About
Jahleen is a freelance writer-editor with over 15 years in the field and decades of real-world DIY experience. She specializes in gardening, home improvement, and health and safety topics that help homeowners tackle projects confidently and safely. She has been contributing to BobVila.com since 2020.
Experience
Before working as a writer and editor, Jahleen worked as a wall finish contractor, specializing in painting and venetian plaster finishes. She has volunteered on community construction projects for over 25 years, taking part in demolition, drywall installation, stucco work, tiling, electrical, and landscaping. Over the past two decades, Jahleen and her electrical contractor husband have demo’d, drilled, and sanded their way through progressively renovating their downtown Toronto century home down to the studs (and they look forward to never digging out a basement ever again).
An avid gardener, Jahleen transformed her front lawn into a thriving perennial garden 15 years ago and has since become a passionate advocate for pollinator gardening and small-space container gardening, growing a wide variety of vegetables in her concrete city backyard, which she documents on her Instagram account.
As a health and safety writer, she collaborates with subject matter experts across design and construction fields to create organizational health and safety training materials. If you want to get Jahleen in an animated conversation, just ask why the hierarchy of controls is cool, or why personal protective equipment (PPE) is your last line of defense.
Education
Jahleen is a graduate of Simon Fraser University’s Editing Certificate program and holds professional memberships with Editors Canada, the Editorial Freelancers Association (EFA), Plain Language Association International (PLAIN), and the Canadian Freelance Guild (CFG). She also conducts writing and editing training workshops and presents conference sessions on specialized editorial topics, including medicolegal quality assurance.
Highlights
- Former wall finish contractor
- 25+ years of community construction work and home renovation experience
- Graduate of Simon Fraser University’s Editing Certificate program
Best DIY Advice
Never be afraid of trying something new, but do your homework first—read articles, watch videos, talk to others, and prepare well. Mistakes are part of the process and often more valuable than successes. The deeper you understand how things work, the safer you’ll be and the better your results will be. And just accept the universal truth that projects always take longer than you expect!
