cousins2We also wanted to emphasize the creative relationships we want to build with clients. The Drawing Board is a dynamic team and we strive to empower your writing ideas by working together to fish them out, solidify your vision and then translate this into impeccable writing. Most of our clients offer us snippets of information, bullet-point notes that they cobble together from various conversations among their staff. Our job is to take these schematic ideas and create writing masterpieces. The Drawing Board is a place where the sketched beginnings of your ideas become a business reality.