By Erin Johnson |Contributor 
Steven Uhles, born in Los Angeles, has lived in Augusta, Ga., since he was a young boy. As a child, he always had a love for reading, writing and storytelling. These led to a career in journalism covering the arts. Indeed, Uhles would eventually become an arts and entertainment columnist for the Augusta Chronicle.But things changed.The newspaper industry has been in a freefall since the recession almost a decade ago, and in November of last year he made a career move. He became the sales and marketing manager for the Miller Theater.Uhles is a graduate of Western Washington University in Bellingham, Wash. There he received his B.A. degree in journalism. He decided to get a journalism degree because he believed that it would lead him to forbidden places for ordinary folks.“It was sort of about access and to be a part of things that might have been off-limits otherwise,” he said.Uhles is still a freelance journalist today. Early in his career, Uhles went into marketing and ad writing. His creative thinking skills have gotten him to his position today as a sales and marketing manager at the Miller, he said.Since starting his position at the renovated Miller Theater, which re-opened in January, his dreams and goals are like anybody else who works there. The main goal is to have the theater make the Augusta community better, stronger and to increase the quality of life.Uhles, who was an acquaintance of singer James Brown, has won quite a few professional awards, including ones from the Society of Professional Journalism and American Advertising Federation. Uhles says that awards are not as important to him as making his community a better place than what he found it.“It is difficult to tell if you are moving the needle at all,” Uhles said of his new job.He wonders if a show at the Miller sells out, is it because of something he did? Did it sell out because a bunch of people wanted to see that artist or is it because people want to see the inside of the newly renovated building? He says things like that are hard to tell.The advice that Uhles has to give to anyone who is interested in public relations, sales and marketing, or journalism, is to read often.“Read all the time no matter what it is,” he said.He also wants aspiring communication professionals to think about what makes a story interesting.Uhles says when people write, they often write just the facts and just stick to the facts and there is no interesting story that goes with it. He believes story’s art is what makes it interesting. This is what sells the theater; it’s what makes a good column.“It’s what grabs people attention and keeps readers along for the ride,” he said.