I was born in Brazil. I learned English at the age of 7. My grandmother can't understand why I speak Portuguese with an accent. My father dreamed of me becoming a famous accordion player and performing with Lawrence Welk. Instead I studied art and writing. The accordion gathers dust, but my father still has hopes for me. I lead PR Newswire's Audience Development team which focuses on increasing the use of PR Newswire's customers' content, and is responsible for increasing the use of PR Newswire's industry-leading distribution networks and platforms such as PR Newswire for Journalists and ProfNet. I speak and write on how professionals are making use of Twitter and other social media platforms, and am also the voice behind the @PRNewswire on Twitter. I also tweet on a more personal level as @VictoriaHarres. Of course, I must also state that while I do work for PR Newswire, what I say here are my thoughts and ideas and the company may or may not agree with me.