Tara Baukus Mello

“To whom it may concern: Tara Baukus Mello is a former auto writer and columnist for Bankrate.com, the personal finance site. She wrote for the site for the seven years that I worked there as a personal finance editor. One of my responsibilities was creating and editing copy about the automotive market. Tara wrote a column called Driving for Dollars, which dealt with auto industry trends and controversies, and which answered questions from the readers of Bankrate's auto channel. Tara is Harvard-educated, a fact that leaped out to Bankrate's Editorial management. More importantly, her erudition of the automotive industry, mechanics and the automotive market in general was apparent from the start and consistently reflected in her copy and her story ideas. As her direct editor, I can attest to her writing creativity, her clean copy and her consistency at turning content in volume and on deadline. In addition to her columns, she wrote multi-page slideshows about specific types and uses of autos – the best luxury cars under a certain price point or the most fuel-efficient pickups, for example. Often, her blogs gave advice about driver-specific topics, such as why a driver should check his or her tire pressure often and make sure to replace headlights periodically. Lastly, Tara covered the three major U.S. auto shows each year, writing 3-4 features out of each show – copy that was popular with Bankrate's editorial partners. In summation, any potential employer should feel secure in Tara's knowledge of autos and the auto industry, and in her ability to write creative and clean copy in a timely fashion. Sincerely, Stephen F. Pounds Former financial editor at Bankrate.com To whom it may concern: Tara Baukus Mello is a former auto writer and columnist for Bankrate.com, the personal finance site. She wrote for the site for the seven years that I worked there as a personal finance editor. One of my responsibilities was creating and editing copy about the automotive market. Tara wrote a column called Driving for Dollars, which dealt with auto industry trends and controversies, and which answered questions from the readers of Bankrate's auto channel. Tara is Harvard-educated, a fact that leaped out to Bankrate's Editorial management. More importantly, her erudition of the automotive industry, mechanics and the automotive market in general was apparent from the start and consistently reflected in her copy and her story ideas. As her direct editor, I can attest to her writing creativity, her clean copy and her consistency at turning content in volume and on deadline. In addition to her columns, she wrote multi-page slideshows about specific types and uses of autos – the best luxury cars under a certain price point or the most fuel-efficient pickups, for example. Often, her blogs gave advice about driver-specific topics, such as why a driver should check his or her tire pressure often and make sure to replace headlights periodically. Lastly, Ta”

“Tara is one of those rare multi-talented persons who I had the pleasure of working with multiple times during my career. Tara was Motor Trend Radio news anchor/editor for a number of years during my extensive tenure as Host and Executive Producer of the nationally syndicated radio program She brought wit, style and extensive automotive knowledge to her broadcasts and is quite simply a pleasure to work with on a professional level and as simply as friend. Tara is a print journalist of the highest order with extensive experience in writing both articles and books on a variety of topics. I would highly recommend Tara.”