Then & Now: A PULSE Family Legacy

story by Lilly Montgomery, design by Madilyn Larsen, photos contributed by Bailee Butcher, Lexi Wicks, and Zahn Schultz

For many, family is a central tenant to their life. Be it blood relations, chosen family or even a pet, community is important in every aspect of life. At PULSE, we pride ourselves on the bonds that we are able to create with not only our staff, but our readers as well, coming together through the pages. However, sometimes the threads of fate happen to tie us even closer together. We reached out to former lead editors of PULSE Bailee Butcher and Lexi Wicks to see where they are now, and where their paths have led since their time with the publication.

Bailee Butcher | She/her | Communications Director of the Master Builders

Association of Pierce County | PULSE Staff Winter 2016 - Spring 2019

What was your time at PULSE Magazine like?  

I started writing for PULSE as a freshman, so PULSE Magazine became a huge part of my college experience. The late night editing sessions, award-winning articles and people I met while in the class will always stick with me. I thoroughly enjoyed my time at PULSE and recommend it to anyone who is deadline driven and creative.

Do you have any favorite memories or pieces from the issues you worked on?

I have two distinct favorite pieces I worked on, ironically, both about the rise of rape reports on campus. These pieces (Redefining Rape- Fall Issue two 2018 and Sexual Assault: What’s Behind the Rise in Reports on Campus in Fall Issue Two 2016) were very different from the normal- fun and short articles I would write for the magazine. These included stories from students, hard-hitting interviews with CWU staff and were highly important to the community. This sensitive topic can be difficult for people to share and to help give the students their voices through our print medium gave me a new found appreciation and love for journalism. Both of these pieces went on to win national awards through the Society of Professional Journalists and the Associated Collegiate Press conferences.

What kind of overlap do you notice between the work you did for PULSE and the work you do now?

I currently manage all the social media platforms, website, email marketing, a quarterly magazine, sponsorships and some events as the Communications Director. In my time at PULSE, I managed social media, assisted in website maintenance, and held every writing position including Editor and Chief. The overlap of skills, importance of deadlines, and professional atmosphere PULSE gave me in my time at Central prepared me for the roles I have held since graduation in 2019. Being a jack of all trades and having experience in many tasks has helped me grow from a writer/editor role to a communication manager and now to a communication director in a few short years.

Do you have any words of advice for current or future PULSE staff?

Take your time at PULSE seriously and view it as more than a class, but a resume. I was able to secure a role before graduation as a writer and editor based off of the work and articles I completed during my time with the magazine. My 4 years at PULSE accounted for 3-5 years experience and launched me into a non-entry role position and started my career and salary off higher than if I did not have the contacts and writing experience PULSE gave me.

What is something you learned when working on PULSE that you carry with you today?

The professionalism of the magazine and strict deadlines have instilled a strong work ethic and make me proud to be in the communications, public relations and journalism field.

Is there anything else you would like to talk about? 

PULSE was more than just business or a resume builder, I have countless memories laughing and enjoying the time I spent there. It was a huge bonus that this incredible opportunity was offered at CWU and truly changed my career.

Lexi Wicks | She/her | Content and Events Marketing Supervisor at

Central Washington University | PULSE Staff Spring 2021 - Spring 2022

Do you have any favorite memories from being in PULSE that you want to share? 

After I got thrown into EIC, almost my entire staff was graduating. I remember sitting down and thinking, ‘who can I recruit?’ Who are the best writers that were next to me in the last few quarters? But also, I was starting to look around [at] people in my classes. And when we were doing peer editing and stuff, taking note of who was a good storyteller and things like that. Kind of being able to build my own team and reaching out to people and being like, ‘What do you think about this? I think you'd be good,’ I think it made us so much stronger as a team, because we knew that we're all in this, and we're all new and we're all figuring it out. Those relationships that I came out of Pulse with are my favorite thing ever.

Do you see a lot of overlap between the work that you did at PULSE and the work you're doing now in your position? 

Yes, a lot of overlap. We have the Hype magazine that comes out quarterly, so I'm the editor of that magazine. That's huge. Also, just the marketing perspective of, ‘what do students want to read? What's gonna interest them? What's gonna make them pick up the magazine in the first place?’ It's questions I have to ask myself every day in my job because I'm marketing to students So, yeah, it's a very easy transition for me. 

What are some things that you learned in Pulse that you still carry with you now?

I think the leadership skills that I learned as an EIC, I carry with me now, especially as a supervisor. Also, interviewing was something that I was really uncomfortable with at the beginning and then became really comfortable with it. It was probably my favorite thing about writing in general; just learning people's stories, or talking about their passions. If I find the right person to interview, I could know anything I want to know. And that's when it got really exciting. Networking became so much easier, and listening to the person that you're interviewing instead of focusing on your next question or something; it wasn't as nerve-racking. In a sense of meeting people, and trying to get to know them and understanding them, you can take so much of what you learn in interviewing to that, and it'll go much farther in getting to know people quickly. 

What was your favorite boundary-pushing piece you worked on for PULSE?

During brainstorming sessions, people would come up with things and initially your body tenses up, like, ‘how are we going to do that?’ I remember someone was pitching all of us do pole dancing and talk about the art of pole dancing. And I was thinking professors, administrators, what are they gonna think? But we are young. I think our generation is more open about topics and not afraid to approach things that may be uncomfortable for others. So we talked about it, and we did it. It opened up a whole new world again. You realize how incredibly strong and fit you have to be to pole dance, and how it can be a really great thing for a lot of people and it's not necessarily what it's always associated with as well. 

Is there anything you wish you would have done differently during your time at the magazine?

I'm sure there is. Nothing haunts me to this day, thank goodness. I think having more confidence in myself when I first got in the role would have been good just for my own self-esteem. But it took me a while of treading lightly before I was able to make those decisions of, yeah, let's write about pole dancing, or let's push the boundaries on these stereotypes. Those were the moments that I became really proud of what I was doing and confident in myself, but it took me a while to get there.

This article has been edited from its original print version to correct misreported dates. We apologize for the error. Interviews have been edited for length and clarity.