Meet Our Experts
Editor-in-Chief
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Sung Rhee
Understanding the difficulties of obtaining a quality, affordable education is what inspired founder and CEO Sung Rhee to found Optimal in 2004. H...
Editors
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Bailey Fletcher
Bailey is a Senior Editor at Optimal, where she has been overseeing editorial processes for higher education content since August 2021. With a bac...
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Brian Hepp
Brian is the Lead Marketing Manager at Optimal and joined the team in the beginning of 2019. Over the last several years, Brian has worked as an e...
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Adrian Ramirez
Adrian is an Outreach Manager and Content Editor for Optimal. He has been with Optimal since 2021 and brings over a decade of expertise in web wri...
Writers
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Jordan Beliles
Jordan Beliles is a fact-based reporter and writer with over 10 years of experience compiling research in a wide variety of industries. His words ...
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Shadi Bushra
Shadi Bushra covers the labor market and other economic factors that impact college students and recent graduates. He specializes in Gen Z and Mil...
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Usmaan Farooqui
Usmaan Farooqui is a writer with over 10 years of combined experience in journalism, academia, and online content. In the past, he spent time work...
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Liz Heintz
Liz Heintz is a content writer with a BA in communications, advocacy, and relational communications from Marylhurst University in Oregon. Prior to...
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James Holbrook
James Holbrook is a writer with five years of experience in fiction writing, academia, and copywriting. They have a master's in theatre history an...
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Holly Johnson
Holly Johnson is the co-author of "Zero Down Your Debt." She attended Ball State University and was given the Best Contributor/Freelancer for Pers...
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Jennifer King Logan
Jennifer King Logan specializes in covering business, marketing, and finance topics within higher education. Before joining Optimal, Jennifer work...
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Michael McCarthy
Michael McCarthy is a writer for Optimal, where he creates long-form content for all of the company's websites. He's previously fact-checked textb...
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Ryan Mulholand
Ryan Mulholand is the current Information Services Librarian for Tennessee Wesleyan University. He has a Bachelor of Arts in History from Ohio Sta...
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Taylor Nichols
Taylor Nichols is a journalist covering community colleges and four-year universities with a focus on student outcomes, career pathways, and alter...
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Emily Sherman
Emily Sherman now works as a freelance writer for Optimal but before that she was the Senior Managing Editor. She is passionate about creating con...
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Morgan Westling
Morgan Westling is a writer and content strategist with a Master of Arts in Teaching from the University of Portland and a Bachelor of Arts in Eng...
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Liane Marie Yosores
Liane Marie Yosores is a versatile content writer with a unique background that blends over five years of experience in ESL teaching, content edit...