03/10/2020
Really enjoying reading these intros....here’s my shot at it...I have spent most of my adult/professional life in Los Angeles. Started in the agency working on consumer electronics, sporting goods and software companies.
Went in house w a telephony company for a year, loved the company, the people and the work but hated living in Orange County.
Back to LA and agency life..toys, spirits and consumer electronics w one agency, corporate accounts with another. Then in house with a national junior sportswear line as marketing communications director. Very challenging and very fun. Left to head up MarCom for a contract and residential merchandise mart. Very challenging but draining as macro shifts in economy had pummeled business and I learned the hard
way I was more suited to B2C communications that B2B. So after looking for a job for some months, decided to go solo.
It has been the best of times and the worst of times. I have gotten placements for clients that have established their brand, opened new distribution and or created new partnerships... while starting a new life w my husband who worked as a film editor and raising two kids. (Work/Home Balancing Act)i worked w hotels, restaurants, stores, apparel, furnishing,historic preservation groups and architectural firms. I have also weathered storms that threatened my clients’ very existence, The LA Riots, The Northridge Earthquake, The dot com crash, the Malibu Fire, the Financial Collapse.Helping them maintain their presence with drastically reduced revenues is a real education.
My husband and I sold our house (kids now in college) and relocated to the Coachella Valley 2 hours east of LA . Home to the Palm Springs Film Festival, Desert X Art biennial, Modernism Week, Coachella and Stagecoach Music Festivals and an impressive collection of golf and tennis tournaments. A resort town is a very different animal... and so through the quiet months of low season I unpacked a household and wrote a book. When things pick up in November though I have dived right in, it has taken awhile to find my professional feet.
And now I must navigate a double whammy.
A new state law AB5 became law in January, seriously restricts how independent contractors can conduct their business. Intended to help uber drivers it has everyone publicists, musicians, non profits and even contract Santa Clauses scrambling to figure out how to structure their business in line with the new law. If that wasn’t enough of a challenge for both me and some of my clients...due to the Corona virus, yesterday it was announced the BNP Paribas tennis tournament is cancelled. An event that brings $400 million to the area...with this announcement,Coachella and Stagecoach
And the ANA golf tournament and a host if smaller event are in jeopardy.
The local economy is in for a harsh year. Tourists and snowbirds are the lifeline of this area and tourism is getting clobbered.
Stay tuned.....
