People Finder
The Buzz Team
Publisher
Michael was born and raised in Oak Park, Michigan. After receiving a degree in advertising and communications from Michigan State University, Michael moved to Los Angeles and began his career in the advertising business, working in account management at Marsteller, TracyLocke and DDB Needham. As an account supervisor at DDB Needham, Michael met KHJ-TV sales rep and future wife and business partner Joni Abramson. Shortly after getting married, Joni and Michael moved to Portland, Oregon. Michael continued his advertising career in Portland and later, in Houston. Then, after 20 years, Michael found himself without a full-time job and began working as a marketing and advertising consultant. Soon afterwards, Michael and Joni decided to start a community magazine for the city of Bellaire. Joni quit her sales job at KHOU-TV, and the first issue of The Bellaire Buzz debuted in January 2002. The West University Buzz followed in 2005 and The Memorial Buzz and The Tanglewood/River Oaks Buzz in 2006. Michael and Joni have two sons, Andrew and Matthew. In addition to his love of Golden Retrievers, Michael is a loyal Astros fan.
Editor-in-Chief
Joni Hoffman was born and raised in Houston. She graduated from The University of Texas at Austin with a degree in communications. Immediately after graduation, she moved to Los Angeles and started her career as an account executive selling advertising on cable television, and then moved on to selling advertising on broadcast television. It was during this time that she met her soul mate, Michael. They were not only bitten by the love bug, but both had an entrepreneurial spirit and longed to someday own their own business. They moved to Portland, Oregon, where Joni discovered Starbucks. She continued on her path of selling advertising as an account executive and she and Michael started a family; Andrew was born in 1992 and Matthew in 1993. Three years later, they moved to her hometown of Houston and bought a home in Bellaire. She landed a job back in television selling advertising at KHOU-TV. Salespeople weren’t supposed to hang out in the newsrooms, but she always found an excuse to go to the newsroom and chat with the reporters. Joni has never met a stranger. It was her passion for storytelling, inquisitive nature and entrepreneurial spirit, plus the right timing, that inspired Joni and Michael to start The Buzz Magazines from their living room in 2001.
Editor
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.
Associate Editor
Caroline Siegfried was born and raised in Braes Heights. Contrary to popular opinion, she actually loves when people sing “Sweet Caroline” to her. She attended Pre-K through 8th grade at St. Vincent de Paul and high school at Incarnate Word Academy. She graduated from Rice University in 2020 with a double major in English and History. She likes to say there’s a guard at the Houston city limits preventing her from leaving for too long. Distinguishing traits include: killer wit, an outgoing streak, and at least one caffeinated beverage at all times. Her most common phrase is “I listened to this podcast about ___.”
Accounting & Contract Administrator
Leslie Little mainly grew up in Mississippi. After relocating to Houston midway through college, she finished her accounting degree at the University of Houston. Her career in Houston after graduation began with the now-infamous Enron as a gas accountant. After five years with Enron, she relocated to Walnut Creek, Calif., with then-new husband, David. There were lots of fun times hiking, biking, camping, wine tasting and riding motorcycles while enjoying the California experience. Ten years in California makes you miss the South and some “Southern hospitality,” so with her young family, she relocated to Bellaire. While chaperoning an elementary school field trip with Buzz editor Joni Hoffman, she decided to take Joni up on her offer to help with sales for The Bellaire Buzz even though she was totally inexperienced with sales. Leslie is noted as being the first employee at The Buzz Magazines, as she started in 2002 after the first couple of issues were in the mailbox to Bellaire residents. And shall we say: “The rest is history.”
Design Manager
John Duboise was born in Houston and grew up in the Memorial area. He attended Stratford High School and graduated from Trinity University with a degree in philosophy. Prior to joining The Buzz team in 2004, he was a graphic designer at the Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau, Houston Photo Imaging (HPI) and the Gay and Lesbian Yellow Pages. He and his wife and son enjoy the year-round vegetable gardening that our Houston climate provides. He plays clarinet and writes music with an area band, Two Star Symphony.
Account Managers
Andy is originally from South Africa and moved to Houston in 1980. She is a graduate of Bellaire High School and The University of Texas at Austin with a Bachelor of Arts degree in magazine journalism, a minor in history, and a secondary education certificate for social studies. After 16 years in the classroom as a social studies teacher for middle- and high-school-aged students, Andy made a career change and came to work for The Buzz in 2003. For her first nine years she wore two hats by writing monthly articles as well as working as an account manager. Since 2012, her sole focus has been on the advertising side. Andy and her husband, Todd, have two grown children who they love spending time with and traveling together. Andy is never without a book and her mini chihuahua, Priscilla, is much obliged as her reading companion. Andy enjoys the many relationships she’s formed with her clients and gets satisfaction from hearing stories of how their ads have helped their business flourish.
After graduating from Texas High School in Texarkana, TX, where she was born and raised, Jo moved to Dallas where she lived for 15 years before moving to Houston in 2017. Prior to joining The Buzz team, she was a store manager at Splendid in Highland Village. While at Splendid, she met editor Joni Hoffman. Joni became a client of hers and it only took a few weeks before Joni recruited her to join The Buzz’s sales team. She was excited to change careers after 18 years in retail management. Outside of work, she enjoys spending time with her husband Karl and their dog Scruffs, working on one craft project or another for friends, and traveling together.
Staff Writers
Tracy Barnett was a travel writer and editor until 2009 when she headed south and decided to keep on going. Now she's the unofficial Guadalajara bureau chief for The Buzz Magazines. She's served as travel editor for the Houston Chronicle, the San Antonio Express News and Rumbo Newspapers, after years in the trenches covering health, environment, immigration and human rights issues, subjects she still writes about as a freelancer and author. www.tracybarnettonline.com.
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.
Cindy Burnett is a former attorney and native Texan who love all things bookish. She is a voracious reader and book reviewer who administers a bookstagram account, Thoughts from a Page, where she talks about all things book related, and she regularly speaks to groups about book recommendations. Cindy is a co-creator of Conversations from a Page, a Houston literary salon that brings authors and readers together in a relaxed and welcoming setting and that offers regular in-depth book discussions for avid readers. As a shereads.com occasional contributor, she writes book articles centered around themes such as historical fiction or mystery series and writes book reviews for Bookreporter.com and the New York Journal of Books. In addition to reading, Cindy loves theatre, art, movies, national parks, travel and hiking in Colorado during the summer.
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.
Angie Frederickson is a writer and stay-at-home mom. When those worlds collide, she has been known to hide from her children in order to meet writing deadlines. One favorite hiding/writing spot is her bedroom closet. Frederickson graduated from Vanderbilt University with a bachelor’s degree in English and from Georgia State University with a master’s degree in healthcare administration. Her background is in advertising and marketing strategy, and she was an account executive for advertising agencies in both Atlanta, Ga. and Nashville, Tenn. Frederickson was also a marketing manager for Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. Then, she became a mom and her professional life changed. Ended, actually. Now that her children are all in school, she has rejoined the working world. She lives in Memorial with her husband, three children, dog, bunny and two turtles. When she is not driving overscheduled children to activities or dodging PTA volunteer requests, she enjoys playing tennis and running.
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.
Cindy Gabriel was born into journalism. Her parents met on their college newspaper staff, then took her to work with them while running her great-grandfather’s small town newspaper in Rosenberg, Texas. It never occurred to her that going to work was anything but fun. The sound of the printing press, the smell of fresh ink, mixed with iron shavings from the typesetter, stale coffee and flattened cigarettes on the floor are etched into her earliest memories. Cindy’s first job in journalism would be as a wire service reporter. This would lead to radio news jobs for KIKK, KTRH and KQUE. Finally, she would become a local TV news reporter for the CBS affiliate, KHOU TV-Channel 11, followed by a stint as producer of the nationally syndicated Dr. Red Duke Health Reports. More recently, Cindy has worked for city and county government handling media-related communication involving the relocation of evacuees from New Orleans to Houston following Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Ike and Harvey recovery efforts. The highlight of this was her production of a light-hearted video for homesick New Orleans evacuees on finding a job in Houston. The video, which opened with a little riff on The Wizard of Oz in the backdrop of downtown Houston, then appeared as the front-page lead story in the Sunday, New York Times.
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.
Michelle Groogan has been writing for The Buzz Magazines since 2004. A former news reporter and anchor, she has the knack for telling a good story with truthfulness, empathy and compassion. Born in Chicago, she grew up in Corpus Christi and graduated from James Madison High School in San Antonio. She went on to study Journalism and Broadcasting at the University of Texas at Austin. Her broadcasting career had her hopping markets all over the country until she met her husband Greg Groogan, another TV reporter. She gave up the rigors of TV for motherhood and devotes most of her time to raising her two beautiful children, Garrett and Hannah. With a love for writing, she keeps busy with a few part-time jobs including writing, public relations and advocacy work in special education.
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.
Annie McQueen has been a fan of The Buzz Magazines ever since her family graced the cover of The Bellaire Buzz in February 2006. Growing up in West University, she attended Lamar High School and went on to earn a Bachelor of Arts in English/Creative Writing from Louisiana State University. Her passion for writing started early, inspired by a memorable sixth-grade Language Arts teacher who encouraged a love of writing for his students. Annie joined The Buzz editorial team in 2012 as an editorial assistant, later moving into the role of associate editor. She is now a staff writer and contributes feature stories and the SportzBuzz Jr. column; in the past, she also wrote the Buzz About Town column. With four kids and four rescue dogs at home, life is often busy but she would not have it any other way. Whether she is juggling school drop-offs or attending her kids’ sports or activities, Annie loves that a new Buzz story is always just around the corner.
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.
Ben grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio where he began his writing career as co-editor of the feature page of the Walnut Hills High School’s weekly newspaper, the Chatterbox. He briefly held the nickname “Wombat,” so his column, “The Wombat Weeports” appeared weekly for a year. Then writing disappeared as Ben attended Harvard College where he studied Russian Literature. After that he got his M.D. degree at Case Western Reserve University and continued his internal medicine training at The Johns Hopkins Hospital. He joined the U.S. Public Health Service Center for Disease Control and was sent as a field officer to Houston. On January 3, 1973, while pushing a baby carriage down the street while wearing a T-shirt – no need for a winter coat – Ben decided that he would never leave the Houston area. After finishing training in Infectious Diseases at the U.T. Medical School, Ben practiced internal medicine and consulted on infectious diseases for the next 44 years. Upon retiring, he recalled his high school days and began writing again.
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.
Cheryl Ursin isn’t a native Texan, though she got here as fast as she could. Actually, because her father was sent temporarily to Dallas for his job, Cheryl was born in Texas, a fact which caused her father-in-law to cheer when he heard it. Cheryl grew up in Connecticut, went to Williams College in Massachusetts, then hightailed it to New York City, where she met her husband (who grew up in Memorial), had her two children, now in college and high school, and discovered the joys of freelance writing, publishing in a range of publications, from The New York Times and The Washington Post to trade magazines covering everything from wine and restaurants to telecommunications and banking. She’s reviewed restaurants and had fiction published. She was thrilled to discover that Houston is a very fun place to live. Incidentally, a copy of The Buzz was in her mailbox the day she arrived.
Top Dog
10/25/2011 – 3/3/2023
Bailey was our office greeter and a loyal team member for more than ten years. Bailey crossed over the Rainbow Bridge on March 3, 2023. He is deeply missed and will always be loved.
