Mechelle is a Virginia Beach native who attended Princess Anne High School and went to Virginia Commonwealth University, where she was an award-winning college journalist.

Her first adult job was at Raleigh, N.C.'s The News & Observer. She covered crime, housing, the rural outskirts of Wake County and decided she is a UNC fan if she must choose.

After two years, she returned home to work at The Virginian-Pilot.

There, she spent months investigating stormwater and recurrent flooding in Virginia Beach after Hurricane Matthew, among other topics. She would be happy to investigate your neighborhood's flooding problems (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).

Mechelle went back to Richmond in 2018 to work at the nonprofit startup, The Virginia Mercury to cover state government. She reported on elections administration, education and tax policy. She never figured out how to apply that knowledge to her own taxes.

She left to work at WHRO–her first radio reporting job–where she hopes to do journalism that helps her hometown understand and navigate the world around them.

Mechelle lives in Virginia Beach (again) with her two dogs, Moose and Bernie. She misses the old Club Relevant and Skate High and often tweets about it at @mechelleh.