Member profile: Stephenie Overman, freelancer about the workplace

Stephenie Overman found her calling as a teen-ager when she had a lousy manager at the Dairy Queen where she worked. The experience drew her to a topic that has become her specialty.

“I was meant to write about workplace issues,” says Overman, a National Press Club member and full-time freelancer.

Overman is active in NPC’s Freelance Committee and is well-known around the Club as the organizer of a monthly Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) freelancers’ luncheon. She has been a professional freelance writer for nearly 20 years, specializing in workplace and health issues, with a special interest in global workplace issues.

“Being a freelancer has allowed me to do all kinds of writing – books, magazines, digital magazines, newspapers, websites. I’m even co-author of a 10-minute play, ‘Smarter Than Dirt,’ that was in Washington’s Source Theater festival years ago.”

Overman is a former president of the Washington, D.C., chapter of SPJ and co-founder of the chapter’s freelance group. “Between the SPJ and NPC, I have a great network of freelancers, people who are really generous in sharing expertise and giving support.”

Her work has appeared in Fortune.com, HR Magazine, Staffing Management Magazine, Executive Talent, Independent Business, Employee Benefit News, Executive Female, Los Angeles Business Journal, Working Well, Occupational Health And Safety, Daily Labor Report, Human Resource Management News, HR Focus, Managed Care Reporter, Welfare to Work, School to Work, Employment & Training Reporter, You And The Law, Working Smart, Cincinnati Enquirer, The Telegraph (Nashua, N.H.), Alexandria (Va.) Gazette Packet, Courier News (Bridgewater, N.J.) Fort Wayne (Ind.) News-Sentinel.

She’s a senior contributing editor to The HR Agenda, a Japanese/English business publication based in Tokyo.

A native of Huntington, Indiana, Overman graduated from Ball State University with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and political science. She has a master’s in labor studies from the University of the District of Columbia.

Overman is author of “Next Generation Wellness at Work” (Praeger Publishing). She’s currently writing an e-book “The Resilient Freelancer: Health and Wellness Strategies for the Self-Employed.”

Need a freelancer? The Freelance Committee maintains a listing of freelancers available for assignments. Check it out here.

Are you a freelancer? Join NPC’s Freelance Committee. For information, contact Tam Harbert, [email protected].