About Us

Margot Carmichael Lester and Steve Peha run The Word Factory. At any given time, the company's ranks swell with contract professionals such as copywriters, editors, photographers, print & web designers, e-marketing specialists and other bright, fun and talented folks. You tell us what you want and we build a team of pros to give it to you. It's that simple.

MARGOT CARMICHAEL LESTER  Verbal Tycoon

Margot divides her time between journalism and consulting. A reporter for both print and web, she possesses a solid understanding of writing that works. She's a contributing editor for Architect magazine, and reports regularly for the International Cinematographers Guild Magazine, the Carrboro Citizen, MSN.com, Monster.com, Match.com and several airline magazines. She also has a keen sense of communication strategies that work, and has provided PR counsel for IPOs, M&As, layoffs, closings, launches and image building. Corporate clients have included Ticketmaster-Citysearch, Locopops, GlaxoSmithKline and SciQuest. Growing up in a family enterprise, Margot developed a solid understanding of business, particularly operations, and is a certified instructor for the FastTrac entrepreneurial training program. She is the author of The Real Life Guide to Starting Your Career and The Real Life Guide to Life After College. She also co-authored Be a Better Writer: Power Tools for Young Writers, which won the 2007 Independent Publishers Association's gold award. Margot also is a principal with Past Forward, a personal memoir and institutional history service. Prior to starting The Word Factory, she was director of marketing at the Kenan-Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and public affairs coordinator at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina. She is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a bachelor's degree in journalism.  View Margot's profile on LinkedIn or follow her on Twitter.

STEVE PEHA  Senior Sentence Construction Specialist, Design Guru

Steve Peha’s unique combination of skills and experience — as an educator, writer, designer, technology consultant and software developer — allow him to view content creation, design and training in an innovative and original way that improves performance quickly. Steve is a weekly contributor to the National Journal's Education Experts blog and the Rethink Learning Now blog, and writes a monthly column for the Carrboro Citizen. A talented presenter, Steve has given writing, literacy and other workshops across the United States and Canada. A former journalist, Steve is a regular columnist for the Carrboro Citizen, and serves as our in-house editor. In 2006, he wrote Be A Writer: A Young Person’s Guide to the Writing Life and Be a Better Writer: Power Tools for Young Writers, the latter winning the 2007 Independent Publishers Association's gold award. Also a gifted graphic designer, he has created everything from product packaging to instructional materials to web pages, including Petrucci, one of the most popular music notation fonts in the world. Steve is a graduate of Boston University with a degree in English.View Steve's profile on LinkedIn and follow him on Twitter.

CLAIRE DATILLO PARKER Staff Writer/Content Specialist

Claire has been associated with The Word Factory since 1998. She handles content creation, particularly for our clients in real estate, architecture and general-interest publishing. In addition to her work at the Factory, she is a correspondent for the Ocala (Fla.) Star-Banner, where she also authors the popular Ear to the Ground blog. Claire formerly wrote for two newspapers in Virginia, including a monthly column on historic homes in the South Roanoke area. She also was a business and community news reporter for the Fayetteville Observer and covered everything from a three-month labor strike at a Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. plant to a lively shopping column called “Off the Rack”. She is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a bachelor's degree in journalism & mass communication.

CAROLYN FOY EVANS PR Specialist/Staff Writer

Carolyn Foy Evans has been associated with The Word Factory since 1995, working on PR strategy and providing editorial services. She coordinates our PR planning and media outreach, and provides and creates content for clients like Monster.com, Florida Gulf Coast Weddings and Architect magazines. In addition to her work at the Factory, Carolyn handles product PR for clients in the gift and collectibles industries, and provides strategic counsel to start-up technology companies. She has managed communications, investor relations and financial reporting for corporate and non-profit clients such as the Council for Entrepreneurial Development, Fleer/Skybox, CoolCupsandStuff, LIPSinc and Royal Bank of Canada (RBC). Carolyn is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a bachelor's degree in journalism & mass communication.

ADELA MANN Office Assistant

Adela joined us four years ago. She started as our dog-walker, but we liked her so much we brought her in to take care of more than just the canine members of our team. She also volunteers at a local animal hospital. A student and elite soccer player, Adela's planning on a career as a writer or a attorney. For now, though, she's happy handling administrative and doggie responsibilities for us.

OUR STORY

The Word Factory has been churning out verbiage since it was founded in 1993 by Margot Carmichael Lester, self-proclaimed verbal tycoon.

Originally called Gurley Communications, the company formed a joint venture in 1995 with Universal Printing to form Universal Communications, a full-service production house providing PR, copy, design and printing services to clients across the Southeast. Seeking a change of scenery, Lester moved to Hollywood, California, and changed the company's name to The Word Factory to refocus its energies on custom content and journalism. Opportunity knocked in the form of the Tech Boom and pulled the company back into consulting. The Word Factory team advised clients going through IPOs, mergers, spin-offs, private placements, venture-raising and the inevitable layoffs and closings.The Word Factory continued to operate from Hollywood until 2003, when Lester decided to return to her native North Carolina. Steve Peha joined the operation as shop foreman and husband, and they returned to Carrboro, N.C., where the company was originally based.