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but we are all live. We're going to jump right in here, man. Good morning. Good evening. Good
night. Good afternoon. Whatever time you're listening in, wherever you're listening from.
Actually, I know you audio people can comment, but if you guys want to let me know what platform
you guys are listening in, I like to assume my listeners are washing dishes or just kind of
relaxing. Clicked on the thumbnail. Shout out to the new listeners, Google, Apple podcasts,
and uh youtube thanks for watching in we have a very special guest for us tonight we have the
amazing tiffany sondergaard of ts brand elevation thank you tony that's a very
it's very good because your track record of raising brands i mean going all the way back from
procter and gamble so tiffany does uh public relations on the event on the talent management
if you would line up with some of the recent guests we had where you know we talked with the
actors valerie bittner and upcoming roy schuler and willie i love roy yeah you know it's there's
a team that goes behind it that keeps work so when you can get behind being the talent
you can't book and do all that sort of stuff yourself so tiffany plays the behind the scenes
of a lot of things you've seen on tv she's had placements as good morning america um entertainment
tonight you know so she is able to really get whatever message you're pushing out there so
that's amazing thank you introduce yourself anything i missed um yes bw nice yeah i've
worked with bw nice bloom for women um you know american heart association gray strong foundation
if we're going to talk about non-profits gray strong is actually one of my favorites it is
parkinson's disease um and speaking of talent i get to work with erica keno with that brand
who was diagnosed with Parkinson's in his early 40s, actually on his 40th birthday.
And Parkinson's is known, you know, as an older folks disease.
And so Eric helped change the face of Parkinson's so much so that we just, you know, we were
in L.A. a couple of months ago for a while.
He received an award from Holly Robinson-Pete and her husband, you know, the former football
player. So, yeah, we were out there piling around with them in L.A. and he was getting awards and
on the stage with Valley Davis and, you know, someone from Destiny's Child, the old Destiny's
Child. I mean, it was it was star studded and it was great to see Eric on the red carpet and in
photos with all of them. Um, but yeah, so that's, that's some of the payoff of working behind the
scenes with talent and their organizations and seeing the things that can come to fruition.
And so, you know, it was a great night to see him on the red carpet for all of the things that he
did and knowing just that, like, I had a hand in that, you know, I helped, I helped push his
messaging or help shape his messaging um you know so much so that it was heard all the way on the
west coast you know even though he lives in eastern PA and spent a lot of miles between that
a lot of miles between that but it's interesting to get to the point where you know you've lodged
yourself into teams where you become a valuable team member it's not just a a solo a solo thing
You know, it's not just a one man thing. You know, I think early on in people's careers, they care a lot about credit. But right. We're just talking a little bit before off mic. It's like there's things that I'm working on. There's stuff from a year ago that I haven't posted. Of course, people are going to say, oh, wow, you you did that. I just need the time to lay it out and present it.
So did you always tell me how you got into PR?
Was that something you I know you got into it right out of college.
Was it something you always wanted to do?
So when I was in college, I actually did all the things right.
So I was a mass communications major with a minoring in advertising and public relations.
And I had the radio show.
I wrote for the newspaper.
I was the on air talent for the news station as well.
and just trying to see like what I wanted to really do.
Right.
I thought, you know, I loved entertainment.
I thought rated the radio show was cool, but I, I don't know.
There was something I just felt, honestly, I thought I wasn't cool enough to have a radio
show.
And then honestly, and then I, you know, I was like, no, I think they're a little bit
better at it than, you know.
And so, you know, when I was writing for the newspaper, I always felt like the I couldn't do the stories that I wanted to do.
And of course, you can't do the stories that you want to do when you're first starting out, you know.
So that was like so that wasn't it on air talent.
You know, well, on air talent is on air talent.
So we know what that is. But that's how I ended up in PR, because I realized that I could help shape things behind the scenes.
that actually made it to fruition because when you are in PR and especially back in that time
they did a lot of focus groups right now focus groups they still do them but in a different way
and more in like a political arena right like um surveying um but back then when I was in school
and just getting out they still did a lot of focus groups to determine what consumers wanted
what they're buying you know buying habits were and all of that where they would put people in
the room and all the research but you know they do it in a different way now but they did it that
way and what would happen is being young african-american and female when it came to lifestyle
brands yeah they we were like they wanted us in focus groups and so being part of the pr team that
helped shape that i would be part of the pr team plus in the focus group and then in the cases of
like makeup or skincare, I would then somehow end up on TV as the person that that was like
testing the product or talking about the product. So I think just being at the right place at the
right time in the right. Cause I was also in New York at the time with, you know, major lifestyle
brands like Reebok and Liz Claiborne and, and Biori and Procter and Gamble that I just was in
the right place at the right time with the right energy, not scared and was able to be heard. And a
lot of, I was able to share and actually contribute at a very early point in my career.
And then just building the resume on from there. Yeah.
What was the transition that led you to go on, on your own with?
Well, that was a year or two ago.
every brand so um when I moved here I you know I moved here because I had babies I fell in love I
had babies I did all of that type of thing and so space to grow yeah you need I needed so I um
what I had TSPR and event planning where I was doing you know like events and weddings and and
things but I really still did I was still working or so to speak freelancing with some of the other
brands like I had done like I still was working with like the bamboo pillow and like some other
things you know brands that were coming out in New York and doing PR and still writing the press
releases and distributing them for other brands and so it was it came a time where it was like
are you gonna keep doing this wedding thing are you gonna go back and do PR which is which is
your heart right like yeah and um you know and it and then COVID happened and basically made the
decision for me because my extensive event team, right? And event management team went on to get
jobs with FedEx and UPS or administration or things. And I was happy for them, right? And so
when it was time to actually stop being virtual and go back to work, I did try. I had like a 200
person wedding that i had to do with um unseasoned staff and i said oh oh no okay i guess we're done
here because even though we still it still was great and it was still fine and i still say this
to the day the client probably didn't notice i noticed yeah there's too much anxiety when it
comes it was it was a 200 person wedding and i didn't have my seasoned staff because they all
had jobs now now we're post-covid and they all had jobs and you know if you're working in the
warehouse or by now you're two you're two years into this FedEx job now you're up like it just
didn't make sense for them to come back and work with me and so I tried to hire other staff and
they and I'm not to say that they weren't great but they were not they were young and not as
experience in the way in what you need for a 200 person wedding so I've worked weddings for
a while actually yeah you've seen me bartending so you know and even that is a whole different
thing like when you get to a different to the arena that the are not I don't want to say the
level but when you get to a certain point in the type of weddings or even you know birthday parties
or graduation and retire parties that you're at,
that you get hired where there's 200 guests,
even being the bartender at that event is a different level.
You need to be able to hold a conversation.
You need to be able to discreetly know
when to hold back on alcohol or not without making a scene.
You just do it.
You don't talk about it.
You just do it.
So there's a did there.
Even that takes a certain finesse.
We had one, I won't go too far on this,
But we were new in setting up the layout of how the wedding goes.
So they thought, well, in the lobby where we normally have the cocktail hour, they'll just get married there, skip the chapel, and then we'll just open the doors.
So normally the whole point of the cocktail hour is to get a drink in everybody's hand at a two-person window.
Right.
Not open the bar.
So now there's 15 to 20 people.
And they had already been pre-gaming.
So the the guests are trying to get drinks, but the the party is asking me for 12 dirty martinis.
First drink. Yeah. The guy next to me just starts having a panic attack and I feel so bad.
I'm like, just wash these dishes. I was like, here, feel the water. Just put like I'll handle this.
So now it's just me and a whole room of people that are ready for the drink like 15 minutes ago.
yeah so you you get uh you find a way to command those situations right the anxiety from them
lasts with you like even if the event goes perfect you don't want it like you want to create a point
where you're not having nightmares where you're not having anxiety especially when you care about
what you do well you have to i think if you get if you are an entrepreneur or someone that has
their own business obviously you care about what you do and what the outcome is and what the results
are right you don't you don't stay in an entrepreneurial position or and owning your
own small business unless you care and so yes I mean you know and so I realized that I can't be
the and you know it's interesting because people like us also when things like you just mentioned
when things seem like they could be chaotic is almost when we go into this zone you know it's
this zone of class. And to me, I know sometimes in my head, it feels like it slows down. It's
almost like it slows down and I start pinpointing where the actual fires are and just kind of slowly
and quietly putting them out. And it's like, and that's something that just comes again with
experience and being comfortable with what you're doing. And you can't do that with a team that
hasn't been doing it for a very long time so so back to the original question that's how I said
okay I think we're done with like these type of events we're gonna go back corporate events and
we're gonna do way more PR and we're gonna bring back in our actual branding skills um the kids
are older now even though I did have a third um that I can use my the other side of my brain again
it didn't have to be just so logistical and mathematical that I could use my creative and
side strategically yeah no that's good that's good I can definitely relate with the strategy
behind the creativity it's like people just see and that's the beauty of it people just see
the end stuff I mean I can't go I'm happy when I go to a wedding but I can't turn up like I'm an
editor. I can't watch a movie. I'm a designer. I can't, you know, I appreciate other people's work
and it's great, but you, you break everything down, you break it apart. So to be able to find
not only what you're good at, something that fills your soul and lets you use both parts of your
brain. I mean, we all want to be good at something, you know, we all want to be known as the person
for it. And even if the person can't, you know, I had somebody come across my feed the other day,
hey has anybody been married do they have any things to say and the only thing i said was like
can get a coordinator get a coordinator if you can get like there's a lot of free services like
registry and stuff right you know the nod or whatever where you can i'm a fan of zola like
what is zola where you make your own wedding website i think that's a good one where people
can register i can't remember which one we use but that took night and day out of everything now
You know, I'm coming and planning my own wedding with 10 years of working in in this business business.
So there was certain things that I wanted to make sure it came out good.
Certain things like the photographer, the DJ that were really important to me.
Seating, you know, people don't think that you have to go down to seating and have that seat of who can or can't sit next to each other.
It's very important, actually.
Very, very important, especially when it comes to family where you're sitting.
your family you know and some of your friends listen sometimes strategically you should separate
some friends okay especially if there's an open bar or something like that going on but you went
on to you're actually i'm very impressed at how involved you are with uh women's groups in the
lehigh valley well yeah i'm a woman now um yes i mean listen i there's two things that my mom
mother always told me that i you'll hear me talk about repeatedly and the first one
is a closed mouth doesn't get fed and the second one is if you can help you do and um you know
after Lehigh Valley Style which you and I mentioned which was I actually just saw Alison Conklin last
night who took who did my photograph for Lehigh Valley Style and I told her for the first time I
had the opportunity to say to her you know the photograph there's one photograph that I have in
my life. And yes, we all have a lot of photographs, but there's one that actually I could say
changed my life. And you took that photograph, Alison. And she was kind of like, you know,
taken back by that. But it's true. You know, the session that I had with Alison Conklin that I
really didn't, you know, I think me, I don't know if I was numb to it at the time or if it was,
you know, it was definitely an honor to be there, but I did not know at the time when I was in that
photo um session how much my life was going to change once that um issue came out and um
and yeah i credit her for that and i got to actually tell her last night which was really
cool that's awesome yeah so i think it was that she read your i've had uh photographs that lasted
for a long time and got me work and it's like right it's like uh going into the interview you
know people just said well I was gonna hire you when I saw the photo it's a certain emotion that
you know it's not just taking a picture it's not some people can pull certain things from you
yeah and then they just know and then you look at that and you say that's my personality I forget
it was like one um I don't know do you know Vanessa Guevara no I only bring her up because
she recently I had done some brochures for her and she came up in my feed as the like 11 years ago
and I remember she got off into doing photography I'm always interested when people especially with
something secure go off on their own right you know it's like clearly there's something to humans
that's driven beyond just what my job title is or making a whole bunch of money you know a lot of
People are like, I'm cool here as long as I can continue to do the things I love, stay healthy, focus on goals.
Right.
You know, a lot of people.
But Vanessa took a photo of me and it ended up being my headshots.
And it was on it might even be on my business card now as long as goes.
Oh, I know which photo that is.
Yes.
Yeah.
I know which one that is of you.
And that's a great photo of you.
But it says a lot.
It says I think she captured my approachability.
right in which like if i could go back i wouldn't have worn as dark as a suit i think the ones where
i was in gray were a little more approachable okay but i trusted her with it it came out great
right my wedding photographs like if you just need a picture and you know this being in pr
and branding people want a picture just to have a high quality photo of themselves on something
But if there's no thought behind what you're wearing, if there's what you're wearing, even how you're positioning, whether you smile or you don't smile while you're looking dead on or you're looking away.
Tilt your head this way. It's a different photo. All the things. Yes.
But I love that where you and I being able to be parts of teams where they just know you're the specialist.
Like, I know video and photo are two completely different things.
So I have respect for photography, but when I need it, I outsource it.
I don't shoot events anymore.
You know, I have shot weddings, but it's not like you said, what makes me.
Right.
Well, and that's the thing.
And so, OK, so COVID basically pushed me into what my real purpose is, right, which is getting back into PR and helping brands and corporations and even individuals really, really correct, improve or elevate their their branding.
And sometimes I think that people think, well, when it comes to individuals, corporations know what their what their messaging is.
Sometimes they may need a refresh, but a lot of times it's, well, we're launching this or this is a new area that we need to highlight or whatever.
And I then take their existing messaging and put it together with how to launch this product or this new area of emphasis that they want to talk about.
But when it comes to individuals, that's really where I think where we where our artistry comes comes in.
You know, I do. I think I love individuals and their passion and they'll start and they sometimes they think they know what their messaging and their branding is.
And like I am, I may seem like I'm very in the front of things, but like you're mentioning being behind.
And I just it's almost like I'll be a fly on the wall of my own clients sometimes for a little while just to see how they move and they interact and what they like.
They'll tell like because when you first give someone a list of questions to maybe write their bio, they will answer them a certain way.
But it's almost like I mean, being where we sit in our own experience, I could be able to look at that sometimes and be like, you're answering this tailored towards what you think you want.
how about you right but like that's not what i'm asking you i really want to know
these like your real thoughts on this and the real answers not what you think i want you to
how you think i want you to answer them that actually does not help and guess what we're
just gonna sit in here then and we're gonna keep doing and we're gonna go do some of these things
and we're gonna go talk here and we're gonna maybe go here and introduce you to these people
And I'm going to pull this and just wait.
I'm going to have to wait for it, but I'll wait for it, you know, until I start getting and seeing an authentic you and how you move in these streets or with your brand or interact with people until we get that.
And I think that that's sometimes how back to, you know, how we can be real artists and artists sometimes take times to get things if they're waiting for the truth or the authenticity of it.
Absolutely.
and then there's a whole group of people who wait and have those have that patience you know yeah
and then there's some that don't even before i ask the budget i ask when do you need it by
yeah because if that takes it out of the equation you know right there's a it's it's friday give or
take 7 30 8 p.m by tonight i'm gonna have two more people that want something by monday right
And you just have to tell them, look, you know, there's if if you can't get it online in two days, you know what I mean?
Like, there's no.
I love that you're saying that right now, because that's so true.
That's so true.
And let's not even talk about the budget then.
That's a different show.
But yes, but you're right.
Like, if you can't get it online in two days, but you expect me to have it to you in two days and you're only like and I have to pull the information out of you.
but we're going to stay positive here. Yeah. I had an amazing author. I thought he had an
interesting story. He says, I'm launching my first book in August. I want to get the branding. And
I'm like, it's February. If you can hang on for like a week or two, he's like, oh no, I'm not
super in a rush, but you know, you, you meet people at their level that you're at. And I know
if you could, you would work with everybody. You would have three or four nonprofits you're
working with at a time but there's a supply and demand when it's only you right or even you and
a team right like you said you're not if you're doing four or five events a year or even 10 events
a year you can't have somebody staffed at all of them if you don't need a bartender all the time
so there are people who do it's not for me anymore but they're career bartenders there are
And they take it to that level. Like if you're going to be a hobbyist, you can be a hobbyist.
Right. If you're going to take it and be a professional, you should always be licensed, certified.
Right. Make sure you have insurance. Yes. Yes.
Because these are the conversations that people are asking. It's no longer just, oh, I know somebody who can fill in the level of trust you need to make all the pieces go together.
right you know um so how often do you like what sort of uh how large of a network or a team do
you have to pull together for different things i know you bring videographers on to your events
videographers well that's this is what we're talking about when i'm helping with like doing
an event marketing for like a larger event like the like the lehigh valley auto show that's coming
out you know that's a four-day event um the u.s senior open was really cool too that was fun um
Well, it depends. See, so when it take, let's take something like the Lehigh Valley Auto Show
that's coming up 2025. I work with Sarah Dams from Surratt Design. She is actually the person
that handles the marketing for that event. And I support her and support Glavata, the Greater
Lehigh Valley Autos Dealers Association. And so Sarah is, you know, marketing, we'll call her,
say the marketing director, you know, and then I support her with PR specifically, you know,
the press releases and the press conference and, and that angle, you know, but then, um, as a team,
then we come together and we have our people that we call in for video and photography, and then
we still have the special events. And that's a, that's one of the great things where I love it's
like, yeah, you know, we all know that I know how to press, how to write a press release and who
would she go to, whether that's here in the Lehigh Valley in New York or all the way into LA. Right.
I have all of the media lists that I need, or, or, you know, I have my PR database, but I get to
still bring in that event experience with the event marketing, like, you know, helping to bring
in and create NASCAR weekend for the 2025 Lehigh Valley Auto Show, where we're going to have Sage
Karam there. And we're going to have a pit crew challenge on Saturday and Sunday. And that's one
of those things where it's like, I'm still pulling from my whole database or client base of, I worked
with richmar florist for a nascar event in the poconos and a lot of people don't realize that
jonathan morrison who is richmar um florist actually owns richmar racing as well right so
he's got yes so he's has race cars that race and you know nascar races sage carom actually races in
a, um, Richmar racing car. Um, and so by working, and so by knowing and working on all of these
different projects, I continually get to pull from past experiences and past projects that
I've worked on to keep, you know, bringing them back into when it fits, right. Other things that
I may be working on, you know, Joetta Clark digs is another one now that I, now I'm into like a
sports thing um and she's amazing and she always you know she can be she's very versatile in the
things that she she works and she's an icon right like so joanna clark is an icon number one but um
you know she's very versatile in in the the places that her brand fits into right because
there's the whole sports aspect aspect but there's also legacy as a just a female a woman
you know athlete there's you know she has an entire um then um motivational speaking aspect
you know she goes from athleticism to legacy with who her family is right because her father
is principal joe clark from the movie lean on me morgan freeman played her father in that
movie and so there's just so so much and she's just a generally great great person so it's
important it's so important right like it's so important to be able to like I'm so like right
now I'm teasing because I'm so happy like I'm thinking about it and just some of the people
that I work with repeatedly over and over again are just at the same time a great support system
You know, they're not just people that I work with. They're a great support system. And I think that's really important and how and has enabled me to then sort of weave many people in and out of other aspects, even like going back to the car show and bringing NASCAR weekend to the Lehigh Valley Auto Show.
And how does that happen? Because I know because I've worked with Jonathan that he has a racing team and I've been to the Pocono.
He's the one that the first person that put me on pit row at the Pocono Raceway.
And if you've never been in the pit at a NASCAR race, do it.
It's amazing, which is like a whole nother thing.
Most of the pit crews at these races are past athletes, right?
And that's why they're so fast and agile and so fit and can change tires and can fill up the gap and do everything that they need to do in under 30 seconds at these pit stops at a NASCAR race.
Which is something that we are going to, you know, emulate during the pit car challenge at the 2025 Lehigh Valley Auto Show.
It's going to be awesome.
It's going to be so awesome.
You got big names.
You got, I mean, filling four days.
Yeah.
Filling three hours is hard.
Five hours is hard.
You know what I mean?
To keep everything going and say, okay, well, we're not going to throw a raffle in here because that'll just dead.
Like, you ever see the event after the raffle?
oh my gosh especially if they do it late enough that half the people left people are drinking
they don't know where their tickets are and the guy's just up there auctioning the music stops
you start to hear crickets it's like oh man oh that's funny yeah then planning was always
something that i had a respect for because i've worked with planners i have planned events
but you go like um i have that similar mind of grabbing a bunch of things like your face when
i said how big is your network and you're like well i can pull right and it's it's funny as the
podcast gets to be like there's people i've referred business from a podcast conversation
we get off the mic afterwards and it's like oh i may have this for you there's people that i can
call back and say oh well you know that person was raising funds for this you should connect with
them you know um two of my podcast guests were actually able to connect and build a relationship
outside of so I become that agent zero of right well you know Tony yeah he's trustworthy enough to
you know I mean he lets his guests in his house you know what I mean right which is great which
His business name is Tony Ortiz, the designer.
This guy's not hiding behind anything.
It was funny in my 20s having a different business name that nobody could remember.
Really? What was it?
It was a view.
It was like audiovisual.
I forget the acronym, but it was A-V-U-E.
And everybody would introduce Avenue Designs.
Okay.
It was like it just, or they'd say a voo, or they'd pronounce it weird.
and I was like so you did you rebranded yourself as well yeah the LLC was this was a little bit of
a different business but I rebranded myself and it took a long time because as you get to know me I
don't like to be the front man so much I love this I love this I don't mind having conversations
It's something I do anyway. But if you ask me, would I rather be the top podcast producer or the top podcast host?
I don't love being in front of the camera like somebody with an extravagant personality.
You know, when you meet actors, they shine. There's a reason why they shine in our society has watched them for centuries.
Some people have that. And it's like, I don't want to be the name.
So even naming it Tony Ortiz, the designer, I was like one scalability, you know, whether or not I have a network, people are going to think it's just one person.
And then one day I'm like, well, what if people are tired of agencies?
What if even agencies are looking for one person?
Right.
And it's just like, here's this guy's branded well, has reputation, has reviews, you know, so it goes against my whole imposter syndrome to be the guy.
but seo wise everybody just ended up searching tony ortiz the designer so you kept it you're
like i was like let me let me make an llc call that let me get everything up on google and go
from there um i can appreciate what you do because i do it a bit for myself and like i said it takes
a long time even uh even with this brand with i will not lose it's like uh there you put so much
into creating the product right that it gets very hard then to also promote the episode and
distribute it everywhere you know if you have a two-week run or a one-week run to promote an
episode and that's what helps with the guests as well you know somebody says hey you know we did
an interview and it didn't blow up. I'm like, I didn't see you share it. You didn't accept
collaborator on any of the reels. How about it? Well, and that is, that is interesting. That's
funny that you say that because I think, um, and this goes back to one of the things, right? A
closed mouth doesn't get fed. And that does not always mean just asking for what you want. It
It also means, you know, a certain amount of as I've grown in my business or grown into
being more comfortable with not having so much as a niche, right?
Because I feel like when you start your own, when you start your business and you're in
the small business world, it's always, well, what's your niche?
What's your niche?
And make sure after you niche, you niche down again.
And that was never me, never.
And it still isn't me, right?
Like, I think my niche is that I don't have a niche now.
I don't, I do something different with everyone that I work with and I'm always creating.
Everything is about synergy.
I'm always pulling from different areas of my life, whether it's present or past or what
I'm hoping for in the future.
Like I'm always pulling just from lots of different areas.
And so I don't have a niche, but I'm saying all of this to say is like, one of the things
is that educating people that I'm working with
to the fact of this is very much a collaboration.
For sure, for sure.
You know, I think sometimes people hire us
and think that we're the magic bullet.
And yes, we can make magic, but it's going to be together.
This isn't me out here by myself,
you know, trying to figure this out for you.
This is us working together to create and strategize the best plan for you and what's
going to hit the right way.
And everything's not going to be a home run.
And that's why we're in this together.
I'm on your side then for us to let's figure out how to make it work or how to tweak it
so that it does work for your benefit.
And so I think as I, you know, as small business owners or people like us or my, I don't know
if it's you, I should speak for myself, right?
as I grow into this I've gotten a lot better at educating my clients on what how it's going to
work that it is a collaboration I've also gotten better at boundaries please don't ask me to meet
on Sunday love you but I have three kids and I'd like to see them and I'm okay now with saying that
Right. With like three years ago, I'd be like, OK, what time on Sunday?
You know, like but so and part of that is that, you know, this is a collaboration.
Like, would you want to meet on Sunday? Like if we have to, we have to. Right.
Like I get that. But like I think part of bringing people in and working with people and working together on set has made it easier for it to for those type of things to work themselves out.
Right. And so, yeah. And so it's an education in both parts. And so a closed mouth doesn't get fed works in many different ways and what you want and and what's not going to work or where you're going to have your boundaries as well.
for sure no the boundaries are super important and there's some people i know that only get time
to work from 10 to 12 right you know that's fine once it's 12 30 that's the end of my boundary i
have two or three people where i don't mind getting messages from them absolutely yes right
because it's like then we can go over figure out and then if i don't talk to you for two or three
days i'm at least set right but when there's things like uh you know there's a lot of stuff
with marketing that I can as you're saying this I'm thinking like yeah if you don't have someone
that can let you know okay I got you five calls this week right are they good were they in Spanish
were they looking for something different so we can tweak some words or do something like that
but when you don't show up to the meetings when you are late on emails when it's okay we didn't
get it now these projects drag on for weeks and months and you're never like done right it's
project management you're working on something while something else is happening you're working
on something even though the lv auto show is coming yeah of course right like yes i'm not
just working on the on the auto show right now i'm working on several projects you know
i probably and i i get up very early one because i have three kids one because i'm spiritual
i'm two because i'm spiritual i also but i also write in the morning um is that when you have
your focus time yeah i like to get my writing done and i probably send out you know one to
two press releases a day and i don't think that a lot of people probably don't realize that but
um so and i and i also watch a lot of the tv shows that i'm going to pitch for clients
or will look for shows i am still that i do not use ai to write my press releases i write them
i um and i actually watch the tv shows that i'm looking to pitch clients to so i'm up
Now I'm like, I'm writing. I'm like, I'm like switching through like the channels, like the whatever. I'm Googling things. I might have a podcast on or switching through like podcasts to see who, you know, some of these clients might fit in. Like I am up researching for my clients.
That's awesome. That's a, reminds me of Valerie getting up at five, going through scripts, saying things. And this is the mentality I try to push through my show. You know, there's people that would see, wow, she's worked for Nike. She's worked for Bure. Like she, she made it. That's the end of the struggle.
You know, there's people that look at winning one of five influential women in the Lehigh Valley like this is in Bethlehem.
This is the entire Lehigh Valley.
Styles Network goes everywhere.
So thank you to get there and then continue.
I mean, I'm sure like anything, there's down times.
Of course.
And you still have to put your nose to the grindstone during those times.
Of course.
You know, have the faith.
I know for me, faith plays a big part where I'm like, OK, I'm going to be all right.
There is no how would you call like safety net, you know, absolutely.
That event can like switch your trajectory, you know, and that was the other reason I
never went down that event planning path, because I've seen where people promote something
for weeks or month and whether it was the vendors or managing the communication right or you plan
for eight weeks and now there's a surprise snowstorm right hey i had a toasty queen event
last night where there was a snowstorm yeah it was pretty bad last night we were down about 10
people that had registered um but see and i think i so i look at that such those in a different way
now because they're the lehigh valley has over like 4 800 like 4 000 events a year like it's
something insane you know the lehigh valley at its height can have up to five events a day
five events a day yeah and there's people that will go and bounce from one to another you never
you ever meet that person that's like oh i'm here but i'm gonna be over there
in a second. Right. There's like a crew. Like, I mean, yes, but so there is that many events in
Lehigh Valley. So it's like, I mean, so that's inevitable that, you know, everyone is fighting
for attendance. So what I've done or how I look at events or the events that I'm working on
for myself or my company is different, obviously, than how I'm looking at them for clients. Right.
When it comes to clients, you need all the things.
You need the marketing, the attending.
There's a whole chess list and that has to happen, right?
When I'm looking at something like Toasty Queen, that's really my, just a passion project,
right?
Of something to do, you know, giving voice to women or entrepreneurs and authors that,
you know, may not be necessarily known, but that we really, I think that we should highlight
and give voices to.
I think of that in different ways. Content. Right. Because it's shareable. So even if there's only 15 people there, what's the content that I can get from the panel and then share that content?
For sure.
There's also obviously if, you know, do it for the gram, there's also that kind of content. Right. So there could be educational content like last night with the American Heart Association.
I mean, there were two doctors on the panel. There was Alison Conklin, who is a heart transplant survivor. There was the VP of the Girl Scouts in northern New Jersey, whose son, who's an advocate for her child who has a heart murmur.
So a lot of the content, a lot of the things that were said during last night were so important and such great information that over the next month, I'm going to be able to share that, right?
So sometimes I think, you know, people I think that we need to take a look, not necessarily because there's there's so many events, right, that your your attendance is not going to you can't measure the success of an event necessarily on attendance anymore.
So I think you have to think of other ways and have other goals sometimes, whether it is sometimes it's for social media content.
A lot of people do a lot of things for social media content.
But, you know, if you have a brand or a product, why not? Now you get a way you have, you know, content for people that are interacting with this brand. You can get testimonials, you know, all sorts of things. And you can do that with five people at your event and still have social media content and testimonials and and all of those things for another three months. Who knows? Right.
And then there's the educational where there's the health component of last night where, I mean, there's some really powerful information that came out that I'll be able to share for a while.
Yeah, so you're thinking of the event beyond just the ticket admission price.
You know, it's how does it all tie together?
And plus, how do you I've been at events with seven people in a large room and everyone hangs out around the refrigerator and you have a 20 minute conversation.
You pretty much have a one to one with somebody there versus in a loud bar or especially when you can't connect one.
You ever notice it's like water molecules and networking events.
There'll be three people together and those are a little harder to slide in.
Right. That is so true.
that is true you don't want to be the person just standing on the wall you know there's like a
science to how you work a room and what you say and even thinking about the people that are across
the room looking at your mannerisms when you're talking to someone else right it's like be aware
of where you are but preferably some of my greatest events things like that came definitely
from a little where you can be more yeah smaller where you were more connected can have more
connection 50 60 people at a wedding were some of the best that i've worked right right right right
you know 200 is uh it's still considered like small i mean 200 people at a wedding is not small
tony i mean it's not 400 i know you're thinking culturally but i'm saying yeah no definitely
thinking culturally i know what you're thinking but yeah but 200 people still pull
no absolutely absolutely it's it's definitely a way different than even 150 200 150
starts to be different sweet spots even between that's also what another bartender and two or
three more servers i'm just saying for the numbers sake yeah no it is and uh whether or not you're
going to separate the food from the wall so that there's two lines right right so you can go on
both sides mirror it yeah if somebody's available to call tables you know how does that look it
can't just be everybody rushing for the food all at once but the beauty of it is when somebody sees
a great design they don't need to know the engineering how many revisions anything they
just need to see the final product see the final movie well and does it resonate yeah and when
somebody goes to an event and their attention is pulled into whatever's happening and they're
interacting with other people it's like that's something you just can't recreate and they're
not going to go and say oh do you know what um the servers were really quick they had a sense
of urgency the bartender was really clean i didn't notice every time i came up the bar was
right nothing had been been going on from there you know um you have the people that
oh no just real quick make me a drink i know it says closed for dinner but i didn't get my
drink beforehand when they had the announcement and i'm like oh the stories the stories we can
tell my favorite one is uh what seat are you at 21 okay go sit down while i'm cleaning i'll make
the drink and I'll walk around the back, come through the other door and drop it off and run
before somebody else asks me for one. But that's where that larger experience comes in. And I think
it's great that you're able to keep growing with it. Every event you do, your network grows
and still finding time to do the community stuff that kind of moves you. I mean, it's no wonder
they recognize you among all the nominees that there could have been? Thanks. Thank you. Yes.
Well, I mean, now most of the events I handle are events because of, you know, as part of an
overall strategy for my PR clients, really, or branding clients. And that is really where
I'm coming into my own I mean I think it was always there right it's it's basically I started
in PR right that's what I did when I worked for Reebok and I launched all the Liz Claiborne
fragrances from Sport all the way to Liz um Jennifer Lopez's Mambo which I guess people
probably don't know that's a Liz Claiborne um fragrance and so is Candies which was oh my gosh
one of my favorite campaigns with dennis rodman and carmen electra where we purposely got their
commercial banned overseas this is back when um any pr was good pr right and that was back when
we were getting things banned and getting things banned yeah it's how you got you know the pr and
that was fun but anyway um so i think that being able to take all of the experiences that i had
with these major lifestyle brands when I worked at agencies in New York and to bring that
experience to my own, you know, kind of one to three man shop, you know, that I have now
as my agency and then incorporate all of the events and the product launches that I did
while working in the Lehigh Valley is just really shaping my work and, um, how I'm able to use all
of these experiences along with my creativity and strategic thinking really, and, um, help the
clients and the brands here and be, and not just here, but we'll say for the sake of this interview
here. No, I think confidence goes a long way with it. You said something earlier in the conversation
that you were ready to go, that people put you in positions and you took advantage of them and
took care of them. A lot of people will be afraid to step forward. I mean, almost everything I've
done in my career, I was just, like you said, at the right place at the right time. But there's
times where you turn stuff down. Right. There's things I'm meditating on right now. Is this the
right move? Does this align with the goals I want? Right. I don't want to say it could be the devil
trying to lead me off the path. Well, and that happens. I know exactly. Yeah. You're like,
oh, I could come over here, do all this for money and stuff. But it's like, what sanity do you give
up? What do you do? Right. And having the confidence to know, OK, if I go into this,
even if I'm going to have to learn it as I go, right.
Like go from there and not be confident where you're at to keep going.
So I think that's really important. Yeah. I mean, listen,
I think as any parent, right.
Or working, working mother or father that has their own company,
especially when it's in the creative fields or the marketing or, you know,
or um you know graphic design and acting that time yes we always we I think we always are
gonna grapple with you know do I go in-house do I go in-house you know um but I think this is funny
is that every time I do have an interview for a company for an in-house position because
you know we we keep the lines of communication open i how many times have i heard you know
i'm just worried because you are so passionate about what you do they're worried not that what
they wouldn't say the word worry it's that they what what was that if there was a quote recently
it was along those lines i'm just ad-libbing what it is it's i'm um i wouldn't say it wasn't
but it but that that's basically the gist of that they see how pat like i'm so passionate
about what i already do that it's almost like well why why would i go in house yeah i mean
I don't know I think uh I I get I definitely get what you're saying it's like almost and I can't
find the word either right it's not like overbearing it's almost just like you know anything I think of
crazy like you're talking about the good thing but we're using synonyms here right right you know
So I like to think of it as God put me in a position to help brands at my level.
You know, and I had a great, I remember, shout out to Rita Guthrie.
We had a great conversation where I was doing a yard sale for, you know, it was like a community yard sale.
And the goal was to clear out this office space.
So we cleaned everything, had a yard sale, and it was for 2nd Street in Allentown.
Okay.
We wrote out the strategic plan, had something.
Someone else approached us to do it in Northampton in a bigger facility.
Okay.
And so in our head, and she just says, remember what community you set out to do this in.
Right.
To help.
Yeah.
You know, so going and saying like, OK, well, I'm just going to market in L.A. or Sacramento and triple my logo price and do that.
It's like anything that gets me away from it, going in house and not being able to also take on projects I want.
Right. Yes. Yes.
But that's something you earn. That's like, right. And people will tell you, OK, it's scary. You're only employed until your next check. And I'm like, but you're not once you get to a certain place. I mean, you're you're overlapping, you know, but but I get it. It's like it's I just had it. It's not that it's a waste of talent. I'm using that in a negative. I want it. It's it is it would be taking away from others. Right.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's almost like we're, you know, why did I set out to do this? Because if you can help, you can. And so if I'm living in my purpose, if I'm being true to my own self and my work, then I'm going to use, like you said, my talents, the way that my mind thinks.
And I think I can say this for you too.
I think we just think differently, right?
Is that the Apple?
Is that the Apple slogan?
I don't know.
You're the slogan.
It is.
It is.
But we do.
We just think differently.
But that different thinking is what creates lasting brand messaging or creative pictures or photographs or video or campaigns, right?
It's that little bit, that way that we can be in it, but not of it in a way that we could take a look from the outside in and then use, you know, actual data of the focus groups or the data of the, you know, the consumer habits or the goals of where the brand wants to be in, you know, six months, five years.
You know, take some of what the goals are and the strategy and from an outside look in, but still be so inside that you get it and know what needs to be conveyed.
I mean, that's I can't maybe that's the niche, right?
Maybe I've just talked myself into what the niche is, but like that's, but not, there's only a certain amount of people that can do that on a level where they can also explain it, think it through and make it happen.
I use the analogy of doctors, right?
Like I very rarely will put a doctor on a radio show.
And I think that we all know why, right?
Like same with engineers, right?
No one will ever understand what they're saying.
But like, so there's a group of very creative people that are amazing. And then there's some, then there's like the people that are like, we know how to disseminate that information in a way that it can be done. Right. It can seem accomplishable.
And then if you can also talk to the salesman as well as the engineer.
So you get the one that's saying this is made of polycarbonate fiber.
And then you get the guy that says you throw this against the wall and it won't break.
They're saying the same thing, but one is just perceived different in what the value is to the customer.
So no messaging, people don't understand what goes into it.
They think Disney just said, make people happy is their mission.
and well that seems simple enough do you have any idea how many iterations they got to a three word
version right has lasted for a hundred years like you think they just and do you think it just
started with that like i mean there was probably we well know there was a whiteboard that was
covered with words first right and then like half of these nights you know it's just what goes into
it, but I can respect every level of the game. We have about, well, we just went over an hour,
so we'll start to land the plane. What do you do to kind of like turn that off? Or I think a lot
of entrepreneurs have that problem where it's like, like, I know you said boundaries. Yeah.
Well, yeah, but that's new. That literally just started this year in 2025.
got you yeah literally that was late for me as well too yeah but even like just disconnecting
from everything I'm sure your phone is going off you're probably on silent now and you probably
have about four to seven calls while we're here for an hour I know that's how it goes there's a
reason why mine is facing down yeah I just I threw mine over there in the purse and was like I just
can't right now but I mean that's also being a part a publicist I mean I just it's kind of around
the clock and you know you I do I look at it and I just know when I can just put it off until
tomorrow but I but you know there's another side to that if you are part of my camp I'm gonna say
this and people that know know um i've been known to text people five six seven in the morning
because i'm up writing and so sometimes i need to run something by someone or ask them a question
you don't schedule it out do you know they're up or sometimes i just need to ask or sometimes they
they're like so but i'm also up during the same time as media you know media goes to work at four
o'clock in the morning. So, um, so I'm, I'm up with media. Um, and so if you are, if you're a
high profile client with me, you're probably already getting texts at like six or seven in
the morning. Um, sometimes I'm on the phone having conversations at 6 30 AM. Yeah. I, uh, I've been
getting a lot better at it i do get my sleep but sometimes early yeah sometimes i i can't go to bed
early so i'll work a little bit later and i'll start my next day later or i'll be tired like
earlier this week wednesday it was 7 30 8 p.m i'm working on something due the next day i said i
can't do this i fell asleep for five six hours yeah worked from like three to five a.m and
scheduled all the emails out nice went back to sleep it's like you also have to realize that
from five to six people may not be bothering you right and when you have three kids when you have
to run around you have to cook dinner do those things you have to capitalize on that oh wow I
have two hours where my phone's not gonna ring yes you know but you said you have your Sundays
you seem to have everything together you know so yeah no I shut it down after a certain time
every day, actually, because I need to spend time. And that's really what provoked me to be like in
2025. I am unapologetic about my boundaries because my son is 19 and my daughter is 16.
I have a nine year old, but that 19 and that 16 year old are college bound. And this is really
it. This is, this is it for the time I'm going to be able to spend with them. And we've had a very
dramatic 2023 and 2024. And they need me right now and I need them. And I am so that my kids
prompted me to be unapologetically about my boundaries. Yeah. Period. Done. I need this
time with my kids. And, you know, like they say, you know, you can't get that time back and I'm
not willing to let it go. So. Fair enough. Yeah. That's awesome. Well, you provided some amazing
insight, looking forward to accomplishments that you have from here on out. And it's an
interesting place to not even be able to talk about everything you're doing. Like people don't
understand the confidence it takes. Well, we have DNAs. I know you've got them. NDAs. I know you
have them too. Oh yeah, for sure. And it's like, even where I'll be wearing something that I did
and somebody will be like, that's cool. And I'll be like, oh yeah, you know, it's fashion,
it's something new coming out, but you don't mention it. But no, I think this was a great
interview. Thank you for your time, us getting this in. We'll drop this as a bonus episode super
early we have um i don't know if it'll drop before but we have that speaking engagement
at lehigh valley elite next week is it next week okay next thursday nice is there anything else
you want to plug besides the lehigh valley auto show coming up um we have the lehigh valley auto
show oh next saturday is k galgan's um k galgan's life house gala they're an annual gala they do a
dessert auction which i would that was new to me artists and cakes apparently really really
awesome anyway they take care of um they help mothers and babies you know being a mom resonates
mothers and babies that are um at risk of homelessness so if you have some time please
take a look at that look up k galgan life house check them out you have a date on that saturday
March 1st, March 1st.
Yeah.
And it's at still stacks.
So buy your tickets online.
Sounds good.
All right.
Tiffany Sondergaard.
I will not lose podcast.
Thank you for listening.