A self-proclaimed foodie and champion of local businesses, Kealia has been eating, drinking, and exploring her way through the Triangle for 10+ years. She attended The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from the Hussman School of Journalism and Media. Fueled by her passion to share stories, she became a writer-turned-editor at a digital marketing company in Raleigh after graduation.

After five years of building a digital online presence for a variety of home services websites, she wanted to be in a heavier community-facing role and took a job planning events and creating social media for a local restaurant subscription service. During this period, she reflected on her time spent in the hospitality industry as a hostess and waitress and rediscovered her passion for supporting local businesses, telling effective stories, and creating valuable content that helped both businesses and consumers. Thus came the decision to invest even more time and energy into creating eye-catching content for local restaurants and bars in the Triangle and Dish Digital Marketing was born.

In her spare time, you can find Kealia reading, planning a party, traveling on the weekends, sweating her butt off at hot yoga, or spending time with her husband, Patrick, and beloved dog, Soren.