Robbie grew up on a cattle ranch near Islay, an Alberta hamlet barely west of the Saskatchewan meridian.
After moving to Edmonton to study English and creative writing, and after years working as a screenprinter, he got his start in journalism at the now-defunct Venture Publishing. He quickly became the go-to feature writer for Venture’s flagship magazine, Alberta Venture, until its demise in 2017.
Robbie hung around the industry as a scrappy freelancer. Every magazine feature he wrote between 2018 and 2022 was nominated for an Alberta Magazine Award, including for best Alberta story, best profile and, twice, best long feature. His story about the opioid crisis in rural Alberta was selected for Best Canadian Essays 2019.
Meanwhile, his work as a copywriter for DDB Canada received awards and nominations from Communication Arts and the Ad Club of Edmonton, among others.
As content marketing manager for PCL Construction, he manages its employee magazine, The Build, which by its third issue had won awards of excellence from the International Association of Business Communicators and the Society for Marketing Professional Services.
All the photos here are his.
