I create and execute strategic communications campaigns that are designed to be highly measurable and to yield dramatic results, in terms of market awareness, product purchase and/or business development. The campaigns place an emphasis on good storytelling.

EDUCATION | Bachelor's Degree in Film and Television Production from New York University

HOW TO GET STARTED | Learn the fundamentals of business. 90% of businesses don't know the fundamentals and they never organize well. Ask yourself, what are your main functions most important to your success in business and how do you track them? I learned PR at the street level. It's almost the reverse of how you learn it in the classroom. In the classroom, they approach PR as an extension of marketing. But early PR emerged as alternative journalism, as filler stories for journalist, as alternative stories to the stuff that was coming off the major news wires. That's the best way to learn PR, is to start by understanding what is happening in the TV newsrooms, in the radio stations, in the magazines editorial departments, etc. Journalists don't respond to press releases or PR, they respond to news. And therein lies the secret of how you need to present it to them. They're in the business of finding and developing stories. When you approach them, you should do it almost as if you're one of their stringers, or a roving reporter, or a source in the field. You'll be more successful if you come across as one of their own.

MUST HAVE TRAITS | Integrity, knowledge, wisdom, diligence and the ability to perform well on the fundamentals of business These are higher virtues because ultimately, what PR and marketing is supposed to do is help people solve problems.

how I got started | I started off with a film and television degree, went out to Hollywood and started working as a producer's associate and script reader in development. I did that for 3 years and slowly realized that this was probably something for the kids of wealthy people (that is, not profitable for the first few years). So I didn't see myself doing it that way. I wanted to incorporate storytelling into business. I went into PR and marketing and started by landing a position for the interactive media division of Phillips. From there I went on to work for two big PR agencies where I had the opportunity to be involved in a series of strategic campaigns for some Fortune 500 companies and prominent mid-size businesses. I realized I was good at it and started creating, managing and ultimately directing high-level campaigns. I have now been doing it for 15 years.

why this job?| The only thing I felt that I've always been good at and that I've been interested in is storytelling; how to communicate stories, concepts, and messages to an audience. I realized that the part of business that did this was the public relations or the communications department, and that therefore this was the place for me.

why I love this job!| (1) I love that it's all based on an understanding of storytelling, presentation and how to deal with an audience, and that's true whether we're talking about business to consumer or business to business audiences. (2) The emphasis on business fundamentals. You have to understand business fundamentals to understand your client's business and you have to know how to execute on the business fundamenals to properly direct the client's communication campaigns. (3) That it's always different. I get to see different sides of life and meet different people. The people you meet in PR/marketing are among the most talented, smart and interesting people. I always get to work on different products and campaigns.

my typical day| My day is very business like. I keep regular hours and a timesheet for myself that tracks what I do in three different areas. I start tracking my time at 7am and usually wrap up at 6-7pm. Based on business fundamentals, I divide the timesheet into: make, market, manage. Examples of "make" tasks would include writing press releases for marketing campaigns, researching a client author's books, creating marketing one-sheets and other types of production. Examples of "market" would include any type of outreach such as contacting radio, television, newspapers and magazines to promote a client after you've manufactured the campaign or scheduling a media tour. Examples of "manage" would include anything in the administrative process, business accounting, filing taxes, and healthcare. I generally do the "make and market" tasks early in the day and "manage" tasks after 2pm.

what they are | Ultimately, in any field of marketing, you are going to costumers and you're supposed to answer the questions and solve the problems on their mind. At the end of the line, that's your audience is the customer of the product. Ideally, you begin with what is in the customer's mind. What is the problem? And where are you and your product positioned in the customer's mind? The challenge is when your bosses and your clients don't think like that. They're just thinking of marketing objectives, revenues, and sales targets that they came up with at their meetings. The challenge is to see the big picture and to be able to explain it properly to the different levels of your team. Marketing campaigns often go astray when they turn to selling what was dreamed up in meetings as opposed to selling what is asked for by the customer, what is wanted, what is needed, and what is clamored for by the audience. In my experience, that's the #1 biggest and most common challenge. And it's why good, smart, strategic work is so wonderful to see, because it provides a valuable service to people.

all about growth | I chose this career partly because I wanted to work in an area with no growth ceiling; a job with the prospect of continued growth. For young people, it's really great because there's so much opportunity. For older people (fifties and sixties) it gets difficult. Unless you're running the business by then you usually leave or take your experience to other divisions of companies and industries. This business is like a pyramid- there are lots of opportunities at the bottom but as you go further up the pyramid there is less and less room.

my website| http://www.storyfocus.com