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Posts tagged ‘Consulting’

Janet Giampietro, Creative Consultant, Designer and Social Media Strategist

Janet Giampietro’s BIO

Janet Giampietro

Janet Giampietro is a Creative Consultant + Social Media Strategist.

With over 20 years of creative development experience, Janet has extended her creative thinking to social media strategy. Janet utilizes her extensive communications and marketing background to help startups, small businesses and nonprofits enter the social media sphere, build their communities and integrate their messaging. As a consultant to Ventureneer.com, Janet has developed and managed its social media presence.

Janet was the Founder and Creative Director of Studio Francesca, a design and communications firm that developed award-winning materials for companies and nonprofits. She has produced communication materials for JPMorgan Chase, Pfizer, The Wall Street Journal/Dow Jones and The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Janet also served as creative consultant to the nonprofits: Abilities!, IDA-NY, and Agenda for Children Tomorrow (ACT). Her work has been recognized in national publications including Print, ID, CA, Non-Traditional Design and Idea.

Janet has been active in Literacy Partners and School Power Lunch Programs in New York City. As an adventure traveler, she has visited many developing countries and believes in giving back. After five years of serving the Young Heroes Foundation in a pro bono capacity, Janet is currently its President and QOO.

IN THE SPOTLIGHT INTERVIEW

1. Oprah Winfrey has been inspiring us each month with her unique approach to life and to creating our very best lives so, as a tribute to her, A La Oprah, what did you know for sure when you decided to be a solo business practitioner?

Janet: In many ways, it’s a good personality fit. As a previous small business owner and freelancer, I’ve been my own boss. I like challenges, adventure and managing my own time.

 

2. Take us through a typical day with your schedule from start to finish.

Janet: With no crises looming, a typical day is: Up at 7am and doing 20 minutes of Pilates 3xs a week before digging in. Between 8 // 8:30am, I’m easing into the first few hours with admin, answering email, reading current news/feeds, then moving onto returning calls. Then it’s onto the actual project work, meetings, conference calls or whatever for the bulk of the day. My social media and blog updates are scheduled at the end of the day, 3xs weekly. A lunch break is a necessity even if it’s a half hour walk.

3. What are a few of your “can’t live without” applications on your personal computer/smart phone?

Janet: On my MAC, there’s CS4, MS Office, Quickbooks, iTunes. I’m working in the cloud more and more with clients. On my iPhone – apps: NPR News and NPR Addict, NYTimes, WSJ Mobile, Dragon Dictation, HootSuite, Facebook, and myPantone.

4. What are your tricks for time management?

Janet: Knowing one’s personal strengths and weaknesses is the best impetus for planning. I work best doing admin/answering emails etc. in the morning, catching up with news and feeds. Creative/strategizing happens later in the day for me. With a few exceptions, social media time is scheduled between 6–7 3xs a week. That’s reading/updating my accounts and updating my blog content or finding new blog topics. For me, that has to be scheduled, dedicated and finite time.

5. Best advice received when you started your business?

Janet: Tailor the business to your strengths and don’t try to do too much.

6. When did you know for sure that starting a consulting firm was the right path for you to take in your career?

Janet: I had been considering consulting for a while. With the economic situation as it was, people were flocking to social media for networking and engagement. Many people were (are) unclear as to what to do in that space and others were (are) terrified of it. I saw social media as changing the way forward, and felt that I had skills and advice to offer small businesses and nonprofits getting started in it.

7. If given an extra hour each day to seek new ideas and brainstorm, what are some sources you turn to?

Janet: I read a lot of travel essays and nonfiction on international politics. In both cases, these types of books open up my mind to different possibilities, lifestyles and methodologies. I like doing research and scan many news feeds daily. I also mine my social media accounts for news, trends and thought patterns.

8. Given the current economic climate, how has your strategy for your consulting firm  changed for the short-term and long-term?

Janet: In this current economic climate, I’m still untangling the new NEW, so these strategies are evolving.

What’s been your proudest achievement as an entrepreneur?

Continuing to learn and grow, and find new ways of expanding and applying my creative/marketing background.

9. If you could re-start your business, what would you do differently and why?

Janet: Since this is a relatively new venture, I’m still doing analysis and adjustments. I’m sure there should have been more research, and better planning.

10. What are some of the ways that you achieve balance in your life?

Janet: Travel is both my escape and refresher. It’s one of the few ways for me to truly disconnect. When that’s not possible, I love to exercise – I’m a walker and hiker. Family and friends are my anchors.

11. The one book you would recommend highly to our readers (and why?)

Janet: I’ve most recently read DIFFERENT: Escaping the Competitive Herd by YoungMe Moon. I reviewed it in a recent blogpost. The author has a strong storytelling style and stresses differentiation, not as a marketing tool, but as a mindset – similar to a design thinking state of mind. The book is a refreshing and informative read.

12. If you received a surprise bonus equal to half of your monthly salary, what (if anything) would you spend it on?

Janet: A fabulous bit of adventure travel – somewhere in Africa.

13. What are some of your most rewarding charitable involvements and why?

Janet: I’ve done pro bono creative work for a charity founded by a friend called Young Heroes, which provides food and hope for Swaziland’s orphan families. Young Heroes’ founder, Steve Kallaugher, has recently entrusted its management to me.

My involvement is rewarding for many reasons, but two specifically: In a very small way, I’m contributing to a project that may have a profound effect on someone’s life. And secondly, I’m learning new skills and expanding on existing ones.

14. Who has been the most influential person to you as you’ve advanced in your career?

Janet: Geri Stengel, founder of Ventureneer.com and a serial entrepreneur. She has consistently reinvented her talents and built upon her previous successful ventures. She’s quite a motivator.

To learn more about Janet, please visit her website by clicking the link below:

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Sandy Dumont, The Image Architect

Sandy Dumont’s BIO

Sandy Dumont

IN THE SPOTLIGHT INTERVIEW

1. Oprah Winfrey has been inspiring us each month with her unique approach to life and to creating our very best lives so, as a tribute to her, A La Oprah, what did you know for sure when you decided to embark on your business?

Sandy: I knew with absolute certainty that I wanted to help people change their lives by making changes to their image, just as I had done at age 17 when I got my red dress.

When I was 16, I walked across the stage of my high school auditorium to give a piano recital. From behind the stage, two boys shouted, “Hey Boney Maroney, where’d you get that haircut?” I sat down to perform and blanked out completely. I hated the way I looked so much I wanted to drawl in a black hole and disappear. My mother had made by dress, and it was a drab ugly color and terrible style. My mother cut my hair, and it looked like I had stuck my head in the blender. There wasn’t anything about myself I liked.

A year later it was graduation and my birthday, so I went shopping for a new dress and experienced an epiphany. I found a perfect red dress that made me feel special. When I looked at myself in the mirror, in that exquisite moment I could see my own self peeping through. I had found the real me. My new red dress changed the way I saw myself and felt about myself.

I scoured the pages of Glamour Magazine and taught myself how to do makeup; I went to a hairdresser and used my hard-earned babysitting money to get a decent haircut. And, of course, I wore red a lot. Then the most astonishing thing happened – for the first time in my life, people told me I was pretty. They saw me. That dress and my new found self image gave me the courage to move to Washington, DC and enroll in a two-year fashion school. In demand long before I graduated, I became one of the top fashion models in town. Top designers and fashion coordinators shared their secrets. My life was changed forever – and I had changed profoundly. The “grey mouse” was gone forever, and in her place was a self-assured fashion model – whose signature color was, of course, red.

2. Take us through a typical day, from the moment you wake up until you call it a day.

Sandy: My day begins with a breakfast of bacon, eggs, toast and green tea. It’s the only part of my day that is predictable. Some days I’m traveling to another city to do a workshop or keynote. Last week I returned from a 2-week speaking tour in Europe. I always arrive the day before, since flights are cancelled so often these days. I once missed an evening keynote in New Jersey because flight after flight kept getting cancelled. It was awful, and I never want that to happen again. When I’m in town, I may go to a client’s premises to do a three-hour staff workshop; other days I may do an all-day Total Image Makeover workshop in my studio. This is for two people, and it begins at 10am and is finished at 5pm. I provide lunch, and we break at 12:30 and eat while chatting about color and other things.

When I’m not doing workshops I’m in my office writing articles or working on my book. I write monthly columns for several publications. I’m also an active volunteer, so sometimes I have a board meeting with the local Chamber of Commerce. I’m also president of the SE Virginia Chapter of the National Association of Women business owners, so there’s a monthly meeting to attend and a monthly board meeting; and loose ends to tie up in between.

I usually leave my office around 5:30pm and begin thinking about dinner. For many years I was a gourmet cook, even attended Cordon Bleu School in London, but now I’m interested in simple, healthful meals. My husband grills something and I cook the vegetables.

3. What are your tricks for time management with all of the responsibilities you have and all of the demands placed on your time?

Sandy: I wish I could tell you I have a system, but I don’t. I have an assistant who looks at my daily 250 emails and sends me the ones I need to look at and answer. For the rest, I just do things as they need doing.

4. Best advice received when you started out in your business?

Sandy: An early mentor told me to do only the things you love doing, and that’s what I do! I love my business, so it doesn’t seem like work.

5. When did you know for sure that your business plan was going to work? (aha moment)?

Sandy: When I lived in Belgium, it became clear that Belgians were reluctant to wear the colors I suggested. They only felt good in grunge colors! That’s because they’ve been invaded since the days of Julius Caesar, followed by nearly every country in Europe. They have discovered that it is safe to dress to blend into the background, and in a primarily wooded environment, earthy grunge colors will do it! I have been told by many a client that they would rather look ugly than wear bold colors.

As a result, I designed a series of props to enable them to “look and see.” That’s an expression I use to signify that you’re no longer choosing colors from the “heart and soul”, but from the results in the mirror. It’s a powerful thing, and it enabled me to become an even better image consultant. I’m very thankful for this experience.

6. What resources do you turn to for direction, advice, fresh ideas?

Sandy: My affiliation with the National Speakers Association has helped me more than anything. Through their many extraordinary workshops, I have educated myself in the arena of Search Engine Optimization, designing newsletters and websites, marketing, and so much more. I recommend it to anyone who wants to succeed as a small business owner, not just as a speaker. Within NSA, there are also local Mastermind groups for brainstorming with associates.

7. What’s next for your business over the next 6 months? 3 years?

Sandy: In my spare time, I’m working on my book for businesswomen. It will be the culmination of everything I’ve learned about image.

Within the next two months, I also intend to produce a set of DVDs so that companies can use them to help improve the image of their staff.

My dream is to have a limited line of makeup within one year. Within three years my goal is to expand my school, The Impression Strategies Institute, to an even greater reach. This will mean training others to teach my courses.

8. What’s been your proudest achievement as an entrepreneur?

Sandy: Being chosen by the Belgian State television as their image consultant when they were launching their “new look.”

9. If you could re-start your business, what would you do differently and why?

Sandy: The only thing I would do differently is to produce products much earlier. It is necessary to duplicate your efforts.

10. What are some of the ways that you achieve balance in your life?

Sandy: I try to make time to have a “date” with my husband once a week. I also like walking and going to the Pilates studio for regular workouts.

11. If there was one piece of advice or suggestion (about anything) that you could provide to all of our readers, what would it be?

Sandy: I would pass on that wonderful advice given to me many years ago: Only do what you love doing and it will never seem like you are working!

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Philippa Gamse CMC, Websites That Win International

Philippa Gamse’s BIO

Philippa Gamse

IN THE SPOTLIGHT INTERVIEW

1. Oprah Winfrey has been inspiring us each month with her unique approach to life and to creating our very best lives so, as a tribute to her, A La Oprah, what did you know for sure when you decided to be a solo business practitioner?

Philippa: Probably all my working life – I don’t do well with routine, commuting, business dress every day, and especially not well with reporting to superiors who may or may not like me or understand what I do (can you tell I’ve had some bad experiences?)

I’ve always felt that the only really valid review is from clients who either hire me again or refer me to others (75% of my speaking business is with repeat or referral clients).

 

2. Take us through a typical day with your schedule from start to finish.

Philippa: I don’t do well with “typical” days as I’m not good at routine. However, I do try to catch up with news both international and Web-related in the morning, before checking e-mail. Since many of my clients are in Europe and on the East Coast, they’re well into their days by the time I wake up in California.

I also have a very Mediterranean body clock – I like to take off in the afternoon, and then work into the evening – my brain does best in the morning and evening.

3. What are a few of your “can’t live without” applications on your personal computer/smart phone?

Philippa: The Sudoku game – keeps my brain agile. Also, I really like my contact manager – it’s called “Chaos Intellect”. I used to use ACT! which was a great program when it started, but then morphed into a monster.

4. What are your tricks for time management?

Philippa: wish I had some! I do know that it’s a great idea to stop and take a walk when I feel my brain getting really tired (I’m lucky enough to live in the middle of a vineyard with great views of the Monterey Bay!)

5. Best advice received when you started your business?

Philippa: “You can’t pay with exposure at Safeway” – it can be very tempting as a consultant to offer free advice, either to impress a potential client with your knowledge, or to help someone. And people looking for speakers are constantly offering “exposure” to their audiences in lieu of a professional fee. Sounds good, but there are no guarantees . . .

6. When did you know for sure that starting a consulting firm was the right path for you to take in your career?

Philippa: I was working for a national nonprofit, helping their state chapters to start using online technology. When I got my green card, I knew I wanted to stop working for someone else, and go out on my own – I’m not really employable!

7. If given an extra hour each day to seek new ideas and brainstorm, what are some sources you turn to?

Philippa: My sources these days are almost all online – newsletters like eConsultancy and eMarketer, and brainstorming in LinkedIn groups and some e-mail lists that I belong to.

8. Given the current economic climate, how has your strategy for your consulting firm changed for the short-term and long-term?

Philippa: Actually, I have a long-term strategy for my business as a whole, not just the consulting. I am actively exploring other sources of income as the economy affects the speaking industry – I’m currently taking some voiceover classes to see if some work in that field might be viable for me (I do have this classy British accent!)

Also, as the Internet is constantly evolving, it’s important for me to retain my focus on helping small and medium-sized businesses, and what’s appropriate for them. For example, we’re hearing a lot about mobile applications now – my role is to translate for my clients what they can realistically do, and what makes sense for them since they’re not big corporations with deep pockets and massive IT departments.

9. What’s been your proudest achievement as an entrepreneur?

Philippa: I was selected to be the sole expert (and cover photo!) for the UPS “Compass” magazine’s feature story on “Ways to Make your Website Sizzle”, which was distributed to over 1million businesses in Fall 2009.

10. If you could re-start your business, what would you do differently and why?

Philippa: I wish that I’d created product (audio, e-books, etc.) a lot earlier – I’m just starting to create these, and it’s very exciting. I’m also hoping that it will be a great way to get my name out.

11. What are some of the ways that you achieve balance in your life?

Philippa: I try to walk most days, I take a Jazzercize class, and I volunteer at the local animal shelter where I play with the cats / kittens, and try to give them some love. It’s not their fault that they ended up where they are . . .

12. The one book you would recommend highly to our readers (and why?)

Philippa: I recently read “Outliers” by Malcolm Gladwell – it’s really thought-provoking about what’s actually behind the achievements of people like the Beatles and Bill Gates, and how certain circumstances have a major impact on our likelihood to succeed.

13. If you received a surprise bonus equal to half of your monthly salary, what (if anything) would you spend it on?

Philippa: Wow – where to start? I’m just recovering from major surgery, and have been stunned at all the things that my insurance managed to wriggle out of paying for, so it would be prudent to save it in case of future need.

On the other hand, I love to travel, I like good wine, and so spending it sounds quite inviting!

14. What is some of your most rewarding charitable involvements and why?

Philippa: As I mentioned above, I volunteer at the local animal shelter. I’m amazed at some of the truly awful things that people do to their pets (one woman brought in her beautiful 7-year old cat because she had a new sofa and the cat didn’t match the colour!) These animals are mostly in situations that humans have created, and I want to help give back to them a bit.

15. Who has been the most influential person to you as you’ve advanced in your career?

Philippa: I don’t think there’s any one person – I’ve been lucky to have many mentors, advisers, and people who’ve helped to sustain and develop me along the way.

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Stephen Melanson, President of Melanson Consulting

Stephen Melanson’s BIO

Stephen Melanson

IN THE SPOTLIGHT INTERVIEW

1. What prompted you to be a solo business practitioner?

Stephen: Both my dissatisfaction with working for others and a desire to try to do something special in business.

2. Scenario: you meet a business exec who is looking to fund a business that already has had enormous positive implications for businesses. He wishes to offer $25,000 to a business that is innovative in its thinking. He has 10 minutes available to speak with you. What do you share with him about your business?

Stephen: That Verbal Branding is legitimately unique in the world, proven effective with nearly every type and size organization, and takes a notoriously underperforming professional service – branding – and re-orients it so it’s not only hugely productive, but as the evidence suggests immediately becomes a vastly superior method for multiple critical business elements.

To apply a Verbal Branding platform is to combine plain-language market “differentiation” with a conversational, or spoken, application for branding. Therefore, it acts like a platform to think and speak every minute of every day, which simultaneously improves at least four levels of business function: sales, internal culture, brand and message density in a marketplace, and management’s strategic modeling.

I am aware of no other set of philosophies in the world market that not only accomplishes all this, but does so using complete simplicity as the driver.

Anyone who has even a remote interest in better revenue productivity and a unified internal culture needs Verbal Branding.

3. For most successful entrepreneurs, there is no typical day so give us a sample of your schedule from start to finish.

Stephen: Every day is certainly different, but nearly all my time is spent delivering client work, seeking speaking opportunities because they drive my entire business model, on the phone for various reasons, doing a bit of social media – Twitter, blogging, etc. – continually reviewing how I spend my time, and simply thinking…about how to improve my product; add necessary elements to my product mix; new, different, and better ways to describe what I do during presentations; and, continuous rumination on the implications and need for Verbal Branding in the market so my longer-term vision stays on track.

4. What are your “can’t live without” apps on your desktop/cell phone?

Stephen: I was once told that the only real “can’t live without” things in business are a phone, something to write with, a pad of paper, and then your brain. A little extreme, but I always remembered the point. The truth is, my business is fairly simple on many levels, because I’m essentially doing “idea development” with clients and then training and coaching.

So, with all that said, I need dial tone on my phone, email, a calendar, MS Word, Adobe for my PDFs, and an internet connection. I suppose I need my brain, but that certainly isn’t on my desktop.

5. What are your tricks for time management?

Stephen: I have none. The only thing I can say about time management is, I constantly think about who I am pursuing relative to the value of my product. So, to me, not chasing inappropriate prospects is the key to saving time and energy.

6. Best advice received when you started your business?

Stephen: Nothing comes to mind. I’m the type that I made lots of mistakes and learned the hard way. Also, I’m not a big fan of taking advice from others. I think the really good ideas come when you have fewer influences rather than more. Some of the best ideas come from people who are new to an industry, for instance, and see it with fresh perspective, or that simply notice something that’s missing from a business landscape, like I did with a spoken application for branding.

I think of it this way: I don’t want to become another version of what’s already out there; I love the idea of doing something completely different. Taking too much of everyone else’s advice locks you into their thinking.

7. Given the current economic climate, how has your strategy for your company changed for the short-term and long-term?

Stephen: I don’t let the economic climate influence my thinking all that much. The profile of my clients has continued to improve over the last few years – even when the economy really tanked – and my rates have gone up. As far as I’m concerned, those who learn what I offer, regardless of the timing, and don’t take advantage are unwittingly committing their organizations to underperformance, so I simply move as quickly as I can to find firms who recognize the value of what I do.

8. What’s been your proudest achievement as an entrepreneur?

Stephen: To have developed a product that appears from all evidence to be unique in the world market, while also having been proven to simply work better than anything else in a number of concurrent business levels.

9. What are some of the ways that you achieve balance in your life?

Stephen: By not being a workaholic. When I’m really busy, I step up and get all my work done, no matter what it takes. When I’m between cycles, I make sure to take time for myself and move a bit slower for a short while.

10. Your top 3 book recommendations for our readers (and why?)

Stephen:

 

11. If you had an exceptional month and earned double of your average month, what (if anything) would you spend it on?

Stephen: Nothing in particular. I might head to NYC to stay a night or two and see a show.

12. What are some of your most rewarding charitable involvements and why?

Stephen: Easy – giving some money to the Jimmy Fund. The reason is obvious: those kids with cancer humble me every time I think of them, and when I hear them speak during the Red Sox annual money drive. They have more courage and spirit than anyone I know, certainly including myself.

13. Who has been the most influential person to you as you’ve advanced in your career?

Stephen: I don’t think there’s a single person. I’ve taken small lessons and experience from pretty much every thing I’ve done. I think the “influence” comes from collective learning over time.

14. What’s your advice to my someone interested in starting their own business?

Stephen: Be ready for the long haul, continually re-evaluate and improve the value of your product, come up with your own ideas so you’re different, and develop your toughness and confidence – because there will always be moments or periods of time that will test them, and you’ll need to pass that test to succeed.

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