The basics

• First career in museum and outdoor education. (Nature Center in North Carolina; Boston Children’s Museum) My motto: “go where the stuff is!” Nothing more fun than sharing cool new ideas and info with other people.
• Teaching morphed into communication and marketing. Agency life was ideal way to get paid (better) for connecting people with news they could use; working with wide of clients satisfied my industry A.D.D.
• SVP at Mullen (one of the few agencies that successfully pulled off integrated marketing; now part of Interpublic). Focus on corporate social responsibility, outdoor performance brands, and technology.
• VP Corporate Communication, The Body Shop. A real privilege to work with Anita Roddick. Social agenda awakened sixth sense in personal care product marketing.
• President at Brodeur, part of Omnicom. Rode the bubble and bust there. Great operational experience as well as technology-driven strategy consulting.
• Clients: Sapient, Communispace, IBM, HP, Timberland, RIM/BlackBerry, Toshiba, Frito-Lay, Malden Mills/Polartec
• Co-founder: Foghound, now part of Beeline Labs
• Schools: Wake Forest University
• Community/non-profit: former chair of board of trustees, Marblehead Charter School; Vocal Majority, local activist group
• Besides work, what’s fun: sailing (the “Good Question” out of Marblehead); cooking; yoga; Shakespeare with actor daughter

My slogans

• The best ideas are the ones that happen.
• It’s all about asking the right questions.
• Let’s do more of less.

Things I care about

• Making things work. Helping people be successful. My success is through others’ success.
• Working with people who are smart, funny, and want to try something new. (Life is too short to work with people who aren’t.)
• Sounds corny maybe but I need to personally believe in the value of my clients’ business, to get excited about what they do. Fortunately, this is not usually a problem.
• Keeping some work/life balance, and working with others in ways that improve the odds for balance for them, too.

Sites/Communities I like

• Vocal Majority, a local grassroots activist group with particular interest in education reform. Operates as a Google Group, really simple way for us to get news out, rally support, collaborate.
• The Perfect Pantry http://www.theperfectpantry.com/ — a great demonstration of what one person with passion for a topic can do. Plus, I love to cook and eat.
• Private community for newly diagnosed cancer patients — knock on wood, I’m not part of this community but I’ve written about this private community produced by Communispace for the National Comprehensive Cancer Network. I’m blown away by the value members get from this safe, 24/7 place to talk and how it helps care givers and providers understand the sometimes surprising ways people with cancer make decisions.

3 things most people don’t know about me

• My first teaching job included doing snake shows. (Great training for grace under pressure.)
• My favorite hot yoga pose is Standing Bow. (hard to get at first but is like flying once you do)
• I live with Bohemians. (My husband is Czech.)

My favorite “thinking” playlist

1. Yo Yo Ma — Obrigado Brazil album — for brainstorming kind of thinking
2. Joss Stone — Some Kind of Wonderful — a spirited tonic for anytime
3. Aaron Copland — Appalachian Spring — pure sunlight
4. Beatles — Here Comes the Sun — reward (or incentive) for finishing something hard
5. Dixie Chicks — Not Ready to Make Nice — courage for strong POV
6. Ellis Marsalis — all of it. Great music to write by. Inspiring without distracting.
7. Cirque du Soleil — Egypte — you can decode anything while listening to this.
8. Madonna — Ray of Light — speeds up anything boring I have to do (Admit it, we all have some of that)
9. Maeve — Fire in My Soul — need I say more?
10. James Taylor — Shed a Little Light — collaboration put to music