Our Writers

Although Sharon Brier grew up in the Rio Grande Valley she left as soon as she could and found herself immersed in all that Houston has to offer. With her University of Texas background in Radio, Television and Film, her endeavors always found creative expressions. She started The Children’s Museum and led the first board of directors but has also actively been involved in City ArtWorks when she created the Art of Conversation fundraiser, co-chaired Leadership Houston’s first gala and was a participating member of The Houston Jr. Forum, garden clubs and charitable groups. No wonder she has material to write about happenings in our community. Sharon’s other source of information is easily attained from her being a full-time real estate agent since 1980. Sharon’s writing started as a youngster with family newsletters. Her priceless sense of humor is used when she has a unique party as well as used in her columns.

Andria loves writing for The Buzz because it’s a great excuse to talk to people all over town, all the time. While she enjoys the puzzle of putting words together to tell a story (when bored as a child she would go into her family’s guest bedroom to write “books”), she really has fun talking to friends and friends of friends, learning their stories and advice. From writing for The Buzz, Andria has learned that you should park toward the back, less busy part of a parking lot (safer), that an acquaintance spends time in his backyard naked (as told by the neighbors, also friends) and that you should never pop popcorn in a microwave (cook it on the stovetop in coconut oil…then add truffle salt). Andria grew up in Galveston and graduated from Tulane and The University of Texas. She has lived in Washington DC and Paris as well and would like to do the Paris thing again, thinking she’d appreciate it more as an adult.

KUBE-TV Sports Director Todd Freed is known as the authoritative source for high school sports coverage in Houston having received the Distinguished Service Award from the Greater Houston Football Coaches Association. He is a frequent guest speaker and M.C. at various high school sports throughout the year. In addition, Todd is on the committee to select the Houston Texans High School Coach of the Week Award, and served on the committee to select the George H.W. Bush High School Sports Hero Award. In addition, Todd is the recipient of two prestigious Lone Star Emmy Awards, as Host/Producer of the state’s Best Sports Program and as reporter/producer of the Best Sports Story.

Cathy caught the writing bug as a student reporter for Cypress-Fairbanks High School’s newspaper and then pursued a journalism degree at Texas A&M University. She graduated August 1980 with a class of seven, writing-smitten Aggies, including singer-songwriter Lyle Lovett. “I took notes for him in journalism law class while he wrote lyrics to songs,” she quips.  “Still waiting for the song about me.” She reported for The Conroe Courier fresh out of college, cutting her teeth on international news stories, such as David, the Bubble Boy and the first space shuttle missions. She then moved on to the Houston Chronicle, covering all facets of news in Montgomery County. She has enjoyed a prolific freelance career for the past 20 years, writing for The Greater Houston Partnership and a variety of magazines, including Mary Engelbreit’s Home Companion, Country Living, Luxe, Texas Home & Living, Coastal Living and a host of other local, regional and national publications. She lives in The Woodlands with her husband, Scott, and two cats and has a grown son, Colin, who works in Austin. She volunteers at the local animal shelter when time allows.

Dai Huynh learned to connect with people through food from birth. The center of family life has always been at the table, where her mother, a self-taught Vietnamese cook, connected her five children and finicky husband with steaming bowls of jasmine rice and noodle soups. Through sheer luck, Dai turned eating into a career after the main food writer at the Houston Chronicle got tired of eating out (yes, it's possible). Her editor sent her off to get her culinary degree at the Culinary Institute LeNotre, where she learned about master sauces from Patrick LeNotre, a two-star Michelin chef who has prepared meals for French presidents. At the time, Dai believed that it was important to first master a recipe so you know how to not only cook it properly, but taste the dish before you change, embellish or reinterpret it. Eventually, Dai earned awards for her food and travel writing, including the prestigious James Beard Awards.

Jennifer Oakley is a native Texan and longtime Houstonian who loves to write. A 1983 graduate of St. John’s School, Jennifer earned a Bachelor of Journalism degree from The University of Texas in 1987 and a Master’s of Humanities from The University of Houston in 1990. Jennifer spent many years working in public relations, first as an account executive with McDaniel & Tate and then as Director of Public Relations for The Houston Humane Society. Jennifer then became a reporter, working for years as a ThisWeek correspondent for The Houston Chronicle and as a reporter for The Examiner newspapers. As a volunteer, Jennifer has written for The Junior League of Houston, Inc. magazines. Jennifer lives in River Oaks with her husband, attorney Bruce Oakley and their son, William, a student at St. John’s School. They have four older children, one who has graduated from college and three who are in college. Jennifer considers working for The Buzz a dream job and loves telling the stories of the folks who make up the Buzz neighborhoods.

Pooja Salhotra was raised in Bellaire, Texas and has always been an avid reader and writer. She grew up reading about neighborhood news in The Buzz Magazines and spent the summer after graduating from St. John's School as a Buzz intern. Pooja went on to Yale University where she studied psychology and economics and wrote for the Yale Daily News. After college, Pooja took a detour from journalism, trying out marketing and even enrolling in law school. But she quickly returned to journalism, writing and serving as editorial assistant for The Buzz and going on to earn a master’s degree in journalism from New York University. Pooja now lives in Austin where she works as a reporter for The Texas Tribune. In her free time, she enjoys running, practicing and teaching yoga, watching rom-coms, and spending time with her dog, Pearl.

From the time Jordan learned the alphabet, all she wanted to do was read and write stories. In kindergarten, she announced she wanted to be a writer and she’s never veered far from this dream. She grew up in Houston and attended The Shlenker School and The Emery/Weiner School. During high school, she spent a summer interning at The Buzz Magazines, where she discovered her love of editing. She ventured to Washington, DC for college at American University – where she met her future husband, Matthew – and graduated with a print journalism degree. Throughout her career, she has contributed to a range of print and online publications, such as Psychotherapy Networker, and managed social media and strategic communications at Baylor College of Medicine’s Office of Communications. She’s thrilled that her career came full circle, bringing her back to The Buzz in 2013. She still enjoys reading and writing and hopes to instill her love of reading in her young daughter, Sloane.