About Us

Big Bad Words, LLC, was founded  in 2014 by Beth Johnson, an award-winning writer and editor with more than 25 years in the communications industry. She has master's degrees in advertising and creative writing.

As the former editor and lead writer of Thrive at the University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center (2012-2020), the magazine  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 research magazine, which won the 2021 APEX Award for magazine writing.

On the creative writing front, she has published fiction and nonfiction in Massachusetts Review, Mississippi Review, Story Quarterly, Cincinnati Review,  and elsewhere. Her essay, "Your Friend/My Friend, Ted," was included in The Best American Essays 2018. Her novel Coming Clean was published by Regal House Publishing in January 2024.

Visit Beth's LinkedIn page. 

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

She has worked in the automotive, high technology, academic and health care sectors; her work has spanned consumer marketing, business to business marketing and nonprofit communications.  

Big Bad Words will help you tell your story. Words are what we do best.