Thought Center

John D. Russell – Photographer, Entrepreneur & Leaper

I have had the pleasure of working with photographer, John D. Russell during several Habitat for Humanity events over the years. There is something special about the people you meet at Habitat builds – from the volunteers who arrive with an open heart and zero build skills to the crew leaders (made up mostly of volunteers) to professionals like John Russell, who provide their time and expertise to support the mission in other ways.

Like all of the people I have met along my Habitat journey, John has become a friend and I am so happy he agreed to share his entrepreneurial story with me. There are many layers to John, which may explain his ability to capture people and places so beautifully. As always, I hope John’s story will inspire others out there to follow their passion and take the big Leap!

Describe what you do for a living.

Photo credit: Paulius Staniunas

I am a Professional Photographer.

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Interview with Entrepreneur Lindsey Morando – Marketing Coach & Leaper

Lindsey Morando is the co-founder of The Marketing Co-op, a company that helps female entrepreneurs simplify the marketing process. I am incredibly proud and excited to share this next Leaper’s story because many years ago Lindsey accepted an internship with my team at House of Blues Entertainment. I have had the good fortune to watch her career blossom ever since and trust me when I say, I take no credit. Lindsey is an enthusiastic force of marketing magic. After you read her story, you’ll understand why her big leap was no surprise to those of us who know her. Way to go, Lindsey!

What is The Marketing Co-Op?

“It finally feels like I am making an impact and my gifts and talents are fully being utilized.

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Interview with Entrepreneur Laura Conley – Yogi, Happiness Coach & Leaper

Recently, I saw a post on Facebook by Laura Conley, who was celebrating three years as an entrepreneur. As I read about her journey, her energy leapt off my screen and I instantly knew I had to share her story.

“It’s the best life ever!”

Laura and I met when she joined the Development department for my client, Habitat forHumanity of Greater Los Angeles, several years ago. As it turned out, her previous job was in sales at Konica Minolta, reporting to one of my dear friends. We hit it off instantly and stayed in touch even after she left Habitat LA to pursue another sales job. I have watched her journey unfold, thanks to Facebook, and I am so thrilled she agreed to share her entrepreneurial journey here. I hope Laura’s story, and those that will follow in this series, will inspire and motivate others to take that magical leap too.

Please tell us what you do for a living?

I am a Yoga Teacher and a Happiness Coach.

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3 Great Marketing Resources – From Free to Almost Free!

In our opinion, Marketing and PR is more fun today than ever before, yet it’s moving quickly and requires tracking and analysis. In an effort to provide helpful tips and resources, we want to tell you about three resources we cannot live without out. We encourage you to give them a try. If you do not at least use the first one NOW, you’re truly missing out on valuable information.

Google Alerts. This free tool is essential to staying on top of your brand and industry. Set up Alerts easily to track what people are saying about you, your company and your competitors. You can choose to receive updates in real time, once a day or once per week (we recommend once a day). Be sure to set up Alerts for upcoming events you may be attending or hosting. This tool is free so don’t hesitate.

This image was created in Canva for FREE in about 10 minutes.

Canva. I cannot praise this site enough. Canva makes graphic design simple.

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Talking Social Media at LAX Coastal Lifestyle Group Event

Starfish PR was invited to be one of three presenters at the LAX Coastal Lifestyle Group’s Social Media event on Thursday, October 8th. Hosted by the LAX Coastal Chamber of Commerce, the Lifestyle events always bring together a vibrant group of creative, entrepreneurial women, and this meeting was no exception!

L-R: Marci Klein, Angela Moore, Jamie Gregor and Liz Peters

Omni Online Solutions‘ Liz Peters spoke first on the topic of Search Engine Optimization (SEO), and touched several times on one of our favorite content creators — the blog. Emmy-winning Klein Creative Media shared videos for a variety of clients, illustrating the importance of strong visuals and emotional connection when promoting your business.

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Margaret DiLorenzo Joins ANEW Board of Directors

Board Recognizes Leadership in Commercial Real Estate and Corporate Sustainability

[Los Angeles, CA – June 8, 2015] Asset Network for Education Worldwide (ANEW) is pleased to announce the appointment of Margaret Di Lorenzo MCR, LEED AP, project manager at CBRE, to its Board of Directors. As a leader of sustainable practices in the commercial real estate field and a valuable advocate of community outreach, DiLorenzo’s appointment to the ANEW board is a natural choice.

“I’m happy to be a part of this unique organization, and I look forward to working closely with Rose, the board members and the ANEW team,” says DiLorenzo.

In their collaborative relationship, ANEW and CBRE enjoy the best of both worlds. CBRE brings commercial real estate clients to ANEW for help in liquidating and stewarding surplus, thus boosting corporate social responsibility, as well as charitable organization clients to which ANEW can match surplus.

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Optimizing Your Profile

We recently lead a “Lunch and Learn” for one of our clients on the topic of LinkedIn. We were asked to help their employees optimize their profiles so that everyone in the organization could benefit from the company’s digital marketing campaigns.

Over the course of the one-hour session, we pointed out the many opportunities LinkedIn offers to showcase not only your training and skills, but the areas in which you want to grow your business. Your headline, summary, and experience sections are all opportunities to highlight what you enjoy most about your career, the types of clients you want to work with, and the industries that interest you. Just as you would tailor your resume for a specific job opening, your LinkedIn Profile should be crafted for the career that you want to develop.

For our training sessions, we provide a worksheet to help guide users through the revisions.

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Accepting Applications for Summer Internships

Are you a college student interested in a creative career? We have several opportunities to intern with our team of PR professionals this summer. To apply, simply email us the following information:

Cover Letter – tell us about yourself and why you think you’d be a good fit with Starfish PR.
Resume – We understand your career is just getting off the ground, but we’d love to see what you have been up to.
Examples of Writing – Do you blog, post reviews or write poems and music? Show us what you’ve got!
Availability this summer.

Email this info to Angela@starfish-pr.com and we will respond as quickly as possible.

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21 Keys To A Successful Business

When Hildy Gottlieb, author of “The Pollyanna Principles,” spoke to a group of entrepreneurs and nonprofit leaders in Los Angeles a few years ago, she asked us to walk to the balcony of the meeting room and look out at the horizon. With the sun setting over the Hollywood hills, it was easy to use the analogy of the skyline representing the mission and goals of each individual organization.

She then told the group that their shoes represented the day-to-day activities required to keep their companies going. She then pointed out that when you look at the things right under your nose, you lose sight of the big picture…that when you are focused on your shoes, you lose sight of the skyline.

For many companies, it feels like there is only time and focus on the “the shoes.

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