Jody Schmal
Jody goes for the extremes.
In high school she and a girlfriend lived alone for two months in hut in a rural village in the Dominican Republic mountains, digging latrines and teaching oral hygiene.
But when it came time for college, she took another road - to the bright lights of London, where she earned her B.A. in fashion journalism.
It's not easy for a new journalist to find work, but Jody Schmal was not going back to waitressing. She started her career writing articles for the local magazine scene and worked her way up to deputy editor at one of the biggest. In 2012 she finally landed her dream job, Features, at Texas's largest newspaper, the Houston Chronicle. There, she is the Food & Travel editor.
Jody knows where to get the best food in Houston - and also in Hong Kong, Istanbul, Jaipur, Machu Picchu, the Serengeti or just about anywhere in the world, really. Yes, it's a round-the-clock and demanding job, but I think secretly she enjoys it.
She has many, many good friends, some going back to grade school and some from her world travels (follow her instagrams), and they are always the nicest and most interesting people you could meet.
She is a generous and trusting soul - sadly, an easy target for practical jokes. Hey Jody, do you remember Swimming World? Ha ha ha!
