Jocelyn Tolbert began her professional writing career in fourth grade when she won a fiction contest and her work was published in a book by the Writers' Guild of Davidson County, North Carolina. In high school she made extra cash by editing and proofreading her friends’ English papers.
At the University of North Florida, Jocelyn held the position of Features Editor at student publication The Spinnaker and took on an internship at Jacksonville Magazine. After graduating with her B.A. in English and a minor in Communications, she began working full-time at the magazine, and she spent the next four years immersing herself in every aspect of journalism, print publications, social media marketing, digital content management and more.
In 2018, Jocelyn moved to the American Culinary Federation (ACF) as the association’s first Media Coordinator. Within six months, Jocelyn was promoted to Editor-in-Chief of the National Culinary Review (NCR), a legacy print and digital magazine. Over the next year, Jocelyn remade NCR, both graphically and editorially, while simultaneously launching partner media channels, including the ACF’s now-fastest-growing platform, the We Are Chefs website. In late 2018, Jocelyn was promoted again, this time to Editorial Content Manager, where she developed and executed strategic marketing content in support of the ACF’s 15,000 chef members. Jocelyn’s team distributed content via eight social media channels, email, print and digital publications and the ACF website, reaching over 140,000 followers and subscribers daily. She was the youngest female Editor-in-Chief in the ACF's 90-year history.
In 2020, Jocelyn left the ACF to join a creative team working in the financial sector. As the team's proofreader, she ensures brand compliance and provides copyediting feedback on copy and design for newsletters, emails, flyers, statement onserts, brochures, cycle messages, letters, emails, card agreements, terms and conditions for financial products and internal communications. Additionally, she helps ensure ADA compliance across all channels.
Also that year, she began work on a master's degree in English Literature with a concentration in Rhetoric and Composition at the University of North Florida.
Her writing has won numerous awards and taken her around the world, from the olive fields of California to the Bocuse d’Or in France.
She is the 351st fastest Minesweeper player in the United States.
