Diane Paylor is a seasoned writer/editor who got her first taste of being a published writer at 9 years old when the community newspaper in her native Queens, NY neighborhood featured one of her fiction stories. Determined to make writing a career, Diane studied journalism with a concentration in magazine production at Florida A&M University in Tallahassee, Fl.

 

A stellar student, Diane honed her writing and editing skills by landing placements in highly competitive programs for budding journalists. She earned a spot in the prestigious American Society of Magazine Editors (ASME) Program and was handpicked by the editors of Essence Magazine to work on their staff. She was also one of the three future magazine “up and comers” selected for Time Inc. and the National Association of Black Journalist's (NABJ) inaugural partnership/internship program where she was placed in an editorial assistant’s position at Sports Illustrated for Kids Magazine.

 

Opting to ride the wave of career momentum, Diane chose to forgo finishing her journalism studies in order to pursue her career. A chance meeting with Jane Pratt, former editor of Sassy Magazine, led to her becoming the youngest and first Black woman to join the staff of Sassy as an Assistant Editor. With only a few months on the job, Diane was quickly promoted to one of the publication’s highly coveted in-house Staff Writer positions. Some of Diane’s more legendary features includes her profile on Shannon Faulkner, the first woman to attend the Citadel, the all-male military college; a piece chronicling 18 hours inside a maximum-security prison for violent teenage girl offenders, as well as a humorous recount of her audition for America's favorite TV show, "The Wheel of Fortune."

 

Since her departure from Sassy Diane served as a freelance magazine writer for many years. She has written for Ms., Essence, Bust, YM, Vibe, Campus Voice and others. After relocating to Los Angeles in the late 1990s, she pursued a new career in the entertainment industry where she worked for RoundTable Ink, Tavel Entertainment, ABC Family Channel, ABC Studios, Lakeshore Entertainment and DreamWorks SKG.

 

Eager to return to her writing and editing roots, after more than 10 years in the entertainment industry Diane became an independent creative strategist specializing in the creation of content for digital and traditional media platforms. Her clients included New York Times best selling author Haylie Pomroy, Daytime Emmy award winning celebrity stylist Kiyah Wright, raw vegan chef/cookbook author Ani Phyo, Los Angeles' popular city attraction The Fantastic Race and a host of others.

 

A self-described lifelong do gooder, Diane is a 500-hour certified yoga teacher. She has taught yoga and mindfulness classes to underserved populations in Los Angeles. She is also the author of Yin Yoga: Essential Poses and Sequences for Balanced Energy (Rockridge Press).

 

With a writing and editing career spanning over 30 years, she has built a reputation as a creative force who is adept at developing creating content for all forms of media.