Our Story

Big Bold Words was founded  in 2014 by Beth Uznis Johnson, an award-winning writer and editor with more than two decades in the communications industry. 

Beth has an advertising agency background, transitioned to the client side as a marketing manager, and shifted into creative storytelling roles that made use of her account management and strategic marketing experience.

She has worked across sectors, including healthcare, academia, high-technology, and automotive. Her work spans consumer marketing, business-to-business, and nonprofit communications.  

B.A. Journalism • M.S. Advertising • MFA Fiction

As a former magazine editor and writer at University of Michigan Health, Beth won best publication and best article honors in the Ragan Health Care, PR Daily Nonprofit, and APEX awards programs. She was founding editor of Illuminate, an annual cancer research magazine.

On the creative writing front, her debut novel Coming Clean was released by Regal House Publishing in January 2024. She has published fiction and creative nonfiction in Massachusetts Review, Mississippi Review, Story Quarterly, Broad Street,  and elsewhere.  Her essay, "Your Friend/My Friend, Ted," was selected for inclusion in The Best American Essays 2018. 

Visit Beth's LinkedIn page.