My Love Affair With Writing
Cathi Douglas, President

My love affair with writing is the most important story of my life.

I have always loved to write. When it came time to pick a college major, my high school counselor suggested that I enter college to study communications, a field that allowed great flexibility. She did me a huge favor by recommending Cal State Fullerton, with a nationally recognized communications department.

Since I’d edited my yearbook and newspaper, I was recruited the summer following high school graduation to attend a prestigious two-week journalism workshop. The California Scholastic Press Association workshop in the summer of ‘76 cemented my desire to become a newspaper reporter– no matter how hard I had to work.

Woodward and Bernstein’s book, “All the President’s Men,” was a best-seller and virtually every communications major wanted to be an investigative reporter. I studied hard and worked part-time as a stringer for the Fullerton News Tribune and part-time in the student newspaper back shop as a typesetter and paste-up artist, jobs that don’t exist anymore. I spent seven semesters writing and editing for the Daily Titan and completed four internships. I was president of the CSUF chapter of Sigma Delta Chi, the Society of Professional Journalists and a member of the Orange County Press Club.

My experiences yielded an outstanding portfolio of articles and I was hired immediately after college by the Orange County Register. I covered schools and cities and was part of the team that developed the Register’s first community sections. Eventually I became a copy editor on weekly sections for six different cities.

Since then I’ve been managing editor of a monthly boating magazine; assistant city editor and feature editor at a regional newspaper; senior account supervisor at a full-service public relations agency; the first full-time public relations director at Chapman University; and the founding editor of Titan Magazine at Cal State Fullerton.

I’ve received the Public Relations Society of America Distinguished Service Award, its highest honor. I’m on the Wall of Fame honoring CSUF College of Communications alumni.  As a professional in both journalism and public relations, I’ve won many awards for my writing, project management, client service and editing.

I once swore that the only job I’d ever have was reporting for a major daily newspaper. That career lasted just three years. I thought I’d landed my dream job in higher education public relations at Chapman – and then my ultimate career capstone as founding editor of Titan, my alma mater magazine.

Today I'm realizing my last and best adventure as the owner of my own PR consulting, writing and editing business. I never predicted myself doing this - but here I am and it's amazing. My love affair with writing begins a new chapter, continuing to reward me for doing what I love most.