The Valley Profile has welcomed its newest staff member, Kelley Tantau, to the team this month.
Kelley, whose journalism career began in 2015 with a work experience placement at the Piako Post, will be The Valley Profile’s new reporter.
Over the years she has reported around the Waikato for Hamilton, Matamata-Piako, Cambridge, Hauraki, and Thames-Coromandel.
She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Writing from the University of Waikato, and in 2019, purchased her first home in Paeroa with her partner, Matthew.
“I have loved living and reporting in the Thames Valley for the past year-and-a-half,” she said, “and I am ecstatic to now be working for a 100 per cent local community newspaper.”
Kelley first met Valley Profile editor Teresa Ramsey back when Kelley was interning at Piako Post.
“Teresa was one of the first people to teach me the ropes,” she said, “and I’m looking forward to working with her again.”
Kelley will also join former colleague, advertising manager Nikki Sanders, at The Valley Profile.
“Community news is my passion and I’ve been fortunate to meet some amazing people and share their stories over the years.
“Nikki and Teresa are extremely talented and both are dedicated to providing readers with reliable, local, and quality stories.”
Kelley has covered local government, district court, education, entertainment, sport, and general news.
She said she was always willing to lend an ear.
“Community news is inspirational, it’s motivational, and it’s educational, and that’s why I love what I do,” she said.
Teresa said she was thrilled Kelley had joined the Profile team, which will help with the transition to a more frequent publication – from monthly to fortnightly, from December 2.
“We are very lucky to have Kelley join our team, she is incredibly talented and experienced in all facets of news reporting and she also understands the importance of celebrating our community champions.
“Together with our experienced advertising manager, Nikki Sanders, and graphic designer Geoff Sanders, plus a large distribution team, we look forward to continuing to connect our communities with top quality, 100 per cent local news.”
