Jamie Sotonoff joined the Daily Herald in 1997 and currently works as a general assignment reporter, focusing on lifestyle and trend stories. She is also the Assistant Sunday Editor and a fill-in editor.

A graduate of Maine East High School and Indiana University, Sotonoff started her journalism career as a reporter for Pioneer Press.

The Daily Herald hired her as a city news reporter, and she went on to work as a features writer, a fashion columnist, a Reflejos editor, a concert/movie/theater/restaurant reviewer, and a Neighbor editor.

During her career, Sotonoff has reported on many of the suburbs' biggest news stories (Fox River Grove bus-train accident, Brown's Chicken murders, NIU shootings, Tylenol poisonings investigation) and won dozens of awards for her work, including two Peter Lisagor Awards and numerous awards from the Illinois Associated Press Editors Association and the Northern Illinois Newspaper Association.

Sotonoff has interviewed many celebrities -- Tom Cruise, Joan Rivers, Meatloaf and Barry Williams, to name a few -- but says stories about real people have the most profound impact on her.

Sotonoff lives in the Northwest suburbs with her husband and two children, and her hobbies include travel, music, hanging out in the city, and having fun with family and friends.