Like many little girls, Michelle Spiller once wanted to be a ballerina.
That dream faded long ago, but after a ballet class last April, Spiller hurried home to find out if she could pursue her new dream in advertising design.
Spiller, a 2008 graduate of Rome High School, is a recipient of a $40,000 scholarship from the McKelvey Foundation, the largest entrepreneurial scholarship the foundation offers.
The foundation awarded Spiller the scholarship for starting her own business in the winter of 2005. Spiller’s advertising agency, Copywrited, designs and develops promotional materials like business cards, logos and catchphrases.
Copywrited works mainly with local clients, which for Spiller means both Rome businesses and companies in Canada, where Spiller is originally from.
It was in rummaging through her mother’s Office Depot bag and finding a computer program called Artistic Publisher Pro that Spiller first discovered her flair for design.
“Four hours later, I showed my mom a brochure. She still uses it,” Spiller said.
Spiller designed the Web site home page for www.therentalspot.net, but she primarily works in print advertising. Spiller is responsible for the company’s catchphrase, “Have you been spotted yet?”
In the fall, Spiller plans to attend Babson College in Massachusetts, where she will be a Presidential Scholar.
Though Spiller no longer dreams of becoming a ballerina, she did quite a bit of dancing when she heard the good news.
